EDward Gaming claim maiden Worlds title: final placement & recap

EDward Gaming have claimed their first Worlds title after taking down DWG KIA in an unforgettable 3-2 Grand Final victory Here’s how Worlds 2021 unfolded.

22 teams traveled to Iceland in the hopes of winning the biggest title in League of Legends.

It was EDward Gaming, the top seed from China’s LPL, who will be returning home with the trophy after a fierce final against defending champions, DWG KIA.

One of the pre-tournament favorites, EDG found themselves largely discounted as they failed to win their group, finishing second behind Faker and T1.

They were also seen as the underdogs in their quarterfinal matchup, as they took on fellow LPL side and MSI 2021 winners, Royal Never Give Up. While they needed five games to beat their compatriots, EDG were able to overcome their quarterfinal curse and reach Worlds semifinals for the first time.

There they met LCK second seeds Gen.G. Once again, EDG needed five games but were able to outlast their opponents to reach the Worlds final.

Waiting for them was defending champions DWG KIA, who many were already crowning as the second team in World history to win back-to-back titles. However, the combination of Scout holding his own against ShowMaker in the mid lane, JieJie’s jungle domaince, and the coronation of the bot lane duo of Viper and Meiko saw EDG take the Summoner’s Cup for themselves.

JUMP TO SECTION

• Schedule & results
• Group placements
• Worlds 2021 format
• Qualified teams

Worlds 2021: Schedule & Results

Play-In Stage (October 5 to October 9)

Play Ins was a rollercoaster from start to finish, opening with the highly-anticipated matchup between Korea’s Hanwha Life Esports and China’s LNG Esports.

While LNG ran away with Group A, things were a lot less clear in Group B. Cloud9 were one win away from automatically qualifying for the group stage, but couldn’t overcome a winless Unicorns of Love team, nor Japan’s DetonatioN FocusMe in a tiebreaker game. DFM became the Japanese team to qualify for the Worlds group stage.

Cloud9 eventually made it to the group stage as they swept Australian org PEACE in the Play Ins knockout stage.

Day 1: October 5

Day 2: October 6

Day 3: October 7

Day 4: October 8

Day 5: October 9

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Main Stage (October 11 – October 18)

No-one saw the group stage coming. FPX collapsed, finishing fourth in Group A. Inversely, Cloud9 turned a 0-3 start into a knockouts berth thanks to a stellar final day of the group. Unsurprisingly, DWG KIA ran away with the group, going 6-0.

EDG and T1 battled it out for control of Group B, with T1 finally getting the upper hand as LCS first seed 100 Thieves pulled off an upset win over EDG in the final match of the group.

Group C was perhaps the simplest of the groups. Fnatic couldn’t find traction after having to replace AD Carry Upset hours before the group stage began, while PSG Talon were simply unable to keep pace with RNG and Hanwha Life.

And then there was Group D. Gen.G, Team Liquid, MAD Lions, and LNG Esports achieved the first-ever four-way tie in the Worlds group stage. After a full tiebreaker bracket, Gen.G and MAD Lions moved onto the playoffs.

Day 1: October 11

Day 2: October 12

Day 3: October 13

Day 4: October 15

Day 5: October 16

Day 6: October 17

Day 7: October 18

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Knockout Stage (October 22 – November 6)

Quarterfinals (October 22 – October 25)

T1, DWG KIA, and Gen.G all picked up relatively simple 3-0 sweeps over their opponents, sending Hanwha Life, MAD Lions, and the miracle run Cloud9 home.

In the all-LPL matchup between RNG and EDG, it was a much more tense affair that went a full five games, with EDG beating the MSI champions.

Semifinals (October 30 – October 31)

Worlds saw both semifinal series go a full five games.

DWG KIA faced T1, in a matchup headlined by the showdown between ShowMaker and T1. While it was a very back-and-forth series, DWG KIA were able to fell the old gods of the LCK.

EDG also needed to five games to overcome the other Korean team left in the tournament to reach their first-ever Worlds final.

Grand Final (November 6)

Despite DWG KIA being the heavy favorites, EDward Gaming held nothing back.

EDG took Game 1, but DWG KIA by storming to Championship point with dominant wins in Games 2 and 3.

That’s when EDG kicked into gear, storming to wins in Game 4 and decimating DWG KIA in Game 5 to win their first ever World Championship.

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Worlds 2021: Final placements

Overall placements

Play-In Stage

Group A

Group B

Main Stage

Group A

Group B

Group C

Group D

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2021 World Championship format

The League of Legends World Championship is split into three phases: the play-in stage, the main event, and the knockout stage.

10 teams from around the world have partaken in the Play-In stage (down from the usual 12 due to Vietnam’s travel restrictions), with four main event spots going to the best performing teams in the qualifying stage. The main event features 16 teams, split across four groups, with the top eight teams from each seeded group progressing to the knockout stage.

The knockout stage is a single-elimination, eight-team bracket.

Teams will play in best-of-five series all the way to the final, with the winner of the knockout stage winning Worlds and taking home the Summoner’s Cup.

Event Information

• Location: Laugardalshöll Sport Center, Reykjavik
• Prize Pool: TBA
• Play-In
  • Group Stage (Round 1)
    • 10 teams participate
    • Teams are drawn into two groups based on seeding
    • Single Round Robin
    • Matches are best of one
    • Top team from each group advances to the Main Event
    • 2nd to 4th teams from each group advance to Round 2
  • Knockout Stage (Round 2)
    • 3rd place teams from the group stage face the 4th place team from the same group
    • Winners of these matches face the 2nd place team from the opposite group
    • Winners of these final matches advance to the Main Event
    • Matches are best of five
• Main Event
  • Group Stage
    • 16 teams participate
    • Teams are drawn into four groups based on seeding
    • Double Round Robin
    • Matches are best of one
    • Top two teams from each group advance to the Knockout Stage
  • Knockout Stage
    • Single elimination bracket (drawn randomly, 1st place teams face 2nd place teams, no two teams from the same group can be placed in the same half of the bracket)
    • Matches are best of five

Worlds 2021 was played on League patch 11.19, with Akshan and Vex disabled.

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Riot Games

League’s 156th champion, Akshan, will play no part in the 2021 World Championship.

All qualified LoL teams

24 teams from 12 regions across the world will send teams to Worlds 2021. China and Korea, League’s two historic powerhouses, will have four squads a piece, while Europe and North America will send three teams. Smaller regions, ranging from Oceania to Latin America, will send a single representative.

However, due to visa issues, Worlds was contested by 22 teams after the withdrawal of the two representatives from Vietnam’s VCS.

You can find the full list of teams who have qualified for Worlds below.

Italics = Substitute.

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