What is the 2017 World Championship?

Riot·Sep 14, 2017·5 votes·56,445 views

Join us along the journey to crown a champion at the largest and most prestigious League of Legends esports event of the year: Worlds.

The 2017 League of Legends World Championship is right around the corner, so let’s break down everything you need to know about League’s most epic event:

What is the 2017 World Championship?

The 2017 League of Legends World Championship, also known as Worlds, is an international esports event where top teams from across the globe battle to hoist the World Championship trophy. The event moves host regions every year and this year the event will take place in multiple venues across China.

When is Worlds happening?

Worlds will begin with the Play-In Stage on September 23 and conclude with Finals on November 4.

Who is participating at Worlds 2017?

We’ve expanded Worlds this year to include more teams/regions than ever before. Here’s a breakdown of the regions competing at Worlds and the amount of spots (referred to as ‘seeds’) their teams are allocated:

Korea (LCK) - 3 seeds
China (LPL) - 3 seeds
Europe (EU LCS) - 3 seeds
North America (NA LCS) - 3 seeds
Taiwan, Hong Kong, Macau (LMS) - 3 seeds
Southeast Asia (GPL) - 2 seeds
Brazil (CBLOL) - 1 seed
Commonwealth of Independent States (LCL) - 1 seed
Japan (LJL) - 1 seed
Latin America North (LLN) - 1 seed
Latin America South (CLS) - 1 seed
Oceania (OPL) - 1 seed
Turkey (TCL) - 1 seed

The teams that will be attending are:

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Korea - LCK:

Longzhu Gaming (LZ)
SK telecom T1 (SKT)
Samsung Galaxy (SSG)

China - LPL:

Edward Gaming (EDG)
Royal Never Give Up (RNG)
Team WE (WE)

Europe - EU LCS:

G2 Esports (G2)
Misfits (MSF)
Fnatic (FNC)

North America - NA LCS:

TSM (TSM)
Immortals (IMT)
Cloud9 (C9)

Taiwan, Hong Kong, Macau - LMS:

Flash Wolves (FW)
ahq e-Sports Club (AHQ)
Hong Kong Attitude (HKA)

Southeast Asia - GPL:

GIGABYTE Marines (GAM)
Young Generation (YG)

Brazil - CBLOL:

Team oNe eSports (ONE)

Commonwealth of Independent States - LCL:

Gambit Esports (GMB)

Japan - LJL:

Rampage (RPG)

Latin America North - LLN:

Lyon Gaming (LYN)

Latin America South - CLS:

Kaos Latin Gamers (KLG)

Oceania - OPL:

Dire Wolves (DW)

Turkey - TCL:

1907 Fenerbahçe Espor (FB)

What’s changed this year?

The LMS has been awarded a third seed due to consistently strong international performances. In addition to this, as a result of their finish at MSI, the GigaByte Marines earned an extra spot for the Southeast Asia region.

As mentioned earlier, this year’s World Championship has the most teams we’ve ever hosted, and more teams equals more seeds. The regions that used to participate in wildcard events now have seeds that send them straight to Worlds. Win your regional final and punch your ticket -- it’s that simple.

To accommodate the additional teams we’ve added another stage to the tournament. Just like earlier this year at the Mid-Season Invitational, there will be a Play-In Stage preceding the Group Stage. This stage allows us to invite more great teams and give them a chance to earn a spot in the Group Stage. Come out of the Play-Ins as one of the top four teams and you’re on to the next round.

What’s the format?

Worlds will be played in three stages this year: A Play-In Stage, then the Group Stage, followed up by the Knockout Stage (Quarterfinals, Semifinals, and Finals).

Play-In Stage (September 23-26 + September 28-29)

The new addition to the 2017 format is the Play-In. In this stage, 12 teams are split into four groups, where they’ll play a Double Round Robin, Best of 1 (Bo1) within their group. Based on those results, the top two teams from each group will advance to Round 2 where the #1 and #2 seeds are randomly paired to play a single Best of 5 (Bo5) match to determine who moves on to the Group Stage.

Group Stage (October 5-8 + October 12-15)

For the Group Stage, 12 teams will have auto-qualified based on their performances before Worlds. They will be joined by the four teams who successfully battled their way out of the Play-Ins. These 16 teams will be sorted into four groups comprised of four teams. Each group will play in a Double Round Robin, Best of 1 format. The top two finishers from each group will move on to the final leg of the tournament: the Knockout Stage.

Interested in how groups are selected for the Play-In and Group Stage? Check out the Draw Shows that aired on Lolesports on September 12 at 5 AM PT.

