Ian JohnE
When it comes to esports tournaments, there are a few that have resonance across the globe. These few events are the blue-ribbon events within the industry and one of these huge tournaments is the League of Legends (LoL) World Championships.
While not the biggest tournament in terms of prize money, that honour goes to Dota 2’s The International, there is no doubt that in terms of column inches, prestige and in particular fan viewership and popularity, the LoL Worlds is about as big as it gets in esports at present.
So if you read our handy guide to esports for beginners and would like to learn a little more about this massive tournament, the latest incarnation of which begins this week, then read on below to learn a lot more about one of the most viewed and popular esports events of the year.
Betting on esports, especially the LoL World Championships, is growing massively in popularity and if you fancy a bet, then check out what bet365 Sport has to offer in terms of the wide range of markets available on the tournament.
There’s plenty of pre-game markets for each individual fixture to enjoy, as well as In Play betting when the matches are in progress and of course an extensive range of tournament outright markets, including a chance to back a team to win the tournament and become a part of LoL history.
Speaking of LoL History, let’s now take a look back at the history of League of Legends, what the game is and of course, how the LoL Worlds became arguably the most popular esports event in history.
The History Of League Of Legends And The LoL Worlds
- What is League of Legends?
League of Legends was first released in 2009 (on PC) and 2013 (on iOS) and it is a multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA) game from Riot Games.
The game is free to play, with the company making money from in-game purchases players make to customise their character.
Initially developed from a custom map for the game Warcraft III, LoL was developed as a standalone game based on that map.
In the most common version of the game (called Summoner’s Rift), two teams of five players battle it out to defeat their opponent by destroying their ‘Nexus’.
To aid them, players have the choice of a number of different ‘Champions’ which are pre-selected before the game begins.
Each character has its own strengths and weaknesses and as the game progresses, the character can become more powerful by collecting experience points (XP), earning gold and the player can also purchase items to help defeat the opponents team.
LoL has proven to be one of the most successful esports titles in history and at the top level now boasts a global scene that comprises of 12 different leagues across different regions.
Teams from these regions are professional and compete for a spot at the yearly League of Legends World Championships, which takes place over the course of a month usually around the Autumn time in the Northern Hemisphere.
The game is consistently cited as the most popular esport in terms of number of players and in the number of viewers, with over 8 million players globally and over 100 million viewers tuning in to watch the 2019 World Championships.
- The History Of The League of Legend World Championships
The first LoL World Championship, or LoL Worlds as it is also known, was contested in 2011, just two years after the game was released on PC.
Since then it has grown from a relatively small tournament comprising of 8 teams, to now 24 teams competing across the event with 12 regions sending qualifying teams to the tournament after a year-long qualification campaign which is broken into two series, the Spring Split and the Summer Split.
In between the Spring and Summer Split tournaments, another key tournament is played, the Mid-Season Invitational
The 12 Regions that compete over the Spring and Summer Splits, as well as sending teams to the Mid Season Invitational and LoL Worlds are as follows:
- LoL Worlds Qualifying Regions
The 12 regions that send qualifiers to the Worlds are:
- LCK – South Korea
- LCS – North America
- LEC – Europe
- LPL – China
- PCS – Taiwan, Hong Kong, Macau and Southeast Asia
- VCS – Vietnam
- CBLOL – Brazil
- LCO – Oceania
- LCL – Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS)
- LJL – Japan
- LLA – Latin America
- TCL – Turkey
The tournament is hosted in a different country or region each year and is often played at different venues, in different cities across the host country or region.
In recent times, teams from South Korea and China have tended to dominate the event, with teams from North America and Europe also being ranked amongst the strongest.
There is however an emerging scene from other parts of the world and teams from these other regions are starting to make a bigger impression in the tournament in recent times.
The list of World Championship venues, winners, runners up and final score are shown below.
