League of Legends World Championship

The League of Legends World Championship (commonly abbreviated as Worlds) is an annual professional League of Legends world championship tournament. It is hosted by Riot Games. It comes at the end of each season. Teams compete for the champion title, the 70-pound (32-kilogram) Summoner's Cup, and a multi-million-dollar championship prize. In 2018, the finals were watched by 99.6 million people, breaking 2017's finals' viewer record.[1] The tournament has been praised for its ceremonial performances.[2][3] It has received attention worldwide because of its dramatic and emotional nature.[4][5][6]

League of Legends World Championship
GameLeague of Legends
Founded2011 (2011)
FounderRiot Games
No. of teams8 (2011), 12 (2012), 14 (2013), 16 (2014–2016), 24 (2017–2019), 22 (2020)[lower-alpha 1]
Venue(s)Rotating locations
Most recent
champion(s)		 Damwon Gaming (1st title)
Most titles T1 (3 titles)
QualificationRegional leagues (list)
Related
competitions		Mid-Season Invitational
Tournament formatRound-robin groups
Single elimination
Official websitelolesports.com

The League of Legends World Championships has been very successful and popular. It is one of the world's most prestigious and watched tournaments and the most watched video games in the world. Because of its success, esports became prominent and widely seen as a potential Olympics event. It is already included as a medal event in 2022 Asian Games.[7][8][9][10][11][12]

The tournament is held in different major countries and regions each year. South Korea's T1 is the most successful team in the tournament's history, having won three world championships.[13]

Trophy

Riot Games, which owns League of Legends, commissioned the winner's trophy known as the Summoner's Cup. Riot specified that it should weigh 70 pounds (32 kilograms), though the actual weight of the finished cup was reduced so it would not be too heavy to lift in victory. Thomas Lyte created the Season Two World Championship Cup in 2012. He made the winners' trophy for the 2014 games.[14]

Overview

Results
Year Final location Final 3rd–4th
Champion Score Runner-up
2011 Sweden Jönköping Fnatic 2 1 Europe against All authority United States Team SoloMid (3rd) United States Epik Gamer (4th)
2012 United States Los Angeles Taipei Assassins 3 1 Azubu Frost CLG Europe Moscow Five
2013 United States Los Angeles SK Telecom T1 3 0 Royal Club Fnatic NaJin Black Sword
2014 South Korea Seoul Samsung White 3 1 Star Horn Royal Club OMG Samsung Blue
2015 Germany Berlin SK Telecom T1 3 1 KOO Tigers Fnatic Origen
2016 United States Los Angeles SK Telecom T1 3 2 Samsung Galaxy H2k-Gaming ROX Tigers
2017 China Beijing Samsung Galaxy 3 0 SK Telecom T1 Royal Never Give Up Team WE
2018 South Korea Incheon Invictus Gaming 3 0 Fnatic Cloud9 G2 Esports
2019 France Paris FunPlus Phoenix 3 0 G2 Esports Invictus Gaming SK Telecom T1
2020 China Shanghai South Korea Damwon Gaming 3 1 Suning G2 Esports China Top Esports
2021 China TBA TBD – – TBD TBD TBD
2022 TBD TBD – – TBD TBD TBD

Regions which have reached the top four

(*): Region had two teams that finished in 3rd/4th place in this year.

Region Titles Runner-up 3rd–4th
South Korea South Korea (LCK) 6 (2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2020) 4 (2012, 2015, 2016, 2017) 4 (2013, 2014, 2016, 2019)
China China (LPL) 2 (2018, 2019) 3 (2013, 2014, 2020) 5 (2014, 2017*, 2019, 2020)
European Union Europe (LEC) 1 (2011) 3 (2011, 2018, 2019) 8 (2012*, 2013, 2015*, 2016, 2018, 2020)
TaiwanHong KongMacauTemplate:Country data Southeast Asia TW/HK/MO/SEA (PCS)[lower-alpha 2] 1 (2012)
United StatesCanada North America (LCS) 3 (2011*, 2018)

Teams which have reached the top four

  *   Background shading indicates a team/organization has been disbanded, acquired or no longer participates in the regional league.

