As the most prestigious event in esports, the LoL Worlds Brackets offer some of the most exciting esports competition all year long. Across multiple stages, teams will be seeding into many different scenarios – more on this and League of Legends Worlds Brackets below!
LoL Worlds Brackets: Event Format
LoL Worlds 2023 this year involves three stages:
- Play-In Stage with two rounds
- Swiss Stage
- Knockout Stage.
Play-In Stage
Within Play-In Round 1, eight teams are divided into two groups where a double elimination bracket with BO3 matches has half the competition move on to a second round.
Here’s a look at the Play-In: Round 1:
- Group A: GAM Esports, LOUD, PSG Talon, Rainbow7
- Group B: CTBC Flying Oyster, DetonatioN FocusMe, Team Whales, Team BDS (Worlds Series Qualifier seed)
In the Play-In Round 2, the remaining four teams face off against a team from the other group in BO5 matches (1st vs 2nd). Winners move on to the Swiss Stage, losers are eliminated from the League of Legends Worlds brackets.
Swiss Stage
This year, Riot Games has replaced the typical Group Stage with a Swiss Stage. Within the 16 Team Swiss System format, match-ups for each round are different:
- Round 1 – teams paired against teams from a different region
- Rounds 2-5 – teams seeded based on team win-loss record
It’s essential to understand how this style of League Worlds Brackets works as otherwise match-ups may seem random.
Teams are fighting to reach 3 wins to move on to the Knockout Stage, while three losses result in elimination. Speaking of which all matches are BO1 except for the important Elimination and Advancement matches – these are BO3.
Side selection here depends on the initial draw pool and seeding.
Knockout Stage
Finally, eight teams make it to the Knockout Stage and compete in a single elimination bracket with BO5 matches – the ultimate LoL Worlds Bracket.
High-stakes matches mean that winning is the only way to survive in the Worlds 2023 bracket like other years.
League of Legends Worlds Brackets: Swiss Stage
While the change from Swiss Stage to Group Stage is still being debated in the community, the switch-up is fantastic for LoL Worlds betting.
Firstly, the initial draw makes for random matches. Furthermore, BO1 matches make for more upsets, which will likely spice up the LoL Worlds 2023 bracket. In addition, with many matches at once, there’s more action to choose from rather than having to wait for Groups to conclude one by one.
At the time of writing, the draw for the opening Swiss Stage matches is yet to be confirmed – only after the Play-in concludes on 15th October will further details be announced.
Seeded for the Swiss Stage teams are the following:
| Region | LoL Worlds Swiss Stage Teams |
|---|---|
| LCK | Gen.G, T1, KT Rolster, Dplus |
| LPL | JD Gaming, Bilibili Gaming, LNG Esports, Weibo Gaming |
| LEC | G2 Esports, Fnatic, MAD Lions |
| LCS | NRG, Cloud9, Team Liquid |
The opening round especially looks to be incredible considering the mechanics and scenarios at hand. With opening matches being cross-regional, this could set up for epic matches.
For example, teams from the two top regions, the LPL & LCK could face off early on in the competition. This would leave a favoured team at an early loss and vulnerable to elimination apart from being an awesome watch.
For example, potential matches include:
- T1 (LCK) vs JD Gaming (LPL)
- Gen.G (LCK) vs Bilibili Gaming (LPL)
- G2 Esport (LEC) vs NRG (LCS)
- and so many more!
This format is definitely a response to the criticism that Groups often had lower-seeded teams being thrashed by favourites – now it’s an equal playing field at every stage.
For those unaware, a Swiss Stage draws competitors every round depending on their scoreline. After the opening round, teams who won their first match face each other and the same applies to teams that lost their first match and so on until three losses or wins are achieved.
What’s more, is that a Swiss Stage means that there is no fixed seeding for the League of Legends Worlds Brackets in the Knockout Stage. This lets teams focus on winning and allowing random draws into the Worlds LoL Bracket to select matches.
