The 2020 League of Legends World Championship is almost here. But before the action starts on Sept. 25, Riot revealed the play-in and group draws today.
This time around, the play-in stage will feature just 10 teams, split into two groups of five. Each group will play a single round-robin, with the first-place teams advancing to the group stage.
The third and fourth place teams in each play-in group will play a best-of-five series. The winner will play a second best-of-five series against the second-place team from the opposing group, while the loser will be eliminated from the tournament.
The winner of those two matches will also qualify for the group stage. In other words, there are four group stage spots up for grabs.
Play-in stage
The 10 teams competing in the play-in stage include the fourth seed from China’s LPL and Europe’s LEC, the third seed from North America’s LCS, the second seed from Taiwan, Hong Kong, and South East Asia’s PCS, and the first seeds from Brazil’s CBLOL, CIS’ LCL, Japan’s LJL, Latin America’s LLA, Oceania’s OPL, and Turkey’s TCL.
Group A
- Team Liquid (LCS)
- MAD Lions (LEC)
- Legacy Esports (OPL)
- Papara SuperMassive (TCL)
- INTZ Esports (CBLOL)
Group B
- LGD Gaming (LPL)
- PSG Talon (PCS)
- V3 Esports (LJL)
- Unicorns of Love (LCL)
- Rainbow7 (LLA)
Group stage
The group stage consists of 16 teams, 12 that directly qualified and four from the play-in stage. Each group, from A to D, will play a double round-robin, best-of-one-series. The two highest-ranked teams from each group will advance to the knockout stage of the tournament.
Group A
- G2 Esports (LEC)
- Suning (LPL)
- Machi Esports (PCS)
- TBD
Group B
- Damwon Gaming (LCK)
- JD Gaming (LPL)
- Rogue (LEC)
- TBD
Group C
- Team SoloMid (LCS)
- Fnatic (LEC)
- Gen.G (LCK)
- TBD
Group D
- Top Esports (LPL)
- DragonX (LCK)
- FlyQuest (LCS)
- TBD
The play-in stage kicks off on Sept. 25, while the group stage starts on Oct. 5.
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