The 2021 World Championship is set to start soon. The action will begin in early October with the Play-In stage before moving onto the Group Phase, but what exactly does all of this mean?
We take a look at the upcoming League of Legends World Championship and its format. Which teams are playing when and how can you watch them? EarlyGame has got you, so don’t worry about missing any action from Iceland this fall!
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What is the Worlds 2021 Play-In Stage?
The play-in stage is the event that takes place before the main Worlds event. Since League of Legends esports has multiple smaller regions, they get to show off their skill before the main tournament to make it into the group stage.
The play-in stage is set up with two groups of five teams, in which the teams play a single round-robin to determine the winner. The two teams on top of their play-in group will be able to move onto the group stage and make it one step closer to lifting the Summoner’s Cup.
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The third and fourth-placed teams in each group will face off in a best-of-five series to see who would take on the second-place team of the opposing group. This will determine the final two teams for the 2021 World Championship group stage.
Which Teams Are Participating in the Play-In Stage?
The first seeds of the LCL, LJL, LCO, CBLoL, LLA and TCL will be part of the Play-In stage. They will be joined by the second seed of the PCS and the third team from the LCS. Finally, the LCK and LPL fourth seed team will also participate in the Play-In stage.
- LCL: Unicorns of Love
- LJL: DetonatioN FocusME
- LCO: PEACE
- CBLoL: RED Canids
- LLA: Infinity Esports
- TCL: Galatasaray Esports
- PCS: Beyond Gaming
- LCS: Cloud9
- LCK: Hanwha Life Esports
- LPL: LNG Esports
Worlds 2021 is heading to Iceland! Tune in October 5 - November 6 at https://t.co/lh1tk7wEe0. pic.twitter.com/fTFxf42yFH
— LoL Esports (@lolesports) September 9, 2021
What is the World’s 2021 Group Phase?
The 2021 World Championship Group Phase will include 16 teams in total. These 16 teams will be split into four groups of four and compete in a double round-robin to see who makes it out of the group stage and onto the knock-out phase of the tournament. The top 2 teams of each group move on.
Which Teams Have Automatically Qualified for the 2021 World Championship Group Phase?
The top 3 teams from the LCK, LPL and LEC have already qualified for the 2021 World Championship Group Stage. Alongside them, the remaining two teams of the LCS and the final PCS representative are also already seeded.
Finally, the four teams that made it through the Play-In stage will be put into a Group.
- LCK: DAMWON KIA, Gen.G, T1
- LPL: EDward Gaming, FunPlus Phoenix, Royal Never Give Up
- LEC: MAD Lions, Fnatic, Rogue
- LCS: 100 Thieves, Team Liquid
- PCS: PSG Talon
How Are Teams Seeded Into Groups?
The twelve teams which go straight to groups are put into different pools. There are three Pools A, B and C which holds four teams. Pool A holds the strongest qualified teams, while Pool B and C are split between the second and third seeds.
- Pool A: EDG, DK, MAD, and PSG
- Pool B: FPX, GEN, FNC, and 100T
- Pool C: RNG, T1, RGE, and TL
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This is the first time since 2018 that the LCS first seed isn't part of Pool A. Back then the LMS' representative Flash Wolves had taken the spot, while this years' PCS representative PSG Talon will be seeded first.
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— EarlyGame (@earlygamegg) September 14, 2021
What is the Worlds 2021 Knockout Stage?
The Knockout Stage is the final part of the 2021 World Championship. The top 8 teams from the Group Phase will participate in this part of the event. These games are best-of-five and single elimination. This means one stumble, one bad day, and you’re gone.
The Knockout Stage is split into Quarterfinals, Semifinals and Finals. In the end, the best team in the world will lift the Summoner’s Cup.
What is the Worlds 2021 Schedule?
The event will start on October 5 with the Play-In Stage, and it will end November 6 with the finals, as was planned all along.
Here is a full schedule of the 2021 World Championship:
- Play-Ins: Oct. 5-9
- Groups: Oct. 11-13 and Oct. 15-18
- Quarterfinals: Oct. 22-25
- Semifinals: Oct. 30-31
- Finals: Nov. 6
Make sure you tune in around 1PM CEST on October 5, when the Play-In Action of Worlds 2021 starts!
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