Heads up, League fans!
Riot Games confirmed that the highly-anticipated 2020 League of Legends (LoL) World Championship will still be taking place amid the concerns of COVID-19.
More details about the end-of-season event’s location, format, schedule, participating teams and more were also announced.
Prestigious tournament
The World Championship or simply known as “Worlds” is considered as League’s most prestigious tournament. Top teams from each region gather annually in hopes of lifting the Summoner’s Cup and winning the prize pool.
There were initial concerns for Worlds 2020, given recent events and the pandemic, especially after the Mid-Season Invitational has been cancelled.
However, Riot confirmed to LoL fans that the event will still push through for China. LPL teams will be fighting to retain the Summoner’s Cup for the third year in a row on their homeland.
Location
China is going to host the 2020 World Championship, but each stage of the tournament will no longer be held in different cities due to health risks and concerns.
Moreover, the tournament will be exclusively held in Shanghai, with the finals at the new Pudong Soccer Stadium.
As explained by Riot in a recent blog post:
“Hosting the event in a single city will reduce travel throughout the tournament and give us the ability to more closely control the show environment.”
It’s yet to be confirmed if League fans in China can personally attend the event, but Riot said that they will still be looking to improve on the “virtual fan experience” for this year.
“From the Elder Dragon in 2017 to last year’s Holonet technology with True Damage, we’ve always tried to innovate on the viewer experience and we are incredibly excited for this year’s show,”
Official dates
Worlds 2020 will begin on September 25, spanning over a month of top-tier League of Legends competitive gameplay action before its conclusion on October 31 with the grand finals.
Riot also confirmed some changes for Worlds in the next few years. The tournament will return to China for a full tour “as originally intended” in 2021, pushing back North America’s chance to host at least until 2022.
Check out Riot’s official teaser trailer for the Worlds!
Worlds Format change
With the Vietnamese teams dropping out of the competition, only 22 out of the 24 teams remain.
The play-in stage is reduced to 10 teams instead of 12 in order to accommodate the change.
The 10 teams will now play in two groups of five, with the top team pushing to groups and the bottom eliminated.
The third and fourth in each group will play a decider, and the winner will then face the Second-placed team in the group. The winner of the said match will also advance to the group stage of Worlds.
And to balance the number of participating teams, the third seed from the LCK will automatically advance to the group stage.
Participating teams for Worlds 2020
As the Worlds 2020 D-day comes nearer, regional playoffs are on-going and competitive LoL teams are beginning to land a spot for Worlds 2020.
More slots were open for grabs after the cancelation of the 2020 Mid-Season Invitational, and regions such as Europe will now receive four slots instead of the usual three.
Many of the playoffs are still ongoing, so there are still some more teams expected to qualify for the major event.
However, here’s a list of all teams that have qualified for the 2020 League of Legends World Championship:
Major Regions
LCS (North America)
* Team Liquid
* FlyQuest
* TSM
LEC (Europe)
* Fnatic
* G2 Esports
* Rogue
* MAD Lions (4th seed)
LPL (China)
* Top Esports (1st Seed)
* JD Gaming (2nd Seed)
* Suning (3rd seed)
* LGD Gaming (4th seed)
LCK (South Korea)
* DRX
* TBD
* TBD
Minor Regions
VCS (Vietnam)
All Vietnamese teams have withdrawn their participation for Worlds 2020, citing health restrictions as they return from China. Their two seeds will be forfeited.
LLA (Latin America)
* Rainbow7
PCS (TW/HK/MC/SEA)
* Machi Esports (1st seed)
* PSG Talon (2nd seed)
OPL (Oceania)
* Legacy Esports
CBLOL (Brazil)
* TBD
LCL (Russia)
* Unicorns of Love
LJL (Japan)
* TBD
TCL (Turkey)
* TBD
