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Quick, go pro: League of Legends’ 2014 Spring Promotion Qualifiers in sight

League of Legends

In everyday life, a freeze typically precedes a cha-cha slide. In League of Legends, a ladder freeze indicates that a handful of top amateurs are due to be plucked from the game and made to fight in the 2014 Spring Promotion Qualifiers. Ultimately, a freeze means that a team is going to enter the LCS for the first time – a new set of characters to join professional LoL’s already colourful cast.

The next ladder freezes will occur on October 30th at noon (PST for NA, CEST for EUW and EUNE). But the competition will be furious even before the hand of Riot reaches down to select the lucky few.

The 32 teams for the first qualifiers have already been chosen. The fight among Challenger Tier Ranked 5s teams for spots in the second will begin this Saturday, October 19 at 6 AM PST in Europe and 3 PM PST in North America. Twelve days later, the top 16 eligible Challenger teams on NA and the top eight from EUW and EUNE will earn their place in the secondSpring Promotion Qualifiers.

There, teams are seeded into bracket according to their ladder position. North America’s 16 will play each other; in Europe, players will compete with teams from the opposing server’s eight. Winners of this round are placed into two round robin pools. Teams play everyone in their pool once, and the two highest scorers advance to the semifinals.

After that, the winning teams from opposing pools play a last best of three series, and the two winning teams from each region qualify for the 2014 Spring Promotion Tournament. The tournament will be streamed live on Twitch, produced by routine filmers of this sort of thing WellPlayed Productions.

It’s a long shot – but for a handful of players, it’ll mean the career in LoL they’ve presumably been wanting. What qualities would you like to see in a new breed of MOBA pros?