2026 CBLOL season
| 2026 CBLOL season | |
|---|---|
| League | CBLOL |
| Sport | League of Legends |
| Duration |
|
| Teams | 8 |
| CBLOL Cup | |
| Champions | LOUD |
| Runners-up | RED Canids Kalunga |
| Season MVP | Song "Bull" Seon-gyu (LOUD) |
| Split 1 | |
| Split 2 | |
The 2026 CBLOL season is the upcoming 14th season of the Campeonato Brasileiro de League of Legends (CBLOL), a Brazilian professional esports league for the video game League of Legends. It will be the first season after the league's reinstatement following the discontinuation of the League of Legends Championship of The Americas (LTA), which merged the CBLOL with the League Championship Series (LCS), which was also reinstated, and the Liga Latinoamérica (LLA) in 2025.[1]
It will also be first CBLOL season under the new three-split structure and competitive calendar introduced by the game's developer Riot Games during the 2025 competitive season.[2] The season will begin on 17 January.
Background
The CBLOL initially ceased following Riot Games' announcement on 11 June 2024 in a blog post titled "LoL Esports: Building Towards A Brighter Future" that the CBLOL, LCS and LLA would plan to merge into a Pan-American league that would begin play in 2025,[3] which would eventually be known as the League of Legends Championship of The Americas or LTA. The new merged league, which consisted of two conferences (North and South), had its first season in 2025, but was met with criticism on branding, competitive gaps between the Northern and Southern teams, and split formats. As a result, the new league struggled in viewership numbers. According to Esports Charts, all three splits of LTA South garnered an average of 244,200 peak viewers - significantly lower than the two splits of the 2024 CBLOL season, which garnered a peak viewership average of 395,700. Furthermore, Splits 1 & 2 of the latter season had 459,846 and 331,713 peak viewers respectively - with each LTA South split unable to reach 300,000 at minimum.[4]
Aside from viewership declines, cross-conference quarterfinals matchups from the LTA's first split saw all North Conference teams won their best-of-three series against the South Conference in an 8-1 game record, with Isurus (then known as Isurus Estral) being the only Southern team to take a game in their series against Team Liquid. Due to this, several fans have criticized the competitive gap between teams from the North and the South.[5] However, this would be improved upon in the final split, with RED Canids beating Shopify Rebellion in Round 1 of the LTA Playoffs, and Vivo Keyd Stars beating 100 Thieves in the Lower Bracket Final of the said phase - all in best-of-five series.
During the maiden LTA Championship Finals between FlyQuest of the North Conference (now LCS) and Vivo Keyd Stars of the South Conference (now CBLOL), Riot Games announced that the LCS and CBLOL would return as independent leagues beginning with the 2026 competitive season.[1]
League changes
Splits
On 5 November 2025, the CBLOL announced that the first split would be known as the CBLOL Cup, similar to the LCK Cup of the League of Legends Champions Korea. The next two splits will be respectively known as Splits 1 and 2.[6]
Teams
Starting in 2026, the CBLOL will have one guest team similar to the lone LTA season, where the guest team will be subject to promotion and relegation against teams from Tier 2 leagues (Circuito Desafiante and Liga Regional Sur).[7] Before the lone LTA season in 2025, it was announced that INTZ, KaBuM! Esports, Liberty, and Los Grandes, four teams from the most recent CBLOL season, would leave the league following the 2024 season. KabuM! Esports and Los Grandes would be invited to compete in the second-tier Circuito Desafiante beginning in 2025.