League of Legends World Championships Finals History
| Year | Venue | Winner | Score | Runner Up | 3rd/4th Place Teams |
| 2011 | Jonkoping | Fnatic (Eur) | 2-1 | Against All Authority (Eur) | Team SoloMid (US) Epik Gamer (US) |
| 2012 | Los Angeles | Taipei Assassins (Tpi) | 3-1 | Azubu Frost (Jap) | CLG Europe (Eur) Moscow Five (Rus) |
| 2013 | Culver City & Los Angeles | SK Telecom T1 (S.Ko) | 3-0 | Royal Club (Chn) | Fnatic (Eur) Najin Black Sword (S.Ko) |
| 2014 | Singapore, Taipei, Busan, Seoul | Samsung White (S.Ko) | 3-1 | Star Horn Royal Club (Chn) | OMG (Chn) Samsung Blue (S.Ko) |
| 2015 | Paris, London, Brussels, Berlin | SK Telecom T1 (S.Ko) | 3-1 | KOO Tigers (S.Ko) | Fnatic (Eur) Origen (Eur) |
| 2016 | San Francisco, Chicago, New York, Los Angeles | SK Telecom T1 (S.Ko) | 3-2 | Samsung Galaxy | H2k-Gaming (Eur) ROX Tigers (S.Ko) |
| 2017 | Wuhan, Guangzhou, Shanghai, Beijing | Samsung Galaxy (S.Ko) | 3-0 | SK Telecom T1 (S.Ko) | Royal Never Give Up (Chn) Team WE (Chn) |
| 2018 | Seoul, Busan, Gwangju, Incheon | Invictus Gaming (Chn) | 3-0 | Fnatic (Eur) | Cloud9 (US) G2 Esports (Eur) |
| 2019 | Berlin, Madrid, Paris | Fun Plus Phoenix (Chn) | 3-0 | G2 Esports (Eur) | Invictus Gaming (Chn) SK Telecom T1 (S.Ko) |
| 2020 | Shanghai | Damwon Gaming (S.Ko) | 3-1 | Suning (Chn) | G2 Esports (Eur) Top Esports (Chn) |
| 2021 | Reykjavik | Edward Gaming (Chn) | 3-2 | DWG KIA (S.Ko) | T1 (S.Ko) Gen.G (S.Ko) |
| 2022 | Mexico, New York, Atlanta, San Francisco |
League Of Legends Winners
- T1 (formerly SK Telecom T1) – 3 wins
- Gen.G (formerly Samsung White) – 2 wins
- Fnatic, DWG KIA, Invictus Gaming, J Team, FunPlus Phoenix, Edward Gaming – 1 win
South Korean teams (LCK) have won six titles in total and finished as a runner up on five occasions.
Chinese (LPL) teams have won three titles and been runner up on three occasions.
Europe (LEC) and HK/TW/MO/SEA (PCS) have had one winner each.
LoL World Championship Tournament Format
Phase 1 – Play In
The LoL World Championship starts with the Play-In Stage.
This features the 12 lowest ranked teams drawn into two groups of six, where they play each of the teams in their group once in a best of one match.
A total of four teams, comprising of the two group winners, plus the winner of each Group Playoff between the 2nd, 3rd and 4th ranked team in each group, move forward from the Play In to the second phase of the tournament.
Phase 2 – Group Stage
The four Play In qualifiers are placed into one of four groups in the Group Stage. In this stage, each team plays the other teams in their group twice in best of one match ups.
In the event of teams being tied, a tie-breaker game between the two teams will be played.
The top two team’s from each group then move onto the next phase of the tournament.
Phase 3 – Knockout Phase
The top teams in each group will face off against a team that finished second from a different group in the Knockout Phase, which also sees the length of games expanded to best of five.
The tournament is then a straight knockout through to the semifinals and final to decide who are the latest League of Legends World Champions and the team to receive the Summoner’s Cup.
2022 League of Legends World Championships Betting And Information
The 2022 tournament sees the Play In phase played in Mexico, with the Group and Knockout stages played in the United States and the tournament is scheduled to take place from 29th September to November 5th.
The qualifying team from the CIS (Russia) have not been invited to the event due to Russia’s actions in Ukraine, meaning the LEC (Europe) has been handed an additional qualification spot.
The draws for the Play In and Group Stages have been made and are as follows:
Play In Groups
Group A
- Fnatic (Eur)
- Beyond Gaming (Tai)
- DetonatioN FocusMe (Jap)
- Evil Geniuses (US)
- LOUD (Brz)
- Chiefs Sports Club (Oce)
Group B
- DRX (S.Ko)
- Royal Never Give Up (Chn)
- Saigon Buffalo (Tha)
- MAD Lions (Eur)
- Istanbul Wildcats (Tur)
- Isurus (Lat Am)
Group Stage Draw
Group A
- Cloud9 (US)
- T1 (S.Kor)
- Edward Gaming (Chn)
- Play In Qualifier
Group B
- JD Gaming (Chn)
- G2 Esports (Eur)
- DWG KIA (S.Kor)
- Play In Qualifier
Group C
- Rogue (Eur)
- Top Esports (Chn)
- GAM Esports (SEA)
- Play In Qualifier
Group D
- Gen.G (S.Kor)
- CTBC Flying Oyster (Tai)
- 100 Thieves (US)
- Play In Qualifier
Bet365 is offering an extensive range of bets across all phases of the tournament as well as a range of outright markets to enjoy on the tournament.
So if you fancy trying your hand at LoL, remember you can download and try the game for free, but we’d advise you to check out this starters guide shown below first to get an idea of how the game works!
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