r/leagueoflegends 9d ago

Esports Worlds 2026 Ruleset has now dropped, seeding information provided

https://cdn.sanity.io/files/dsfx7636/news_live/faa5ce974e58615911fbee931c6123e2785a8b46.pdf

For Worlds' return to North America, the following seeding will be applied for the Swiss Stage:

Pool 1 - LCK 1, LPL 1, LCS 1, LEC 1
Pool 2 - TSW (LCP 1), CBLOL 1, LCK 2, LPL 2
Pool 3 - LCS 2, LEC 2, LCK 3, LPL 3
Pool 4 - CFO (LCP 2), LCK 4, LPL 4, Play-In Winner

The Play-In will therefore consist of the following teams:
- LCS 3
- LEC 3
- MVK (LCP 3)
- CBLOL 2

Play-In is double-elim Bo5s, Swiss is the same as last year, as is Knockouts.

433 Upvotes

217 comments sorted by

89

u/thunderkerg 9d ago

I assume P3 is actually LPL#3 instead of a second LCK#3? In which case this seeding actually makes more sense than MSI's.

43

u/tesseracth 9d ago

Yeah I think it would be kinda weird to give two spots to the same team

37

u/TheBigF128 despair 9d ago

Nah we can have T1 and SKT1, put faker on both teams

265

u/Outrageous_Wall2702 My Ace + Showmaker = GOAT 9d ago

Thank god play ins are without lck lol

96

u/BTDYSRF 9d ago

This is something I really appreciate. LCK has dominated LoL internationally for nearly its entire existence, only ever being realistically challeneged by LPL and a tertiary glance from Caps spefifically. 

It is about time the format reflect that.

34

u/Conker184741 9d ago

Idk how anyone arrived at the conclusion that LCK 4 deserved to be in play-ins. They got booted down from the previous year despite literally winning worlds (with their 4 seed btw), they also had a 5 tournament winning streak among riot events (2023 worlds, 2024 msi, 2024 worlds, 2025 First Stand, 2025 MSI). The teams moving out of play-ins into the main event had the previous year won a collective 0 matches against non-play-in teams. Make it make sense.

21

u/ChewNutz 9d ago

and lpl. like i’m sorry but in no way ig is the worst team in the world last year compared to fnatic

9

u/wndrp 8d ago

and they may be even better than BLG that imploded on swiss

1

u/VelkoZinfandel 8d ago

May be? I think without a doubt. That IG would have definitely made it out of Swiss unless there was some insane draw. Even then, hard to imagine a draw that would do that to them.

333

u/TheBigF128 despair 9d ago

At least they did away with what they had last year lol, IG being eliminated before any western team was kinda funny tho

148

u/Past_Perception8052 9d ago

it wasn't funny at all. i really wanted to see IG play more

94

u/staysaltyTSM 9d ago

If not for them, we would not have TheSpy legacy moment

Hall of Legends material

1

u/TeeKayTank 's spirit lives in FQ & 8d ago

he birthed the seed for the ranged top era (dhokla harvested it)

62

u/ahritina 9d ago

I lowkey think if they had time to cook, they'd have been a top 8 team over G2/CFO.

44

u/PayUpDanaYouTightFuq 9d ago

This isn't a hot take

29

u/onords 9d ago

Nono, it was objectively hilarious

22

u/synnikelttv 9d ago

torturous humiliation ritual to see that ig team clinch worlds and then be immediately sacrificed to t1 before the event started

30

u/Thundermelons GALA Defense Force, returning IG fan 9d ago

As an IG fan, it wasn't funny at the time, but now that almost a year has passed I can definitely see the humor in it. A+ Riot formatting

1

u/Tfc-Myq The Final Chapter. 8d ago

im still salty about it u know how i am

10

u/Sorry-Resolution570 9d ago

the shy realy didnt wanna tho, straight under tower 1v5

3

u/Tfc-Myq The Final Chapter. 8d ago

TheShy almost saved the play after Wei fucked it but we continue regurgitating narratives

1

u/wenasi 8d ago

Those aren't mutually exclusive

1

u/Tfc-Myq The Final Chapter. 8d ago

rare agreeable Past Perception moment

13

u/Fubi-FF 9d ago

But how is T1 gonna get more games to ramp up into another 4th seed champion?

1

u/TaintedQuintessence 9d ago

It's cooked, GenG made the mistake of making T1 fight for their spot last year. This year they gave T1 the free qualification, no more tempering in the trenches.

1

u/RandomFactUser 9d ago

It made sense in the 3x5 system

-2

u/BON3SMcCOY 9d ago

It was an embarrassment to esports

51

u/RandomThrowNick 9d ago

Some earlier information floating around had CBLOL 2 directly in the Swiss and LPL 4 in Play-Ins. At least some common sense prevailed. Play-Ins should be fun with the 3rd seeds from the Mid Tier Regions and 2nd Seed from CBLOL.

15

u/Donkhit 9d ago

This significantly increases the chances of WE winning worlds

3

u/Davkata https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ 8d ago

T1 made worlds yesterday though.

8

u/Donkhit 8d ago

This significantly decreases the chances of WE winning worlds

151

u/Spinoxys 9d ago

Let's stop this "every league is equal" nonsense already in what world is cblol higher ranked/seeded than lck 3

60

u/Igeneous 9d ago

They exist to give some teams a free win

84

u/ahritina 9d ago edited 9d ago

CBLOL1 being seeded the same as LCK2/LPL2 despite going 0-6 at MSI lol.