Two team changes occurred heading into the 2026 season. Leviatán, who was selected as a partner team in the former LTA South from the former LLA, was confirmed to remain as a partner team for the 2026 CBLOL season, marking their first appearance in the league.[7] Furthermore, Isurus would win the LTA South promotion and relegation tournament to advance to its first CBLOL season in 2026. However, Isurus would withdraw on 4 December, citing challenges relating from the transition from LTA to CBLOL and the lack of a chance for the team to compete in global events.[8] On 16 December, Riot Games announced that Los Grandes would take the guest spot previously held by Isurus, effectively being promoted from the Circuito Desafiante; KaBuM! IDL (a partnership between KaBuM! and Ilha das Lendas) were initially selected to take over the guest spot, but the organization declined the offer, instead focusing on the tier 2 scene.[9]
Formats
Both Splits 2 and 3 (named Splits 1 and 2) will follow the same format, similar to the League of Legends EMEA Championship (LEC) and the League Championship Series (LCS).[10] All three splits will also have a similar playoff format, mirroring that of the 2024 LCS Summer Split playoffs.
International tournament slots
The CBLOL will be allocated one team for each international tournament (First Stand Tournament, Mid-Season Invitational, League of Legends World Championship). This was met by criticisms from fans, citing a low number of spots for the region given the CBLOL teams' performance in the LTA Playoffs against LCS teams, and played a role in Isurus withdrawing prior to the start of the 2026 season.[8]
CBLOL Cup
Format
The CBLOL Cup will feature eight (8) teams competing in a single-round robin tournament where all matches will be played in best-of-ones. The top four (4) teams will qualify directly for the playoffs, while the bottom four (4) teams will compete in the play-in tournament. In the play-in phase, the format will mirror that of the NBA play-in tournament. The fifth and sixth ranked teams will compete for the fifth playoff seed, while the seventh and eighth ranked teams face off against one another with the loser being eliminated - all of which will be best-of-threes. The winner of the 7/8 match and the loser of the 5/6 match will vie for the sixth and final playoff seed in a best-of-five series.
In the playoffs, the top two (2) ranked teams begin the second round, with the top-ranked team being able to choose their opponents. All remaining teams start in the first round. The playoffs is a Double-elimination tournament bracket with an extended lower bracket and a mix of best-of-three and best-of-five matches, with the winner of the CBLOL Cup qualifying to represent the league as its lone representative at the 2026 First Stand Tournament, which will be held in Brazil.[6]
Regular season
Venue: Riot Games Arena, São Paulo, Brazil
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | L | PCT | Qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Los Grandes | 7 | 6 | 1 | .857 | Playoffs |
| 2 | RED Canids Kalunga | 7 | 5 | 2 | .714 | |
| 3 | FURIA | 7 | 5 | 2 | .714 | |
| 4 | LOUD | 7 | 3 | 4 | .429 | |
| 5 | Vivo Keyd Stars | 7 | 3 | 4 | .429 | Play-In 5th Seed Playoff |
| 6 | paiN Gaming | 7 | 2 | 5 | .286 | |
| 7 | Fluxo w7m | 7 | 2 | 5 | .286 | Play-In 6th Seed Playoff |
| 8 | Leviatán | 7 | 2 | 5 | .286 |
Play-ins
| Round 1 | 6th Seed Playoff | Final seeds | |||||||||||
| 2 February | |||||||||||||
| 6 | paIN Gaming | 1 | Vivo Keyd Stars | No. 5 | |||||||||
| 5 | Vivo Keyd Stars | 2 | 3 February | Leviatán | No. 6 | ||||||||
| 6 | paIN Gaming | 1 | |||||||||||
| 2 February | 8 | Leviatán | 3 | ||||||||||
| 8 | Leviatán | 2 | |||||||||||
| 7 | Fluxo w7m | 0 | |||||||||||
Source: LoL Esports
Playoffs
Venue: Riot Games Arena, São Paulo, Brazil
| Round 1 | Round 2 | Round 3 | Final | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 8 February | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| 7 February | Los Grandes | 1 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| LOUD | 2 | LOUD | 2 | 21 February | |||||||||||||||||||
| Vivo Keyd Stars | 0 | LOUD | 3 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 8 February | RED Canids Kalunga | 1 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| 7 February | RED Canids Kalunga | 2 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| FURIA | 2 | FURIA | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 1 March | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Leviatán | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| LOUD | 3 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| RED Canids Kalunga | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Lower round 1 | Lower round 2 | Lower round 3 | Lower final | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 28 February | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| 22 February | RED Canids Kalunga | 3 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| 15 February | Los Grandes | 1 | FURIA | 1 | |||||||||||||||||||
| 14 February | FURIA | 3 | FURIA | 3 | |||||||||||||||||||
| Vivo Keyd Stars | 1 | Leviatán | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Leviatán | 3 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Source: LoL Esports
Split 1
Format
Split 1 will feature eight (8) teams competing in a single-round robin tournament where all matches will be played in best-of-threes. The top six (6) teams will advance to the playoffs. The playoffs will mirror the CBLOL Cup playoff format, and similarly, the top two (2) ranked teams will receive a bye to the second round, with the top-ranked team choosing their opponents. The winner of Split 1 will qualify for the 2026 Mid-Season Invitational.[10] It is currently unclear if a CBLOL team wins the 2026 First Stand Tournament, as the region is only allotted one spot for each international tournament.
