It all comes down to this. The crowning League of Legends event of the year — the 2020 World Championship — is about to take off! The 22 best LoL teams from all regions meet at the Pudong Football Stadium in Shanghai, China to reach the summit of pro play and raise the Summoner’s Cup in victory. The event spans an entire month, beginning on 25 September and concluding in an explosive finale on 31 October. Our favourite LoL teams spent the year battling for a handful of qualifiers into the World Championship, let’s see who made the final cut!

LEAGUE OF LEGENDS WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP QUALIFICATIONS

Due to the current state of world affairs, and the cancellation of several major LoL events, the seeding format saw a handful of changes across the regions. In Europe and North America, qualifiers were up for grabs solely in the LCS and LEC Summer Playoffs. After the shutdown of this year’s Mid-Season Invitational, both Europe and China received one extra seed for a total of four. The seeds for PCS (SE Asia) were reduced to two, as opposed to last year’s four seeds after the merger between LMS (Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau) and PCS. The two ‘extra’ seeds from last year’s LMS and PCS merger are the ones handed over to Europe and China this year. VCS (Vietnam) is out of the running due to travel restrictions, handing over their Main Event spot to Korea’s third seed. 

WHO MADE IT?

China: Top Esports, JD Gaming, Suning and LGD Gaming. 

Europe: G2 Esports, Fnatic, Rogue and MAD Lions.

North America: Team SoloMid, FlyQuest and Team Liquid.

Southeast Asia: Machi Esports and PSG Talon.

South Korea: DAMWON Gaming, DRX and Gen.G Esports.

Other regions: INTZ (Brazil), Unicorns of Love (CIS), V3 Esports (Japan), Rainbow7 (Latam), Legacy Esports (Oceania) and Papara SuperMassive (Turkey). 

2020 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP FORMAT

The 2020 World Championship is split into two major stages: Play-In and the Group Stage (Main Event), with the Play-In broken further down into two rounds. Only the teams who qualified for the Group Stage are competing for the ultimate prize, those who were seeded into Play-In have yet to prove their worth! 

Play-In Round One:

• Two groups of five teams play in a Single Round Robin format. 
• All matches are Bo1. 
• Top teams advance to the Group Stage.
• The second, third and fourth in each group advance to Round Two.
• The last team in each group is eliminated.

Play-In Round Two: 

• Only six teams from the original 10 make it to Round Two, retaining the two groups.
• All matches are Bo5. 
• The third and fourth-placed teams from the same group in Round One will face one another. The winner then competes against the second-placed team from the other group.
• Two winners advance to the Group Stage.
• The four losing teams will be eliminated. 

Group Stage — Main Event: 

• The four teams from the Play-In stage will join the 12 direct seeds in the Main Event. 
• All 16 teams are divided into four groups, based on seeding, and play Double Round Robin. 
• All matches are Bo1.
• The top two teams in each group advance to the Playoffs.
• The bottom two teams in each group are eliminated. 

Playoffs: 

• Single elimination bracket. 
• All matches are Bo5.

Round One is kicking off on 25 September with PSG Talon vs Rainbow7 as the first match of the Play-In stage. Followed by INTZ e-Sports vs Legacy eSports, LGD Gaming vs PSG Talon and MAD Lions vs Team Liquid. The Play-In stretches for another three arduous days of back-to-back skirmishes. Round Two will begin on Tuesday, 29 September, after all Round One matches have been played. 

SCHEDULE 

Play-In Round One: 25-28 September.

Play-In Round Two: 29-30 September.

Group Stage: 3-6 October and 8-11 October.

Playoffs: 15-18 October and 24-25 October. 

Finals: 31 October.

WHERE TO WATCH THE LEAGUE OF LEGENDS 2020 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP

Tune in and watch the League of Legends 2020 World Championship online, streamed live on the League of Legends Esports platform. 

The tournament schedule, standings and vods are available directly on the platform. To check out ongoing skirmishes, click WATCH. Past standings and concluded matches can be viewed through the VODS tab. 

LEAGUE OF LEGENDS 2020 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP BETTING

The Play-In rounds may not be all that we — as fans — hoped for, but we’re still in for some jaw-dropping action from the very first day!

On 26 September, MAD Lions Madrid are roaring for a win, at 3/8 (1.38), in their bout with SuperMassive eSports, at 2 (3.00) to crush their foes on the Rift.

Rainbow7 stand at 7/9 (1.78) to win against V3 Esports, who are at 34/33 (2.03) to reach the end of the rainbow and claim that sweet victory. 

Want to see if the tides of fortune can be turned? Come back for more backbreaking Play-In matchups on 27-28 September to see who makes it, and who doesn’t, to the long-awaited Main Event. 

If you’re interested in betting on this massive League of Legends event, we’ve got you covered at EnergyBet with our 2020 World Championship betting markets. Check out the latest, top-tier odds for this season’s action-packed matchups and back your favourites to take the Nexus!

Be sure to come back for more, we’ll be keeping you up to date with League of Legends World Championship standings and the next, rip-roaring LoL events at stellar betting odds.

*Odds subject to change. Odds correct at time of publishing.

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