2026 EMEA Masters Winter will feature 36 ERL teams

The best two that progress will earn spots at the Esports World Cup Qualifier tournament where LEC squads are featured.

It's almost time for the next big EMEA ERL tournament to take place in the world of competitive League of Legends, as the EMEA Masters Winter event is scheduled to commence from March 9. With this coming up, Riot Games has shared a ton of information about what to expect from it.

For one, it will be an expanded event, one where 36 ERL teams are present and hunting for one of two finale spots that will mean both teams can compete in the Esports World Cup Qualifier event that follows. The extended format will mean that the EMEA Masters Spring tournament will be scaled back however.

The tournament will be split across three key stages that begins with a Champions Round, which acts somewhat like a qualifier. Here, we can expect the 8 best ERL teams to be face off, with the four that progress from this portion earning direct spots in the Playoffs bracket that concludes the tournament. The losing four will move to the group stage where the remaining 28 teams wait and which will offer a comprehensive portion of action that will whittle down the 32 featured squads to simply eight survivors. The eight qualified teams will join the four former Champions Round qualified teams to compete in the 12-team playoffs that offers a double-elimination format and will eventually determine the two finalist teams who will compete to lift the trophy, even if both finalists will earn a spot at the Esports World Cup Qualifier.

Speaking about the Esports World Cup Qualifier, this event will bring the two EMEA Masters Winter finalists and pit them against the 10 LEC teams, all to determine which squads from the region will progress to the Saudi Arabian-based festival in the summer.

It should be said that LEC Academy teams can compete in the EMEA Masters Winter event but if they make it that far, they are not eligible for the EWC Qualifier, meaning in this instance, the team who earns one of the EWC Qualifier spots may not actually be a finalist from the EMEA Masters Winter.

Are you looking forward to this event?