The China-based League of Legends Pro League has announced they will continue participating in matches – only this time, it’s different. They have scheduled their online scrims league to take place on Feb. 26 in place of the regular LPL competition.
In a Twitter post, the LPL mentioned the hiatus of the scheduled matches that were originally meant to take place in mid-January. Because of the coronavirus outbreak, Riot Games postponed these matches to ensure the safety of all players, coaches, and staff involved. Because the LPL teams are not in any competitive games at the moment, Riot scheduled them to play in scrims.
We want to give a quick thank you everyone for the support when we announced our temporary hiatus for the LPL.
We will be hosting an online scrims league starting the 26th. Our primary concern is still keeping everyone safe but we are expecting some great entertaining matches!— LPL (@lplenglish) February 19, 2020
Teams taking part
The teams that will broadcast their practice games include Top Esports, JD Gaming, Suning Gaming, Victory Five, and eStar Gaming. According to ESPN, the matches will take place over four days, with two matches each day.
The LPL will start to broadcast scrims online. In the first week these following teams decided to join: TES、JDG、SN、V5、ES. pic.twitter.com/gPrnpbkOmo
— Ran (@ran_lpl) February 19, 2020
Play-by-play LPL Shoutcaster Jake “Hysterics” Osypenko has also shared that they are unsure whether they will broadcast the games on the official LPL stream. Some fans believe they will play at home, where ping might pose an issue. Hysterics answered, “Across China ping shouldn’t be higher than 80MS.”
The postponed LPL games
The LPL has been on hiatus due to the coronavirus for some time. They have been cautious about what to do next, as health and safety is the priority of all teams. Riot Games even transferred the China-based LPL casters to their home countries to keep them safe. There is no word as of yet on when the official games will come back, but it is something many people are keeping their eyes on. This delay concerns many fans, as it could affect the LPL teams that will have a chance to take part in the MSI competitions.
In the meantime, many will no doubt be excited to see their favorite LPL players back on the rift. Although these scrims are practice games, it’s the most they can do right now, given the circumstances.