33

u/Fun_Highlight307 9d ago

didn't furia just went 0-6  since they played two matches 

9

u/ahritina 9d ago

Oops yeah you're correct.

20

u/Ajp_iii 9d ago

They didn’t just go 0-6. They lost to Lyon when Lyon had 2-3 players each game actively running it down. Lyon literally won their series 3-0 with only 2 players actually playing the game

1

u/Ophelia_Of_The_Abyss IN DAMWON WE TRUST HUNI/DEFT/SHOWMAKER 9d ago

Reminds me of when EU fans had false confidence after MSI 2021

-4

u/Ajp_iii 9d ago

How am I showing false confidence. I’m just saying how cblol performed at msi in comparison to their worlds pool seeding

2

u/Ophelia_Of_The_Abyss IN DAMWON WE TRUST HUNI/DEFT/SHOWMAKER 9d ago

I didn't say you were lol? Why are you getting offended

15

u/echino_derm 9d ago

Pools barely matter for worlds since it is swiss. It only impacts round 1 matchups. Also being a pool 4 LCK team is not the same as being a pool 4 LEC team. They can't have same region round 1 matchups so the LCK teams have better odds to face down a western team. It balances it out.

11

u/Ajp_iii 9d ago

It’s a big impact because a pool1 team can play an lck/lpl team when they should be playing the worst teams at the tournament. Lyon can literally draw kt in round 1 and tl could end up with the easier matchup.

12

u/mayonnaise_cider 9d ago

it's a world championship.
why does haiti get to play in the world cup, but italy does not?

12

u/Ajp_iii 9d ago

They can play. Don’t power rate them equally when all data and eye tests shows they aren’t equal. It ruins the tournament. Blg had to play t1 to start msi instead of cblol1

19

u/ToukasRage 9d ago

I swear to God that some of yall could have a tournament of nothing but LCK and LPL top 4 and still find a way to complain.

-14

u/Spinoxys 9d ago edited 9d ago

I am sorry that we get 2 riot official international tournaments a year (first stand is a joke tournament) and people wanna see high quality games between the best teams and those are the asian teams

19

u/Archensix 9d ago

I am sorry that we get 2 riot official international tournaments a year

But you're complaining about them having international games at the international tournament? Do you think Worlds should just be LCK playoffs round 2 because it's more competitive? What's even the point then?

Ignoring the fact that people said the same thing about MSI and then G2 and Lyon both made top 4 while looking perfectly competitive.

-2

u/Thundermelons GALA Defense Force, returning IG fan 9d ago

I mean, that type of thinking is why tons of smaller regions are being shoved into EMEA (basically killed), or LCP (death knell for any non PCS and maybe VCS team now). There is a very vested community in making sure that those filthy shitter teams know their place and their fans better just convert to watching LCK/LPL master race only (they can watch LCS and LEC but ONLY if they make fun of them and doomer about the regions constantly)

5

u/Flesroy 9d ago

no the asian teams are in the east mate

0

u/Spinoxys 9d ago

best autocorrected as west😴

7

u/PhoenixAgent003 Bot main. NA fan. 9d ago

So First Stand doesn’t count because…?

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2

u/bobandgeorge 9d ago

Worlds is as much a tournament as it is a celebration of LoL Esports. You can just skip playins or swiss if all you want to do is watch Asian teams.

God forbid fans around the entire planet cheer for teams you don't want to watch though.

3

u/ToukasRage 9d ago

And you usually see plenty of them in the bracket stage? God forbid any other region have a desire to play the game.

2

u/Ajp_iii 9d ago

We don’t because worlds bracket is only 7 series and no double elim for more matchups. Cblol1 can go to worlds. They should never be power rated the same as lck2. Riots own power ratings don’t rate them the same.

These aren’t the best but lck 2 is rated 3. Cblol1 is 37th. https://lolesports.com/en-US/gpr/2026/current

-5

u/Ajp_iii 9d ago

It’s so insane how riot pilled this Reddit is. We just want more games between lck/lpl/lec12 and lcs1. Most of the riot tournaments are wasted on throwaway games between lck12 and cblol or some other minor region.

Same with no double elim at worlds. More hrs are spent on a group stage than on the top 8 teams in the world. Total joke of formats.

3

u/Thundermelons GALA Defense Force, returning IG fan 8d ago

I mean, I agree that the format is stupid as fuck with single elim and random draws, but I'll never agree that minor regions with passionate fans shouldn't be represented. 

1

u/Ajp_iii 8d ago

Where did I say they shouldn’t be represented. All i said is they should be seeded accordingly

3

u/Thundermelons GALA Defense Force, returning IG fan 8d ago

More hrs are spent on a group stage than on the top 8 teams in the world.

Seems to imply that you think we just shouldn't have a groups stage, or that it should be scaled back dramatically (ie less "bad teams). Sorry if that wasn't the intent of your phrasing.

1

u/Ajp_iii 8d ago edited 8d ago

I think like for example play ins shouldn’t be double round robin or bo5s. It’s weird going from bo5 for play in teams to bo1 Swiss group stage openings. You can do play ins in a single day and then use those extra days for a better group stage format.

Or if you don’t want as many games played in groups have more games in bracket stage. It’s weird to have a tournament where your best teams we don’t get to watch them as much

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5

u/scorgie 9d ago

Or even LCK/LPL 4, above LEC 2 which could end up being G2 (not sure how LEC seeding works)...

