League of Legends World Championship
The League of Legends World Championship (commonly abbreviated as Worlds) is the annual professional League of Legends world championship tournament hosted by Riot Games and is the culmination of each season. Teams compete for the champion title, the 70-pound (32-kilogram) Summoner's Cup, and a multi-million-dollar championship prize. In 2018, the final was watched by 99.6 million people, breaking 2017's final's viewer record.[1] The tournament has been praised for its ceremonial performances,[2][3] while receiving attention worldwide due to its dramatic and emotional nature.[4][5][6]
 | |
| Game | League of Legends |
|---|---|
| Founded | 2011 |
| Founder | Riot Games |
| No. of teams | 8 (2011), 12 (2012), 14 (2013), 16 (2014–2016), 24 (2017–2019), 22 (2020)[lower-alpha 1] |
| Venue(s) | Rotating locations |
| Most recent champion(s) |  Damwon Gaming (1st title) |
| Most titles | T1 (3 titles) |
| Qualification | Regional leagues (list) |
| Related competitions | Mid-Season Invitational |
| Tournament format | Round-robin groups Single elimination |
| Official website | lolesports |
The League of Legends World Championships has gained tremendous success and popularity, making it among the world's most prestigious and watched tournaments, as well as the most watched video game in the world. Due to its success, esports scenes became prominent and widely seen as a potential Olympics event, already being included as a medal event in 2022 Asian Games.[7][8][9][10][11][12]
The tournament rotates its venues across different major countries and regions each year. South Korea's T1 is the most successful team in the tournament's history, having won three world championships.[13]
Trophy
Riot Games, which owns League of Legends, commissioned the winner's trophy known as the Summoner's Cup. Riot specified that it should weigh 70 pounds, though the actual weight of the finished cup was reduced so it would not be too heavy to lift in victory. Thomas Lyte, having already created the Season Two World Championship Cup in 2012, crafted the winners' trophy for the 2014 games.[14]
Overview
Results
| Year | Final location | Final | 3rd–4th | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Champion | Score | Runner-up | |||||
| 2011 |  Jönköping |
 Fnatic |
2 | 1 | against All authority |
 Team SoloMid (3rd) |
Epik Gamer (4th) |
| 2012 | Los Angeles |
 Taipei Assassins |
3 | 1 | Azubu Frost |
CLG Europe |
 Moscow Five |
| 2013 | Los Angeles |
SK Telecom T1 |
3 | 0 |  Royal Club |
Fnatic |
NaJin Black Sword |
| 2014 | Seoul |
Samsung White |
3 | 1 | Star Horn Royal Club |
OMG |
Samsung Blue |
| 2015 |  Berlin |
SK Telecom T1 |
3 | 1 | KOO Tigers |
Fnatic |
Origen |
| 2016 | Los Angeles |
SK Telecom T1 |
3 | 2 | Samsung Galaxy |
H2k-Gaming |
ROX Tigers |
| 2017 | Beijing |
Samsung Galaxy |
3 | 0 | SK Telecom T1 |
Royal Never Give Up |
Team WE |
| 2018 | Incheon |
Invictus Gaming |
3 | 0 | Fnatic |
Cloud9 |
G2 Esports |
| 2019 |  Paris |
FunPlus Phoenix |
3 | 0 | G2 Esports |
Invictus Gaming |
SK Telecom T1 |
| 2020 | Shanghai |
Damwon Gaming |
3 | 1 | Suning |
G2 Esports |
Top Esports |
| 2021 | Shenzhen |
TBD | – | – | TBD | TBD | TBD |
| 2022 |  TBD |
TBD | – | – | TBD | TBD | TBD |
Regions which have reached the top four
(*): The region had two teams that finished in 3rd–4th place that year.
