The Garena Premier League (GPL) was a professional League of Legends esports league with teams in Southeast Asia (included teams from Taiwan, Hong Kong, Macau before 2015 and Vietnam before 2018). It was founded in 2012. The opening event took place on May 5 with Riot's CEO Brandon Beck, VP of Gaming Dustin Beck, Taiwanese game designer Jeff Lin, and Nikasaur attending personally. It is the first regional professional esports competition of League of Legends in the world. In last season - 2018 Spring - the league consists of 5 teams who are the champions of 5 national leagues in Southeast Asia. The top four teams of group stage are advanced to the playoff, which are held in a best-of-5 single elimination system.
In late 2014, Riot and Garena split teams from Taiwan, Macau, and Hong Kong into their own league, the LMS, which began play in Spring 2015. Following the changes, the GPL no longer sent teams directly to the League of Legends World Championship group stage. The GPL became part of the International Wildcard tournament, along with CBLoL (Brazil), OPL (Oceania), LCL (CIS), LJL (Japan), (Turkey), (Latin America North) and (Latin America South), and would compete to represent the Wildcard regions in the play in stages at the Mid-Season Invitational and World Championship.
In 2018, the Vietnam Championship Series (VCS) separated from the GPL. The winner of VCS will qualify for Mid-Season Invitational and World Championship without taking part in the GPL.
The 2018 GPL Spring Split was the last GPL tournament. Afterwards, the GPL was replaced by the League of Legends SEA Tour (LST) with a new format. The winner of the LST will represent Southeast Asia to qualify for Play-in Stage of Mid-Season Invitational and World Championship, begin from World Championship 2018.
Participants of GPL Last season (2018 Spring split) RegionLeagueLOL Garuda Series (LGS)LOL Championship Malaysia (LCM)Pro Gaming Series (PGS)Singapore Legends Series (SLS)Thailand Pro League (TPL) In mid-2018, the GPL was replaced with the LST, and the leagues of each country were replaced by "LST Qualifiers"
Former RegionChampionship LeagueNoteLeague of Legends Nova League (LNL)Separated in 2015, became a Major Region (guaranteed two slots in the World Championship, three slots from 2017 onwards). The LNL was replaced by the League of Legends Master Series (LMS).Vietnam Championship Series (VCS)Separated in 2018, became a Wildcard Region (guaranteed one slot for MSI and the World Championship). VCS became a Tier 1 league like the GPL.
Results YearSplitWinnerRunner-Up2012 Season 1 Taipei Assassins Singapore Sentinels 2013 Spring Taipei Assassins Singapore Sentinels Summer ahq e-Sports Club Singapore Sentinels 2014 Winter Taipei Assassins Taipei Snipers Spring Taipei Assassins ahq e-Sports Club Summer Taipei Assassins ahq e-Sports Club After Taiwan-Hong Kong-Macau separated2015 Spring Saigon Fantastic Five Bangkok Titans Summer Bangkok Titans Saigon Jokers 2016 Spring Saigon Jokers Bangkok Titans Summer Saigon Jokers Bangkok Titans 2017 Spring GIGABYTE Marines Ascension Gaming Summer GIGABYTE Marines Young GenerationAfter Vietnam separated 2018 Spring Ascension Gaming Kuala Lumpur Hunters
Record Top-performing TeamWinnerRunner-Up Taipei Assassins5 ahq e-Sports Club1 Singapore Sentinels 3 Taipei Snipers 1After Taiwan-Hong Kong-Macau separated Saigon Jokers21 GIGABYTE Marines2 Bangkok Titans13 Saigon Fantastic Five1 Young Generation 1 Ascension Gaming1After Vietnam separated Ascension Gaming1 Kuala Lumpur Hunters 1
References
External links Official website