Riot Launches World Star Challengers Invitational 2026, a First Global Event for Tier 2 League of Legends Teams

Riot Games and TJ Sports have announced the World Star Challengers Invitational (WSCI) 2026, a new international League of Legends tournament that will bring together, for the first time, 16 Tier 2 teams from Asia, Europe, and the Americas.

In the past, the Tier 2 scene has remained confined to regional boundaries, and this event is intended to give up-and-coming players the opportunity to play against teams from outside their home regions.

WSCI 2026 will take place from September 20 to October 2, the final being on October 2. Riot used the first event as a pilot to establish what the international Tier 2 competition should look like in the long term.

WSCI 2026 Format and Team Qualification

The five regions, China, Korea, APAC, the Americas, and EMEA, will each have three teams advancing via their individual qualification processes, and the 15 squads thus formed will be joined by the Asia Masters Champion to make up the field of 16 teams.

The teams are divided into three seeding pools, with rules in place to ensure that the draw remains balanced: teams from pools 1 and 2 that belong to the same region must not be placed in the same group, and no group can contain more than two teams from any one region.

The group stage takes place from 20 to 25 September, with four groups consisting of four teams each taking part in a double round-robin format.

Each match is a best-of-one, so there are 48 matches in total spread over six match days, with eight matches each day. The two teams at the top of each group progress to the championship bracket.

From September 27th to October 2nd, the eight teams still in the competition take part in a single-elimination bracket, each of the series, whether in the quarterfinals, semifinals or the final, being played to a best-of-five series.

The champion is determined over seven series, the WSCI 2026 Final taking place on October 2, 2026.

Why Riot Is Launching WSCI 2026 and How to Watch

Tier 2 has now become an important element of the LoL Esports pipeline, as it is a stage where players are developing and teams are formed around potential future stars.

Riot believes that offering these teams international competition could further advance this development by giving the players exposure to different styles, strategies, and pressure that they would not otherwise experience at home.

Instead of setting up the event from scratch, Riot teamed up with TJ Sports in order to expand the existing Asia Masters framework and included teams from Korea, EMEA, China, APAC, and the Americas, together with the Asia Masters Champion.

Fans can follow the event through regional Tier 2 social channels, with regional co-streamers providing coverage to viewers around the world.

There is no single central broadcast channel listed, so WSCI 2026 will take place from 20 September to 2 October 2026 and will be held as a pilot event.

According to Riot and TJ Sports, this initial edition of the event will assist in working out what an international Tier 2 competition should be like in the long term and how it can best support emerging teams.

However, details have not yet been given regarding the prize pool, the complete list of the qualifying teams, and whether or not the event will take place in future years. The return in future years has not been detailed.