Headlines Of Legends: Get Your Worlds Tickets Now, Origen Names A New Leader, And More
Published: Jul 31, 2016 - Last Updated: Sep 25, 2019
Worlds 2016 tickets available now
The League of Legends 2016 World Championship is just around the corner and Riot has finally begun the first wave of ticket sales! The group stage of tickets are currently available for sale, with the quarterfinals already on sale, having been offered as of July 27.
We’re here to catch you up on all the details for the group stage at worlds this year.
Venue
Bill Graham Civic Auditorium. Located in San Francisco, Calif., the Bill Graham Civic Auditorium is largest indoor concert structure in the city.
Seating capacity
The Bill Graham Civic Auditorium can seat a maximum audience of 8,500.
Dates and times
The group stage will take place over the course of two weeks. Below is the outlined schedule:
- Week 1 – Sept. 29 – Oct. 2, 4 p.m.
- Week 2 – Oct. 6 – Oct. 7, 4 p.m.
- Week 2 – Oct. 8 – Oct. 9, 1 p.m.
Doors will open at 3 p.m. for those with tickets (except on Oct. 8 and 9, doors will open at noon). The last two days of the group stage are starting earlier to create time for possible tiebreakers.
Stakes
Teams are playing for placement in the quarterfinal round of the tournament’s knockout stage. The top two teams from each group will be placed in the quarterfinals bracket based on their record within their group.
Teams that finish first in their group stage will play the second place finisher from another group.
Teams
Teams will be determined based on each region’s finish in their respective Summer Split Finals. Teams with the most accrued points from each region over the course of the Spring/Summer Split will also be invited.
The official teams will be announced during the group draw (as well as what groups each team will be placed in). The group draw will take place live on Saturday, Sept. 10 in Los Angeles.
Tickets
Tickets are already on sale for the group stage. You can purchase your tickets now from Ticketmaster.
Future patch to change lane swapping in competitive play
Riot held an official meeting last Saturday to openly discuss the upcoming changes to early lane swapping with coaches, analysts, and professional players. These changes will take place before the start of Worlds.
Official changes announced by Riot
First, incentivize attacking and defending turrets. The first turret taken now grants a ‘First Blood’ reward, but turrets are now better at defending their allied champions.
- New: “Turret First Blood” gold: +275 local, +25 global (400 total gold across the team)
- New: Turret AI has been updated, and are better at defending allied champions (coming in 6.16)
Second, target a lane that’s ideal for fast push strategies. Bot lanes’ outer turret defenses are no longer identical to the other lanes, and cannon minion spawns now rotate between lanes.
Fortification (temporary damage reduction buff on turrets) changed:
- Duration: 7 minutes -> 5 minutes
- Damage reduction: 35 percent -> 50 percent
- Fortification removed from bot lane turrets (we’re investigating a more nuanced approach to this)
- Outer turret HP: 3300 -> 3500
Cannon minions now spawn differently:
- Each team gets one cannon minion per wave, rotating lanes.
- Specifically, bot gets a cannon minion in lane at Wave Three, mid at Wave Four, and top at Wave Five. This then repeats.
- Post-20 minutes, mid has a cannon in wave 40 then both bot and top get one in Wave 41. This then repeats.
- Post-35 minutes, all lanes have cannons in each wave.
Lane swapping has been a common scene this split. Essentially the two teams swap top and bottom lane, with one team’s top laner facing a two-versus-one in the top lane and vice versa for the other team in the bottom lane.
There are several competitive advantages as a result of this, such as the ability for a weaker bottom lane to survive the early part of the game.
With these changes, bottom lane turrets will now be more vulnerable. First blood turret gold will also mean trying to lane swap will now result in an advantage for the bottom lane. Players will now have to account for cannon minion waves as well.
Riot has also made a public statement since then:
“We know the timing’s not great and ideally this would have landed sooner to give teams time before playoffs to adjust. With that said, we think it’s important for the state of the game and something worth implementing now versus waiting until the offseason.
We also want teams to qualify for Worlds in the same general meta that they’ll be playing in this October, meaning now’s our only chance to make these changes. While we’re be iterating over the patches to come, these are the last major changes coming to the game before Worlds.”
Origen finds a new head coach
Origen has been undergoing quite a few changes this split, and the head coaching position has been one of them.
Origen announced that Alvar “Araneae” Martín will manage the coaching duties for the team for the foreseeable future.
Araneae is a former League of Legends player who’s from Spain and resides in Madrid. He’s formerly played for SK Gaming and Dignitas in the EU (as well as a multitude of Challenger teams).
Araneae has been consulting with Origen since the 2015 World Championship and will be replacing Nicholas “Nicothepico” Korsgård.
“I am very excited to join Origen. I take this opportunity as a professional challenge to lead the team and bring it back to the top of the standings where it belongs. I’ve worked with almost everyone, in both Fnatic and Origen during the World Championship and I’m excited to be here again, to motivate the group and work together to achieve our goals.”
Origen has had a down year, with the departure of two critical players during the offseason and a tumultuous first two weeks that saw FORG1VEN leave the team.
Fnatic creates professional Overwatch team
Fnatic is one of the most progressive esports organizations in the world. Just a few months after the release of competitive play in Overwatch, Fnatic has already assembled a team of players, flexes, and even selected a coach.
Find the lineup below:
- Robert “Roflgator” Malecki (Coach)
- André “iddqd” Dahlström (DPS)
- Scott “custa” Kennedy (Support)
- Oliver “Vonethil” Lager (Support)
- Casey “buds” McIlwaine (DPS)
- Warsi Faraaz “Stoop” Waris (Tank)
- Matthew “coolmatt69” Iorio (Flex)
You can read more about this announcement on Fnatic’s official page.
