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League of Legends Japan League

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League of Legends Japan League
GameLeague of Legends
First season2014
Owner(s)Riot Games Japan
PlayBrain
Motto"Reforge as One"
No. of teams12–16 (regular season)
6 (LJL Finals)
CountriesJapan
Most recent
champion(s)		Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks Gaming (2nd title)
Most titlesDetonatioN FocusMe (16 titles)
QualificationFranchise partnership(2019–2024)[1]
Open qualifiers (2025–present)
TV partner(s)Twitch
Promotion toLeague of Legends Championship Pacific (2025–present)
Official websitejp.lolesports.com Edit this at Wikidata

The League of Legends Japan League (LJL) is the top level of professional League of Legends competition in Japan.[2][3][4] The league franchised prior to start of the 2019 season and had eight teams under partnership (which became six in 2024).[1]

Before 2024, the spring and summer champions qualified for the Mid-Season Invitational and World Championship respectively.[5] However, in 2024, the top three teams from each LJL split were seeded into the Pacific Championship Series (PCS) playoffs and competed with other PCS teams for a chance to represent the larger region at international events; LJL teams would no longer qualify directly to MSI and Worlds. Since 2025, the LJL is a second division to the League of Legends Championship Pacific (LCP).

Each annual season of play is divided into three splits, Forge, Storm and Ignite, which then conclude a with playoff tournament known as the LJL Finals. The winner of the LJL Finals qualifies for the LCP Promotion Tournament for the opportunity to qualify for the Asia-Pacific tier one league.

Format

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Regular Season

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Open Qualifiers

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  • Prior to each split, up to sixty-four teams participate in open qualifiers
  • Depending on the number of teams entered, up to eight groups of eight are held, single round robin best-of-ones
  • The top sixteen teams compete in a single elimination bracket, with all matches being best-of-threes
    • Depending on how many spots need to be filled, loser's playoffs will be held after the qualifying round, also best-of-threes, to determine the remaining spots

Forge

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  • The best teams from the prior season still existing (plus the remaining open qualifier teams) participate in a sixteen-team Swiss stage
    • All rounds in the Swiss stage are best-of-ones, with the prior season's best teams seeded ahead of the open qualifier teams
  • The best eight teams advance to the playoffs, with the quarter-finals and semi-finals being best-of-threes and final being a best of five

Storm

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  • Top eight teams from open qualifiers plus top 4 from the Forge split participate in a "Storm Swiss" stage, consisting of best-of-ones
    • After the second round, the best 1-1 team is placed into the 2-0 group, with the worst 1-1 team being placed in the 0-2 group
  • The best six teams (all teams in the 2-0 group and winners of the 1-1 group) advance to the playoffs, with the quarter-finals and semi-finals being best-of-threes and final being a best of five
    • The winners of the 2-0 group earn a bye to the semi-finals

Ignite

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  • Top eight teams from open qualifiers plus top 4 from the Storm split participate in a "Bounty" stage, lasting 6 rounds and consisting of best-of-ones
    • Teams earn 10 points plus triple the number of wins of their opponent per win (maximum of 25 points) and 4 points per loss
    • After each round, the lowest-ranked teams choose their opponents for the next round
  • The best six teams advance to the playoffs, with the quarter-finals and semi-finals being best-of-threes and final being a best of five
    • The top 2 teams on points earn a bye to the semi-finals

LJL Finals

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  • The top six teams in championship points, earned from the regular season, participate in the LJL Finals
  • Winner qualifies for the League of Legends Championship Pacific Promotion Playoffs and has a chance of entering the LCP as a guest team.

Teams

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Notable

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As of 2025 season:

Team ID
AXIZ Crest AXC
Burning Core BC
Sengoku Gaming SG
V3 Esports V3

Former

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Past seasons

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Year Split 1st 2nd 3rd
2014 Winter Rascal Jester Ozone Rampage Okinawan Tigers
Spring DetonatioN FocusMe Rascal Jester Ozone Rampage
Summer DetonatioN FocusMe Ozone Rampage Rascal Jester
Grand Final DetonatioN FocusMe Rascal Jester
2015 Season 1 DetonatioN FocusMe DetonatioN RabbitFive 7th heaven
Season 2 Ozone Rampage DetonatioN FocusMe 7th heaven
Grand Final DetonatioN FocusMe Ozone Rampage
2016 Spring DetonatioN FocusMe Rampage Unsold Stuff Gaming
Summer Rampage DetonatioN FocusMe 7th heaven
2017 Spring Rampage DetonatioN FocusMe Unsold Stuff Gaming
Summer Rampage DetonatioN FocusMe 7th heaven
2018 Spring Pentagram DetonatioN FocusMe Unsold Stuff Gaming
Summer DetonatioN FocusMe Unsold Stuff Gaming PENTAGRAM
2019 Spring DetonatioN FocusMe Unsold Stuff Gaming Crest Gaming Act
Summer DetonatioN FocusMe V3 Esports Crest Gaming Act
2020 Spring DetonatioN FocusMe Sengoku Gaming V3 Esports
Summer V3 Esports DetonatioN FocusMe Sengoku Gaming
2021 Spring DetonatioN FocusMe V3 Esports Rascal Jester
Summer DetonatioN FocusMe Rascal Jester AXIZ
2022 Spring DetonatioN FocusMe Sengoku Gaming Rascal Jester
Summer DetonatioN FocusMe Sengoku Gaming Fukuoka SHG
2023 Spring DetonatioN FocusMe Sengoku Gaming FENNEL
Fukuoka SHG
Summer DetonatioN FocusMe Fukuoka SHG Sengoku Gaming
2024 Spring Fukuoka SHG DetonatioN FocusMe V3 Esports
Summer Fukuoka SHG DetonatioN FocusMe Sengoku Gaming
2025 Forge
Storm
Ignite
LJL Finals

Notes

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  1. ^ DetonatioN FocusMe's sister team.
  2. ^ Formerly Rampage,
  3. ^ a b Merged to AXIZ Crest in December 2023.
  4. ^ Announced as a partner team in the League of Legends Championship Pacific (LCP) in November 2024.
  5. ^ Announced as a guest team in the League of Legends Championship Pacific (LCP) in November 2024.

References

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  1. ^ a b Torres, Xander (25 December 2018). "LJL announces new franchises, schedule, and prize pool for 2019". VPEsports. Retrieved 30 January 2020.
  2. ^ Wong, Joe (18 January 2019). "Riot Games finds two new organising partners for League of Legends Japan League". Esports Insider. Retrieved 23 June 2019.
  3. ^ Takahashi, Dean (27 February 2019). "PlayBrain raises $1.9 million for League of Legends esports events in Japan". VentureBeat. Retrieved 23 June 2019.
  4. ^ Murray, Trent (27 February 2019). "Japanese Tournament Organizer PlayBrain Raises $1.9M Seed Round Led by BITKRAFT". The Esports Observer. Retrieved 23 June 2019.
  5. ^ Kim, Alice (10 August 2017). "League of Legends – Japan League". Esports.net.
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