League of Legends: Pacific Championship Series 2024 kicks off on 19 January as Karsa and SwordArt return

The Taiwanese stars will be making their return to the Pacific Championship Series after spending the past few years competing in other regions.

Anna Bernardo
·Contributor
·4 min read
Both Karsa and SwordArt are coming back after playing for the LPL and the LCS. (Photo: Riot Games, CBTC Flying Oyster)
Both Karsa and SwordArt are coming back after playing for the LPL and the LCS. (Photo: Riot Games, CBTC Flying Oyster)

The League of Legends (LoL) Pacific Championship Series (PCS) Season 2024 is set to kick off soon on 19 January. There will be big changes this year, as the entire PCS ecosystem has expanded with the top teams from the LoL Circuit Oceania (LCO) and the LoL Japan League (LJL) joining the Playoffs.

The Spring Split kicks off on January 19, with eight teams from Southeast Asia, Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Macau competing to advance to the Playoffs. From the split, only the top six teams will move on to the Playoffs.

Simultaneously, the LJL and LCO will continue their own Spring Splits, with the top three teams from LJL and the top two teams from LCO progressing to the PCS Playoffs.

Karsa and Swordart return to the PCS

LoL pros Hung “Karsa” Hao-Hsuan and Hu "SwordArt" Shuo-Chieh will also be returning. Karsa is returning after six years in the LPL, where he played with renowned teams like Royal Never Give Up (RNG), Top Esports, Victory Five, and recently, Worlds 2023 runner-up Weibo Gaming.

Meanwhile, SwordArt is coming back to the league after a year in the LoL Championship Series (LCS) under TSM and four years in the LPL.

Both Karsa and SwordArt will be playing for CBTC Flying Oyster as the team’s Jungler and Support, respectively.

Competition Format Changes

There will also be changes to the competition format this year, given that both PSG Academy and Nate9527, teams that previously won the Pacific Challengers League last season, won’t join the League.

So, with only eight teams this year, there will be some format changes. For one, the regular season will be divided into two phases:

  • The first phase will involve a single round-robin format.

  • The subsequent phase will witness teams categorized into two groups based on their results from the first phase. These teams will then engage in another Single Round Robin, determining their seedings for the PCS Playoffs.

  • All matches will be best-of-three (BO3).

This split will also introduce a trial 1v1 Showdown, allowing teams to compete for the privilege of selecting their side for Game 1 in their upcoming match.

Here are the PCS teams for the Spring Split 2024:

Eight teams are playing at the PCS Spring Split, where the top 6 teams will be moving forward to the Playoffs. (Photo: Riot Games)
Eight teams are playing at the PCS Spring Split, where the top 6 teams will be moving forward to the Playoffs. (Photo: Riot Games)

Beyond Gaming (Taiwan):

  • Shen "Driver" Tsung-Hua (Top)

  • Huang "Husha" Tzu-Wei (Jungler)

  • Chien "1116" Mao-An (Mid)

  • Chen "Feng" Chun-Feng (Bottom)

  • Lin "s1aytrue" Sheng-Po (Support)

  • Yin "Eason" Yi-Shen (Support Sub)

Deep Cross Gaming (Taiwan):

  • Fan "Taco" Zhao-Fu (Top)

  • Wu "665" Yi-Han (Jungler)

  • Chang "Cryscata" Che-Lin (Mid)

  • Hsieh "Tide" Yu-Che (Bottom)

  • Kuo "Orca" Cheng-Han (Support)

CBTC Flying Oyster (Taiwan):

  • Hsu "Rest" Shih-Chieh (Top)

  • Hung "Karsa" Hao-Hsuan (Jungler)

  • Kim "Gori" Tae-woo (Mid)

  • Chao "Shunn" Ying-Shun (Bottom)

  • Hu "SwordArt" Shuo-Chieh (Support)

Frank Esports (HongKong):

  • Tsang "Holo" Dek-lam (Top)

  • Chan "KennyChan" Chi-yung (Jungler)

  • Jason "Pretender" Ng (Mid)

  • Wong "MnM" Ka-chun (Bottom)

  • Ling "Kaiwing" Kai-wing (Support)

Hell Pigs (Taiwan):

  • Ke "ICU" Wen-Hong (Top)

  • Tseng "Kazmma" Jing-Hui (Jungler)

  • Hsu "ShengBai" Chia-Chun (Mid)

  • Wang "GodJJ" Yung-Chieh (Bottom)

  • Chen "Prage" Chung-En (Bottom)

  • Ding "Arding" Yi (Support)

J Team (Taiwan):

  • Su "Hanabi" Chia-Hsiang (Top)

  • Hsiao "Kongyue" Jen-Tso (Jungler)

  • Lu "Minji" Po-Wei (Mid)

  • Tsou "Wako" Wei-Yang (Bottom)

  • Liang "Enso" En-Shuo (Support)

PSG Talon (Hong Kong):

  • Huang "Azhi" Shang-chih (Top)

  • Yu "JunJia" Chun-chia (Jungle)

  • Huang "Maple" Yi-tang (Mid)

  • Lu "Betty" Yu-hung (Bottom)

  • Lin "Woody" Hung-yu (Support)

  • Guo "HongSuo" Bei-yi (Mid, Substitute)

West Point Esports (Philippines):

  • Reven "Relhia" Lhi Aloit (Top)

  • Yang "RenYe" Yu-jen (Jungler)

  • Zhang "NuL1" Ji-ya (Mid)

  • Cherv Zildjan "Agrona" Dorado (Mid)

  • Pan "Cheng9" Yang-Cheng (Bottom)

  • Cha "Cha" Shao-jun (Support)

PCS Spring Split: Week One Schedule (GMT+8, Singapore Time):

  • 19 January 19 (Friday): 7:30 PM - Deep Cross Gaming G vs WP

  • 20 January (Saturday): 7:30 PM PSG vs HPS

  • 21 January (Sunday): 7:30 PM CFO vs DCG

Where can I watch and what languages are available?

Fans can watch all the action through official PCS Twitch and Youtube channels. Matches will be broadcast in English, Mandarin, and Cantonese. Japanese language broadcast will also be available during the Playoffs.

For more info on teams, schedules, and more, check out https://www.facebook.com/lolpacific and https://twitter.com/lolesportspcs.

Anna is a freelance writer and photographer. She is a gamer who loves RPGs and platformers, and is a League of Legends geek. She's also a food enthusiast who loves a good cup of black coffee.

For more esports news updates, visit https://yhoo.it/YahooEsportsSEA and check out Yahoo Esports Southeast Asia’s Facebook page and Twitter, as well as our Gaming channel on YouTube.