10 Years of LEC Finals: fan memories from 2015 and stories of 2025

A decade can pass quickly, yet in esports, 10 years can feel like several lifetimes. 

Rosters change, organisations rise and fall, and production values evolve from modest beginnings to global spectacles. The LEC Summer Finals, once a bold experiment in bringing Europe’s best teams together on a single stage, has now become an awaited tradition for thousands of League of Legends fans across the region. 

This year marks the tenth edition of the event, a milestone that invites both nostalgia and reflection. It is not only a celebration of the champions who lifted trophies but also of the fans who filled arenas, the crew who built stages and produced broadcasts, and the countless stories told along the way.

With the 2025 LEC Summer Split Finals in Madrid now in the rear-view mirror, how did this regional league mature into one of the pillars of global esports? All while still carrying traces of the raw energy that defined its earliest days.

In 2015, the European League of Legends scene gathered in Stockholm for its very first Summer Final. Debuting the name EU LCS at the time, the European scene was still young and had much to prove.

The event, held in the Hovet Arena, felt raw and experimental, yet deeply passionate. At the time, the ‘Kings of Europe’ Fnatic faced Origen in a five-game series that would set the tone for years to come. Fnatic edged out its rivals, and Carl Martin ‘Rekkles’ Larsson scored a pentakill that echoed through the arena. 

However, fans who were present remember more than just the scoreline.

“The posters and merch you could buy at the store in the arena were pretty cool, there was a lot of cosplay outside of the arena that were quite well made, and everyone in the crowd seemed genuinely hyped about the event,” said a fan who wished to remain anonymous in a brief interview with Esports Insider. 

Another fan recalled the inflatable clapsticks that glowed in the dark and how people in the upper stands “pulled out the glowing balls inside” and tossed them toward those sitting below. “It was a whole mess, but not like anyone got injured, just people being annoyed at the rude throwers,” he said.

What began in Stockholm in 2015 would soon expand across Europe. 

In 2016, the Finals moved to Rotterdam and the next year Kraków, both won by a new challenger, a young and rising G2 Esports. The team’s back-to-back titles marked the beginning of a dynasty and signalled that the competitive level of Europe was stepping up.

Venues became larger and the stage design more ambitious, yet there was still a sense that the production was finding its feet. 

By 2017, the league returned to Hamburg and Paris, and once again, G2 stood victorious. Fans started to associate the team with inevitability, and the Finals felt increasingly like a showpiece for the team’s dominance.

But dominance in Europe has never lasted forever. In 2018, Fnatic pushed back, defeating G2 in Copenhagen and later Schalke in Madrid.

The following year, 2019, brought one of the most iconic Finals in European League of Legends esports history, bolstered even further by the region’s latest rebrand.

The league took on an individual identity, stepping away from being a ‘European LCS’ and officially transforming into the LEC.

With it came a sharper identity, more creative broadcast style and a franchising ecosystem. G2 met Fnatic in Athens in a five-game thriller that swung back and forth until G2 finally walked out victorious. The rivalry was at its peak, and the production of the event matched the moment. 

That weekend, many realised the LEC Finals were no longer just a competitive decider; it was a cultural event for European esports fans.

However, the pandemic years of 2020 and 2021 interrupted that sense of occasion. Matches were held online or in the Berlin studio, without roaring crowds or elaborate stages. Nevertheless, the league’s popularity didn’t falter. In fact, more fans than ever tuned in from home. 

Moreover, in a region where G2 kept asserting its dominance and Fnatic continued to defy its other competitors, another team began sweeping the trophies.

In 2021, a newly-formed team disrupted the dance between Fnatic and G2, claiming both LEC Splits. It was the year of MAD Lions, but for many, this year represented a generational shift. New organisations were finding ways to challenge the established order, and fans were hungrier than ever for live competitions. In 2022, Malmö welcomed teams to the LEC Summer Finals in what many believe is the best LEC event ever.