| Region | Titles | Runner-up | 3rd–4th |
|---|---|---|---|
| South Korea (LCK) |
6 (2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2020) | 4 (2012, 2015, 2016, 2017) | 4 (2013, 2014, 2016, 2019) |
| China (LPL) |
2 (2018, 2019) | 3 (2013, 2014, 2020) | 5 (2014, 2017*, 2019, 2020) |
| Europe (LEC) |
1 (2011) | 3 (2011, 2018, 2019) | 8 (2012*, 2013, 2015*, 2016, 2018, 2020) |
   TW/HK/MO/SEA (PCS)[lower-alpha 2] |
1 (2012) | ||
.svg.png.webp){kind=small} North America (LCS) |
3 (2011*, 2018) |
Teams which have reached the top four
* Background shading indicates a team/organization has been disbanded, acquired or no longer participates in the regional league.
| Team | Titles | Runner-up | 3rd–4th |
|---|---|---|---|
| T1[lower-alpha 3] |
3 (2013, 2015, 2016) | 1 (2017) | 1 (2019) |
| Gen.G[lower-alpha 4] |
2 (2014, 2017) | 1 (2016) | 1 (2014) |
| Fnatic |
1 (2011) | 1 (2018) | 2 (2013, 2015) |
| Invictus Gaming |
1 (2018) | 1 (2019) | |
| J Team[lower-alpha 5] |
1 (2012) | ||
| FunPlus Phoenix |
1 (2019) | ||
| DWG KIA[lower-alpha 6] |
1 (2020) | ||
| Royal Never Give Up[lower-alpha 7] |
2 (2013, 2014) | 1 (2017) | |
| G2 Esports |
1 (2019) | 2 (2018, 2020) | |
| Hanwha Life Esports[lower-alpha 8] |
1 (2015) | 1 (2016) | |
| against All authority |
1 (2011) | ||
| CJ Entus |
1 (2012) | ||
| Suning |
1 (2020) | ||
| Epik Gamer |
1 (2011) | ||
| Team SoloMid |
1 (2011) | ||
| CLG Europe |
1 (2012) | ||
| Moscow Five |
1 (2012) | ||
| Fredit Brion[lower-alpha 9] |
1 (2013) | ||
| Oh My God |
1 (2014) | ||
| Astralis[lower-alpha 10] |
1 (2015) | ||
| H2k-Gaming |
1 (2016) | ||
| Team WE |
1 (2017) | ||
| Cloud9 |
1 (2018) | ||
| Top Esports |
1 (2020) |
Players who have reached the top four
Players who have reached the top four three times or more by playing at least one game at the tournament.
| Player | Titles | Runner-up | 3rd–4th |
|---|---|---|---|
| Faker |
3 (2013, 2015, 2016) | 1 (2017) | 1 (2019) |
| Bengi |
3 (2013, 2015, 2016) | ||
| Bang |
2 (2015, 2016) | 1 (2017) | |
| Wolf |
2 (2015, 2016) | 1 (2017) | |
 xPeke |
1 (2011) | 2 (2013, 2015) | |
| JackeyLove |
1 (2018) | 2 (2019, 2020) | |
| sOAZ |
2 (2011, 2018) | 2 (2013, 2015) | |
| Uzi |
2 (2013, 2014) | 1 (2017) | |
 Caps |
2 (2018, 2019) | 1 (2020) | |
 Jankos |
1 (2019) | 3 (2016, 2018, 2020) | |
| YellOwStaR |
1 (2011) | 2 (2013, 2015) | |
| PraY |
1 (2015) | 2 (2013, 2016) | |
 Perkz |
1 (2019) | 2 (2018, 2020) | |
| Wunder |
1 (2019) | 2 (2018, 2020) |
Season 1 (2011)
The Season 1 Championship[15] was held in June 2011 at Dreamhack Summer 2011, and featured a US$100,000 tournament prize pool.[16] 8 teams from Europe, North America, Southeast Asia[lower-alpha 11] participated in the championship.[17] Over 1.6 million viewers watched the streaming broadcast of the event, with a peak of over 210,069 simultaneous viewers in the final.[18] Maciej "Shushei" Ratuszniak of the winning team Fnatic was named the most valuable player (MVP) of the tournament.[19]
Top Four
| Place | Team | Players[20] | Prize money | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Top | Jungle | Mid | ADC | Support | |||
| 1st | Fnatic |
xPeke (Enrique Cedeño Martinez) |
 CyanideFI(Lauri Happonen) |
Shushei (Maciej Ratuszniak) |
LaMiaZeaLoT (Manuel Mildenberger) |
Mellisan (Peter Meisrimel) |
$50,000 |
| 2nd | against All authority |