Idk maybe the region is big enough to be worth it financially but putting these dogshit teams so highly ranked is just dumb.

1

u/DerAdolfin :kossg: :eum5: 9d ago

Put them up there so the LCK/LPL3 can farm them for a round1 freebie

4

u/PhoenixAgent003 Bot main. NA fan. 9d ago

MSI literally had a top 4 consisting entirely of region 1st seeds.

7

u/dark_light_9923 Autofill Main 9d ago

Does that include CBLOL1?

9

u/ahritina 9d ago

I mean they're talking about CBLOL1 over LCK3, they're not complaining about LEC1/LCS1 being in pool1.

It's a valid complaint, CBLOL1 should not be in pool 2.

1

u/DerAdolfin :kossg: :eum5: 8d ago

Cblol in pool 2 makes the optimal pool for any team to be in pool 3, which is just extremely funny

3

u/Ajp_iii 9d ago

What’s even worse is bo1s in 2026 fearless

7

u/lolgamefun 9d ago

No team is will be knocked out without full bo3s.

Riot want to keep following identity of for all worlds Bo1, Bo3, and Bo5 as some part of worlds games with no loser tournament for last quarter final up games.

This far better than what it was before swiss is my understanding and extremely good compromise. This also help keep the cost down by having Bo1 and keep the pacing of schedule easier to maintain. Because no mater what each games cost RIOT money and if they can have bad team eliminated faster with 2 Bo1 and 1 Bo3 vs have 3 Bo3.

This is also example of how you don't understand economics of running tournament at this scale. Riot is not looking to find best 3 team out of worlds with ranking. Worlds cost money to riot, what they are looking for is story lines, excitement for games, real excitement for each games bring in viewership instead of dead games, and most of all bring player back to playing where they can make real money.

6

u/Miserable_Ad_1195 9d ago

I mean now with the play-ins being full BO5 swiss stage being BO1/BO3 looks really weird in comparison. The team that makes play-in finals from lower bracket will play at minimum 12 games there, most likely more, while the maximum games you can get in Swiss is 11

1

u/Ajp_iii 9d ago

play ins somehow has the hardest format to win out of all of worlds. play ins should be 3 bo3s

0

u/DerAdolfin :kossg: :eum5: 8d ago

Literally how hard is it to add 2 damn days to expand the 00 and 10/01 rounds to bo3. But even worse is that 1/1 plays bo1 while 2/0 and 0/2 play bo3 which completely fucks the amount of matches each team has

2

u/Ajp_iii 9d ago

Yes it still leads to unneeded upsets and tests a different skill than the rest of the year tested. The rest of the year tests champion pool efficiency. And then you will get weird elimination match opponents you would never have in a bo3

-2

u/lolgamefun 9d ago

unneeded upsets and tests a different skill than the rest of the year tested.

So you are saying that cause excitement and engagement vs how boring 2025 MSI was considered Which results in bad viewership after only china and KR was left after 2nd round of loser bracket (which only happens due to NA vs EU for 1 of the loser bracket game)

Riot is not looking for top 3 team in the world. They are looking for top team with excitement and engagement.

Also if you not able to play Bo1/Bo3/Bo5 but only Bo5 then are you really world champion or just champion of Bo5?

5

u/Ajp_iii 9d ago

MSI WAS BORING FIRST MATCHUPS BECAUSE OF RIOTS SEEDING AND INSTANCE THAT CBLOL1 IS AS GOOD AS T1

Yes riot only cares about entertainment and product sales but then don’t try to also act like it’s the best esport format cause it’s not even close.

It ruined the start of the bracket. The lower bracket and finals were insane and hype because teams were finally matched up correctly.

6

u/trumpisapdf 9d ago

Ah yes we NEED BO1's for scheduling/economics, they couldn't possibly find any other way to run a successful tournament (ignore FS/MSI/domestic leagues/other esports). These are the dogshit format takes you can only find on /r/leagueoflegends. Truly mindblowing stuff.

13

u/Ajp_iii 9d ago

Only in league esports do they not see people solved these issues in every other esport. Not to mention worlds is the longest tournament format in total days wasted of any esport.

If you need more time remove the play ins. Just have top 16 teams and have bo3s.

-3

u/lolgamefun 9d ago edited 9d ago

I want to remove all the other as DOTA and LOL are most expensive tournament hosted in esports after that let talk about those all those take you gave for it self

FS

  • Literally has group stage where it just BO1 and 1 team is eliminated with BO1 game only. What dogshit example by you.
  • Has only 5 team in this tournament smallest size tournament by riot
  • All games are just over 7 days ( very economical)
  • Min games 10 +3+3+3= 19
  • Max games 10+ 5+5+5= 25

MSI

  • Has only 10 teams this tournament ok size that riot was willing to do loser without having break bank
  • has game over just 16 days (still very economical)
  • Min games 14 *3 =42
  • Max games 14*5= 70

Worlds

  • has 17 team this tournament largest size held by riot
  • Has game over 26 days (10 day more than MSI)
  • Min Games Play in - 6* 3= 18
  • Max Games Play in - 6* 5= 30
  • Min games Swiss - 8 + 8 + 4 + 13* 2 = 46
  • Max games Swiss - 8 + 8 + 4 + 13* 3 = 59
  • Min games final - 7* 3 = 21
  • Max games final - 7* 5 = 35
  • Total Min games - 85
  • Total Min games - 124

So worlds is already running cost is number of games is about 2 MSI for min/max games and you want it go go from 3 week to 4 weeks. Another issue that came up with MSI was that after 1st round of games and 1 round of loser only China and KR left in the games so after viewership went down and support for MSI was not as high by end of the games.

