As the League of Legends World Championship tournament is closing in on the finals, there are only four teams that remain in the tournament out of the original 24 teams who came to compete. While there were high hopes for Western (North American and European) teams this year, the last bastion of western hope was stomped out of the tournament in the quarter Finals. Out of the 8 western teams that came to compete in Worlds, zero remain in the tournament.
However, this is no shock. It has been several years since any western teams have made into the semi-finals. As the game progresses, the eastern teams (Chinese and Korean) always have a better pulse on the way the game needs to be played. This is no disappointment though because each of the teams that are still in the tournament have some of the biggest names in Esports and only one team can come out on top. With the Semifinals and finals just around the corner, the best League of Legends game play is about to hit center stage and put on a show that only comes around once a year.
One of the most important things about Worlds this year is that it is in a post-pandemic America. The crowds are back and louder than ever. They are hungry to watch League of Legends at the highest level of play. This can be seen most clearly for the finals that will be held in Chase Center in San Francisco. Recently on a radio show, the Chase Center General Manager was asked what the most popular event the Chase Center has ever held was and answer was simple, the League of Legends World Championship happening on November 5th. This game is more popular than the Warriors Basketball team, concerts, comedians, etc. According to the GM, tickets sold out for the Finals at Chase Center in less than 5 minutes. A staggering statistic to say the least but it goes to show how popular this game and Esports in general has become, rivaling the likes of big-name Basketball teams.
Getting to the actual teams still in the competition, perhaps the biggest name is the Korean team T1, priorly known as SKT 1. This team is a 3-time world champion but has not won the title for several years now. The is one player who was on these team to win all 3 titles and is the last remain player from their era of dominance. He is probably the most well-known player in all of Esports, Faker. He is so popular and good at League of Legends that he was the first professional player in any game to get a multi-million-dollar contract just to play on a team. While there are players that rival his skill now, there will never be a player who has made Esports history like Faker. He is the first and greatest of all time, comparable to Michael Jordan in the NBA.
There are two more Korean teams still in the competition as well. The first-place team in Korea, GenG, is one of T1’s most fearsome rivals. GenG houses the player Peanut, a player who played on the same team as Faker for multiple years in the past. And Chovy, a player who has been foretold to overtake Faker’s greatness but must prove it by making it to the Finals and beating Faker and T1 at their own game.
The third Korean team is DragonX (DRX). Many had predicted that this team would not make it to the semi-finals. To get here, they had to take down the 2021 World Champions in Edward Gaming (EDG) in an extremely back and forth 5 game series. The most famous player on DRX being Deft, who has been playing for as long as Faker, but has never been a World Champion. Will this be the year he earns that title?
Finally, the one and only Chinese team remain is JDG, the number one team from China this year. Their most recent victory was a swift 3 to 0 win against the last western team, Rogue, and because it was so one-sided, it is tough to gauge how the compare to the other 3 Korean teams. However, the big names on their team are Scout and Viper, each known as possibly the best players in the world in their roles. Also, both have spent time on Korean teams as well, so they potentially have a good read on their Korean opponents and how to play around them.
The first semifinals match will be played on October 29th between T1 and JDG and the second will be between GenG and DRX on October 30th. While getting to this point in the tournament is a huge accomplishment, no team or player will be happy if they do not win the whole thing.
