Considering the stakes at hand, LoL Worlds Rules are going to be crucial in certain scenarios at LoL Worlds 2023. While the official ruleset is not out yet, we expect it to be similar, if not identical, to the previous year.
With the tournament starting on October 10, 2023, the best 22 teams from around the world will compete in South Korea.
All the best bookmakers for LoL Worlds are offering betting markets and promotions for this event, the pinnacle of LoL esports. The champions will be crowned on November 19th at the Gocheok Sky Dome in Seoul, South Korea according to the LoL Worlds 2023 rules.
If you plan on betting on LoL Worlds, it would be beneficial for you to be aware of the most important rules for the tournament, especially the reworked format removing LoL Worlds tiebreaker rules.
LoL Worlds Rules and the Tournament Structure
Play-Ins Rules
Play-In Round 1 (October 10 – 14)
The first round of Worlds has eight teams divided into two groups where they play a Double Elimination format.
LoL Worlds 2023 rules has all matches here played in a Bo3 format, with the top two teams in each group advancing directly to the Play-In Round 2.
Changing it up from last year’s Group Stage removes the possibility of tiebreakers, and hence there are no LoL Worlds tiebreaker rules.
As for the LoL Worlds rules, here are some insights from the Worlds 2023 deep dive blogpost from Riot Games and previous iterations of Worlds rulebooks:
- Side Allocation: Side selection for each match will be randomly pre-determined.
- Opening Matches: predetermined matches within each Group. The winners of the BO3 Opening Matches move on to the Winners’ Match, while the losers are sent to the Elimination Match. Here are the opening matches:
- Group A: PSG Talon vs R7, GAM vs LOUD
- Group B: CTBC Flying Oyster vs DetonatioN FocusMe, Team Whales, LEC Seed TBD
- Winners’ Matches: BO3 matches where the winning team moves on to Play-In Round 2. The loser is sent to the Decider Match as a final chance to avoid elimination.
- Elimination Matches: losers of the Opening Matches compete in a BO3 Elimination Match to stay alive in the competition. Winning teams here move on to the Decider Match.
- Decider Matches: the final match of each group, this BO3 decides the second team from each group moving on to the Play-In Round 2.
Play-In Round 2 (October 15)
On October 15, the Play-In Round 2 determines which two teams move onto the Main Event.
The four teams that survived Play-In Round 1 are matched in two BO3 Knockout matches. Winning sends a team to the Swiss Stage, losing eliminates a team from the competition, keeping the LoL Worlds 2023 rules simple.
Bringing the heat early on at LoL Worlds 2023, the LoL Worlds rules here are simple:
- Side Selection: Side selection will be awarded to the higher seed based on whether teams made it through the Winners’ or Decider Matches.
Swiss Stage Rules (October 19-23, 26-29)
The novel Swiss Stage LoL Worlds 2023 rules feature a 16 Team Swiss System Format. As a new update to the LoL Worlds rules, there’s a lot to understand for those unfamiliar with this competitive format used in other esports.
In the past, Group Stage LoL Worlds tiebreaker rules were rather tough to understand. Once again, this new format removes any chance of tiebreakers, simplifying the format compared to previous LoL Worlds tiebreaker rules.
Here’s a quick explanation of the LoL Worlds rules for the Swiss Stage which are vastly different from LoL Worlds Group Stage rules of the past:
- Side Selection: determined by initial draw pool, higher pool receiving side selection. Where teams drawn from same pool, side selection determined by coinflip.
- Round 1 – teams are randomly matched only against other teams from a different region (ex: LPL vs LCK, LEC vs LCS) in BO1 matches.
- Rounds 2 to 5 – teams are seeded based on their performance in the previous rounds. All matches which aren’t Elimination and Advancement matches are BO1.
- Elimination matches – teams that reach 3 losses in Swiss are eliminated, regardless of the particular round. Elimination matches are BO3.
- Advancement matches – teams that reach 3 wins in Swiss advance to the Knockout Stage, only the top 8 move on. Advancement matches are BO3.
Naturally, the quicker teams win their Advancement matches, the better their seeding for the Knockout Stage – the ultimate League of Legends Worlds bracket.
This new format improves over the former LoL Worlds Group Stage rules as matches look to be more competitive. In the past, LoL Worlds Group Stage rules included a number of unbalanced matches.
Knockout Stage Rules (November 2-5, 11-12 & November 19)
From the Bracket Stage (also known as the playoffs stage), the LoL Worlds Rules will be more straightforward and easier to understand – no LoL Worlds tiebreaker rules to worry about.
The top eight teams from the Swiss Stage earn a spot at the Knockout Stage. Seeding for the matches remains to be confirmed according to the LoL Worlds 2023 rules, likely involving higher seed teams and lower seed teams facing one another depending on their Swiss Stage performance.
Here are some LoL Worlds rules to consider for the Knockout Stage:
- Single elimination bracket – each match is BO5, losers are eliminated, winners move on to the next stage
- Side Selection Quarterfinals – in the Quarterfinals teams with Side Selection Privelege (higher seeds) can choose side in game 1 – after that losing team chooses.
- Side Selection Semifinals + Grand Finals – after the Quarterfinals, Side Selection Privilege determined by coin flip.
Worlds: Competitive Patch
Aside from having the rules of LoL worlds explained, we also have to consider the patch that teams will play the tournament in. Riot has confirmed that for this year’s Worlds 2023, the participants will play in Patch 13.19 throughout the whole tournament.
It is worth noting, however, that Naafiri and Briar will not be enabled. This is due to the “new Champions and VGUs must be enabled for playoffs in all four of the top regions in order to be playable at the next international tournament” policy.
Image Credits: Riot Games
