Reign of Gaming

Several tournaments are on the horizon as the new year kicks off in a big way for League of Legends. Fans around the globe will be able to watch the best teams compete in the weeks to come of teams both old and new. Teams are whipping themselves back into shape after a layoff and for certain teams it's a make or break month. Teams will break up over the coming weekend and lives will be changed by being one of the salaried teams, and that is before we even get to the other fun tournaments of the coming weeks.

NA and EU Qualifiers for Season 3

The North America qualifiers are this weekend, and 5 teams will walk away with their players having guaranteed salaries and a driver's seat to more money and fame throughout the competitive season. European fans will have to wait to see who qualifiers for their final spots, but one thing is for sure new blood will be in the scene and it can only be a good thing for the scene. With more teams salaried, and the ability to focus on the game and not the money side of things, this year should be one that sees the scene rise to new heights.

North American fans will get to cheer for old favorite teams like Epik to qualify and regain the spotlight this weekend or new fan favorites like Team Marn. Check out the North American page here on Leaguepedia (groups will be added as soon as they are available). European fans can check out their page here, and be sure to cheer for teams like Fnatic to make it through along with other old favorites of the scene Curse.EU and Acer.

IEM Katowice (Jan 18-20)

Another IEM is almost upon us as well as teams from around the globe will gather in Poland to compete for $50,000 and an automatic bid into the IEM World Championship. Fnatic, SK Gaming, MeetYourMakers and Moscow 5 will represent Europe against Curse Gaming and Pulse from North America along with Royal Club from China and a Korean team yet to be determined. IEM seems to always bring about a high level play, and this tournament should be no different.

Europe will go in as heavy favorites with their headlining group, and it should be a good chance for this scene to showcase just how good and deep it has developed into. The scene has always had strength at the top with the likes of Moscow 5 and CLG.EU, but now with the resurgence of Fnatic and other teams bubbling up, Europe is ready to strut its stuff. This should also be our first chance to see Fnatic without Rekkles against non-EU competition, and it will certainly be interesting to see if they are able to stay at the same high level of play.

But wait...There's more!

We'll also have the CLG Premier Series debuting, and the OGN wrapping up. The emphasis on the 5v5 ladder has been great for North America recently, and hopefully the CLG tournament continues that trend and allows North America to get back to a level where they can compete with the other teams from around the world. OGN has brought us consistently top-level play and with the semifinals and finals upon us with matches like KT Rolster B vs Najin Sword and Azubu Frost vs Azubu Blaze starting on January 9th.

So RoG'ers what are you looking forward to seeing the most? Who is the big winner out of the recent weeks and what team will surprise everyone? Let us know in the comment section and be sure to stay tuned to ReignofGaming for all your LoL-related needs!

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