It is that time of the year again: Worlds 2022 is coming to North America and we are ready for some action! Marking the end of the 2022 season for League of Legends, Worlds 2022 will be one of the biggest esports events of the year. If you are getting ready for this exceptional tournament, here is everything you need to know about Worlds 2022.
The 12th edition of the League of Legends World Championship kicks off on September 29 with its play-in stage where the minor regions clash with each other and try to best some major region representatives to make it to the main event. Until the grand final on November 5, North America will be home to the best League of Legends action we have ever seen.
Worlds 2022 history
Although it was a much smaller tournament at first, a World Championship was always a part of League of Legends esports, starting from season one. The Season 1 Worlds was held in Sweden with a small amount of prize money, featuring six Western teams, one Singapore team and one Philippines team. That tournament was won by Fnatic, becoming the first and the only European team to be the World Champion of League of Legends.
Following the first edition, Worlds became a much more professional tournament. Held in North America, Season 2 Worlds offered $2,000,000 prize pool and the final venue was Galen Center in Los Angeles. Taipei Assasins won the tournament, giving Thailand their first and only championship. The next year, the final venue would be Staples Center, and South Korea’s domination would start.
Until Worlds 2016, the prize pool remained around two million dollars and the tournaments were won by Korean teams, SKT T1 twice and Samsung White once. SKT T1 won Worlds 2016 and became the only team to win Worlds three times. Next year, SKT T1 dynasty was stopped by Samsung Galaxy once again.
In 2018, the meta changed dramatically in League of Legends: the pole was not South Korea anymore, the changes in game favored China’s aggresive play style that couldn’t find a place in South Korea other than a few players like Khan. This also favoured European teams, they found two grand finals in two years, only to be 3-0’d by Invictus Gaming and FunPlus Phoenix.
DAMWON Gaming was the first team to break China’s domination and show the world that SK is able to play this new League of Legends with the right roster and right mindset. They made it to grand finals in Worlds 2021 too, but lost it 3-2 to EDward Gaming, signalling that instead of one region dominating, we will see a fight for power between China and South Korea.
The hall of fame:
- Season 1 World Championship - $99,500 - Fnatic
- Season 2 World Championship - $2,000,000 - Taipei Assasins
- Season 3 World Championship - $2,050,000 - SKT T1
- Worlds 2014 - $2,130,000 - Samsung White
- Worlds 2015 - $2,130,000 - SKT T1
- Worlds 2016 - $5,070,000 - SKT T1
- Worlds 2017 - $4,596,591 - Samsung Galaxy
- Worlds 2018 - $6,450,000 - Invictus Gaming
- Worlds 2019 - $2,225,000+ - FunPlus Phoenix
- Worlds 2020 - $2,225,000+ - DAMWON Gaming
- Worlds 2021 - $2,225,000+ - EDward Gaming
Worlds 2022 format
As always, Worlds 2022 will consist of two main phases: play-in stage, and the main event. Four teams will join the main event after the play-in stage, and 16 teams will clash for the Summoner’s Cup.
Worlds 2022 Play-In stage consists of 12 teams. Five of those teams come from the minor regions: Japan, Oceania, Turkey, Brazil and Latin America. One team comes from Vietnam and one team comes from Pacific Championship Series, they are not minor regions but aren’t major regions either. Finally, two teams from Europe and one team from North America, South Korea and China completes the stage.
These teams will be split into groups of six and play a single round-robin of best of ones. The bottom two teams will be eliminated in each group, and the first team will qualify for the main event directly. Third and fourth of each group will face each other in a best of five, and then face the opposite group’s second place in a second best of five. Winners will qualify for the main event.
Worlds 2022 Main Event will see sixteen teams split into four groups of for. A double round-robin of best of ones will be played, and two teams from each group will qualify for the playoffs. After a single elimination bracket of best of five series, the World Champion will be decided.
Worlds 2022 Play-In groups
Check out Group A teams:
| Teams | Region |
|---|---|
| Beyond Gaming | Pacific |
| Chiefs Esports Club | Oceania |
| DetonatioN FocusMe | Japan |
| Evil Geniuses | North America |
| Fnatic | Europe |
| LOUD | Brazil |
Beyond Gaming finished Pacific Championship Series in second place, outclassing PSG Talon to be here. Chiefs Esports Club won Oceania undefeated, DetonatioN FocusMe dominated Japan and finally took down Sengoku to secure their Worlds 2022 spot. Evil Geniuses finished third in North America after Danny’s mental problems stopped him from playing anymore, and they will start with Kaori here too.
Fnatic impressed everyone in Europe with a miracle run and made it to Worlds 2022. Finally, LOUD managed to take down several stronger candidates for the championship in Brazil and made it to Worlds for the first time in their history.
