LCS 2024: Evil Geniuses and Golden Guardians Leave the League
| Tags: League of Legends
| Author Bence Loksa
Due to a decision by Riot Games, the LCS 2024 will continue with 8 teams, with Evil Geniuses and Golden Guardians leaving the league.
In a shocking turn of event, two prominent teams of the North American League of Legends tournament will leave the scene – Golden Guardians and Evil Geniuses won’t be a part of the LCS anymore. The news was shared by John Needham, the President of Esports at Riot Games on X/Twitter.
LCS 2024 Won’t Have Evil Geniuses or Golden Guardians
The President explained that Riot Games have planned to reshape the oldest league in the World, and while all the teams were committed to continuing, Golden Guardians and Evil Geniuses will exit the scene on a mutual agreement. Johh Needham thanked GG and EG for the memories they brought for fans, but with 8 teams, the LCS can go through the changes it needs much easier.
Living Evil Doesn’t Pay
After the 2022 season, it was impossible to think that Evil Geniuses would be out of the tournament not much more than a year later. With the Impact – Inspired – jojopyun – Danny – Vulcan squad, EG won the 2022 LCS Spring Playoffs, then finished the 2022 MSI in the top 4. While they couldn’t replicate the success, they seemed like they cemented their spot as a top team in the League.
However, it came to light that they mistreated their ADC, Danny, leading to his early (and perhaps not permanent) retirement. The team finished the regular season of the 2023 LCS Summer split in 3rd place but couldn’t qualify for Worlds as they got knocked out by Team Liquid.
Guardians No More
Golden Guardians’ departure is even more heartbreaking. While the LoL department of the NBA team Golden State Warriors have struggled since their joining in 2018, they rose to the top this year. Golden Guardians finished second in the 2023 Spring Playoffs, then got to the top 8 of the Mid-Season Invitational in London. They also made it to the last step before the World Championship after finishing 4th in Summer, but couldn’t make it to Worlds after they got knocked out 0-3 by Team Bds in the Worlds Qualifying Series.
There were some rumours and reports about the financial hardships of the organization a few years back, but fans didn’t imagine they would leave the LCS – at least not like this.
LCS 2024 Update – John Needham pic.twitter.com/CmnMmTfgxN
— LCS (@LCSOfficial) November 20, 2023
The LCS had a rough year with having low viewership, for example, the 2023 Summer LCS split’s peak viewership was 1/7th of the LCK’s Summer Split. League of Legends esports is on a decline in North America, and Riot has been trying to find an answer to the problem for years. In the past seasons they increased the number of teams that can participate in the Summer Playoffs from 6 to 8, but that didn’t solve the issue. Maybe with this change they can get some hype back for the tournament.
The landscape of the LCS will be vastly different in 2024. TSM left the league earlier this year, with Shopify Rebellion buying their spot, and now two household names had to exit as well – and this is only the beginning. Stay tuned for more changes.
Bence "Atreus" Loksa is a freelance journalist and League of Legends shoutcaster, covering all things esports and gaming, also yelling loudly at big plays happening on the Summoner's Rift. While his main focus is Riot Games' hit MOBA, he also dabbles in Call of Duty, VALORANT, and as of recent, the tabletop wargame Warhammer 40,000 - where he looks to make some grudges with his Leagues of Votann army.