Its time again to announce the LCS Official Cosplay Contest. Back again for the 5th year in a row, this highly competitive cosplay contest is our once-a-year celebration of the North American Cosplay community. Through passion, artistry, and creativity, they bring our characters to life. To help give back in a small way, we offer our North American Cosplay Community a premiere contest during LCS Summer Finals this August.

After listening to feedback from last year, we are changing up the rules a little and adding categories and a digital pre-judging part of this contest. This way more of the cosplay community can be celebrated throughout the Summer Split! More on those categories below.

During LCS Summer Finals, winners of each category will compete for the Grand Prize: a round trip ticket to Worlds for them and a friend, and a cash prize of $5,000! Runners-up will receive prizes as well! 2nd place will receive $2,000, with 3rd place being awarded $1,000. Viewers will also be able to vote on social for their favorite as the “Fan Favorite.” The Fan Favorite award will win an extra $500.

We’re sure you have a ton of questions on how to submit your cosplays! So let’s get into the nitty-gritty...

What are the prizes? What can I win?

There are multiple prizes over the course of this contest to try and celebrate as many cosplayers as possible.

• Category Prizes:
  • All who submit to the contest will receive a small, digital gift from Riot Games to thank them for their participation.
  • The top 3 in each category will receive a box of Riot Games merch, a certificate of their placement, and a digital gift of 10,000 RP.
  • 1st place in each category will be flown out to compete to win one of our Grand Prizes.
• Grand Prizes:
  • Fan Favorite: Voted by our digital LCS community on social media and wins an extra $500.
  • 2nd runner-up: $1,000.
  • 1st runner-up: $2,500.
  • Grand Champion: $5,000 and a round-trip ticket to Worlds for them and a friend.
    

What is the online submission process?

To submit to the contest, we’ll be asking cosplayers to submit photos and/or videos online for digital pre-judging via our link at the bottom of this article. Submissions will be opening TODAY and closing submissions on Friday, July 21st, 2023 at 11:59 pm PT. Submissions outside of this time period will not be considered in the judging.

From all that enter (and qualify), they will be reviewed in the digital pre-judging by our panel of internal Riot judges to determine the top 3 in each category.

What is “digital pre-judging?”

Using the submission books made by our cosplayers, our internal team of Riot cosplay judges will select the top 3 in each category. These winners will be sent prizes for winning their category. 1st place in each category will be selected as a finalist to attend LCS Summer Finals to compete for Grand Prizes (see prizes and Grand Prizes above).

Winners in each category will be announced on Friday, July 28th, 2023. All submissions will also receive a small thank you from Riot Games for participating in the competition.

What are the categories I can submit my cosplay under?

New this year, we are adding categories for cosplayers to submit their costumes under. Each submission can only be entered in one category below. Cosplayers will self-select their costume to be part of one of the following categories:

1. Duo Cosplay: Defined as 1 costume being built by 2 builders or 2 costumes being built by 2 builders. Show off your Lamb and Wolf, or your duo builder projects in this category! Important note: all other categories are limited to 1 costume and 1 crafter.
2. Needlework: Defined as a costume focused on sewing skills. Show off your detailed seamstress skills such as embroidery, beadwork, and draping!
3. Armor: Defined as a costume focused on armor making. Show off your creative and detailed armor-building skills!
4. Larger than Life: Defined as a costume that… well makes you larger than life! Costumes in this category are required to expand your natural body shape by 3 feet in any direction. Wings, stilts, or crazy big props go in this category!
5. Special Effects: Defined as a costume focused on your special effects skills. Show off your robotics skills, special lighting, programming skills, or special effects makeup!
   

How are category and Grand Prize winners selected? 

There are tons of amazing ways for people to express themselves in cosplay! However, for this contest, the judges will be issuing scores (between 1 and 10) in the following categories. The top submissions who earn the most points will win their category, and head to LCS Summer Finals to compete for Grand Prizes!

• Quality & Construction (33%): Show us those amazing details and techniques! How have you raised the bar in terms of craftsmanship in your costume? What are some materials and uses that set your cosplay apart from others?
  
• Creativity (33%): How inventive have you been with this build? Every costume comes with its own set of challenges, so let us know how creative you’ve been in solving for those tricky designs and project hiccups.
  
• Accuracy (33%): How faithfully does this cosplay represent the champion? We’ll be looking at the accuracy of the costume and presentation to assess the character’s thematic. Please note that an individual’s natural body type and skin tone will not impact the judging or final results.

At the time you enter, please provide photos and/or videos of your cosplay that are unedited, and show the costume on a person. Costumes should be at least 80% completed at the time of submission to allow our pre-judges to get an accurate depiction of your cosplay.

What are the Online Submission Rules?

As with all contests, there are a ton of legal things we need to cover. Read all the official legal rules here.

To make submissions easier this year, we have created a template to help you get started. Please download the template to use during your submission.

Here is a general outline of our submission guidelines:

1. Costumes submitted should be primarily crafted and not purchased. At least 80% of the costume must be made by the person submitting the cosplay to the contest unless submitting in the duo category. In the duo category, only 2 builders are allowed to build 2 costumes. No more than 2 builders are allowed.
   1. If you are using a cosplay model, the creator of the cosplay must be the one entering the contest, and not the model.
   2. 3D printed pieces are allowed, however, the original 3D file must have been made by the person submitting to the contest. Files found on free websites such as Thingiverse count towards the “purchased” percentage of the costume.
2. At the time of submission, at least 80% of your costume must be completed.
3. Costumes submitted cannot have won a Grand Prize or First place at another cosplay contest.
4. Each contestant may only enter one entry into the competition.
5. All who enter must be residents of North America (the United States or Canada (excluding Quebec)), and currently living in one of those countries.
6. All who enter must be 18 or older and eligible to travel internationally.
7. All who enter must be able to attend the LCS Summer Finals. If you cannot attend, you will not be considered for any prizes.
   1. Winners competing for the Grand Prize will have travel and accommodation provided by Riot Games.
8. All contestants must submit a League of Legends, Arcane, or Runeterra-related cosplay. Fan concepts are allowed as long as clear reference images are included in the submission.
9. No nudity. No costume is no costume.
10. No political or religious statements, please. That includes messages on signs, clothing, or video submissions. Anyone who violates this will be disqualified from the competition.
11. No profanity is allowed. That includes messages on signs, clothing, or in video submissions. Anyone who violates this will be disqualified from the competition.
12. Do not submit heavily photoshopped or edited photos. Photos that appear to be altered will be removed from the competition.
13. The period to submit your cosplay for the contest is before Friday, July 21st, 2023 at 11:59 pm PT. Submissions outside of that time frame will not be considered.

But wait, I have more questions!?

No worries! We’ve created a Discord to answer those questions and allow you to connect with your fellow cosplayers and share progress. Please join us here: https://discord.gg/6cwrb65

Ready to dive in? Submit your costume HERE

We cannot wait to see what you create!