Knockout Stage (October 19-22 + October 28-29 + November 4)

Eight teams will move on to the third and final stage of the 2017 World Championship that’s made up of the Quarterfinals, Semifinals, and Finals. The tournament will transition to a single-elimination bracket with all matches being played in the Best of 5 format. The team who emerges victorious will be crowned the champions of Worlds 2017.

How do I watch?

You can catch all the action here on Lolesports throughout all of Worlds 2017. Check out our roundup page to catch up on all of the action so far!

Play-In Match Schedule is now available here and our rebroadcast schedule for North America is below.

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Download a Worlds Wallpaper

Hyped for Worlds as we are? Grab a 2017 wallpaper below. Desktop wallpaper is 1900 x 1200 and mobile wallpapers are 409 x 729.

48 Comments

SõõSep 14, 201712 votes

I only hope for two things. One is that NA gets out of groups, specifically TSM and hopefully to semis. My second hope is that Korea does not win again. I actually like Korea, they're my second favorite region after NA (gotta represent even if we're bad :P). However, I can't be the only one who's bored of SKT winning over and over again. Sure I could say, "any team but SKT", but I don't want a dominant Korean team to be replaced by another one. I remember season 2 when Taipei won worlds, it was CRAZY. The complete underdogs, and nobody expected them to win, it was so hyped. I want to see another underdog story. Not anymore of these stories in which Goliath grabs Davids balls and rips them off.

WhiteFireKirinSep 17, 20171 votes

nah them winning now makes them losing later all the more sweeter and a better underdog story. Its not skt's time to lose yet nor is it time for korea to get off the throne.

TrollFan01Sep 14, 20176 votes

I hope TSM can make semis. That'll be an accomplishment.

SwordOfRomeSep 14, 20175 votes

Can i see some ekko buffs so he's played at worlds.... i miss cancertank ekko.

LavenderTheGreatSep 14, 20171 votes

Worlds will be played on patch 7.18, which was released Wednsday

GromplestiltskinSep 15, 20171 votes

I wanna see a Juggernaut type class rework so we get more Darius pentas.

trollsbane17Sep 14, 20175 votes

just wondering, is someone doing or already done wallpapers for each team like they did last yeat? i really want a imt wallpaper for my fav team

xxSushiMousexxSep 16, 20171 votes

SAME, just want that IMT wallpaper, I already grabbed their new worlds jersey.

trollsbane17Sep 19, 20172 votes

ya, wish i had the money to get the icon, but im broke, i just want the wallpaper, heck if i could do art stuff worth a dang i would do it my self.

Jamez03Sep 16, 20172 votes

I think all the IMT fans are hyped for worlds I want that wallpaper to

The BirchSep 14, 20174 votes

More SKT skins sounds so redundant, so I hope Longzhu can take it home. It would be nice if our teams had a trick up their sleeve. I'm also excited to see how the Gigabyte Marines fare.

Cheesed BaeSep 14, 20171 votes

please more skt skins

Edge2PSep 14, 20174 votes

I mean lets face it C9 has made it to Quarter final in 2013,2014 and 2016 TSM has only made it in 2012,2014 since what they made third in 2011 season . C9 has performed better on the world stage consistently more recently than TSM

Why34Sep 14, 20173 votes

I know TSM aren't going to win it all. I hope SKT doesn't win again. I want someone else to take it home, overthrow the kings. Honestly I want to see the Marines and TSM make it out of groups so we can have that NA pride again like we did after rift rivals, and so we can have an underdog story so we can put hope behind a team. Sad not to see ANX this year I loved them last year. I hope this worlds is just as competitive as last years

Kar0ushiSep 14, 20171 votes

ANX does no longer exist, their roster was acquired by M19 and now they have a different jungler and mid, those 2 moved to GMB.CIS, that jungler moved to top lane for GMB.

GeminiRuneSep 14, 20171 votes

Pretty sure that M19/GMB finals went the full 5 games. So it was pretty intense. GMB was just the better team nonetheless. While you can be a bit distraught that the team that put shockwaves through the minor regions will not be in attendance, you can still keep a head held high that the team representing in their place is full of experience across the board.

Kar0ushiSep 15, 20171 votes

Well, in my case I wasn't supporting ANX, I was just happy they beat EU and NA teams and that other regions were getting better results year after year. Now in this world championship, I'm not supporting Gambit.CIS either.

BossStatusSep 14, 20173 votes

Recent timeline of pro LoL games: TSM and G2 did poorly at 2016 worlds ---> G2 played decently vs SKT at MSI 2017 ---> TSM ran train on EU at rift rivals 2017. Explain why a team that recently ran train on all of EU can't beat a team that SKT played well against.