sOAZ (Paul Boyer) |
Linak (Damien Lorthios) |
MoMa (Maik Wallus) |
YellOwStaR (Bora Kim) |
Kujaa (Jérôme Negretti) |
$25,000 |
| 3rd–4th | Team SoloMid |
TheRainMan (Christian Kahmann) |
TheOddOne (Brian Wyllie) |
Reginald (Andy Dinh) |
Chaox (Shan Huang) |
Xpecial (Alex Chu) |
$10,000 |
| 4th | Epik Gamer |
Westrice (Jonathan Nguyen) |
Dan Dinh (Daniel Dinh) |
Salce (Trevor Salce) |
Dyrus (Marcus Hill) |
Doublelift (Yiliang Peng) |
$7,000 |
Season 2 (2012)
_2012.jpg.webp)
After Season 1, Riot announced that US$5,000,000 would be paid out over Season 2. Of this $5 million, $2 million went to Riot's partners including the IGN Pro League and other major esports associations. Another $2 million went to Riot's Season 2 qualifiers and championship. The final $1 million went to other organizers who applied to Riot to host independent League of Legends tournaments.[21]
The Season 2 World Championship was held in early October 2012 in Los Angeles, California to conclude the US$5 million season. Twelve qualifying teams from around the world participated in the championship, which boasted the largest prize pool in the history of esports tournaments at the time at US$2 million, with US$1 million going to the champions. The group stage, quarterfinal, and semifinal matches took place between 4 and 6 October. The grand final took place a week after, on 13 October in the University of Southern California's Galen Center in front of 10,000 fans, and were broadcast in 13 different languages.[22] In the grand final, Taiwan's professional team Taipei Assassins triumphed over South Korea's Azubu Frost 3 to 1 and claimed the US$1 million in prize money.[23]
Over 8 million viewers tuned in to the Season 2 World Championship broadcast, with a maximum of 1.1 million concurrent viewers during the grand final, making the Season 2 World Championship the most watched esports event in history at the time.[24]
Top four
| Place | Team | Players[25] | Prize money | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Top | Jungle | Mid | ADC | Support | |||
| 1st | Taipei Assassins |
Stanley (Wang June-tsan) |
Lilballz (Alex Sung Kuan-po) |
Toyz (Kurtis Lau Wai Kin) |
bebe (Cheng Bo-wei) |
MiSTakE (Chen Hui-chung) |
$1,000,000 |
| 2nd | Azubu Frost |
Shy (Park Sang-myeon) |
CloudTemplar (Lee Hyun-woo) |
RapidStar (Jung Min-sung) |
Woong (Jang Gun-woong) |
MadLife (Hong Min-gi) |
$250,000 |
| 3rd–4th | CLG Europe |
Wickd (Mike Petersen) |
 Snoopeh(Stephen Ellis) |
Froggen (Henrik Hansen) |
yellowpete (Peter Wüppen) |
.svg.png.webp){kind=small} Krepo(Mitch Voorspoels) |
$150,000 |
| Moscow Five |
Darien (Evgeny Mazaev) |
Diamondprox (Danil Reshetnikov) |
Alex Ich (Alexey Ichetovkin) |
Genja (Evgeny Andryushin) |
 GoSu Pepper(Edward Abgaryan) | ||
Season 3 (2013)
The Season 3 World Championship was held in late 2013 in Los Angeles, California. 14 teams from North America, Korea, China, Southeast Asia, Europe, and one of the emerging League of Legends territories measured up at the World Playoffs after having qualified through their regional competitions.[26] The grand final was held in the Staples Center on 4 October 2013, where Korean team SK Telecom T1 defeated the Chinese team Royal Club,[27] granting them the title of the Season 3 world champions, the Summoner's Cup and the $1 million prize.
