The 2018 League of Legends World Championship is almost here, and now the stage has been set with the group draw for the event.
The World Championship is the biggest event on the League of Legends calendar, and the last major tournament of the season. This year it’s returning to South Korea, home of the last five World Champions, with the main event kicking off on October 10 and concluding on November 3.
Teams can be made or broken by their results at Worlds, and so a favorable group draw can be everything, especially since historically there have been some groups featuring multiple tournament favorites.
The groups for the main event were drawn in a live show, with teams taken from two pools. Pool 1 featured the champions of the LPL, LCK, EU LCS and LMS, each of which was drawn into a different group.
Pool 2 featured the second-seeded teams from the EU LCS, LMS, and LPL, the top two seeds from the NA LCS, and the second and third-seeded teams from the LCK. The top seed from Vietnam was also in Pool 2 for the main event thanks to their success at the Mid-Season Invitational. Teams could not be drawn into a pool with another from the same region.
The draw produced the following groups:
Group A:
- Flash Wolves
- Afreeca Freecs
- Phong Vũ Buffalo
Group B:
- Royal Never Give Up
- Gen. G Esports
- Team Vitality
Group C:
- KT Rolster
- MAD Team
- Team Liquid
Group D:
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- Fnatic
- 100 Thieves
- Invictus Gaming
The groups for the main event will be completed by the top four teams from the play-in stage, taking place on October 1-7. The play-in features the third-seed teams from China’s LPL, the European and North American LCS, and the LMS, as well as eight teams from emerging regions.
The groups for the play-in were also drawn, with the following results:
Group A:
- EDward Gaming
- Infinity Esports
- Dire Wolves
Group B:
- G2 Esports
- SuperMassive Esports
- Ascension Gaming
Group C:
- Cloud9
- KaBuM! Esports
- DetonatioN FocusMe
Group D:
- G-Rex
- Gambit Esports
- Kaos Latin Gamers
The full group draw show can be seen here: