Cover-Credits:
Asian Games 2022 and Chinese Olympic Committee
The 19th Asian Games is the first occasion where esports is an official medal event. It was initially scheduled in Hangzhou, China between 10th September and 25th September 2022. Given the resurgence of COVID-19 cases in China, the Asian Games 2022 was postponed a full year to 2023. The 2022 Asian Games will feature eight medal events and two demonstration events. Notably, Riot Games’ flagship esports title League of Legends is one of the eight medal events.
Very soon, the most talented League of Legends teams of various nations will ascend the stage as the 19th Asian Games League of Legends tournament is all set to begin with the Group Stage on 25th September.
With the tournament just around the corner, the Technical Handbook of the Hangzhou Asian Games was reportedly leaked from the website of the Taiwan Olympic Committee. One of the shocking details that is now heavily discussed in the community is how the matches are going to be played on LoL Patch 13.12, while the live game is currently preparing for LoL Patch 13.18 to be rolled out very soon.
Asian Games 2022 LoL Matches To Be Played on Very Old Patch
The 19th Asian Games Sport Technical Handbook for Esports states that League of Legends matches will be played on LoL Patch 13.12. One Reddit post explained, "So the Hangzhou Asian Games committee just released their final version of the Technical Handbook... and they have decided to play the tournament in 13.12 patch."
The original poster noted that Statikk Shiv was a strong item choice in LoL Patch 13.12 and many leagues played during their Group Stage matches two months ago on it. The post also pointed out that the live game is headed into LoL Patch 13.18 next week.
This decision has left the League of Legends community and fans confused as the meta has drastically changed since this old patch.
League of Legends esports personality Nick "LS" De Cesare commented, "Asian Games is on 13.12. We are a week away from 13.18. Whoever is running this is so out of touch, it reminds me of when WCG ran 2 year old maps in a tournament."
Notably, the Asian Games committee has not given a reason why they have zeroed in on this patch. There have been criticisms over the format of the event since the games will be best-of-threes (BO3) starting with the Knockout stage till the grand finals.
Another Redditor said, "Really sucks that the final, or even the semis aren't BO5."
If you are eager to catch the Asian Games 2022 League of Legends tournament, here is the schedule:
Group Stage: 25th to 26th September
Quarter-Finals: 27th September
Semi-Finals: 28th September
Bronze Medal & Grand Final: 29th September