The Season 3 World Championship grand final broadcast on 4 October was watched by 32 million people with a peak concurrent viewership of 8.5 million.[28] The numbers once again beat the previous records for esports viewership.
Top four
| Place | Team | Players[29] | Prize money | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Top | Jungle | Mid | ADC | Support | |||
| 1st | SK Telecom T1 |
Impact (Jung Eon-yeong) |
Bengi (Bae Seong-woong) |
Faker (Lee Sang-hyeok) |
Piglet (Chae Gwang-jin) |
PoohManDu (Lee Jeong-hyeon) |
$1,000,000 |
| 2nd | Royal Club |
GoDlike (Xiao Wang) |
Lucky (Liu Junjie) |
Wh1t3zZ (Lo Pun Wai) |
Uzi (Jian Zihao) |
Tabe (Wong Pak Kan) |
$250,000 |
| 3rd–4th | Fnatic |
sOAZ (Paul Boyer) |
Cyanide (Lauri Happonen) |
xPeke (Enrique Cedeño Martinez) |
 puszu(Johannes Uibos) |
YellOwStaR (Bora Kim) |
$150,000 |
| NaJin Black Sword |
Expession (Gu Bon-taek) |
watch (Cho Jae-geol) |
Nagne (Kim Sang-moon) |
PraY (Kim Jong-in) |
Cain (Jang Nu-ri) | ||
Season 2014
The 2014 World Championship featured 16 teams competing for a $2.13 million prize pool, with 14 teams qualifying from the primary League of Legends regions (China, Europe, North America, Korea and Taiwan/SEA) and two international wildcard teams.
The group stage began 18 September in Taipei and concluded 28 September in Singapore with eight teams advancing to the bracket stage.[30] The bracket stage started on 3 October in Busan, South Korea, and concluded on 19 October with the grand final hosted at the 45,000-seats Seoul World Cup Stadium,[31][32] where South Korean team Samsung Galaxy White beat the Chinese team Star Horn Royal Club to become the 2014 League of Legends world champions.[33][34][35]
American band Imagine Dragons contributed the theme song "Warriors" for the tournament,[36] and performed live on the grand final stage in South Korea.[37] All games were made available for free via live streaming.[38]
The 2014 World Championship games were streamed live by 40 broadcast partners, and cast in 19 languages. The grand final was watched by 27 million people, with concurrent viewership peaking at over 11 million viewers.[39][40]
Top four
The name and player ID in bold letters refer to the player who received the final MVP award. This is same in the tournaments below.
