Riot Games have today announced some new details for the 2016 League of Legends Oceanic Pro League, highlighting changes to the tournament format alongside the announcement of the Grand Final venue. The season kicks off on January 18th from 6pm AEST, running for a total of 10 weeks for the first split.
Broadcast every Monday, Wednesday and Friday night on twitch.tv/RiotGamesOceania, the tournament will shift to a best of three format over 2015’s best of one format. The two feeder leagues, the Oceanic Challenger Series (OCS) and Oceanic Open Ladder (OOL), have also seen changes, now taking the form of round robin tournaments.
“The new OPL structure provides the foundations to support the growth of our teams into strong clubs with passionate supporters,” says Daniel Ringland, esports Manager at Riot Games Oceania. “The changes to the OCS and OOL create greater opportunities for the next generation of pro players, ensuring cleaner transition to top-level play and raising the skill ceiling of our leagues.”
You can view the full breakdown of how these leagues will interact in 2016 below, in an infographic created by Riot Oceania.
The OPL Grand Final date and location was also announced, coming to Queensland for the first time. Slated for August 13, 2016, the finals will take place at the Courier-Mail Piazza in Brisbane. Here, the top two teams of the OPL’s split 2 will battle it out in a best of five series, with the winner advancing to the International Wild Card Qualifier and a shot at Worlds 2016.
For more on the OPL and upcoming schedules, check out the League of Legends Oceania hub right here.