League of Legends Japan League explained

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

Regular Season

Open Qualifiers

• 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

• 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

• 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

• 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

• 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

Notable

As of 2025 season:

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

Former

• 7th heaven
• DetonatioN RabbitFive
• Okinawan Tigers
• Pentagram
• SCARZ
• Unsold Stuff Gaming
• Rascal Jester
• FENNEL
• AXIZ
• Crest Gaming Act
• Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks Gaming
• DetonatioN FocusMe

Past seasons

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 and References

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