| Place | Team | Players[33][34][35] | Prize money | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Top | Jungle | Mid | ADC | Support | |||
| 1st | Samsung White |
Looper (Jang Hyeong-seok) |
DanDy (Choi In-kyu) |
PawN (Heo Won-seok) |
imp (Gu Seung-bin) |
Mata (Cho Se-hyeong) |
$1,000,000 |
| 2nd | Star Horn Royal Club |
Cola (Jiang Nan) |
inSec (Choi In-seok) |
corn (Lei Wen) |
Uzi (Jian Zihao) |
Zero (Yoon Kyeong-seop) |
$250,000 |
| 3rd–4th | OMG |
Gogoing (Gao Diping) |
LoveLing (Yin Le) |
cool (Yu Jiajun) |
san (Guo Junliang) |
Cloud (Hu Zhenwei) |
$150,000 |
| Samsung Blue |
Acorn (Choi Cheon-ju) |
Spirit (Lee Da-yoon) |
dade (Bae Eo-jin) |
Deft (Kim Hyeok-kyu) |
Heart (Lee Gwan-hyeong) | ||
Season 2015
After the 2014 season, Riot Games introduced a number of changes to competitive League of Legends. The number of teams in the League Championship Series was increased from 8 to 10 in both the North America and Europe regions.[41] A second Riot Games official international tournament was announced, the Mid-Season Invitational, which took place in May 2015, and featured a single team from each major region and one international wildcard.[42] Additionally, starting from 2015, all teams are required to field a head coach in their competitive matches, who will stay on stage and speak with the team via voice-chat in the pick–ban phase of the game. This change makes the head coach an officially recognized member of the team.[43]
The 2015 World Championship concluded the 2015 season, and was held at several venues across Europe in October 2015. Like the 2014 World Championship, the 2015 World Championship was a multi-city, multi-country event.[44]
2015 Worlds was won by SK Telecom T1, their second title, as they won the 2013 Worlds too. SKT top laner Jang "MaRin" Gyeong-Hwan was named the tournament most valuable player (MVP).
The final was watched by 36 million people, with a peak concurrent viewership of 14 million viewers.[45]
Top four
| Place | Team | Players[46] | Prize money | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Top | Jungle | Mid | ADC | Support | |||
| 1st | SK Telecom T1 |
MaRin (Jang Gyeong-hwan) |
Bengi (Bae Seong-woong) |
Faker (Lee Sang-hyeok) |
Bang (Bae Jun-sik) |
Wolf (Lee Jae-wan) |
$1,000,000 |
| Easyhoon (Lee Ji-hoon) | |||||||
| 2nd | KOO Tigers |
Smeb (Song Kyeong-ho) |
Hojin (Lee Ho-jin) |
Kuro (Lee Seo-haeng) |
PraY (Kim Jong-in) |
GorillA (Kang Beom-hyeon) |
$250,000 |
| 3rd–4th | Fnatic |
Huni (Heo Seung-hoon) |
Reignover (Kim Eui-jin) |
 Febiven(Fabian Diepstraten) |
Rekkles (Martin Larsson) |
YellOwStaR (Bora Kim) |
$150,000 |
| Origen |
sOAZ (Paul Boyer) |
Amazing (Maurice Stückenschneider) |
xPeke (Enrique Cedeño Martinez) |
Niels (Jesper Svenningsen) |
Mithy (Alfonso Aguirre Rodriguez) | ||
Season 2016
The various stages of the 2016 Worlds were held throughout the United States in Chicago, San Francisco, New York City, and the final in Los Angeles.
The groups of teams were decided through a live group draw show on 10 September. The games were played on the 6.18 patch of the game with Yorick disabled, and Aurelion Sol disabled for days 1–3. There were 16 teams and 4 groups that consisted of 4 teams. The group stage was Bo1 and the top two teams from each groups would advance to the Knockout Stage. The Knockout Stage was Bo5 and the #1 vs #2 teams from each group would face each other in the bracket. The total prize pool was US$6,700,000 and it was spread among the teams. The first place (SK Telecom T1) took $2,680,000, the second team (Samsung Galaxy) took $1,005,000, the third place (ROX Tigers) took $502,500. The rest of the prize pool was distributed among the 5th–16th places.[47]
SKT won 3–2 versus Samsung Galaxy in the 2016 World Championship final, with Faker winning the MVP award.
The final was watched by 43 million people, with a peak concurrent viewership of 14.7 million viewers, breaking 2015's final's viewer records.