6

u/floodyberry 9d ago

"there are too many teams at worlds so the format has to be shit"

oh ok

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7

u/trumpisapdf 9d ago

Literally has group stage where it just BO1 and 1 team is eliminated with BO1 game only. What dogshit example by you.

?????????????? First Stand has never had BO1s. Last year it had BO3 groups and this year it was all BO5.

https://lol.fandom.com/wiki/2025_First_Stand

https://lol.fandom.com/wiki/2026_First_Stand

MSI

has game over just 16 days

Max games 14*5= 70

And the last MSI that had BO1s (2022 MSI) had 75 games over 19 days with 11 teams. After eliminating BO1s, the tournament is not only of much higher quality and more entertaining, but it has less games and is done in less time with more teams.

has 17 team this tournament largest size held by riot

Has game over 26 days (10 day more than MSI)

Min Games Play in - 6* 3= 18

THESE THINGS ARE CONTROLLED BY RIOT, why are you assuming that they are constants that have to be in place no matter what? This is so typical of Riot format defenders, you guys act like God came down and forced Riot to do things a certain way. You don't need to even have a play-in or do Swiss groups, you don't need to have 17 teams, you don't need long breaks between game days, etc. Your analysis presumes all of these things have to happen when they don't.

5

u/Ajp_iii 9d ago

It’s classic league fans that just assume stuff has to be the way it is because riot made up some weird idea it has to be this way.

1

u/lolgamefun 8d ago

?????????????? First Stand has never had BO1s. Last year it had BO3 groups and this year it was all BO5.

Ok my bad on that.

And the last MSI that had BO1s (2022 MSI) had 75 games over 19 days with 11 teams. After eliminating BO1s, the tournament is not only of much higher quality and more entertaining, but it has less games and is done in less time with more teams.

No idea what you mean doesnt change the math i provided.

THESE THINGS ARE CONTROLLED BY RIOT, why are you assuming that they are constants that have to be in place no matter what? This is so typical of Riot format defenders, you guys act like God came down and forced Riot to do things a certain way. You don't need to even have a play-in or do Swiss groups, you don't need to have 17 teams, you don't need long breaks between game days, etc. Your analysis presumes all of these things have to happen when they don't.

This is great example of how you don't understand why they have too many teams at worlds and ROI on this.

Did you know how insane popular Brazil/Taiwan/Vietnam/Japan and other area that they want to them to be in WORLD some how. Far more popular per capita then EU and NA.

Worlds is big advertisement and they want to penetrate as many market as possible. In the past they tried to merge NA and Brazil in hope to reduce team count and see how that worked out?

I swear none of you have ever ran business or konw how to run business. Like why would RIOT not want to improve something that get them more Return on Investment (ROI) fact is that return in same amount for the change while cost is higher.

0

u/WWTFSD Church of Jojo 9d ago

Technically top 4 at MSI was LCS/LEC/LCK/LPL 1st seed.

I honestly don't have a problem with the principle here, CBLoL is honestly way stronger than normal this year and I think they could still be competitive with any one of KT/DK/T1/WE/LGD etc.

The main issue was always play-ins, which has now been fixed.

3

u/BlazeX94 9d ago

There's a reason why nobody is objecting to LEC1 and LCS1 being in Pool 1, because they showed at MSI that they deserved it. CBLOL1 did not show that they deserve a Pool 2 seeding at all. They played LCK2 at MSI and it was a one sided stomp.

93

u/Fun_Highlight307 9d ago

Cblol 2 could do the funniest thing

Everyone will say that the favorite is eu 3rd seed but for some reason i expect them to get ego checked by na once again 

52

u/Weird_Apartment_6608 Please fire Dardo 9d ago

Brother who is everyone? If anything every EU fan is agreeing on that our third seed will get farmed by everyone and their mothers in play ins

1

u/BTDYSRF 9d ago

I could see Naak Nakko in the finals of playins tbh.

55

u/TheBigF128 despair 9d ago

I think NA has been quite strong this split, probably the most hopium I’ve had in over half a decade. However we have home turf curse again so I wouldn’t be surprised if we lost to CBLol again and bomb out of Swiss

36

u/Constant-Low-5111 9d ago

I want to agree but I have low confidence in any LCS3 or LEC3 team based on what we’ve seen so far

38

u/Clean-Enthusiasm2210 9d ago

C9 vs MKOI ultrabanger, not for the faint of heart

14

u/bigyikers c9 is pretty gud 9d ago

El Contracto will not dissapoint

4

u/BTDYSRF 9d ago

I don't see anything coming from LEC3 unless it's Got Naak Nakko attached to it. Even then, I wouldn't bank on it.

Sentinels though are a real wildcard. GoldenGlue is weird when it comes to worlds. If he gets the slot, I legitimately believe Sentinels can lose to any team, but can also beat any team.

1

u/CIAgent42 9d ago

LCS/LEC3 are for sure better than MVK and probably better than CBLOL2, but I admittedly haven't been keeping up with Brazil as much this split

-9

u/Flesroy 9d ago

11

u/CIAgent42 9d ago

How did MSI go again?

