With global regional leagues coming to an end, and regional titles handed out. The League of Legends esports world now turns to the 2020 World Championships.
With teams from all over the world set to compete, across multiple weeks we’ve put together a handy explainer for everything you need to know about Worlds 2020.
What is League of Legends Worlds?
Worlds is the annual end of year global championships for League of Legends. With teams from all the top regional leagues converging on one country to decide who’s the best. For comparison, it’s basically like the Champions League, all the way down to the varied number of representatives per league based on past performance. The event is split into two key parts. The play-ins stage which starts on October 25th and finishes on October 30th. It will be followed by the main group stage which will span the entirety of November, starting on the 3rd.
Where is League of Legends Worlds being Played?
Due to the global pandemic, Riot Games, developer of League of Legends has decided to host Worlds in China. That was originally the plan anyway, however, due to quarantine and other complications the games will now all be hosted in Shanghai. While groups won’t be present, teams will have the chance to play on stage again, something teams from Europe and North America have been unable to do since early in 2020.
What Teams are Going to League of Legends Worlds?
With teams from each region handed spots based on previous success at Worlds a number of regions will be sending more teams than others. Below we’ve listed all the teams, the region they represent. All teams are in seed order, nations represented by only one side are at the play-ins stage, otherwise, the final side in each region will be at this stage. One exception is Korea, who due to Vietnam dropping out of Worlds will not send a team to play-ins and will instead go straight to the group stage.
- China (LPL) – Top Esports, JD Gaming, Suning, and LGD Gaming (play-ins)
- Europe (LEC) – G2 Esports, Fnatic, Rogue, MAD Lions (Play-ins)
- Korea (LCK) – DAMWON, DRX, and TBD
- North America (LCS) – Team SoloMid, FlyQuest, and Team Liquid (Play-ins)
- Southeast Asia (PCS) – Machi Esports, PSG Talon (Play-ins)
- Brazil (CBLOL) – INTZ
- Russia (LCL) – Unicorns Of Love
- Japan (LJL) – V3 Esports
- Latin America (LLA) – Rainbow7
- Oceania (OPL) – Legacy Esports
- Turkey (TCL) – Papara SuperMassive
What Time will League of Legends Worlds Matches Take Place?
Due to the series being played in China, we expect matches to be played early in the morning in Europe. As a reference, the LPL, China’s regional league plays at around 9-11 am in the UK, so we’d expect a similar situation at Worlds. The LoLesports website will likely update the schedule closer to the time.
League of Legends Worlds 2020 schedule
While we don’t have official start times for each series, we do have an idea of when each stage will start and end. These are as follows:
- Play-in Stage: September 25 – 30
- Group Stage, Round 1: October 3 – 6
- Group Stage, Round 2: October 8 – 11
- Quarterfinals: October 15-18
- Semi-finals: October 24 – 25
- Finals: October 31
What’s the League of Legends Worlds Prize Pool?
While the final prize pool isn’t known yet due to the sale of in-game items contributing to it. We do know that the minimum amount will be just shy of £2 million. Back in 2018, the additional revenue from item sales was rough £3.5m, similar figures are expected this year.
How do I Watch League of Legends Worlds 2020?
The best place to catch all the action alongside the chat of thousands of others is for free via Riot Games Twitch channel. Coverage will start from play-ins, and continue all the way to the Grand Finals. Streams will be available in a multitude of languages from across the world.
Riot Games also offers Pro View. This paid subscription allows you to see more angles including player POV, allowing you to see exactly what they see, and maybe even improve your own skills at the same time.
Who are the Previous Winners of League of Legends Worlds?
The current reigning champions are the Chinese side, FunPlus Phoenix(FPX). They achieved the title after beating European side G2 Esports in a 3-0 Grand Final. Notably, FPX will not be attending Worlds 2020, meaning we will have a new World Champion in 2020.
T1, previously known as SK Telecom (SKT) is the most successful organisation in Worlds history, with three Worlds titles to their name. T1 was a major part of South Korea’s 5 year dominance of the event.
Below is a list of all past winners:
| Team | Region/Nation | Year |
| Fnatic | Europe | 2011 |
| Taipei Assassins | Taiwan | 2012 |
| Sk Telecom | South Korea | 2013 |
| Samsung White | South Korea | 2014 |
| Sk Telecom | South Korea | 2015 |
| Sk Telecom | South Korea | 2016 |
| Samsung Galaxy | South Korea | 2017 |
| Invictus Gaming | China | 2018 |
| FunPlus Phoenix | China | 2019 |