Top four
| Place | Team | Players[48] | Prize money | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Top | Jungle | Mid | ADC | Support | |||
| 1st | SK Telecom T1 |
Duke (Lee Ho-seong) |
Bengi (Bae Seong-woong) |
Faker (Lee Sang-hyeok) |
Bang (Bae Jun-sik) |
Wolf (Lee Jae-wan) |
$2,680,000 |
| Blank (Kang Seon-gu) | |||||||
| 2nd | Samsung Galaxy |
CuVee (Lee Seong-jin) |
Ambition (Kang Chan-yong) |
Crown (Lee Min-ho) |
Ruler (Park Jae-hyeok) |
CoreJJ (Jo Yong-in) |
$1,005,000 |
| Wraith (Kwon Ji-min) | |||||||
| 3rd–4th | H2k-Gaming |
 Odoamne(Andrei Pascu) |
Jankos (Marcin Jankowski) |
Ryu (Yoo Sang-wook) |
 FORG1VEN(Konstantinos-Napoleon Tzortziou) |
Vander (Oskar Bogdan) |
$502,500 |
| ROX Tigers |
Smeb (Song Kyeong-ho) |
Peanut (Han Wang-ho) |
Kuro (Lee Seo-haeng) |
PraY (Kim Jong-in) |
GorillA (Kang Beom-hyeon) | ||
Season 2017
The 2017 World Championship series started in September 2017, and concluded in November 2017. It was held in 4 different locations throughout China: Wuhan (play-in and groups), Guangzhou (quarterfinals), Shanghai (semifinals), and Beijing (final).[49] It was played on patch 7.18, with the newest champion Ornn being disabled. Patch 7.18 is slightly older than patches 7.19 and 7.20, which are the new standard for online matches during the September - November period. The most notable difference being the stronger Ardent Censer support meta with patch 7.18.
A total of 24 teams participated in the tournament: 3 teams from South Korea, China, North America, Europe and Taiwan/Hong Kong/Macau; 1 team from Brazil, Latin America North, Latin America South, Japan, Oceania, Turkey, Southeast Asia and CIS/Russia; and 1 team from the Wildcard region with the highest rank finish at the 2017 Mid-Season Invitational (GPL in Southeast Asia, due to Gigabyte Marines from Vietnam prevailing there, and Vietnam received 1 more slot for VCS's second seed to participate GPL 2017 summer split).
Samsung Galaxy reversed the previous year's result and defeated SK Telecom T1 3–0 in the 2017 World Championship final. Park "Ruler" Jae-hyuk, the AD carry of Samsung, was named MVP.
The final was watched by 60 million people, breaking 2016's final's viewer records. The tournament is widely praised for its high quality of plays and amazing ceremonial performances, while receiving worldwide attention for its dramatic and emotional series. It is currently the most watched tournament in League of Legends' history, and is lauded as one of the best.[1][2][3][4][5][6][50][51]
Top four
| Place | Team | Players | Prize money | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Top | Jungle | Mid | ADC | Support | |||
| 1st | Samsung Galaxy |
CuVee (Lee Seong-jin) |
Ambition (Kang Chan-yong) |
Crown (Lee Min-ho) |
Ruler (Park Jae-hyeok) |
CoreJJ (Jo Yong-in) |
$1,540,000 |
| Haru (Kang Min-seung | |||||||
| 2nd | SK Telecom T1 |
Huni (Heo Seung-hoon) |
Peanut (Han Wang-ho) |
Faker (Lee Sang-hyeok) |
Bang (Bae Jun-sik) |
Wolf (Lee Jae-wan) |
$554,000 |
| Blank (Kang Seon-gu) | |||||||
| 3rd–4th | Royal Never Give Up |
Letme (Yan Junze) |
Mlxg (Liu Shiyu) |
Xiaohu (Li Yuanhao) |
Uzi (Jian Zihao) |
Ming (Shi Senming) |
$287,000 |
| Team WE |
957 (Ke Changyu) |
Condi (Xiang Renjie) |
Xiye (Su Hanwei) |
Mystic (Jin Seong-joon) |
Ben (Nam Dong-hyeon) | ||
| Zero (Yoon Kyeong-seop) | |||||||
Season 2018
The 2018 World Championship was held from 1 October to 3 November 2018, in 4 cities across South Korea: Seoul (play-in), Busan (groups & quarterfinals), Gwangju (semifinals), and Incheon (final).[52] Twenty four teams qualified for the tournament based on their placement in regional circuits such as those in North America, Europe, South Korea, and China, with twelve of those teams having to reach the group stage via a play-in round.[53]
The 2018 World Championship was played on Patch 8.19. Notably, champions Aatrox, Alistar and Urgot were extremely prevalent in the tournament, with the three characters being picked or banned in over 90 precent of the 78 games played.[54] The World Championship final was played between Invictus Gaming and Fnatic. Invictus Gaming won 3–0 against Fnatic, granting China and the LPL their first World Championship. Gao "Ning" Zhenning was named the MVP of the series in their victory.