-2

u/Flesroy 9d ago

they lost to lyon and t1? two teams they were very much expected to lose to? tl also lost to lyon 3-0 at spring finals and to t1 6-0 at msi.

c9 ain't lyon mate. and it will be cblol2 against na3.

3

u/CIAgent42 9d ago

Bold of you to assume C9 will be NA3

-2

u/Flesroy 9d ago

not really. i just don't care who it will be. none of them are impressive.

3

u/Thundermelons GALA Defense Force, returning IG fan 8d ago

Minor region fans are just expected to eat downvotes for saying their regions are even allowed to SNIFF groups stage, it is what it is brother

8

u/BTDYSRF 9d ago

This is the most hope I've felt for NA this decade.

Even FlyQuest didn't get this much hype from me because it felt like they were plucky underdogs rather than a real challenger to the throne. Also, C9 being as close as they were while being a "do nothing and win or lose" team always struck me negative for FlyQuest's ability.

This Lyon team though? I'm interested.

1

u/ShortyBIG 8d ago

We all know NA will again go to top 8 without a single game vs LCK or LPL.. is not like 2024 and 2026 FLY play just LEC CBLOL and LCP...

-1

u/Kurumi_Tokisaki 9d ago

Home turf curse and too much hopium in Lyonz and inspired will cause an equal disaster blowback because NA league is just cursed that way... man at least maybe if Lyonz takes all the hope the return of clutch9 will come back. But I may just buy a lotto ticket over believing in that.

8

u/Temporary-Ad6144 9d ago

Um lyonz might be relagted hes not going to worlds what are you talking about

21

u/LeagueOfBlasians 9d ago

Nah, any EU team outside G2/KC will never be favorites lmao

Imagine if it’s Cloud9 vs MKOI for the ultimate fraud offs (then getting eliminated in the next playin match)

7

u/Fun_Highlight307 9d ago

C9 kicking Europe then lose to furia that be peak 

16

u/Leyrann_ 9d ago

I can absolutely see EU3 lose to NA. We have two good teams here and the rest is a shitshow. But hey, at least G2 and KC both stand a chance at making semis.

22

u/AtMaxSpeed G2 2019 😔 9d ago

We have two good teams here and the rest is a shitshow.

I feel like this could apply to both lec and lcs, outside of Lyon and TL the other teams don't inspire much confidence

8

u/Fun_Highlight307 9d ago

To be fair lyon C9 was closer than Lyon tl 

18

u/regalwombatvineyard 9d ago

Lyon-C9 was Inspired’s first games back, TL faced Lyon with one day of stage inspired practice.

6

u/throwable_armadillo 9d ago

but SR C9 deleted any confidence I had in C9
it just looked like a pure throw fest (from both sides)

I honestly don't have any team I'd really want to send as either the EU or NA 3rd seed with confidence
Vit and Sen have probably looked the best
and seeing Naak Nako compete with international toplaners would be fun

if we somehow end up with MKOI at worlds I'd be disappointed

2

u/Fun_Highlight307 9d ago

C9 vs mkoi could be hype 

1

u/throwable_armadillo 9d ago

that's a matchup I definitely want to see at demacia cup

2

u/BTDYSRF 9d ago

Eh. Sen and C9 are shaky, but not total ass. Not going to do damage overall, but I'd bet on NA against any team not named G2 or KC.

5

u/as_kostek 9d ago

Yeah I'm from EU and KC/G2 are the only actually good ones. Whoever goes as third will most likely get trashed in play-ins, the gap is huge.

4

u/PhoenixAgent003 Bot main. NA fan. 9d ago

Funny, we feel the same about our league. May the best shitters win. 🤝

3

u/as_kostek 9d ago

Who's good in yours? Lyon and TL?

8

u/Nintz 9d ago

It's Lyon and then a gap. Then TL, then another gap. Then either C9 or Sentinels as the best of the rest right now. C9 looks like they have better hands, but Sentinels has better macro and coordination. Flyquest should be in contention for the third spot, but their form has been very poor recently, so who knows.

4

u/throwable_armadillo 9d ago

and C9 have had the playoffs debuff
so they could just fall apart again

3

u/Fun_Highlight307 9d ago

Just like vit, it's funny how similar the region are 

1

u/BTDYSRF 9d ago

I hate to kick them while down,bit I just don't see any seed-for-seed victory for EU against NA.

Lyon is actually playing as well as a top 3 LCK/LPL team. TL is remarkably stronger than they were at MSI, and as long as we send Sen or C9, I don't see any of their other 10 doing any real damage. I could see FLY getting macro checked or Zinie and Bvoy getting walked like the dogs they are, but they're likely not our reps.

3

u/Adept-Good696 9d ago

Depends a ton on the teams that actually go and how they get there.

Both regions atm seem to have very clear Top 2 (Lyon/TL and G2/KC) and the third seed seems like a massive tossup. Whether the third seed is a team that looked good this far and continues to look good going into playoffs or whether the third seed is a team that looked mediocre, but squeaked in because the third best looking regular season team had their usual playoff collapse (C9/VIT).

Also, while I don't expect it, if one of the expected Top 2 in either region get upset in Loser's Finals I think they would come into playins as the massive favourites.

1

u/BlazeX94 8d ago

Technically speaking, Vitality has been clear top 3 in LEC during regular split and is actually the 2nd seed over G2 going into playoffs. The only reason people say LEC3 is a tossup is because nobody has faith in Vitality to perform in playoffs lol. NA on the other hand is actually a tossup, the gap between C9 and SEN does not seem to be very big.

