Road to Worlds 2022: Loud, Evil, and Hungry Teams Await Play-in

The much-anticipated international event of League of Legends esports, the coveted World Championship aka Worlds, is kicking off in a couple of days and fans are in for a wild ride. The tournament will begin with the Play-in stage where 12 teams from different regions will battle it out to make it to the next stage of the tournament. Out of the 12 teams participating in the Play-in, only four will make it to the group stage of Worlds 2022. Evil Geniuses, LOUD, and Isurus are the three teams from the Americas region participating in the Play-in stage.

The regions they represent are:

• Evil Geniuses: North America (NA) - League of Legends Championship Series (LCS)

• LOUD: Brazil (BR) - Campeonato Brasileiro de League of Legends (CBLOL)

• Isurus: Latin America (LATAM) - Liga Latinoamérica (LLA)

With the stakes high, all three teams will look to make the best use of every opportunity thrown their way. Here’s everything you need to know about the teams from the Americas region in the opening stage of Worlds 2022.

Evil Geniuses

Evil Geniuses (EG) is one of the three North American teams at Worlds 2022 and the team has had a competitive season filled with ups and downs. In the LCS 2022 Spring final, EG decimated 100 Thieves 3-0 in the series which lasted just 1 hour, 18 minutes, and 27 seconds in total, making it the quickest LCS final in history. However, at the Mid-Season Invitational (MSI) in 2022, the team had a quarterfinal exit after losing 0-3 to China’s Royal Never Give Up (RNG).

The team’s success in its regional league continued in the Summer split where it placed first in the standings at the end of Week 9. But, Evil Geniuses faltered a bit in the LCS 2022 Championship and only barely managed to make it to Worlds 2022 as the third seed from NA.

During the Championship, its attack damage carry (ADC) Kyle “Danny” Sakamaki stepped down from the team’s starting roster.

Evil Geniuses’ stint in LoL Esports

Evil Geniuses announced that it had acquired the LCS slot of Echo Fox in 2019 and that it would return to the LCS in 2020 after it disbanded in 2015. In both 2020 and 2021, Evil Geniuses failed to punch its ticket to Worlds and this year would be the team’s first Worlds run. Playing its first Worlds 2022 game in its home region could be a massive game changer for the team.

The roster of Evil Geniuses for Worlds 2022 is as follows:

• Top: Jeong "Impact" Eon-young

• Jungle: Kacper "Inspired" Słoma

• Mid: Joseph Joon "jojopyun" Pyun

• ADC: Muhammed Hasan "Kaori" Şentürk

• Support: Philippe "Vulcan" Laflamme

LOUD

In 2020, Riot Games Brazil announced LOUD as one of the teams selected to participate in CBLOL (Campeonato Brasileiro de League of Legends) starting from 2021. CBLOL plays out its competitive season in two splits. After the conclusion of the regular split, top teams participate in the playoffs and the winner of Split 1 makes it to the MSI and the winner of Split 2 punches its ticket to Worlds.

In 2022 Spit 1, LOUD did not even qualify for the regional playoff as it placed seventh in the standings. However, the Brazilian squad had a huge comeback in Split 2 of the 2022 Season, where it ended up in fourth place, but stomped its opponents in the Split 2 playoffs and won its Worlds 2022 slot.

LOUD defeated paiN Gaming 3-0 in the final of the playoffs bracket. The team won $19K and a slot in the 2022 World Championship.

The following is the Worlds 2022 squad for LOUD:

• Top: Leonardo “Robo” Souza

• Jungle: Park “Croc” Jong-hoon

• Mid: Thiago “tinowns” Sartori

• ADC: Diego “Brance” Amaral

• Support: Denilson “Ceos” Oliveira Gonçalves

Isurus

Isurus is a storied team from the LLA (Liga Latinoamérica) and is the third-most decorated Latin American team with five championships under its belt. Isurus was also the first back-to-back champion in LLA history. According to Fandom, the team also holds the record for the longest match-winning streak. Notably, Isurus was the first Latin American team to bootcamp in South Korea ahead of Worlds 2019.

The 2022 LLA opening season was a disappointing one for Isurus which roped in new players for the season. After just barely making the Opening playoffs, Isurus looked to bounce back in the Closing season and did just that. In the Closing Season, the team placed second in the standings and carried its momentum on to the playoffs, and won the Closing playoffs final against Estral Esports.

Isurus has been to Worlds before this year but has had little or no success at the international tournament, despite being the top dog in LATAM. Notably, at Worlds 2019, the team exited the tournament at the Play-in stage.

The following is the Isurus roster for Worlds 2022:

• Top: Kang “ADD” Geon-mo

• Jungle: Jesús Alberto “Grell” Loya Trujillo

• Mid: Édgar Ali “Seiya”  Bracamontes Munguía

• Bot: Omar André “Gavotto” Gavotto

• Support: Son “Jelly” Ho-gyeong

It is a great feat for both Isurus and LOUD on making it to Worlds. The teams can pull off upsets and topple the standings in the Play-in and make things difficult for the higher-tier teams. With three members of the Isurus squad playing on their home soil in Mexico, the team would look to soak in this exhilarating experience. Whereas, Evil Geniuses will look to prove that it can stand up to the teams from Korea and China and rewrite the narrative around North American teams in League of Legends.

Isurus, LOUD, and Evil Geniuses have their first matches of Worlds 2022 on 29th September in the Play-in stage. Stay updated with the tournament by heading on to Worlds 2022 Play-in: Teams, Groups, Schedule & More.