The final was watched by 99.6 million unique viewers, with concurrent viewership reaching a peak of 44 million viewers, breaking 2017's final's viewership record.[55]
Top four
| Place | Team | Players | Prize money | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Top | Jungle | Mid | ADC | Support | |||
| 1st | Invictus Gaming |
TheShy (Kang Seung-rok) |
Ning (Gao Zhenning) |
Rookie (Song Eui-jin) |
JackeyLove (Yu Wenbo) |
Baolan (Wang Liuyi) |
$2,418,750 |
| Duke (Lee Ho-seong) | |||||||
| 2nd | Fnatic |
Bwipo (Gabriël Rau) |
Broxah (Mads Brock-Pedersen) |
Caps (Rasmus Winther) |
Rekkles (Martin Larsson) |
 Hylissang(Zdravets Galabov) |
$870,750 |
| sOAZ (Paul Boyer) | |||||||
| 3rd–4th | Cloud9 |
Licorice (Eric Ritchie) |
Svenskeren (Dennis Johnsen) |
Jensen (Nicolaj Jensen) |
Sneaky (Zachary Scuderi) |
Zeyzal (Tristan Stidam) |
$451,500 |
| Blaber (Robert Huang) | |||||||
| G2 Esports |
Wunder (Martin Hansen) |
Jankos (Marcin Jankowski) |
Perkz (Luka Perković) |
Hjarnan (Petter Freyschuss) |
Wadid (Kim Bae-in) | ||
Season 2019
The 2019 World Championship was held between 2 October to 10 November 2019, in three countries and cities in Europe: Berlin (play-in & groups), Madrid (quarterfinals and semifinals), and Paris (final).[56] Twenty-four teams qualified to participate at the World Championship based on placement within their own regional leagues and previous regional results in international play.[57]
The 2019 World Championship was played on Patch 9.19 from start to finish.[58] The World Championship final was played on 10 November 2019 between LPL's FunPlus Phoenix and LEC's G2 Esports at AccorHotels Arena in Paris. FunPlus Phoenix won 3–0 against G2 Esports, granting China and the LPL back-to-back World Championships. Gao "Tian" Tianliang was named the MVP of the series in their victory.
