Riot released a primer for the 2023 League of Legends World Championship, detailing the tournament's format, teams, schedule, and merchandise. Check out more information below.
LoL Worlds 2023 Overview
The League of Legends (LoL) World Championship, also known as Worlds, is the highest level of LoL Esports competition, where the best teams from nine regions compete for the world champion title. After the end of the regular season, qualified teams from professional leagues around the world gather in a different host region each year to participate in the tournament. The tournament will be hosted by South Korea this year.
The Worlds Qualifying Series will feature a best-of-5 match between Team BDS (the 4th seed from the LEC) and Golden Guardians (the 4th seed from the LCS) on October 9 at LoL Park in Seoul. The winner of WQS, along with 21 other teams, will compete at Worlds, with 8 of these teams starting at the Play-In Stage. Each region's seed allocations were determined based on their past international performance.
Worlds 2023 Theme: THE GRIND. THE GLORY.
The theme for this year's Worlds is "THE GRIND. THE GLORY."
Here's the message by Riot Games for this year's Worlds theme:
When the confetti falls, and the trophy rises, we're only witnessing the glory. But in reality: There's no glory without the grind. Behind every World Championship title is the relentless dedication to the craft, the endless hard work, and the long, arduous journey that got them there.
This theme represents that bold dichotomy, where we embrace the duality of the journey of the pros and revel in both as part of the pursuit: the dark, continuous grind AND the beacon of hope and glory that awaits at the World Final.
Worlds 2023 Format
The new format of Worlds will feature 22 teams in three stages of competition: the Play-In Stage, the Swiss Stage, and the Knockout Stage (Quarterfinals, Semifinals, and Finals).
Play-In Stage: October 10 to 15
Play-Ins will mark the beginning of the tournament with the 1st and 2nd seeds from VCS & PCS, the 1st seed from LLA, CBLOL, and LJL, and the winner of the Worlds Qualifying Series between the LCS and LEC 4th seeds. The eight teams have been divided into two double-elimination brackets, where each bracket is played in a best-of-three (Bo3) format. The top-placing team from each bracket will play against the second-place team from the other bracket in a final best-of-five match. The winners of each of these matches will move to the Swiss Stage.
The first ten matches are best-of-three (Bo3), and the final two are best-of-five (Bo5).
Swiss Stage: October 19 to 23; October 26 to 29
The two qualified Play-In Stage teams will join the top 3 seeded teams from LEC and LCS as well as the top 4 seeded teams from the LCK and LPL. These 16 teams will be split into four draw pools - 1 Seeds, 2 Seeds, 3 Seeds, and 4 Seeds + Play-In Qualifiers. They will be drawn into an initial set of 8 best-of-one matches based on their seeding - Pool 1 teams will play Pool 4 teams, and Pool 2 teams will play Pool 3 teams. Additionally, no team will play a team from their own region in the first round. Following the first round of play, there will be another draw for the second round to pair teams with the same record against one another - this time with no further draw restrictions. The tournament will repeat this process for 3 more rounds of play, pitting teams with even records against each other until they reach 3 wins to advance or 3 losses to be eliminated from the competition.
In total, eight teams will move on to Knockouts. While the initial rounds are best-of-one, all advancement and elimination matches will be best-of-three. Throughout the Swiss Stage, side selection will be determined by the initial draw pool - the higher pool will receive side selection. In matches between teams from the same draw pool, side selection will be determined by coin flip.
Knockout Stage: November 2 to 5 (Quarterfinals); November 11 to 12 (Semifinals); November 19 (Finals)
Eight teams move on to the Knockout Stage, which encompasses Quarterfinals, Semifinals, and Finals. For this stage, the tournament transitions to a single-elimination bracket, with all matches played in a best-of-five format. Quarterfinal matchups will be decided by an on-stage draw following the final day of the Swiss Stage. In this draw, teams that advanced with a 3-0 record will be matched against teams that advanced with a 3-2 record. The remaining teams will then be matched against one another.
The team that comes out on top will become the 2023 World Champions.
List of Qualified Teams for LoL Worlds 2023
The seeds of a region are determined by their previous international and regional performance. Consistently powerful regions send some or all of their seeds straight to the Swiss Stage, whereas other regions receive fewer seeds and/or begin in the Play-In Stage.
Here are the 22 teams competing in LoL Worlds 2023.