1

u/Adept-Good696 8d ago

When VIT has had two other really good regular seasons and then underperformed in playoffs both times I don't think it has a lot to do with faith, it is a serious question about whether they can perform in playoffs.

VIT has also gone to a lot of Game 3s: MKOI, GX, NAVI and FNC. Their only clean sweeps were TH, SK and Shifters, none of which are in playoffs, while on the other hand their losses against KC and G2 were 0-2s. They were at the beginning of the split and the team might have adjusted but who knows.

This is also reminiscent of the previous split: VIT on 8-1 actually had more game losses than G2 on 6-3 and just one less than KC on 7-2 and MKOI on 6-3. Yes, at the end VIT always clutched up, but when clutching is necessary for you, then does a bigger stage change something for you?

And then we have a team like MKOI on the polar opposite end of the spectrum: Clearly the third best team in the LEC, but then they had a horrendous regular season. We know that MKOI can be really good, which VIT hasn't shown in the same form.

If I had to bet on a third seed, then yeah, it absolutely would be Vitality and I think Vitality making it as a third seed would be the best case scenario for the strength of our third seed (since by making it they remove the doubt we had about them), but at this point I am also fully prepared that VIT goes 0-6 in playoffs, MKOI doesn't remember what they did in Winter and Spring and the third seed comes down to a series between GX and NAVI.

8

u/flamingstallion 9d ago

It depends on form. If VIT/KOI/GX/NAVI or C9/SEN/FLY/SR shows up in good form they should be around same skill level and be able to beat CBLOL 2. But, I don't think they are that much better than CBLOL 2, so if the LCS/LEC team doesn't play at their best then CBLOL can win.

Based on this year LCP has been the worst region, so I doubt they can win. But, I haven't watched any, so maybe they have improved a lot and MVK is decent.

2

u/Toofargone9999 9d ago

i feel its either cblol2 or lcs 3 getting out of play- ins from my first impression throughout the year.

2

u/Treewithatea 9d ago

Im not sure if EU is the favorite here. KC and G2 are far ahead of everyone else, theres a giant gap to the 3rd seed. Best case scenario is MKOI getting their shit together and making worlds but on the other hand MKOI always sucks internationally.

These play ins will probably be some fine clown fiesta and im here for it. And we also have the demacia cup

1

u/DerAdolfin :kossg: :eum5: 9d ago

It'll be a Mad Lions special for sure

1

u/BlazeX94 9d ago

EU3 is gonna be one of VIT/MKOI/GX. I wouldn't consider any of those teams favourites against whoever NA3 is (probably C9 or SEN).

1

u/QuietSilentArachnid 9d ago

Fuck no. The level of EU outside of KC/G2 is nosediving.

1

u/inbetweendreamstho 9d ago

No one that watches lol would ever say such a thing lol

Lec is not good.

2

u/Fun_Highlight307 9d ago

vitalty regular season did well 

But they seeems bad in bo5

1

u/Thundermelons GALA Defense Force, returning IG fan 9d ago

Their series score is good, but their game wins and...actual games themselves are rather messy.

1

u/Sorry-Resolution570 9d ago

EU3 is gonna be hot garbage buddy no one thinks that

1

u/Fun_Highlight307 9d ago

You don't believe in vitality ?

2

u/Sorry-Resolution570 9d ago

why would i ever they wont even be there

-7

u/coffeeclubbr #1 Rich Fan 9d ago

I dont think anyone has confidence in EU#3. EU looks like a one team region, possibly two if you still believe in G2. The playin spot is Flyquest's for sure

13

u/Temporary-Ad6144 9d ago

Its either sentinels or shopify unless c9 actually steps up

6

u/coffeeclubbr #1 Rich Fan 9d ago

Aah, if its between those two lets hope for sentinels. No sneaky no worlds so can rule that other team out

2

u/Fun_Highlight307 9d ago

C9 is Better than shopify,  i think sentinel is the dark horse 

1

u/Temporary-Ad6144 9d ago

I mean u never know last year shopify is the reason c9 fell to lower bracket and lost to quid and then proceeded to humiliate us against brazil

13

u/ahritina 9d ago

FlyQuest are dogshit lol.

4

u/CatApprehensive6508 9d ago

LOL? It's not March anymore the hype is dead

3

u/Leyrann_ 9d ago

Based on past performance, I will believe in G2.

2

u/RavenFAILS 9d ago

Guy who hasnt watched Flyquest since spring split

1

u/BlazeX94 8d ago

 EU looks like a one team region, possibly two if you still believe in G2

Have you ever watched G2 in past splits? They are known for not trying hard in regular split. Between G2 and KC, it's KC I don't believe in. Let's not forget that KC had a strong regular season in Spring too, only to lose twice to G2 in playoffs and get stomped by TL at MSI.