League Worlds Brackets: Expected Play-Ins Winners
From the eight teams competing at the LoL Worlds Play-In Stage, one way to rank teams is based on their performance at MSI 2023, the previous international event this year:
- 9th – PSG Talon
- 10-11th – Rainbow7, LOUD
- 12-13th – GAM Esports, DetonatioN FocusMe
- N/A – CTBC Flying Oyster Team Whales, Team BDS
Listed above are Golden Guardians and Team BDS, although only one of these teams will make it to the LoL Worlds Play-Ins.
Before we predict our LoL Play-Ins Winners, here’s a look at the schedule for both Groups:
Play-In Group A Opening Matches
- 10/10/23 – PSG Talon vs Rainbow7 (09:00 CEST)
- 10/10/23 – GAM Esports vs LOUD (12:00 CEST)
Play-In Group B Opening Matches
- 11/10/23 – CTBC Flying Oyster vs DetonatioN FocusMe (09:00 CEST)
- 11/10/23 – Team BDS vs Team Whales (12:00 CEST)
Our predictions for the Play-In Round 2 matches are as follows:
- PSG Talon vs Golden Guardians/DetonatioN FocusMe
- LOUD vs CTBC Flying Oyster
Group A is very competitive with all four teams participating at MSI and proving themselves on an international stage. Meanwhile, of the confirmed Group B teams, only DetonatioN FocusMe has international experience this year.
Out of all the possible scenarios and LoL Worlds brackets, the two teams moving on will likely be between LOUD, PSG Talon, Rainbow7 or the LEC seed.
LoL Worlds Brackets: Swiss and Quarterfinals
At Worlds 2022, the following eight teams made it out of the Group Stage and into the LoL Worlds Quarterfinal bracket:
- Group A: T1, EDward Gaming
- Group B: JD Gaming, DAMWON Gaming
- Group C: DRX, Rogue
- Group D: Gen.G Esports, Royal Never Give Up
Every LCK and LPL team moved one together with 1 team from LEC (Rogue) in a very predictable manner.
Thanks to the Swiss Stage, predictions are out the window as matches are drawn at every stage of the competition. So instead of LCK and LPL teams beating down on the other regions, there’s a likelihood that they’ll face one another in the League Worlds bracket.
Regardless of the element of randomness and excitement from the Swiss Stage, certain teams remain favoured over others.
To remind you how the international community stacks up, here are the top eight teams according to placement at MSI 2023:
- #1 – JD Gaming (LPL)
- #2 – Bilibili Gaming (LPL)
- #3 – T1 (LCK)
- #4 – Gen.G (LCK)
- #5-6 – G2 Esports, Cloud9 (LEC, LCS)
- #7-8 – MAD Lions, Golden Guardians (LEC, LEC)
In an unwavering display, the LPL and LCK teams are favourites once again at the LoL Worlds Brackets, including both Swiss Stage and LoL Worlds Quarterfinal Bracket Stage.
It’s very likely that these teams will be favoured by LoL Worlds bookmakers in League Worlds bracket matches.
Notably, a Swiss Stage will demonstrate a team’s likelihood to perform well at the LoL Worlds Quarterfinals Bracket Stage better than a Group Stage as they aren’t simply facing lower seeded teams.
See also: Best bookmakers for LoL Worlds
Worlds Brackets: Recap
While the League of Legends Worlds brackets are simpler thanks to no predetermined seeding into the LoL Worlds Quarterfinal Bracket Stage, there’s a lot to consider.
Following a typical Play-In LoL Worlds Bracket, the Swiss Stage is an epic build-up to the final LoL Worlds bracket.
Moreover, the Swiss Stage allows for endless possibilities of matches all depending on how teams perform after the opening rounds.
All-in-all, the competition is building up to a thrilling final LoL Worlds Knockout Brackets to crown a new world champion.
