Get to know the Group Stage

Let’s get ready for the Group Stage. With the 2016 League of Legends World Championship coming soon, here’s what you need to know about the start of the tournament:

What is the Group Stage?

The Group Stage aka Groups is the first part of the 2016 World Championship. In Groups, 16 top teams from around the globe are sorted into four groups comprised of four teams each.

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The Group Stage takes place over two weeks from September 29-October 2 and October 6-9 in San Francisco at the Bill Graham Civic Auditorium.

Who is participating? What are the Groups?

Here’s the 16 teams participating at Worlds and their designated groups during the Group Stage. Click on the team names below to learn more about them and their rosters:

Group A:

ROX Tigers (LCK)

G2 Esports (EU LCS)

Counter Logic Gaming (NA LCS)

Albus NoX Luna (CIS)

Group B:

Flash Wolves (LMS)

SK Telecom T1 (LCK)

I May (LPL)

Cloud9 (NA LCS)

Group C:

Edward Gaming (LPL)

ahq e-Sports Club (LMS)

H2K (EU LCS)

INTZ E-sports (CBLoL)

Group D:

TSM (NA LCS)

Royal Never Give Up (LPL)

Samsung Galaxy (LCK)

Splyce (EU LCS)

To learn more about the Groups and predictions from the experts, check out the group breakdowns starting with Jatt’s analysis on Group A, Deficio and Krepo share their thoughts on Group C, and Kobe dissects Group D. The Group B guide will be coming in the coming days. 

How were the groups decided?

The four groups were determined during a live Group Draw Show. Learn more about the draw with our Group Draw Guide and watch the VOD of the live show here.

What’s the Group Stage format?

At Groups, teams play in double Round Robin-style, Best of 1 (Bo1) matchups, meaning each team plays every other team in its group twice.

Why does the Group Stage matter? What are they playing for?

During the Group Stage, teams are playing to advance to the second part of the tournament, the Knockout Stage.

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At the Knockout Stage, the tournament moves to Best of 5, single elimination bracket. The top two teams from each group will advance to Quarterfinals in Chicago.

Teams are fighting not only to advance but also for seeding in the Knockout Stage as second seed teams will have to face-off against first seed teams from another group.

The Knockout Stage bracket will be decided live after Group Stage concludes on Sunday, October 9.

What’s the Group Stage schedule?

During the Week 1, there will be 6 games per day with 3 of the 4 groups playing on September 29-October 2.

In Week 2, there will also be 6 games per day but 1 group plays per day with the possibility of tiebreakers immediately after the scheduled games on October 6-9.

For the full match schedule, head over to our Worlds 2016 schedule page.  

How can I watch?

Stay tuned to Lolesports to catch all the Worlds 2016 action live or watch the rebroadcast of the games. If you need to catch up on what you missed, Lolesports will have the latest standings and VODs available of all the Group Stage games.

I want to come to Groups, can I still get tickets?

Limited tickets are still available for the Group Stage at the Bill Graham Civic Auditorium via Ticketmaster. Head over to our Groups ticket guide and Worlds tickets page for more information on how to attend Worlds 2016.

Don’t miss the start of the Group Stage with an opening ceremony immediately followed by North America’s Counter Logic Gaming vs. Europe’s G2 Esports on Thursday, September 29 at 4:00 PM PT.