The Summoner's Cup, championship trophy of the League of Legends World Championship. /CFP
Riot Games on Thursday announced more details for the League of Legends World Championship this year (Worlds 2022), including dates of different stages, arenas for the competitions and the number of teams each region can send to the tournament. League of Legends (LoL) is one of the world's largest e-sports and is made by developer Riot Games.
Since the League of Legends Continental League (LCL) Summer Season was canceled, their slot will go to League of Legends European Championship (LEC), the best-performing region in the past two years without four berths for Worlds 2022.
There will be a total of 24 teams competing at Worlds 2022 between September 25 and November 5 in Mexico and the U.S. 12 of these teams will appear directly in the group stage, waiting for four of the other 12 teams which will battle each other in the play-in matches.
There will be two rounds of play-in competitions held at Artz Pedregal in Mexico City between September 29 and October 4. As the top two LoL leagues, China's League of Legends Pro League (LPL) and South Korea's League of Legends Champions Korea (LCK) will both have one team participate in the play-in matches.
Members of Edward Gaming celebrate after defeating DWG KIA 3-2 in the League of Legends World Championship Finals to win the title in Reykjavik, Iceland, November 6, 2021. /CFP
After all 16 teams are confirmed for the group stage, they will be divided into four groups and compete at the Hulu Theater at Madison Square Garden in New York City during two periods between October 7 and 10, and from October 13 to 16. The top two teams of each group will advance to the elimination stage.
The quarterfinals will still happen at the Hulu Theater between October 20 and 23. Then the final four teams will go to State Farm Arena in Atlanta, Georgia to play the semifinals in two days of competitions on October 29 and 30. The finals will be held at the Chase Center in San Francisco, California on November 5.
Traditionally, the four best-performing teams in the Spring and Summer Seasons of LPL and LCK will go to the World Championship. By 16:00 (Beijing Time) on Friday, the top four teams on the regular season ranking table of LPL are Top Esports, JD Gaming, Victory Five and Royal Never Give Up. The reigning champion of Worlds 2021 Edward Gaming is fifth on the table.
In LCK, the top four teams so far are T1, Gen.G, DWG KIA and Liiv SANDBOX.