One of North America's most iconic League of Legends rivalries is making a surprise return, as Riot Games revives Team Solo Mid and Counter Logic Gaming for a special LCS Classic showmatch. The one-day event will be a nostalgic trip back to the early days of the NA LCS, giving longtime fans a chance to relive one of LoL Esports' most iconic rivalries.
Announced ahead of MSI 2026 Grand Final, "LCS CLASSIC: TSM vs. CLG" will take place on July 24th at the Riot Games Arena in Los Angeles as part of the LCS Summer Split Opening Week. The event will feature returning former players competing on the original Summoner's Rift in League Classic, with matches starting at 1:00pm PDT.
While Riot has not revealed the rosters yet, fans will likely expect some of the most recognizable names from both organizations' histories to return. If we were to speculate which players fans might want to see in this match, we would have to include Søren "Bjergsen" Bjerg for TSM and Zaqueri "aphromoo" Black for CLG — and of course Yiliang "Peter" "Doublelift” Peng for either. Riot will reveal the participating players through the official LCS social media channels in the coming days.
The showmatch arrives just before League Classic officially launches on July 29th with Patch 26.15.
Riot is Leaning into League's nostalgia
League is now more than 16 years old, and its player base has grown alongside it. As Riot continues to release new champions, systems, and roughly two dozen patches each year, the game changes so much that many older versions become impossible to experience again once they disappear — and that's precisely why League Classic works.
By bringing back the original Summoner's Rift and early gameplay, Riot is giving longtime players a chance to revisit a version of League that shaped some of their fondest memories tied to the game, while also giving newer players the chance to experience an era they only know through old videos and esports highlights.
Holding LCS CLASSIC just days before the mode launches on July 29th also gives Riot a fitting way to showcase the old LoL Esports experience. And for that the choice of TSM and CLG is just perfect, as the two teams were at the center of North America's early League scene. Their rivalry helped define the first years of LoL Esports, when both organizations built some of the region's largest fanbases and created many of the iconic matches that veteran fans still remember today.
Moments from the early competitive era cannot simply be recreated in the modern game. Bringing back iconic players and the original Summoner's Rift allows Riot to revisit a period that helped build the game's identity, while giving a new generation of players a chance to see why those years were so important.
