League of Legends World Championships Qualifiers Take Shape For China
Published: Aug 29, 2017 - Last Updated: Apr 26, 2019
Last week, we wrote how the first five teams had earned qualification to the new-look League of Legends World Championship. After another week of matches across the globe, the confirmed qualifier ranks have now swelled to 16. Eleven of them will enter the competition at the group stage, with five teams confirmed for the new play-in stage.
The action begins in Wuhan on Sept. 23 and will run through Nov. 4.
Play-In stage qualifiers
We knew that 1907 Fenerbache (winners of the TCL competition) and Kaos Latin Gamers (winners of the CLS) had qualified for the Play-In event. This week, they’re joined by three more teams.
Rampage won the LJL (Japanese) event. The No. 2 seeds from GPL qualification (Asia) are the Vietnamese team Young Generation. Lyon Gaming won the Latin American North section. These teams will all make their debut at the World Championships this fall in China.
There are now just seven remaining places up for grabs in the Play-In stage, and they will be filled in the coming weeks.
The remaining Play-In places up for grabs are as follows:
- No. 3 seed from the LPL Summer Playoffs (China)
- No. 3 seed from the NALCS Summer Playoffs (North America)
- No. 3 seed from the EULCS Summer Playoffs (Europe)
- No. 3 seed from the LMS
- Winner of the CBLoL
- Winner of the OPL
- Winner of the LCL
In the new structure of Worlds, these teams will play off to join the teams that have already pre-qualified for the group stage.
Group stage qualifiers
As of last week, Flash Wolves, Team SoloMid, and SK Telecom T1 had punched their tickets into the group stage. Eight teams have since joined those ranks.
Longzhu Gaming earned the top spot in the prestigious Korean qualifier after beating SK Telecom T1 3-1 in the final of the Summer Playoffs. From the LPL in China, Royal Never Give Up and EDward Gaming confirmed their places, even though the top seed is yet to be decided.
From North America, Immortals will join Team SoloMid, while G2 Esports have earned the Europe’s No. 2 seed alongside Misfits. There is still one spot up for grabs for teams in the EU and NA LCS Summer Playoffs.
In Taiwan/Hong Kong/Macau, ahq e-Sports Club join Flash Wolves. The region’s top seed is GIGABYTE Marines.
Only the following group stage places are open:
- No. 3 seeds from the LCK (Korea)
- No. 1 seed from the LPL (China) (Royal Never Give Up or EDward Gaming)
- No. 1 seed from the NALCS (North America) (Team SoloMid or Immortals)
- No. 1 seed from the EULCS (Europe) (G2 Esports or Misfits)
World Championship 2017 venues
The many stages of Worlds will be played in some of the most iconic stadia in China.
Wuhan Sports Centre Gymnasium will house the play-in and group stages. The building can hold up to 13,000 live spectators.
The quarterfinals will move from Wuhan to Guangzhou to the Guangzhou Gymnasium, a 10,000-seat arena that hosts concert and sporting events.
The semis will relocate to the Chinese coast: to the larger, 18,000-seat Shanghai Oriental Sports Center. The building already hosted the 2016 League of Legends Mid Season Invitational.
However, all these indoor venues pale compared to the famous “Birds Nest” stadium, which will house the finals. The spectacular Beijing National Stadium became famous when the city hosted the 2008 Summer Olympics. The stadium can have two temporary large screens installed at each end, and the capacity is a staggering 80,000.
The potential is here for the largest-ever attendance at an esports event. That distinction is currently held by the 2015 ESL One Dota 2 event at the Commerzbank-Arena in Frankfurt. It attracted an incredible 52,000 spectators.
Since: August 10, 2015
