Regional Qualifiers in the major regions have determined the final teams that will attend the 2018 World Championships.
The three teams representing Korea’s LCK, China’s LPL, and the European and North American LCS have now been locked in.
In the North American qualifier, Summer Split runners-up Cloud9 secured the spot at Worlds, completing an incredible turn-around from being dead last earlier in the season and joining Team Liquid and 100 Thieves at the World Championship. Notably, Team SoloMid will not appear at Worlds for the first time in the history of the event.
In Europe, however, Summer Split runners-up FC Schalke 04 weren’t able to make it through, losing to a resurgent G2 Esports despite the latter having had an underwhelming 5-6 finish in the Summer playoffs. They join Fnatic and Vitality as Europe’s representatives.
Likewise, the second-place team in LCK Summer, Griffin, was denied a place at the World Championship. Gen.G Esports, who won Worlds in 2017 as Samsung Galaxy, made their way through SK Telecom, Griffin, and Kingzone DragonX to claim a spot alongside KT Rolster and Afreeca Freecs at Worlds, earning a chance to defend their title.
Subscribe to our newsletter for the latest updates on Esports, Gaming and more.
Finally, EDward Gaming locked in the final spot from the LPL, marking their fifth consecutive appearance at the World Championship. Though EDG has had an underwhelming domestic season by their high standards, they were able to defeat JD Gaming and Rogue Warriors to claim the Regional Qualifier.
Only the LCK, which has produced the champions of the last five World Championships and also the runners-up of the last three, is guaranteed three spots in the Group Stage. The Regional Qualifiers from other leagues, therefore, will have to fight through the play-in to advance to the main event.
The LMS is the only league that still has a spot up for grabs at Worlds, with Flash Wolves and MAD Team already locked in. Other than the LMS Regional Qualifier, all of the other teams at the 2018 World Championship, both Group Stage and Play-In, are now confirmed.