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The League of Legends finals is a noteworthy event in professional gaming. At Worlds, Riot Games showcases how far their esport has come and features the best players that the scene has to offer. It is a tournament months in the making, where the top-tier teams clash in an all-out display of gameplay prowess. Naturally, this high level of play also inspires viewers to place bets on their favourite teams. If you are interested in that, be sure to check out the best League of Legends betting sites.
LoL Finals – Tournament and Match Format
The League of Legends worlds finals tournament comes in two stages – the Play-Ins and the Main Event. Before the finals begin, teams are placed into specific stages based on seeding. More accomplished rosters play directly in the Main Event, while others have to prove themselves in the Play-Ins. The Play-Ins feature 10 different teams, separated into groups of five. The top teams from each group head to the Main Event, while 2nd to 4th place of either group play for two remaining spots.
Once the final list of participants is established for the Main Event, the 16 teams are separated into four groups. Following a double round-robin format, the top two teams from each group are seeded into the Knockout Stage. This final part of the Main Event has teams competing in single-elimination, until only one is left.
World Finals LoL: Throughout the Years
Winning Worlds is a big deal for any team. Not only do players compete for the glory of lifting the Summoner’s Cup, but also for real money. Winning the League of Legends world finals comes with a significant payout for players. Therefore, teams are motivated not only by dreams of prestige and honour but also by Riot appealing to their inner greed. So far, the LoL finals have featured the following prizes for first place winners:
- Worlds 2019 – $834,357 – FunPlus Phoenix (China)
- Worlds 2018 – $2,418,750 – Invictus Gaming (China)
- Worlds 2017 – $1,855,114 – Samsung Galaxy (S. Korea)
- Worlds 2016 – $2,028,000 – SK Telecom T1 (S. Korea)
- Worlds 2015 – $1,000,000 – SK Telecom T1 (S. Korea)
- Worlds 2014 – $1,000,000 – Samsung White (S. Korea)
- Worlds 2013 – $1,000,000 – SK Telecom T1 (S. Korea)
- Worlds 2012 – $1,000,000 – Taipei Assassins (LMS region)
- Worlds 2011 – $50,000 – Fnatic (Europe)
As you can see from this list, the prices vary from year to year. Since 2016, Riot Games have used a flexible system to determine the size of the prize pool. In short, Riot will contribute a base amount, with the rest generated directly from sales of in-game skins and other microtransactions. DOTA2 uses a similar system for The International event.
Taking even a brief look at the list reveals an interesting trend. League of Legends Worlds is dominated by Asian-based teams. So far, Europe has had only a single first-place finish in the very first Worlds event, while NA and other regions have been struggling to even qualify for the Main Event part of the tournament. Europe’s G2 came close in 2019, with strong performance across the board, only to fall flat after an embarrassing 0-3 series against FunPlus Phoenix.
League of Legends World Finals – Teams and Regions
Every year, 20+ teams gather to compete in the League of Legends finals. Each region sends its best players after two seasons of neck-to-neck competition. Earning good rankings in the Spring and Summer Splits gives teams the opportunity to compete at Worlds. When the Summer tournaments are concluded, the winning teams get to go to Worlds. 12 regions hold official tournaments throughout the year. The regions are determined by the selection of available teams and the quality of the competition in each. For the 2020 Worlds, the following number of teams were accepted into the event from the available divisions:
| Brazil | 1 Team |
| China | 4 Teams |
| CIS Region | 1 Team |
| Europe | 4 Teams |
| Japan | 1 Team |
| South Korea | 3 Teams |
| Latin America | 1 Team |
| North America | 3 Teams |
| Oceania | 1 Team |
| PCS | 2 Teams |
| Turkey | 1 Team |
Normally there are also teams from the Vietnam region, but due to current conditions, the respective slots were redistributed to teams from other divisions. By comparison, the 2019 Worlds featured two Vietnam rosters, while China and Europe only had 3 each. Ultimately, Riot Games tries to have good representation from all continents where LoL is popular. This goes to show how much the company cares for the legitimacy of this top-tier esport and its development. Few others can match the status of professional LoL, and fewer still can rival it in terms of quality.
League of Legends Worlds Finals During the COVID-19 Pandemic
The 2019 COVID pandemic has certainly thrown a wrench into many professional sports. League of Legends was also affected by this unprecedented turn of events. To combat the spread and ensure player safety, League management had to take drastic actions. Some have been criticised as harming the competitive integrity of the game.
Unlike traditional sports, esports are not bound to the physical world. Since they exist on computers, they can be easily played over the Internet. Normally, professional LoL is played at an arena in front of a live audience. This is done to ensure that everything is above board from team behaviour to PC reliability, and more. At such events, the games are played over a local network, where slow Internet is never an issue.
Unfortunately, quarantines became the order of the day worldwide, and the professional League had to move to an online format. The same teams would still play according to the old schedule but over the Internet. This became a massive point of contention, not just in LoL but in other esports forced into an online format.
Ultimately, both Season Splits were finished online, as were smaller Riot-backed events in Europe. Whether players were happy with this is up for debate, but it was clear that Riot was not satisfied. For this reason, Worlds 2020 will be on LAN as it was originally intended. It is the only event of this scale to be played at a physical location.
Of course, Riot’s decision resulted in Vietnam teams missing out on the event due to travel restrictions. At the time of writing, the Worlds 2020 event is still ongoing, and we are yet to see how things work out for Riot Games and professional League.
League of Legends in the General eSports World
League of Legends represents one of the three pillars of esports, the other two being Counter-Strike and DOTA. This level of prestige is not gained easily, and LoL has been a dominant force in the gaming scene for years. Riot Games were one of the first companies to heavily invest in professional gaming, back when it was viewed as only a pipe dream. Since 2012, the company has been pouring money into pro-League, pushing for ever greater development. What’s more, the game has garnered interest from multiple online gambling platforms. Online sports betting sites are excellent sponsors and provide funding for teams and the scene, as a whole.
In the current scene, League of Legends is pushing the general esports industry to newer heights. LoL was one of the first games to introduce franchised leagues, with permanent member teams. This is common in traditional sports, but not so much when it comes to their virtual counterparts. This move serves to legitimise LoL as a worthwhile competitive game further and create a scene where esports can thrive.
FAQ about League of Legends World Finals 2020
We hope that the post above is informative enough for you to gain some notion about LoL finals. Still, we have provided a short FAQ directly below. It deals with the most pressing questions one might have about the event.