This isn't Golden State vs a lot of trash teams in a Bo7...70% of the teams at worlds could win, if they are playing really well.

bakalord15Sep 15, 20173 votes

Following that logic, CLG can go toe to toe with SKT since they were in the Finals for MSI 2016 and because of that NA should now be even with LPL, LMS, and KR. Don't hold your breath. Let's be real now, KR is always looking strong every season and split; the top talent is from there believe it or not. So they're the clear favorites whether you would like to admit it or not. 4 out of 6 Summoner's Cups were handed out to Koreans. Just because TSM may look strong doesn't make their chances any better. The landscape has always been "Beat a KR team in Knockouts and you might just win it all". You can't do transitive property to tell how good a team stands against another. Take LZG, for example, they were shit spring now they're the top in summer does that mean they got lucky? No. They got better like everyone else does.

Everyone can win if they play well but will they, no. People like to root for NA and they have every right to but if they legitimately think they will win it all it'll be like saying the worst basketball team will win next year. I do not enjoy the NA > EU which then equates to NA = KR, that's just absurd. Unless KR throws HARD I don't see NA skins coming this year.

[zombie-nunu-bummed]

BossStatusSep 21, 20171 votes

I dont know why you are talking about 2016...I was just showing a timeline, not saying that anything from 2016 is relevant. MSI 2017 shows what teams have done lately. It is not a hard concept to understand that TSM is possibly better than G2 at this point based on RR, and G2 had a chance vs SKT at MSI. You can just be a little sheep and say KR is the best all the time, but you are not going to have a perfect bracket when picking team...stop pretending like you follow all LoL esports because you dont. You know what people tell you, which is KR is amazing. I doubt SKT will win worlds and dont pretend you know anything about LZ, because you didnt follow them.

bakalord15Oct 12, 20171 votes

You missed the point I was making. Your argument was, "Explain why a team that recently ran train on all of EU can't beat a team that SKT played well against." and I basically said you can't just use transitive property to suggest X team can beat Y team if they barely played against each other. Anyways, I never said SKT will win this year all I said was that NA don't really stand a chance at winning just because they LOOK strong. Look at the standings. SKT haven't dropped a game, LZG haven't dropped a game, and TSM is in a group without Koreans. Results speak for themselves. I honestly think that LZG will win the whole thing without dropping a game, they're just too strong. But "anything" can happen right? Anyways, good luck in the rift my friend.

[slayer-jinx-catface]

"Unless KR throws HARD I don't see NA skins coming this year."

XHoxhaGSep 14, 20177 votes

You shouldn't say that my dear sir. In my opinion, although its just an opinion, TSM are actually in the running to win worlds this year. Yes I know, I've been called delusional and what not but based on my theory and what I've studied from TSM they've actually developed a beautiful skill. Adaptation. When you look at the stats across the board for TSM, they actually look weak. For example on the same website you can see how long TSM have been with a major deficit and a major lead across all the games played. IMT had the best numbers for that stat not TSM however, TSM are the clear favorites winning the series. This means that TSM can play from a wide range of gold deficits and leads, again going back to my theory of adaptability. If you've also watched TSM Legends, they hint at the fact they "sacrifice" games in order to practice vital champs such as galio mid, tank tops and jungle, while DL and Biodaddy are continuously developing their synergy. So all in all, I think the other teams like SSG, RNG and EDG yea their individual talent is great but TSM as a whole is much greater than the sum of their parts, as a team they will pick apart players not individually but as a team. This year I hypothesis that TSM will redefine what team play is and their model/philosophy will be adapted amongst other teams there after.

Why34Sep 15, 20171 votes

I'm a realist. I don't want to hope TSM are going to win without any proof that they can preform internationally. As a once fan of the washington capitals, I know how it feels to be dominant in the regular season but never bring home the big title. Every year there is another reason why they can win and every year they lose. TSM can make it out of group stage and maybe even semis. But I don't think they are going to win unless something bad happens.

TharusSep 15, 20171 votes

lmao Washington Capitals

XHoxhaGSep 16, 20172 votes

I completely feel you on that bro. However, trust me when I say this and you most likely agree with me. You watch games from TSM and its the same shit over and over again. But there's one small difference, these studs are coming back from whatever deficit or they're winning games from whatever gold lead they have whether its a 1 gold lead or 10k gold lead. When I discovered this, I was like holy fucking shit, they know the game in and out. I'm not saying they don't make mistakes but TSM have figured out how to play like a team through thick and thin, when it matters most they turn on beast mode. LCK teams build gradual, small advantages and then they have crazy talent, and crazy individual play but...there's individual play greater than a good team play. LCK rely too much on individual, outdated tactics and TSM is going to show them that there is no such thing as a counter to good team play except for better team play. Watch have faith with me brother, they will make our home land proud and finally prove to LCK and the rest of the world, that TSM have revolutionized what it means to be a team.

