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JD Gaming's LoL roster at the trophy ceremony following their big win at MSI 2023
Photo by Joe Brady via Riot Games
Category:
League of Legends

What is the ‘grand slam’ in professional League of Legends?

It's the toughest feat a pro LoL team could pull off.
Image of Michael Kelly
Michael Kelly
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Published: Oct 12, 2023 02:05 pm

Perhaps the highest honor that any League of Legends team can earn is winning the game’s “grand slam.”

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No team has ever done it before, but at this year’s LoL World Championship, one squad has the chance to etch itself into the history books by becoming the first team to ever win four major titles in the same season. 

Professional League’s grand slam can only be earned by a League team that fully dominates throughout a calendar year. A team must win the Spring Split championship in their domestic league, then go on to win the Mid-Season Invitational. In the second half of the year, they must return to the domestic stage and win the Summer Split title, then go on to lift the Summoner’s Cup and win the World Championship. 

At Worlds this year, JD Gaming out of the LPL are coming into Worlds with a chance to win the first grand slam in LoL history. The team won both the 2023 LPL Spring and Summer Splits, in addition to going completely perfect at MSI by not dropping a single set. Should they eventually hoist the Summoner’s Cup, they’ll be the first team to ever win the League grand slam. 

Tournaments required to win the LoL grand slam

  • Spring Split finals
  • Mid-Season Invitational
  • Summer Split finals
  • Worlds 

Only once before in League history has a team come into the World Championship with a grand slam on the line. That was in 2019 when G2 Esports won the LEC’s Spring and Summer Splits and MSI earlier in the year. That G2 team came one series away from completing the slam but lost to FunPlus Phoenix in the grand finals at Worlds 2019. 

Several teams have won three of the four necessary tournaments in a calendar year, such as SK Telecom in 2015, who would have won the grand slam if they hadn’t slipped up against Edward Gaming in the 2015 MSI finals. In 2021, DWG KIA also came close, winning two domestic championships but losing two international finals. 

Caps and Perkz pose with the MSI trophy after winning the tournament for G2 Esports LoL in 2019
G2 Esports were one series away from completing the grand slam in 2019. Photo by Colin Young-Wolff/Riot Games via Flickr

The name “grand slam” is inspired by the feat of the same name in tennis, which can be earned by a player who wins all four of that sport’s major tournaments throughout the course of a calendar year: the Australian Open, Roland-Garros, Wimbledon, and the U.S. Open. 

It does not matter which domestic league the grand slam winner comes from. Theoretically, even teams from minor regions could run the gauntlet and win their domestic leagues in addition to two international tournaments. 

JDG will have a chance to complete League’s grand slam later this month. Their road to the Summoner’s Cup will begin when the Worlds Swiss stage kicks off on Oct. 19. 

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Author
Image of Michael Kelly
Michael Kelly
Staff Writer covering World of Warcraft and League of Legends, among others. Mike's been with Dot since 2020, and has been covering esports since 2018.