The US professional team Evil Geniuses destroys the MAD Lions in the decisive match of the Worlds Play-In-Stage and thus deals a bitter blow to the German top player Kaiser.
The League of Legends Worlds Play-In Stage is over. In the decisive qualification match on Tuesday, the fourth European representative MAD Lions had to play against NA rivals Evil Geniuses. However, the team around the German support player Norman “Kaiser” Kaiser lost the match flatly with 0:3. North America, on the other hand, was able to enjoy a victory in a Best-Of-Five match against Europe after eight years.
In the best-of-five match between MAD Lions and Evil Geniuses, the European team could not do anything. The LCS representative didn’t take any time to catch their breath and took the victory already in the third game. As a result, the North American team moves on to the group stage, while the MAD Lions have to travel home after the defeat.
Feels really bad to lose like this but we didn’t deserve going further with how we played – good luck to @pcdv8r and all the EU teams going further i really hope you guys will do well. Thanks to all the fans who cheered for us see you next year
– Kaiser (@KaiserLoL) October 4, 2022
This is a bitter blow for Germany’s Worlds hopeful. German pro Kaiser joined MAD Lions as a supporter in November 2019 and has been forced to bow out of the Worlds early for the second time. The Lions were already eliminated in the Play-In Stage at their Worlds debut in 2020, making them the first EU team in Worlds history to miss out on the Main Stage via this stage.
German hopefuls still in the race
However, the German hope for a top placement at the Worlds is not completely lost yet. Fnatic, G2 Esports and 100 Thieves each have a German player on site. The latter has mid-laner Felix “Abbedagge” Braun and G2 Esports is hoping for top laner Sergen “Broken Blade” Çelik. For Fnatic, bot laner Elias “Upset” Lipp enters the race.
For North America, Evil Geniuses finally broke a curse with an emphatic win over the MAD Lions. For eight years, no North American team has won a single game against a European organisation in a best-of-five series. The last time North America didn’t lose by a score of 0-3 was in the quarterfinals of the 2013 Worlds, when Cloud9 lost to Fnatic by a score of 1-2.
The Worlds2022 Groups! pic.twitter.com/txxTGmqVpa
– LoL Esports (@lolesports) October 5, 2022
Article of 23 September 2022
The next mega event in League of Legends is just around the corner. At the Worlds 2022 the best teams of the biggest international LoL professional leagues will compete for the coveted title of World Champion.
Update from 23.09.2022:
Top games to start with EU vs. NA – All info on the play-in phase
Riot Games published the schedule for the Play-In-Phase of the Worlds 2022 in Mexico on Wednesday evening. Right from the start on Thursday, fans can expect a brilliant first matchday with top matches. Fnatic will take on the LCS representatives from Evil Geniuses in the EU vs. NA clash. Later in the evening, DRX from South Korea and Royal Never Give Up from China will meet two absolute top teams
Your schedule for Day 1 of the Worlds2022 Play-Ins!
Find the full schedule here: https://t.co/t5aHrD0RqD pic.twitter.com/TCFx7u8TGV
– LoL Esports (@lolesports) September 21, 2022
The honour of the opening match this year goes to the MAD Lions, also from the European LEC. They will face the Latin American team Isurus Gaming. The two other qualifiers from Europe, Rogue and G2 Esports, are already qualified for the main round. There, however, especially G2 expects a group of death, as we reported.
Those who want to follow the games of the play-in phase live should plan for some night shifts. The group stage matches will start at 10 p.m. German time and will be played until the early hours of the morning.
The play-in phase first consists of a group phase in which two groups of six teams each play. Each team plays each group opponent once. The two group winners qualify for the main round of the Worlds 2022. The places two to four of the two groups play each other in a knockout bracket in best-of-five series. There, they will play for two more places in the main round of the Worlds.
Update: 05/09/2022:
The Group Stage & Play-In Pools for the Worlds are fixed
Legend:
- LPL: Chinese league
- LCK: Korean league
- LEC: European league
- LCS: North American League
- PCS: Taiwan, Hong Kong, Macau and South East Asia League
- VCS: Vietnamese League
- LJL: Japanese League
- LCO: Oceanic league
- TCL: Turkish league
- LLA: Latin American League
- CBLOL: Brazilian League
Riot Games has announced how the group stage of the Worlds will be made up:
- Pool 1: 1st place in the LPL, 1st place in the LCK, 1st place in the LEC, 1st place in the LCS
- Pool 2: 2nd place in LPL, 2nd place in LCK, 2nd place in LEC, 1st place in PCS
- Pool 3: 3rd place in LPL, 3rd place in LCK, 2nd place in LCS, 1st place in VCS
- Pool 4: composed of 4 teams from the play-in phase
The Play-In Phase is composed of:
- Pool 1: 4th place in the LPL, 4th place in the LCK, 3rd place in the LEC, 2nd place in the PCS
- Pool 2: 4th place in LEC, 3rd place in LCS, 2nd place in VCS, 1st place in LJL
- Pool 3: 1st place in LCO, 1st place in TCL, 1st place in LLA, 1st place in CBLOL
Which teams have qualified so far?
