With the All-Stars event being discontinued, the Season Kickoff has been implemented to replace it and showcase players from around the world in a 2-day event running on January 10-11, 2023.
All-Stars was an event that brought people’s favorite League of Legends pros to one place to duke it out in some fun showmatches.
A player vote got people involved, allowing LoL fans to choose their favorite players to represent their region in a fairly low stakes tournament that maintained hype for the upcoming pro season.
Although All-Stars isn’t charted for a return, a replacement that’s being referred to as the Season Kickoff has been announced.
All-Star event replaced by LoL Season Kickoff
Previously, the All-Star event would take the most-voted for pro players from regions all around the world to compete in a series of show matches. It wasn’t an international the scale of something like MSI or Worlds, and was more about an appreciation for the esport rather than being a landmark event.
All-Star went dark after 2020, taking an international event off the League of Legends callendar. And, while it’s not coming back, it’s being replaced by the Season Kickoff to start 2023.
Nine different regions will be hosting their very own livestreamed events to showcase the best players their region has to offer.
With the start of a new year comes a blank canvas, a fresh start for us all, from the World Champions to those climbing ranked. With this journey in mind, LoL Esports is excited to announce a brand new competitive event: Season Kickoff!Read more here: https://t.co/jfFvImlxQB pic.twitter.com/dDFWdmgi6s
— LoL Esports (@lolesports) December 8, 2022
The Season Kickoff will take place on January 10-11, making it a two day event that preludes the upcoming 2023 Season. The various broadcasted events will be “giving fans a first look at Season 2023 on the Rift, and a peek at what’s in store for LoL Esports.”
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A lot has changed in the League of Legends meta since Worlds 2022, and it’s fair to expect that pro play will look different as well.
Additionally, the replacement of the All-Star event was explained in the announcement. “While All-Stars has provided players and fans with countless special moments over the years, the current calendar can be challenging for many All-Star players.”
The announcement further explained how this new event would “provide a much-deserved break for pro players” and that the event will supplement regional LoL competitions like the LPL’s Demacia Cup or the LCS’s Lock-In Tournament.
Teams are made up of a mix of the most popular pros within the region, making teams a mish-mash of people’s favorite players across all teams. This Season Kickoff also has some special rules that’ll really spice up the competition.
While the drafting methods will vary from region to region, a few rules will remain the same across all games played.
- Best of 3 format (aside from the LPL which will have Best of 1s)
- No champion bans
- No repeat champions (with the LPL being an exception due to number of games played)
And now, we’ve got the full schedule locked in for when every region will be playing.
Tuesday January 10, 2023
- 1-5AM PT/9AM-1PM GMT: LCK
- 5-8AM PT/1-4PM GMT: VCS
- 8-11AM PT/4-7PM GMT: CBLOL
- 11AM-2PM/7-10PM: LCS
- 2-9PM PT/10PM-5AM GMT: Rebroadcasts
Wednesday January 11, 2023
- 11PM-2AM PT/7-10AM GMT: LJL
- 2-5AM PT/10AM-1PM GMT: LPL
- 5-8AM PT/1-4PM GMT: PCS
- 8-11AM PT/4-7PM GMT: LEC
- 11AM-2PM/7-10PM GMT: LLA
- 2-8PM PT/10PM-4AM: Rebroadcasts