What are the 2014 Regional Qualifiers?

Riot·8/4/2014, 11:48:28 PM·0 votes·22,964 views

The dream begins now. Every year, teams all over the world strive towards one goal - a chance to win the League of Legends World Championship. Regional Qualifiers are the first big step for many teams hoping to make their dream a reality.

But what is Regionals? And how will your favorite teams get through to the other side and into Worlds?

Let’s take a look at what your team’s journey to the World Championship looks like.

What are Regionals?

Each competitive region has its own distinct path toward advancing through this phase of the tournament. But before we get into how all of the individuals regions may shake out, you may first want to know just what these regions are.

In short, there are five major regions in League of Legends, each with a professional league:

North America - NA League Championship Series (NA LCS)
Europe - EU League Championship Series (EU LCS)
Korea - OGN Champions (OGN)
China - League of Legends Pro League (LPL)
Southeast Asia - Garena Premier League (GPL)

There will also be an International Wildcard qualifier, where teams from Latin America, Brazil, Oceania, Turkey, and Russia will vie for a seat in the tournament.

With all that in mind, each region is able to send a select few representatives to keep on the Worlds stage. Specifically:

North America - 3
Europe - 3
Korea - 3
China - 3
Southeast Asia - 2
International - 2

What happens during each Regional tournament?

North America & Europe - 3 spots each

LCS competition is divided into two splits: spring and summer. In the summer split, six teams make the playoffs. This tournament also doubles as the Worlds qualifier for each region. The tournament is a single-elimination bracket stage, where each match is a best-of-five. The top three teams earn their spots at the World Championship.

Korea - 3 spots

Competition in OGN is divided into three seasons - winter, spring and summer. For each season of the OGN, teams earn a designated number of circuit points based on their finish in the season. The top two teams, based on their circuit point standings, will automatically earn spots at Worlds.

Remaining teams are then arranged in “The Gauntlet” - an intense rapid-fire tournament where the last team standing earns its Worlds spot. Here’s how it works: the 6th and 5th place teams will play a best-of-five match. The winner of this match will play the 4th place team in a best-of-five match. The winner of this next match will play the 3rd place team in a best-of-five to determine who earns the third Korean spot at Worlds.

China - 3 spots

China is very confusing.

Like the NA and EU LCS, the LPL season is divided into two splits. However, the winner of LPL Summer does not automatically qualify for Worlds. Instead, the only automatic qualification would come if the same team won both Spring and Summer - in this case, Edward Gaming is the only team with a chance to do this. If Edward Gaming wins both splits, they will automatically qualify for Worlds - if not, the Summer champion will play Edward Gaming to determine who automatically qualifies.

In either case, after automatic qualification is determined, four teams (based on their placement in the Spring and Summer seasons) from China will play in a double elimination tournament to decide who qualifies for Worlds. The finalists in this double elimination tournament will both qualify.

Southeast Asia - 2 spots

Competition in Southeast Asia is similar to Korea. The GPL is also divided into three seasons, where teams earn circuit points based on their standing each season. The main difference between Korea and Southeast Asia is the number of teams that qualify for Worlds, and how the top teams qualify.

The winner of GPL Summer automatically qualifies for Worlds, and does not need to play through Regionals. The rest of the teams in Southeast Asia’s Regionals are comprised of the top four teams as designated by the number of accumulated circuit points.

Teams are placed into a nearly identical gauntlet. Here the 4th and 3rd place teams will play a best-of-five match. The winner of this match will play the 2nd place team in a best-of-five match. The winner of this next match will play the 1st place team in a best-of-five to determine who earns the second Southeast Asian spot at Worlds.

International - 2 spots

International teams not fitting into any of the five major regions will qualify in slightly different ways. There are two separate qualifiers for international teams: one for Turkey, Russia, and Oceania, and another for Latin America and Brazil. Each team will earn a spot into their respective qualifier by winning their local championship.

For the Turkey / Russia / Oceania qualifier, one team from each of the regions will play round robin against the others. The top two teams after the round robin will play a best-of-five match for a spot at Worlds.

For the Latin America / Brazil qualifier, two teams (one from LATAM and Brazil) will play a best-of-five match for a spot at Worlds.

What’s on the line?

As previously mentioned, each Regional Qualifier looks different, based on the preferences of the organizer in the host region. Each team only gets one shot at their Worlds dream.

Teams are rewarded for their performances in their Regional. Each bracket is anchored by a No. 1 seed from the Regional qualifiers, so it pays to be the best.

How do I get involved?

Tickets are available at a variety of venues for different events.

Ticket information for the NA and EU LCS are available on our ticket page. The semifinals and finals will take place at PAX Prime and Gamescom respectively.

In the event you can’t see the Regionals in person, there will be coverage in a variety of languges here at lolesports.com.

Be sure to follow @lolesports for updates on Regionals and Worlds and join the global #Worlds conversation on twitter.