The world of League of Legends Esports is gearing up to kick off six weeks of fierce fighting as regions around the world conclude their domestic championships and teams lock their places at the pinnacle of the game.
This year’s World Championship is taking place throughout Europe, and will feature 20 teams across three different stages: Play-Ins, Swiss, and Knockouts.
Starting on September 25, and will feature:
- The 1st and 2nd seeds from the PCS and VCS
- The 1st seeds from the LLA and CBLoL
- The 3rd seeds from the LEC and LCS
These eight teams will duke it out in two Bo3 double elimination brackets, with the two 2-0 teams and two of the 1-1 teams advancing to the Swiss Stage.
Meeting the successful teams in the Swiss stage will be:
- The 1st and 2nd seeds from the LEC and LCS
- The top 4 LPL seeds
- Gen G plus the top 3 (not including them) LCK seeds, essentially the top 4 LCK seeds
There will be eight initial Bo1s in Swiss based on seeding, with teams playing against others with the same record as them in further rounds. Teams, wherever possible, will not rematch those they have already faced.
3 wins and you’re in, 3 losses and you’re out, with advancement and elimination matches being played as Bo3 series. In total, eight teams will move on to the Knockout stage.
The Knockout stage, which will play out in Paris, is a single elimination Bo5 bracket, so no more second chances.
The Grand Finals of the World Championship 2024 will then take place in the O2 Arena in London on November 2.
So, how’s the competition stacking up so far? Already qualified we have Gen G (due to winning MSI 2024); Bilibili Gaming; Flyquest; Fnatic; G2 Esports; GAM Esports; Hawks Gaming; LNG Esports; MAD Lions KOI; Movistar R7; PSG Talon; Team Liquid; Top Esports, and Vikings Esports.
Of those teams, Gen G and BLG are my ones to watch. It’s true that defending World Champions T1 are virtually guaranteed to qualify, but it’s been a shaky year for the roster since their big win – although they did recently take first place at the Esports World Cup in LoL.
BLG look reinvigorated – this is a team I’ve been following for a while and had the pleasure of watching in-person at MSI 2023 but who never quite lived up to what I thought they were capable of. Even before Knight joined (and I say this as a JDG supporter in terms of the LPL) there was a world, although unlikely, that I believed BLG could wrestle the title from the clutches of the red and black super team. Now with Knight in the mid lane and with ex-RNG jungler Wei taking over from Xun, this team looks scarier than ever. Honestly, they’re probably my favourites to take it all.
And last but not least, there’s Gen G. Always dominant (in recent memory) domestically, but never able to get it done internationally, they finally won big at MSI this year. Winners of LCK Spring, winners of MSI 2024, and highly likely to be winners of LCK Summer, that would put the golden generation on track for the golden road at Worlds 2024. That being said, Gen G were put down quite handily at the Esports World Cup by the LPL’s TES, who finished behind Weibo Gaming and the aforementioned BLG in the Summer split, so I’ll be watching intently to see if they come back fighting.