Everything you need to know about the Worlds 2015 Group Stage

Riot·Sep 14, 2015·1 votes·35,893 views

After duking it out in Playoffs and Regional Qualifiers, the top 16 teams from around the globe are set to compete in the 2015 World Championship. The first round of competition kicks off with the Group Stage.

Ahead of the Group Stage you can catch up on all 16 teams competing in the 2015 World Championship, here.

Read on to find out more about which teams are competing in which Group, the Group Stage format, how Groups were chosen, and when you can catch all of the action.

The Worlds 2015 Groups:

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Group A: Counter Logic Gaming, Flash Wolves, KOO Tigers, paiN Gaming
Group B: Fnatic, Invictus Gaming, ahq e-Sports Club, Cloud9
Group C: SKTelecom T1, H2K, Edward Gaming, Bangkok Titans
Group D: LGD Gaming, KT Rolster, Team SoloMid, Origen

WHAT IS THE GROUP STAGE FORMAT?

The first phase of the 2015 World Championship tournament is referred to as the Group Stage. This year, the Group Stage will be held in Paris, France over the course of two weeks, starting October 1.

The format of the Group Stage is a Best of 1, double Round Robin. Each team in a Group plays all other teams in their Group twice. Afterward, the two teams with the best record from each Group will advance to the Knockout Stage of the 2015 World Championship, while the bottom two teams will be eliminated. Any potential tiebreakers will be played out during the second week of the Group Stage.

HOW WERE GROUPS DETERMINED?

Teams' placements in Groups were determined live by random weighted draw on the Group Draw show. You can catch a VOD of the Group Draw Show below.

The Group Draw followed several rules, one of which was that no teams from the same region could be in the same Group. Additionally, not every region needed to be represented in each Group. For example, you could have a group with NA, EU, KR, and IWC, but not CN.

Teams were distributed into Groups by drawing them from three different pools based on the procedure illustrated below.

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The teams were placed into pools based on their regional seeding.

Pool 1: The No. 1 seeds from Korea, China, Europe, and North America
Pool 2: The No. 2 and 3 seeds from Korea, China, the No. 2 seeds from Europe and North America, and the No. 1 and 2 seeds from the LMS.
Pool 3: The No. 3 seeds from Europe and North America, and both seeds from the IWC Qualifiers.

Some additional rules also applied. If you want more specific details on how exactly teams were drawn from pools into Groups, check out this detailed post.

WHAT’S ON THE LINE IN THE GROUP STAGE?

In the Group Stage, teams are playing for placement into the Quarterfinals round of the Knockout Stage of the tournament. The top two teams from each Group will be placed in the Quarterfinals bracket based on their record within their Group.

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Placement is important, as teams that finish No 1. in their group will play a team that finished No. 2 from another group.

Teams will also earn prize money based on their finish in the Group Stage. While every team gets something, the better they place, the more they get. You can check out prizing information here.

WHEN CAN I WATCH THE GROUP STAGE?

The Group Stage will take place over two weeks in Paris, France.

Date: October 1-4 and 8-11
Location: Le Dock Pullman, batiment 137, 50 Avenue du Président Wilson, 93200 La Plaine Saint-Denis, France

Here is when you can tune in to Lolesports to watch the games live:

October 1: 16:00 CEST / 7 AM PDT
October 2: 16:00 CEST / 7 AM PDT
October 3: 14:00 CEST / 5 AM PDT
October 4: 14:00 CEST / 5 AM PDT
October 8: 14:00 CEST / 5 AM PDT
October 9: 14:00 CEST / 5 AM PDT
October 10: 12:00 CEST / 3 AM PDT
October 11: 10:00 CEST / 1 AM PDT

After the matches each day, stay tuned to the Lolesports broadcast for Worlds Tonight, a new 15-minute show that recaps the events of the day and gets you caught up to speed on the big takeaways. We'll of course also have PrimeTime League, coming to you from Paris. Learn about the matchups, listen in on the Pros with Mic Check, and countdown the biggest plays of the 2015 Championship in The Penta!

If you happen to miss any of the games live, we have a spoiler-free VODs archive where you can watch every match. But, if you want to catch the entire show, we'll also be rebroadcasting our live show at 4 PM PDT on match days. You can catch those rebroadcasts here at Lolesports.

23 Comments

Benny1990Sep 14, 20154 votes

CLG should be gay too such an easy group for them

H0L3CH3KSep 14, 20154 votes

Dude fuck off... They are paired up against Koo and Flash and Pain.... Not so easy

Straw Hat LokiSep 15, 20152 votes

I think he/she should have said that out of the other groups and how they are "stacked", this one has easier seeds. No LPL or EU team and a KR seed which needs to prove themselves at the International Stage. CLG should make it through to the Bracket stage. After that, SKT/EDG/LGD/KTR/iG/FNC are all extremely tough opponents depending on who ends up as which seed etc. I hope CLG does do well.