KaichuuSep 16, 20173 votes

First of all, I think TSM does have a chance, but Jesus Christ your argument is completely biased and honestly just ridiculous. I don't even begin to understand your philosophy that TSM has somehow defined teamwork and teamplay when Korea has actually been more known especially teams like SKT and SSG to be heavily teamwork focused and macroplay. Not to mention, you said LCK relies too much on individuals but then KT would be at worlds and not SSG because KT is a rolster of superstars while SSG is a weak individual team that is consistent and works well together. TSM hasn't revolutionized team work at all because LCK has been doing what they have for a long time before, and your example of their comebacks are completely absurd seeing as those comebacks shouldn't have happened 70% of the time purely because the other team made not just a single mistakes but multiple in a row losing them the game especially seen in the IMT with 10k gold lead as they should have never have lost with a 10k gold lead if they were playing even decently. I think TSM is a really good team currently as I am expecting good things from them, but your praise for them goes beyond anything reasonable. TSM did not in anyway revolutionized what it means to be a team arguable just caught up to Korea in that aspect, and no idea where you even concluded they use outdated tactics as majority of the compositions and teamplay that TSM showed was already being done in other regions. I think your also backwards on the individual talent aspect as I believe TSM uses their players talents which is the best in NA to gain a lead or recover and that will apply less as they match against even matched lanes, so as much as you argue Korea uses individual talent so does TSM.

Yordle XayahSep 14, 20173 votes

EDWARD GARBAGE PogChamp

Hipster69Sep 14, 20172 votes

can u guys update the world championship page? and also you guys updates on other regions (besides NA and EU) are really slow, even for LCK

King KeragSep 14, 20171 votes

Yes PLEASE!

Hipster69Sep 15, 20171 votes

thanks riot for listening Teemo

Cheesed BaeSep 14, 20172 votes

please more skt skins <3

King Seki IVSep 14, 20172 votes

Loving the wallpapers! So beautiful.

Im ZincSep 14, 20172 votes

What is the Worlds 2017 Championship paragraph has an error 2nd line down 17th word. Move move regions.

KylerEzraStarSep 15, 20172 votes

Had to make sure I was not the only one who caught this.

PanthalasSep 15, 20172 votes

Legends NEVER Die!

ZidarynSep 15, 20172 votes

Only part I don't like is that the Group Stage is a best of 1. It should definitely be best of 3s. Flub a SINGLE game in the Group Stage and your out. I want to see a bit more of the international matches that we'll get to see in the groups. I just remember how last years Knockout stage was. item 3070 It was pretty much predictable in what would happen. (SKT 1's win) I want to watch games where it's not as much of a given who will win. Or at least, if it is a given let me see a story of a group that fought hard, made it to worlds some how, and then got wrecked, but fought hard and in their own style, against one of the stronger/ well known teams. Give me EXITMENT!! [slayer-pantheon-popcorn]

SynMidSep 14, 20171 votes

Can I get RP for the first comment rito ?

Edge2PSep 14, 20171 votes

I am curious to see how IMT handle them selves at worlds though.

LurkingghostSep 14, 20171 votes

When will tickets for the actual finals go on sale the nov 12th

MrOmegatonSep 14, 20171 votes

yes tsm

LionScarSep 15, 20171 votes

Are we "viewers" gonna get any rewards for watching?

DaldraiusSep 15, 20177 votes

Why would we?

Poffy PandaSep 15, 20179 votes

Well, Worlds Pick 'em is a thing.

GangerHrolfSep 16, 20174 votes

We get rewarded with tons of fun watching high quality league.

LPL WE XiyeSep 15, 20171 votes

英雄志逐传奇 summoner 6 summoner 4 Akali

6GCSep 15, 20171 votes

That wallpaper looks like it was made in MS paint.

StairwaytoBronzeSep 15, 20171 votes

Even G2 in that hellhole group C has a better chance of getting out of groups than TSM does. World Elite has a 90% chance of getting out of play-ins and a 50% chance of getting into Group D (100% chance if all the pool 1 teams from the play-in stage make it to groups). That makes WE and FW in TSM's group, which is to say two teams that beat TSM at MSI and two teams that advanced out of groups at MSI, whereas TSM did not. Yes, Doublelift will be there instead of Turtle, but Doublelift doesn't do anything to make Svensk a world class jungler, because he's not even a great jungler by NA standards. Karsa and potentially Condi will eat him up.

Zero North American teams make it out of groups this year, again. Not trying to hate, and I'll still pull for them, just trying to be objective.