Regular season
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | L | PCT | Qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Fluxo w7m | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | Playoffs |
| 2 | FURIA | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | |
| 3 | Leviatán | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | |
| 4 | Los Grandes | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | |
| 5 | LOUD | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | |
| 6 | paiN Gaming | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | |
| 7 | RED Canids Kalunga | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | Eliminated |
| 8 | Vivo Keyd Stars | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
Split 2
Format
The same eight (8) teams will compete in Split 2 in a single-round robin tournament where all matches will be played in best-of-threes. The top six (6) teams will advance to the playoffs, applying the same format and team seeding principles as Split 1. All matches will be played in best-of-fives, with the winner of Split 2 securing qualification for the 2026 League of Legends World Championship. If a CBLOL team finishes as a finalist at the 2026 Mid-Season Invitational, a fourth slot will be unlocked for the league.[10]
Regular season
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | L | PCT | Qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Fluxo w7m | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | Playoffs |
| 2 | FURIA | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | |
| 3 | Leviatán | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | |
| 4 | Los Grandes | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | |
| 5 | LOUD | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | |
| 6 | paiN Gaming | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | |
| 7 | RED Canids Kalunga | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | Eliminated |
| 8 | Vivo Keyd Stars | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
References
- ^ a b Ciocchetti, Cecilia (28 September 2025). "Riot bids farewell to the LTA as LCS and CBLOL return in 2026". Esports Insider. Retrieved 3 October 2025.
- ^ "LoL Esports: Building Towards A Brighter Future". lolesports.com. Retrieved 3 October 2025.
- ^ Wilson, Jason (11 June 2024). "Riot Games rolls out consolidation plan, new spring event for League of Legends esports". Sports Business Journal. Retrieved 3 October 2025.
- ^ Murko, Dmytro (30 September 2025). "LTA 2025: Learning from the hurdles of a Pan-American league merge". Esports Charts. Retrieved 3 October 2025.
- ^ "LoL: The LTA South will not be represented at the First stand". Sheep Esports. 17 February 2025. Retrieved 3 October 2025.
- ^ a b Mansur, Gabriel (5 November 2025). "LoL - CBLOL: temporada de 2026 terá mais jogos e nova Copa CBLOL; conheça o formato". Sheep Esports (in Portuguese). Retrieved 6 November 2025.
- ^ a b "LCS and CBLOL Return!". LoL Esports. Retrieved 4 October 2025.
- ^ a b Xu, Davide (4 December 2025). "Isurus announces exit from CBLOL". Esports Insider. Retrieved 16 December 2025.
- ^ Teixeira, Ian (2025-12-16). "CBLOL 2026: Baiano revela convite da Riot para KaBuM! IDL integrar o Tier 1 e explica motivos da recusa". Mais Esports (in Brazilian Portuguese). Retrieved 2026-01-06.
- ^ a b c "Tudo sobre o CBLOL 2026". LoL Esports (in Portuguese). 5 November 2025. Retrieved 6 November 2025.