Immortals Could Lose LCS Slot After Historically Bad Run. Immortals is at risk of losing their franchise slot in the LCS after their fourth consecutive bottom-two finish. After acquiring OpTic’s slot in 2020, Immortals have never fielded a consistently competitive roster. Across the eight splits they have spent in the LCS since 2020, they have finished in the bottom two in five of them. However, they did not finish higher than fifth in the three splits where they avoided a 9th/10 finish.
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Immortals finished the Summer 2023 split in 10th place, despite posting a promising 2-1 record in Week 1. Soon after, fans began to realize that Immortals had hit a very crucial milestone. In 2018, Riot Games implemented a rule that gave them the right to revoke a team’s franchise slot if they finished bottom two five times in an eight-split (four-year) period. This stipulation was implemented to prevent teams from fielding uncompetitive rosters in a league without relegation. While no LCS team has ever faced expulsion, it’s not an unprecedented decision. In 2019, Riot removed Vaevictis Esports from the Russian LCL after the team fielded a roster that went 0-28 on the year.
Are Immortals Leaving The LCS?
First time ever Riot could potentially invoke their franchise rule that allows them to remove a orgs slot (last almost happened w/ CLG)
IMT ever since they joined haven't seemed interested in fielding competitive rosters. Seems like they wanted to just flip the spot for profit pic.twitter.com/GgOTERtfSr
— LS (@LSXYZ9) July 21, 2023
At the time of writing, neither the LCS nor Riot Games have made any indication that Immortals’ LCS slot is in immediate danger. However, there is likely a Ja Morant situation going on here. Much like how the NBA did not want to derail the NBA Finals by announcing Ja Morant’s suspension, Riot likely wants to avoid derailing the LCS playoffs by announcing the expulsion of Immortals. If the decision is made, it will likely come later this year. However, despite the precedent and Immortals’ continued poor performances, there may be another factor that saves the team.
LCS cornerstone TSM announced earlier this year that they would be selling their slot. This was being done in order to seek a move to Europe, China, or South Korea. It’s likely that Riot would not want to have two franchise slots up for sale at the same time. MrBeast has indicated his desire to start a League of Legends team. However, it’s unclear how strong the market is beyond the YouTuber. If TSM does leave this year, Immortals will likely be placed on probation. If they continue to underperform through 2024, then Riot will likely revoke their franchise slot. That said, there is every chance Riot looks to make an example of Immortals as they look for ways to revamp the ailing league. This could become a major storyline of the offseason so be sure to follow HotNewHipHop for all the latest League of Legends news.
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