Speaking with Esports Insider, one fan who had attended both the 2015 Stockholm Final and Malmö described how the event organisation had changed over the years. Whereas in 2015, the event was mostly about the matches, Malmö offered an organised expo with several stands from the league’s partners and teams, meet-and-greets with players, and far more for fans to do around the matches. 

It was a clear sign that the LEC Finals had become must-attend experiences in their own right rather than just a LAN final for a tournament. Still, at the end of the day, it was the competition itself in 2022 that stole the spotlight as Rogue swiped G2 in one of the most epic LEC Finals in recent years. 

Not even the crowd attending the 2023 Worlds Finals in Seoul, where T1 won on its home ground, could rival the roar of the fans in Malmö. 

A year later, in 2023, the LEC underwent another major format change, introducing a three-split format. In addition, the LEC moved to host a Season Finals, which that year reached Montpellier, where the support and presence of local governing bodies signalled a welcoming region for esports. G2 would walk out of France as 3-1 victors against Fnatic.

2024’s Final saw G2 once again assert its dominance, defeating Fnatic 3-0 in Munich, and while the result was decisive, some longtime fans noted that the teams’ rivalry did not feel as heated as in earlier years.

One fan explained that back in 2015, the LEC felt like it was “at its peak,” when team rivalries and fans’ chants overpowered the friendlier atmosphere of recent events. 

While broadcast production and event organisation had scaled up and the professionalism of the league had grown, the unpredictable magic of a close rivalry could not always be manufactured. The changing of teams, the departure of iconic players, and an ever-changing game made it so that, over time, the era of kings and legacies quieted until it became a thing of the past.

This takes us to 2025, the LEC Summer Finals in Madrid, with an atmosphere as warm as Spain’s climate and passionate fans chanting in the streets.

After arriving in the city on September 25th, it was easy to spot fans. Moreover, on Saturday, they all converged in Plaza de España for the first day of the LEC XPO. The location is so central to Madrid that not only avid fans enjoyed the event, but passersby and curious tourists alike were drawn in.

One family, visiting the city on vacation, had no prior knowledge of Riot Games’ titles nor the event, but curiously approached the colourful XPO. They collected all the stamps, tried every game available, and left with smiles and stories to tell. 

“A positive way to introduce the kids to video games,” the father told Esports Insider.  Another dad agreed with him, but he was not taken aback by the XPO. The family had planned a vacation because of it.

This dad is a League veteran of over 10 years. While he skipped bringing his family to the Finals due to ticket costs, the XPO offered a perfect introduction for his two kids to his favourite game’s community. 

After visiting the XPO, the opening day of the LEC Summer Finals in Caja Màgica awaited. On the way to the arena, the crowd of fans grew exponentially, but one group stood out. 

Six friends wearing matching bachelor party t-shirts featuring photos of the groom-to-be playing League — or rather raging to it. They shared that the trip was a surprise for their friend, and while only some among them played League, they all seemed equally excited to take part in the LEC Finals.

It was the debut match of Movistar KOI in Madrid, and the arena was packed with excited fans of the Spanish team — a perfect memory for new and seasoned fans alike.

The entertaining atmosphere of the event and its activations, unfortunately, didn’t extend to the Grand Final match, where many fans hoped to hear Silver Scrapes resonate in the arena.

G2, however, wanted to secure swiftly its first title of the year. With 31 minutes on average per game, G2 defeated MKOI 3-0 in front of a disappointed Spanish crowd.  

The competition in Madrid marks the tenth Summer Final for the LEC, and the conclusion of a decade of events which began in Stockholm.

Looking back over these ten years, the story is one of growth but also of continuity. 

The EU LCS became the LEC, yet the Finals have always been about bringing the community together in one place. Teams have risen and fallen, from Fnatic’s early runs to G2’s dynasty and Rogue and MAD Lions (MKOI) breaking through, but the real constant has been the experience of gathering to watch Europe’s best on a stage.

Across the years, fans’ details about Finals differ, but the emotion is the same, and that is perhaps the greatest legacy the league could hope for.

Ten years after Stockholm, the LEC Finals remain proof that European League of Legends is not just about the teams on stage but about the community that surrounds them.