So far, the following teams from the different regions have safely qualified for the group stage of the Worlds:
- China: JD Gaming, Top Esports, EDward Gaming
- Korea: Gen.G, T1, DWG KIA
- Europe: G2 Esports
- North America: Cloud9
- TW/HK/MC/SEA: CTBC Flying Oyster
- Vietnam: GAM Esports
The following teams have already been announced for the play-ins:
- China: Royal Never Give Up
- Korea: DRX
- Europe: Rogue, Fnatic, MAD Lions
- TW/HK/MC/SEA: Beyond Gaming
- North America: 100 Thieves, Evil Geniuses
- Vietnam: Saigon Buffalo
- Japan: DetonatioN FocusMe
- Oceania: Chiefs Esports Club
- Latin America: Isurus
- Brazil: LOUD
Original article:
The Worlds 2022 will not only take place in one country this year, but on the North American continent. For the LoL teams, it’s off to Mexico as well as the USA. From 29 September to 5 November, the esports highlight of the year in League of Legends will take place and there the best teams of the regional leagues will put their skills to the international test.
All the way across North America
In total, the Esport teams will visit four cities during the 2022 Worlds. The preliminary phase, also known as the play-in stage, kicks off in the Mexican capital Mexico City. From 29 September to 4 October, twelve teams will fight for a spot in the group stage and a place in the next round. The preliminary phase will take place at the Arena Esports Stadium.
The four winners of the play-in and the twelve other participants who qualified immediately for the group stage due to better rankings in their leagues will then travel to the US metropolis of New York City. From 7 to 16 October, the group stage will take place at the Hulu Theatre in Madison Square Garden. The quarter-finals will then also be played there, which are scheduled from 20 to 23 October.
Tickets for Worlds2022 will go on sale beginning September 8!
Read more here: https://t.co/UqX2qlp35R pic.twitter.com/3TLeFU4zBO
– LoL Esports (@lolesports) August 17, 2022
For the semi-finals, the LoL teams travel on to Atlanta in the US state of Georgia. From 29 to 30 October, the State Farm Arena will host the semi-finals. The grand final on 5 November, on the other hand, is scheduled in California. The new League of Legends champion will be crowned at the Chase Center in San Francisco.
The pre-sale of tickets for the individual stages and phases during the Worlds 2022 will begin soon. LoL fans can already secure a ticket for each phase of the mega-event on 8 September. Even at the preliminary phase, a live audience is planned on site.
An overview of the ticket sales is provided by Riot Games on (leagueoflegends.com)
League Finals and Qualifiers are in full swing
The 2022 Summer Split in the regional leagues is determined for the 2022 Worlds slots. The best teams in the playoffs in August and September qualify for the event. So far, only a few teams are seeded for the Worlds. These include: T1, Gen.G, Top Esports and G2 Esports. The latter, however, is only safe in the play-ins. If they make the final of the LEC playoffs, G2 will be seeded directly in the main draw.
In total, 24 teams will compete at Worlds 2022 and the European region even got an extra slot this year.
- 4 from China (LPL)
- 4 from South Korea (LCK)
- 4 from Europe (LEC)
- 3 from North America (LCS)
- 2 from Taiwan, Hong Kong, Macau and South East Asia (PCS)
- 2 from Vietnam (VCS)
- 1 from Brazil (cblol)
- 1 from Japan (LJL)
- 1 from Latin America (LLA)
- 1 from Oceania (LCO)
- 1 from Turkey (TCL)
WELCOME TO WORLDS2022:
Congratulations to @TOP_Esports_ on being the first LPL team to qualify for the 2022 World Championship! pic.twitter.com/zgC9iRIMyg
– LoL Esports (@lolesports) August 22, 2022
How the mega event works
The preliminary phase will kick off the event. A total of 12 teams that did not qualify directly for the group stage will compete there. They will be divided into four groups and play against each other in a double round robin format. All matches will be best-of-one and only the top two teams from each group will move on to the play-in: Round 2.
In the second round, eight teams will compete against each other. However, there the matches will be played in a best-of-five format and only four teams will qualify for the group stage. There, the 16 remaining teams will be divided into four groups each. In the group stage, the matches will again be played in a best-of-one format.
League of Legends Worlds2022 Dates and Seeding:https://t.co/nWl4LFvH5c pic.twitter.com/kId900Pa1Z
– LoL Esports (@lolesports) July 21, 2022
Only the top two teams in each group will move on to the playoffs. A total of eight teams will then compete in the 2022 Worlds playoffs, with all matches and even the grand final being played in a best-of-five.
