Cover-Credits:
Riot Games
League of Legends World Championship aka Worlds 2023 is returning to South Korea after five years and this time teams will be playing in a revamped format starting with a brand new Swiss format after the Play-In stage. With Worlds 2023 kicking off in October, Riot Games and League of Legends Esports (LoL Esports) hosted the Worlds 2023 Draw Show for the Play-in stage on 10th September.
The draw show was hosted immediately after the conclusion of the League of Legends EMEA [Europe, Middle East & Africa] Championship 2023 Season Finals. A total of eight teams were grouped into two brackets for the Play-In Stage.
Here's all you need to know about the Worlds 2023 Play-In stage bracket.
Worlds 2023 Play-In Stage
After G2 Esports wiped the floor with Fnatic in the grand finals of the LEC Season Finals, all the teams were locked in for Worlds 2023. Soon after, the Worlds 2023 draw show was hosted by LEC's Laure “Bulii” Valee with guest and pro player Andrei “Odoamne” Pascu.
The Play-in stage features teams from minor regions and one team from either North America or EMEA, that is, the winner of the Worlds Qualifying Series.
The draw show determined the Play-In matchups for eight teams from the following regions:
Asia-Pacific: Pacific Championship Series - PCS
Vietnam: Vietnam Championship Series - VCS
Japan: League of Legends Japan League - LJL
Latin America: The Liga Latinoamérica - LLA
Brazil: Campeonato Brasileiro de League of Legends - CBLOL
Winner of the Worlds Qualifying Series - WQS (1 NA and 1 EU team)
While the VCS and PCS will send two teams each to the Worlds 2023 Play-in stage, the LLA, CBLOL, and LJL will only send one team each.
The teams were grouped into two brackets of four for the Play-In Stage. Notably, this stage of Worlds 2023 shall feature best-of-three series and a double-elimination bracket.
More importantly, this year, only two teams will advance out of the Play-in stage and go to the main event, making this early stage of the tournament very interesting and thrilling.
Worlds 2023 Play-in Stage Draw Show Results
As mentioned earlier, the Play-In Stage will feature two brackets, A & B, with four teams in each of them.
Bracket A:
GAM Esports
PSG Talon
LOUD
Movistar R7
Bracket B:
WQS winner
CTBC Flying Oyster
Team Whales
DetonatioN FocusMe
In Bracket A, GAM Esports will take on LOUD, and PSG Talon will go up against Movistar R7. In the other bracket, the WQS winner will take on Team Whales, while CTBC Flying Oyster will battle against DetonatioN FocusMe.
The upper bracket winner of one group will face the lower bracket winner of the other group and these matches are best of five.
The two teams that make it out of the Play-in stage will compete against the top teams from major regions of Korea, China, EMEA, and North America.
Worlds 2023 is all set to kick off on 10th October (Tuesday) at LoL Park in Seoul, South Korea. The matches will be live streamed on Riot Games’ official Twitch and YouTube channels.
If you are keen on learning more about the Worlds Qualifying Series, we have an explainer for you here at Worlds 2023 Qualifying Series: Format, Teams, Date, Score & More.
