Thomas Lyte are the makers of the new League of Legends EMEA Championship (LEC) Trophy.
Thomas Lyte have been responsible for producing some of the most iconic trophies in the massively popular multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA) game, League of Legends. Continuing our long-standing relationship with Publisher, Riot Games, the former Europe League Championship series (EU LCS) was rebranded for the 2019 Spring Season, with the new title, League of Legends European Championships (LEC). With their new rebrand, Thomas Lyte, the original makers of the former trophy, were tasked with the creation of this new perpetual trophy, that better represents the new tournament. The tournament has since widened the geographical area that it serves and has now rebranded again to League of Legends EMEA Championship, using the same trophy.
The design of the trophy was inspired by the format of the tournament and its ten competing teams. Each team is represented by an individual column which cascade in a spiralling motion until one column rises to the top, and is named LEC Champion.
Handcrafted in Thomas Lyte’s London workshops, the trophy stands at an impressive meter in height, and is made from a combination of metals, including copper, brass and sterling silver. Using traditional silversmithing skills, and combining the latest methods in modern engineering, the making of this trophy involved 3D printing the individual columns in a nylon core, before electroforming in copper, and plating in silver. The hand finishing on the twisted towers required exacting skills to ensure that they ‘sit’ together perfectly. The plinth is made from sterling silver, a finer metal that allows for the winners names to be hand-engraved at the time of the uplifting. The trophy required over 200 craft hours, passing through the hands of eight Master Craftsmen before its completion.
The League of Legends European Championships trophy (as it was previously titled) was lifted for the first time at the Ahoy Arena, in Rotterdam on April 14th 2019, during the Spring Finals – with G2 eSports being the first team to be inscribed on the new trophy.
