The 2026 LEC season is barely underway, but Riot has already confirmed how it plans to recognise the region’s top talent this year.
The League of Legends EMEA Championship will roll out a broader awards programme across Spring and Summer, while keeping LEC Versus involved. The first accolade of the year will be handed out at the LEC Versus Finals on March 1, when the Finals MVP is crowned on stage.
From there, regular-season standouts and rising stars will have multiple opportunities to be recognized throughout the year.
Finals MVP Opens 2026 LEC Awards Calendar
The first award of 2026 will go to the standout performer in the LEC Versus Finals. Unlike regular-season honours, the Finals MVP is decided immediately after the championship match, with voting taking place once the Nexus falls.
A smaller expert panel — made up of journalists, casters, broadcast partners, co-streamers and analysts — will decide the winner. Only players from the victorious team are eligible.
Riot has confirmed that a Finals MVP will also be awarded at the end of both the Spring and Summer Split playoffs.
Season MVP Returns for Spring and Summer
The bulk of the awards calendar sits within Spring and Summer, where longer regular seasons allow for deeper evaluation.
The Season MVP will be awarded once per split, recognising the most outstanding player across the regular season. Voting takes place before playoffs begin, with panel members selecting their top three candidates. The player with the most votes wins.
The voting panel includes pro players, team staff, journalists, broadcast partners and on-air talent. To qualify, players must have appeared in at least six regular-season games.
Alongside MVP, the All-Pro teams will once again spotlight elite performers in each role. Voters will select their top three players per position, creating three full All-Pro line-ups per split. The Team 1 line-up — composed of the highest voted players in each role — will be revealed during the playoffs.
There will be no All-Pro or Season MVP awards during LEC Versus. Riot cited the shortened regular season between the winter break and First Stand as the reason, arguing that players have fewer opportunities to build a complete case compared with Spring and Summer.
Who Is Eligible for LEC Rookie of the Year?
At the conclusion of the Summer Split, the LEC will crown its 2026 Rookie of the Year.
Eligibility rules are strict. Players must:
- Be active in the LEC at the time of voting
- Compete in at least two of the three splits in 2026
- Play at least 50% of scheduled games in each eligible split
There are further restrictions. A player can only participate in one Rookie vote in their career, cannot have been eligible in another region’s Rookie vote, and must not have competed in more than four splits overall.
Riot also clarified that rookies who debut in Summer 2026 will not be eligible this year, as the vote takes place immediately after Summer concludes. The league believes judging a player on a single split would be unfair compared with year-long competitors.