Team Titles Runner-up 3rd–4th
South Korea T1[lower-alpha 3] 3 (2013, 2015, 2016) 1 (2017) 1 (2019)
South Korea Gen.G[lower-alpha 4] 2 (2014, 2017) 1 (2016) 1 (2014)
European Union Fnatic 1 (2011) 1 (2018) 2 (2013, 2015)
China Invictus Gaming 1 (2018) 1 (2019)
Taiwan J Team[lower-alpha 5] 1 (2012)
China FunPlus Phoenix 1 (2019)
South Korea Damwon Gaming 1 (2020)
China Royal Never Give Up[lower-alpha 6] 2 (2013, 2014) 1 (2017)
European Union G2 Esports 1 (2019) 2 (2018, 2020)
South Korea Hanwha Life Esports[lower-alpha 7] 1 (2015) 1 (2016)
European Union against All authority 1 (2011)
South Korea CJ Entus 1 (2012)
China Suning 1 (2020)
United States Epik Gamer 1 (2011)
United States Team SoloMid 1 (2011)
European Union CLG Europe 1 (2012)
Russia Moscow Five 1 (2012)
South Korea Fredit Brion[lower-alpha 8] 1 (2013)
China Oh My God 1 (2014)
European Union Astralis[lower-alpha 9] 1 (2015)
European Union H2k-Gaming 1 (2016)
China Team WE 1 (2017)
United States Cloud9 1 (2018)
China Top Esports 1 (2020)

Notes
  1. Teams from the Vietnam Championship Series were unable to compete due to COVID-19 restrictions.
  2. In 2012, Taipei Assassins competed in the Garena Premier League, which included teams from Taiwan, Hong Kong, Macau and Southeast Asia, but the regional qualifiers for Worlds were split for each region.
  3. Previously known as SK Telecom T1
  4. Previously known as MVP Ozone, Samsung Galaxy Ozone, Samsung Galaxy Blue & White, Samsung Galaxy, and KSV Esports.
  5. Previously known as Taipei Assassins
  6. Royal Club was relegated to the LoL Secondary Pro League (LSPL) by Gamtee during the 2015 LPL Summer promotion tournament. Shortly afterwards, Gamtee was acquired by Royal Club and rebranded as Royal Never Give Up. Royal Club has since remained in China's secondary league, now known as the LoL Development League (LDL), as the organization's academy team.
  7. Previously known as Huya Tigers, GE Tigers, KOO Tigers, and ROX Tigers. The team was rebranded as Hanwha Life Esports in 2018, but has yet to qualify for the World Championship under that name.
  8. Najin Black Sword and Najin White Shield were merged into NaJin e-mFire in 2014. In 2016 the team was acquired by Kongdoo Monster, whose CK spot was then acquired by Brion Blade in 2018. No iteration of the team has qualified for the World Championship since 2013.
  9. Previously known as Origen.

References
  1. Goslin, Austen (11 December 2018). "The 2018 League of Legends World Finals had nearly 100 million viewers". Rift Herald. Retrieved 9 September 2019.
  2. Allen, Eric Van. "League of Legends World Finals Had A Freaking Dragon". Compete.
  3. "The opening ceremony for the 2017 World Championship finals had a live performance and a dragon". The Rift Herald.
  4. Dwan, Hannah (19 October 2017). "The League of Legends 2017 World Championship quarter finals have started | Where to watch, our predictions, and the results so far". The Telegraph.
  5. "LoL Worlds: Fenerbahçe shines on Day 4". ESPN.com.
  6. "'League of Legends' 2017 world championships, semi final recap SKT vs RNG". Blasting News.
  7. Walker, Alex. "More People Watched League of Legends Than The NBA Finals".
  8. "Top Games by Esports and Total Viewing Hours on Twitch". Newzoo. Archived from the original on 18 January 2021. Retrieved 22 December 2020.
  9. "Gaming numbers top NBA Finals, World Series". ESPN.com.
  10. "Here's why League of Legends video game rules eSports". Fortune.
  11. Wong, Joon Ian. "Competitive video gaming is going to the 2022 Asian Games, but it's been a medal sport for a decade". Quartz.
  12. Myers, Maddy. "Esports Will Become A Medal Event At The 2022 Asian Games". Compete.
  13. "LoL Esports". www.lolesports.com. Archived from the original on 29 April 2021. Retrieved 22 December 2020.
  14. "Behind League of Legends, E-Sports's Main Attraction". The New York Times. 12 October 2014.
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