- CHINA – LPL
- 1st Seed: JDG Intel Esports Club (JDG)
- 2nd Seed: Bilibili Gaming Pingan Bank (BLG)
- 3rd Seed: LNG Esports (LNG)
- 4th Seed: Weibo Gaming Faw Audi (WBG)
- KOREA – LCK
- 1st Seed: Gen.G (GEN)
- 2nd Seed: T1 (T1)
- 3rd Seed: KT Rolster (KT)
- 4th Seed: Dplus KIA (DK)
- EUROPE – LEC
- 1st Seed: G2 Esports (G2)
- 2nd Seed: Fnatic (FNC)
- 3rd Seed: MAD Lions (MAD)
- NORTH AMERICA – LCS
- 1st Seed: NRG (NRG)
- 2nd Seed: Cloud9 (C9)
- 3rd Seed: Team Liquid Honda (TL)
- SOUTHEAST ASIA – PCS
- 1st Seed: PSG.Talon (PSG)
- 2nd Seed: CTBC Flying Oyster (CFO)
- VIETNAM – VCS
- 1st Seed: GAM Esports (GAM)
- 2nd Seed: Team Whales (TW)
- BRAZIL – CBLOL
- LOUD (LLL)
- JAPAN – LJL
- DetonatioN FocusMe (DFM)
- LATIN AMERICA – LLA
- Movistar R7 (R7)
- WORLDS QUALIFYING SERIES WINNER
- To be determined on October 9 between LCS's Golden Guardians (GG) and the LEC's Team BDS (BDS).
Worlds 2023 Schedule
The tournament will begin with the Play-In Stage on October 10 and end with the Finals on November 19.
- Play-In Stage (All matches start at 12 a.m. PST / 4 p.m. KST unless otherwise noted)
- Tuesday, October 10
- Wednesday, October 11
- Thursday, October 12
- Friday, October 13
- Saturday, October 14
- Sunday, October 15 - 8 p.m. PST (October 14) / 12 p.m. KST
- Swiss Stage (All matches start at 12 a.m. PST / 4 p.m. KST unless otherwise noted)
- Thursday, October 19 - 10 p.m. PST (October 18) / 2 p.m. KST
- Friday, October 20 - 10 p.m. PST (October 19) / 2 p.m. KST
- Saturday, October 21
- Sunday, October 22
- Monday, October 23
- Thursday, October 26
- Friday, October 27
- Saturday, October 28
- Sunday, October 29 - 9 p.m. PST (October 28) / 1 p.m. KST
- Knockout Stage (All matches start at 1 a.m. PST / 5 p.m. KST unless otherwise noted)
- Thursday, November 2
- Friday, November 3
- Saturday, November 4
- Sunday, November 5
- Saturday, November 11
- Sunday, November 12
- (Finals) Sunday, November 19
Worlds 2023 Venue
The Play-In Stage will take place on October 10-15 at LoL Park in Seoul.
The Swiss Stage will be held from October 19 to 23 and October 26 to 29 at KBS Arena in Seoul.
The Knockout stage of competition includes the Quarterfinals, Semifinals, and Finals.
- Quarterfinals will take place on November 2-5, and Semifinals will be held on November 11-12 at the Sajik Indoor Gymnasium in Busan.
- The World Final will take place on November 19 at Gocheok Sky Dome in Seoul, the largest indoor venue in South Korea and home of the Kiwoom Heroes baseball team.
Worlds 2023 Co-Streaming
Riot Games plans to expand virtual co-streaming for Worlds 2023, with over 50 co-streamers representing the regions and languages of their communities worldwide.
The co-streaming program of Worlds will only be available to invited participants, and the pre-approved streamers and content creators will provide fans with the opportunity to follow Worlds alongside the main broadcast.
Approved co-streamers will rotate throughout the duration of the event, and with Riot's local teams driving the selection process, regions will announce the chosen co-streamers via official LoL Esports channels.
Moreover, all teams that qualify for Worlds can co-stream with existing content creators throughout the entire tournament. The standard Content Creator Guidelines will continue to apply to all other content creators.
How do I watch Worlds 2023?
You can watch every match on lolesports.com or tune into one of the official co-streams.
Worlds 2023 Merchandise
Celebrate the 2023 League of Legends World Championship with the official Merch Collection. A new collection for players and fans worldwide who honor the grind and hunt for glory. It includes various figures, apparel, and accessories.
The Worlds 2023 Collection will be available online starting October 3:
- NA/EU: https://merch.riotgames.com
- KR: https://www.leagueoflegends.co.kr/?m=riot-store
- CN: https://leagueoflegends.tmall.com
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