Check out Group B teams:
| Teams | Region |
|---|---|
| DRX | South Korea |
| Istanbul Wildcats | Turkey |
| Isurus | Latin America |
| MAD Lions | Europe |
| Royal Never Give Up | China |
| Saigon Buffalo | Vietnam |
After winning MSI 2022, Royal Never Give Up almost failed to qualify for Worlds 2022 but managed to make it to at least the play-in stage. DRX’s performance also dropped in the summer season, but they somehow survived the gauntlet to find a place here. MAD Lions made it to Worlds 2022 without winning a single best-of-five in 2022 and being criticized for their performance.
Saigon Buffalo was behind GAM Esports in Vietnam but was praised by many for their performances. Istanbul Wildcats won Turkish Championship League third time in the last four seasons and made it to Worlds for the first time in their history. Finally, Isurus won Latin America after being considered one of the two favourites for the championship.
Worlds 2022 Main Event groups
| Teams | Region |
|---|---|
| Cloud9 | North America |
| T1 | South Korea |
| EDward Gaming | China |
| TBD | TBD |
Cloud9 won the LCS after a long time, but have been handed a very strong group against Worlds 2021 champion & LPL third place EDward Gaming and MSI 2022 finalists & LCK second place T1. The final team to arrive in Group A will probably be a European team in this group due to the distribution of play-in slots.
| Teams | Region |
|---|---|
| JD Gaming | China |
| G2 Esports | Europe |
| DWG KIA | South Korea |
| TBD | TBD |
LPL champion and Worlds 2022 favourite JD Gaming will fight for playoffs in Group B, facing European powerhouse G2 Esports and the nightmare of Chinese and European LoL teams, DWG KIA. It is definitely the death group of Worlds 2022, considering that MAD Lions, Fnatic or Evil Geniuses are likely to arrive here.
| Teams | Region |
|---|---|
| Rogue | Europe |
| Top Esports | China |
| GAM Esports | Vietnam |
| TBD | TBD |
Group C looks like a weak group, but considering that DRX might join here if they don’t fail at the play-in stage makes things interesting: European champion Rogue, Chinese #2 Top Esports and Vietnamese champion GAM Esports will fight for glory. Although there seems to be an easy-to-understand hierarchy in Group C, this group might turn out to be the real death group in the end.
| Teams | Region |
|---|---|
| Gen.G | South Korea |
| CTBC Flying Oyster | Pacific |
| 100 Thieves | North America |
| TBD | TBD |
Finally, the second favourite at Worlds 2022, Korean champs Gen.G participates in Group D. GEN’s group consists of PCS champion CTBC Flying Oyster and the underperforming second place of North America, 100 Thieves. Royal Never Give Up is expected to arrive here after their play-in journey ends.
Worlds 2022 prize pool
While an official prize pool is still not yet disclosed by Riot Games, we are expecting it to be the same as the last few World Championships: $2,250,000 by Riot Games and extra from skin sales etc. We are still waiting for an announcement from the company before Worlds 2022 starts this weekend.
Worlds 2022 schedule
We are officially in Worlds 2022 as Lil Nas X’s STAR WALKIN’ and the new Worlds cinematic is released. You can check the new Worlds 2022 anthem below:
Worlds 2022 Play-In will start on September 29, and the group stage will take four days. Between October 3-5, we will witness the elimination and qualification best-of-fives, and the fates of the play-in teams will be decided.
Worlds 2022 Main Event starts on October 8, with the group stage taking place between October 8 and October 17. Quarter-finals will be played the same week between October 21-24. Semi-finals will take place next week on October 30-31 and finally, the grand finale of Worlds 2022 will be held on November 6.
Worlds 2022 venue and tickets
Apart from tickets for the grand final, there are only a few tickets left for Worlds 2022, besides those that Riot Games are probably saving to sell just before the actual day, as they did for Champions 2022. You can read about the sales in Riot's announcement. The "verified fan" and Mastercard Presale for the Grand Final will take place on September 27, and the general admission tickets for the Grand Final will go on sale on September 29.
Worlds 2022 will start with the play-in stage taking place in Mexico City. The home venue will be Arena Esports Stadium a.k.a LLA Studio with a capacity of 130. Group stage and quarter-finals will be held in New York City, Hulu Theatre at Madison Square Garden with a capacity of 5,500.
The semi-finals of Worlds 2022 also moved to another state, Atlanta, Georgia. State Farm Arena will be the home for the semi-finals with a capacity of 21,000. A final journey to San Fransisco, California will be necessary for Worlds 2022 grand final, as Chase Center will be home to the final series, with a capacity of 18,064.
You will be able to find the latest news about Worlds 2022 and bet on your favourite teams on Luckbox. Make sure to sign up now to grab your 100% bonus before jumping into the action.