PhoebeMulzenSep 15, 20151 votes

i think AHQ would make it out of the Group Stage.

Straw Hat LokiSep 15, 20151 votes

Very possible. It is really tough to call it between iG FNC and AHQ. FNC showed their weaknesses in LCS Finals while iG is inconsistent. Group B is the most interesting w/ the fact that there are no two clear favorites!

P.S. Nice name! xD

GIFT OF LOVESep 16, 20151 votes

We don't know.. maybe... Aatrox summoner 4 item 3153

MimiDivineSep 15, 20151 votes

Uhm I think he mean easier than the other group, no matter how one look group B,C,D is look much more competitive than A.

LupLupLamSep 24, 20151 votes

would u rather them be paired with fnc, edg, skt? They got the easiest group no doubt,.

Straw Hat LokiSep 15, 20152 votes

KOO Tigers and YFW are by no means "easy" opponents. Add the pressure of qualifying to the Worlds for the first time, CLG will have their hands full. Still, this is pretty much the best group CLG could have asked for wanting to make it out of the Group Stage. They have the weaker LMS seed as well as an IWC seed along with a strong KR seed. They are expected to finish 2nd and may be even upset for first if the boot camp builds on their play from MSG. TSM on the other hand, have their hands full and needs a monstrous leap in fixing their issues while Cloud 9 is making an honorary appearance in SKT and EDG's group.

Sneaky FastSep 17, 20152 votes

I'd give anything to see C9 knock off skt.

Straw Hat LokiSep 17, 20151 votes

Welp this occurred to me later but I mixed up C9's group lol. They are w/ iG, FNC and AHQ. I still feel it would be extremely tough veering impossible for them to finish higher than 4th but hey, they defy odds on the usual now.

LupLupLamSep 24, 20151 votes

imo, Koo is the weakest korean team to go to worlds. But if u put say either lgd/skt/edg in group A, it will be a walk in the park for them. Clg do have the easiest opponents but they themselves are counted as a not likely team to win worlds so it may not be easy for them.

Straw Hat LokiSep 24, 20151 votes

Yup. I also think KOO is not going to make it any further than Quarters for sure. There isn't a single team in Top 8 I see them beating once they make Quarters. I do hope CLG can recover from the blow of not having their jungler.

PotatoChipzSep 14, 20152 votes

everyone already knows dunkey is gonna win worlds.

VrothixSep 14, 20152 votes

I wish they always had a spoiler free VOD's archive. So many times I couldn't watch the games live but I always went back and watched the VODs. It just isn't quite as good watching a game when you already know who is going to win.

WyrdfellSep 30, 20152 votes

I just wanna see C9 make it out of groups because no one expects them to.

SwlocksSep 14, 20151 votes

[deleted]

QG DoinbSep 14, 20151 votes

got u!

Supreme CortSep 15, 20151 votes

No Xmithy RIP CLG

Garlic ButterSep 15, 20151 votes

#1 in their group gets paired against #2 in another group? That seems stacked in favor of #1s not having to fight each other till later, I've seen this occasionally at round robin tournaments and it is extremely terrible idea. Better to go #1s in each group fight #1s in other group, loser drops to 4th(or 8th) place. #2s fight each other to fight the winner of #1s winner, loser drops to 3rd place(or 7th), and so on and so forth, the point of that is the incentive to not tie, share prize pool behind the scenes, etc, as being crushed from 1st("2nd") place to 8th or lower is quite the blow and "puts more on the line." Encourages sportsmanship of a higher level and a more desperate mental state in both teams leading to a FAR more exciting and equally paired match (instead of curbstomp battle or underdog comeback battle both of which are quite uninteresting/predictable/unchallenging for at least one team. As since is such the lay out I will not be following the eSports now (previous to this ruling information I was going to watch for once, as the teams seemed interesting this time around, but now I know this kind of stacking practice will go on it will be unpleasent to watch).

Straw Hat LokiSep 15, 20152 votes

I believe these seeding rules (the ones Riot uses for its Bracket Stage) are standard across quiet a few major sports including Tennis, Hockey, Basketball, Soccer and Badminton to name a few where the top seeds are arranged in a way so as not to meet until the latest possible moment.

I have played competitive Badminton for many years and follow Tennis, Ice Hockey and Basketball like a maniac.

Sneaky FastSep 17, 20151 votes

Imp will win yet again.