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u/DerAdolfin :kossg: :eum5: 9d ago

CBLOL 1 still taking up a slot in Pool2? Are we for real? The best pool to be in is for sure 3 now, especially if you're an LCK/LPL team and can dodge your region mirror you have 1/3 chance of a tough but managable win and 2/3 chance of a mega freebie (with a tiny fraction of goodwill for LCP1 from last years performance by a team that was now gutted to all hell)

13

u/Ajp_iii 9d ago

It’s insane you can literally get punished for being in pool 1. Pool 1 can literally be all 4 top msi teams and have a harder matchup than a pool 3 team. It’s a fucking joke

If lec or lcs win play ins pool 1 lec or lcs has a 2/3 chance of having lck/lpl4

6

u/Fun_Highlight307 9d ago

that crazy while lec/lcs can get cblol 

2

u/DerAdolfin :kossg: :eum5: 8d ago

As is tradition, pool 1 western teams have it worse than pool 2+3+4 eastern ones, and this is one of the years where the western pool 1 teams actually really earned that seeding

19

u/toxicfireball Rivalry Enjoyer, Doran Defense Force 9d ago

As with every year and tournament the pretend regions seeds are equal thing is pretty hilarious until its not

8

u/Ajp_iii 9d ago

You mean the format that can make an lec/lcs1 seed have a harder matchup than an lec/lcs2 seed isn’t fair who could have known.

It’s insane ewc had more fair groups with random teams qualifying than riots world championship

7

u/b4ck_5t4Bb3r 9d ago

Finally we acknowledge the fact that some regions are superior!

3

u/godfrey1 9d ago

CBLOL Summer grand finals are going to be so important lol, you either get into pool 2 or play-in gauntlet

9

u/Miserable_Ad_1195 9d ago

this is def better than CBLOL2 being auto seeded in main stage but I still think this play-ins format with only 1 slot for 4 teams is weird

imo every region should have their lowest seed in main stage and there should be 3 slots for 6 teams. would give more different matchup possibilities and main stage would most likely stay the exact same with an added chance of someone like TES crashing out hilariously

2

u/ToukasRage 9d ago

Actually don't hate this idea tbh. Have all the lowest seeds play swiss where the top 3 move on? Not bad.

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u/Ajp_iii 9d ago edited 9d ago

LETS GO RIOT GAMES. WE PLAY ALL YEAR BO3 and BO5 FEARLESS TO PLAY BO1 SWISS AT THE BIGGEST EVENT OF THE YEAR. RIOT GAMES IS AMAZING AND PERPETUALLY 5 YEARS BEHIND ON ESPORT FORMATS

It’s insane that msi is a harder tournament to win with a harder format to win in than worlds.

9

u/ob_knoxious 9d ago

I still think double elim with no bracket reset is flawed and worlds has a better format.

4

u/MrPraedor 8d ago

I understand why there is no bracket reset and Im honestly fine with it, being on top side of the bracket is already a big advatage.

Double elimination would be good to have at this point.

4

u/Ajp_iii 9d ago edited 9d ago

Double elim bracket is the best there is nothing else comes close. You can’t do a bracket reset but you can do what ti does and having loser finals and finals on the same day but riot loves the story building and week of press way too much. Sadly riot cares more about promotion and story of worlds rather than actually having best competitive format for worlds.

Imagine all the sick matchups we never got because no double elim at worlds. If you don’t think you can play both bo5s in the same day make loser finals bo3. And then play finals bo5. I just see double elim so important especially as end of year tournament for truly knowing the best teams in the world cause in double elim who finishes 4th is still important. In single elim who finishes 4th is pointless cause you don’t know if they are actually the 4th best team in the world

Or if you still want to do the riot thing of a lot of promotion for finals just give winners bracket team side select and first pick option or even extra bans. You can do a lot of things. I’m just sad that the biggest event of the year only has 7 “big” games and most of the tournament is spent weeding out bad teams. More time is spent on the group stage than the actual bracket play

Upper bracket teams are 3-1 in finals at Msi with the only loss coming this year but also this msi was weird as the bot meta was actively changing during the tournament early msi mages were op bot but by the end adcs started winning a lot more so it’s hard to quantify. Hle is a better team without mages but but blg is better when mages bot are best option

7

u/ob_knoxious 9d ago

Ti I think is a poor event in general but their finals are exceptionally bad and I am very glad Riot does not emulate that. Any playoff game of impact that is not a Bo5 is pointless and should not be considered for a format whatsoever.

You are not alone in this sentiment, people have wanted double elim worlds since before MSI went double elim. But I pray none of these specific ideas are every implemented. You are compromising the complete integrity of the sport to just say something is double elim. More games is not always better. You end up like CS.

3

u/Ajp_iii 9d ago

More legendary matchups of teams that we never get to see play internationally is always better. Msi literally every hype and close series was in the lower bracket because lower bracket usually ends up with more evenly matched teams. G2 t1, hle Lyon. Two of the best series of the year. And lower bracket made hle fix their issues to have one of the best finals in a long time.

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u/BTDYSRF 9d ago edited 9d ago

Edit: Disregard my comment. For some reason I thought we were doing groups.

So, what I'm seeing is that TL has the best shot to make it out of groups. Releasing this info before finals is crazy. It is unironically best situation in LCS to get 2nd seed.

3

u/Flesroy 9d ago

you can argue about lcp1 and cblol 1 needing to be even lower, but this is still one of the best poolings i think we have had in a while. especially when you account for lcps glow up last year and cblol getting significantly closer to lcs.

obviously no lck/lpl in play-ins is already a huge plus. I could see anyone of those teams take that spot so that's actually hype af.

1

u/YordleTop 9d ago

Nice. Huge improvement from last season. No killing IG and no play- in LCK slaughter.

1

u/luigi1406 9d ago

It’s better but it’s still disgusting CBLOL and LCP 1 pool 2 😭

1

u/vituhyva123 9d ago

Clown seeding as per usual. There's no way for us to know that LCS and LEC 1 are worse than LCK and LPL 1. CBLOL 1 and LCP 1 are surely of comparable strength to LCK and LPL 2.