Top four
| Place | Team | Players | Prize money | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Top | Jungle | Mid | ADC | Support | |||
| 1st | FunPlus Phoenix |
Gimgoon (Kim Han-saem) |
Tian (Gao Tianliang) |
Doinb (Kim Tae-sang) |
Lwx (Lin Weixiang) |
Crisp (Liu Qingsong) |
$834,375 |
| 2nd | G2 Esports |
Wunder (Martin Hansen) |
Jankos (Marcin Jankowski) |
Caps (Rasmus Winther) |
Perkz (Luka Perković) |
 Mikyx(Mihael Mehle) |
$300,375 |
| 3rd–4th | Invictus Gaming |
TheShy (Kang Seung-rok) |
Ning (Gao Zhenning) |
Rookie (Song Eui-jin) |
JackeyLove (Yu Wenbo) |
Baolan (Wang Liuyi) |
$155,750 |
| Leyan (Lu Jue) | |||||||
| SK Telecom T1 |
Khan (Kim Dong-ha) |
Clid (Kim Tae-min) |
Faker (Lee Sang-hyeok) |
Teddy (Park Jin-seong) |
Effort (Lee Sang-ho) | ||
| Mata (Cho Se-hyeong) | |||||||
Season 2020
The 2020 World Championship was held from 25 September to 31 October 2020 in Shanghai, China. 22 teams qualified to participate at the World Championship based on placement within their own regional leagues and previous regional results in international play.[59] As a result of travel restrictions related to the COVID-19 pandemic, the two teams that qualified from the Vietnam Championship Series were unable to attend the event.[60]
All games leading up to the final were hosted in the Shanghai Media Tech Studio with no fans in attendance. The final was hosted in the Pudong Football Stadium as the building's inaugural event, hosting a limited number of 6,312 fans due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[61] The final was played on 31 October 2020 between Suning, from China's League of Legends Pro League, and Damwon Gaming, from League of Legends Champions Korea, with Damwon Gaming winning the championship 3–1. During the second game, Sunning's top laner Chen "Bin" Zebin achieved the first "Pentakill" in the final of a World Championship.[62] Damwon Gaming's jungler, Kim "Canyon" Geon-bu, was named the MVP of the series.[63] Damwon's win ended the LPL's back-to-back streak of world championship victories.
Top four
| Place | Team | Players | Prize money | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Top | Jungle | Mid | ADC | Support | |||
| 1st | Damwon Gaming |
Nuguri (Jang Ha-gwon) |
Canyon (Kim Geon-bu) |
ShowMaker (Heo Su) |
Ghost (Jang Yong-jun) |
BeryL (Cho Geon-hee) |
TBA |
| 2nd | Suning |
Bin (Chen Zebin) |
 SofM(Lê Quang Duy) |
Angel (Xiang Tao) |
huanfeng (Tang Huanfeng) |
SwordArt (Hu Shuo-Chieh) |
TBA |
| 3rd–4th | G2 Esports |
Wunder (Martin Hansen) |
Jankos (Marcin Jankowski) |
Caps (Rasmus Winther) |
Perkz (Luka Perković) |
Mikyx (Mihael Mehle) |
TBA |
| Top Esports |
369 (Bai Jiahao) |
Karsa (Hung Hao-hsuan) |
knight (Zhuo Ding) |
JackeyLove (Yu Wenbo) |
yuyanjia (Liang Jiayuan) | ||
Notes
- Teams from the Vietnam Championship Series were unable to compete due to COVID-19 restrictions.
- In 2012, Taipei Assassins competed in the Garena Premier League, which included teams from Taiwan, Hong Kong, Macau and Southeast Asia, but the regional qualifiers for Worlds were split for each region.
- Previously known as SK Telecom T1
- Previously known as MVP Ozone, Samsung Galaxy Ozone, Samsung Galaxy Blue & White, Samsung Galaxy, and KSV Esports.
- Previously known as Taipei Assassins
- Previously known as Damwon Gaming
- Royal Club was relegated to the LoL Secondary Pro League (LSPL) by Gamtee during the 2015 LPL Summer promotion tournament. Shortly afterwards, Gamtee was acquired by Royal Club and rebranded as Royal Never Give Up. Royal Club has since remained in China's secondary league, now known as the LoL Development League (LDL), as the organization's academy team.
- Previously known as Huya Tigers, GE Tigers, KOO Tigers, and ROX Tigers. The team was rebranded as Hanwha Life Esports in 2018, but has yet to qualify for the World Championship under that name.
- Najin Black Sword and Najin White Shield were merged into NaJin e-mFire in 2014. In 2016 the team was acquired by Kongdoo Monster, whose CK spot was then acquired by Brion Blade in 2018. No iteration of the team has qualified for the World Championship since 2013.
- Previously known as Origen.
- The qualifier was available only for Philippines and Singapore. Each country was given a spot.
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