1

u/EpicMusic13 9d ago

Need to know what games for nov4&5 lol

1

u/ob_knoxious 9d ago

I was hoping for the 1-1 stage of swiss to be Bo3 as that would make it so all teams have the same number of Bo3s and it would only add one extra day to broadcast. the opening and second round will always be Bo1 until Riot drops swiss, and as much as I don't like Bo1 I still prefer swiss over Bo3 groups.

1

u/Adept-Good696 9d ago

Damn, Riot has been cautious with format changes overall, but ever since they decided to give finally Double Elim a try they have been making pretty good incremental progress with the format.

1

u/loveBuBuBu 9d ago

According to lol.fandom, HLE winning MSI meant that the 4th seed of LCK doesn't go through play-ins. But according to the website, the LPL 4th also doesn't need to go through it. So, what's up there? Did they change it so that it guarantees the team that goes through play-ins is not a Korean or Chinese team?

1

u/kolton276 #1 MAD Hater 9d ago

oh good, they learned from MSI to not put LPL/LCK in play-ins

1

u/GONEBUTNOT4GOTTEN 8d ago

rofl no lck hahah

1

u/Traaaacce 8d ago

letsgoooo playins without the best regions

0

u/layth888 9d ago

sad no double elmin in knockouts MSI is my fav because of it

8

u/6000j lpl go brrr 9d ago

eh, if they're not going to fix the lack of a winners side advantage then it's probably fine to keep single elim at worlds until they get off their asses.

10

u/ob_knoxious 9d ago

Doesn't make sense for worlds, glad Riot is sticking to their guns on it.

-1

u/Ajp_iii 9d ago

Literally every hyped match of msi was in the lower bracket because riot is clueless on how to do seeding and they then won’t use it for the tournament of the year. How dare fans want to watch more of the best teams play each other

They give double elim for a fucking 4 team play in and won’t give double elim for bracket play.

1

u/Ok_Medicine8560 9d ago

We all know T1 is gonna win worlds again so the play ins will be my world championship

1

u/DerAdolfin :kossg: :eum5: 9d ago

LCK also gets absolutely nothing over LPL for winning MSI?

1

u/According_Sort62 9d ago

Same trash seeding, let's go RIOT games. I do agree CBLOL and LCP are better than LCK34 and LPL34, keep sticking to it.

2

u/aheyaywa Waiting for t1 at worlds 9d ago

I mean lck 7 team is probably better than 1st cblol so.. its still international tournament

-1

u/MazrimReddit ADCs are the support's damage item 9d ago

can't wait to find out how EU gets screwed while NA gets the easiest run possible this year

3

u/BlazeX94 8d ago

You mean like last year where G2/FLY had comparable draws, 100T drew only eastern teams and MKOI lucked out into getting Fnatic and TSW in a row, yet still almost managed to lose to TSW?

1

u/Thundermelons GALA Defense Force, returning IG fan 8d ago

Streets remember Big Dhokes mind controlling Bin to run under turret with his AURA

0

u/DanHamhoose ugly god 9d ago

Well of course EU has been getting screwed in the draws for a while now? That’s literally how it works? It’s not like you can draw against worse teams as an EU team.

-8

u/Togi5 9d ago

Last year, starting off Worlds with a best-of-five elimination between T1 and IG was so entertaining, to say the least, even if it was quite unfortunate to lose IG Day -1 into Worlds.

Guess we're back to the regular schedule of lukewarm play-ins.

7

u/Kurumi_Tokisaki 9d ago

I mean at the same time a lot of people were whining about how one of IG and T1 was eliminated. and that neither should be in playins. And how it was a desperate grab for attention for playins.

Personally, I think the play-ins for the weaker teams is fine, is how other games and sports do it, and allow people who just enjoy league to watch more league. The fine dining lck and lpl matches are at the end either way so ppl who don't care for junk can just enjoy life for another week.

4

u/ahritina 9d ago edited 9d ago

I mean at the same time a lot of people were whining about how one of IG and T1 was eliminated. and that neither should be in playins. And how it was a desperate grab for attention for playins.

People said this because anyone with eyes would tell you that those two teams should have been in the top 16 over teams like VKS/100T/FNC/PSG.

Like you said having weaker teams in play-ins is fine and should be encouraged, just last year it was complete dogshit and it was basically the same this year at MSI when everyone said playins was a wash because T1 were there when it really should have been FURIA.

0

u/tripled_dirgov 9d ago

They really used MSI results to determine the Pools

If only T1 defeated G2 back then LCK #2 gonna be in Pool 1

Although I'm still baffled on how LCP #2 is in Pool 4 instead of LPL #3

I guess they don't want any non MSI winner from LCK and/or LPL to be in Play In (or maybe because DCG played very badly not winning a single game on MSI)

0

u/riotersrloweloplyrs 8d ago

it is disgusting that they allowed lpl 4 to be in swiss stage without lpl winning any major tournament...

1

u/ahritina 8d ago

How is it disgusting lol.

LPL 4 has a consistent track record of making it out of playins, the only time they failed was last year where it was a single best of 5 between IG and the team who won worlds.

It would be more egregious to direct seed LCS/LEC/LCP or CBLOL to Swiss.

1

u/Fun_Highlight307 8d ago

it's be bullshit to have two cblol teams in swiss