The 2023 League of Legends World Championship is reaching its climax, with the Knockout Stage set to begin on Thursday, November 2.
Eight teams have emerged from the Swiss Stage after two weeks of intense competition. The teams from LoL Pro League (LPL) that have qualified for the Quarterfinals include JD Gaming, LNG Esports, Weibo Gaming and Bilibili Gaming.
Meanwhile, teams from LoL Champions Korea (LCK) are Gen.G Esports, T1, and KT Rolster, with only one team from the LoL Championship Series (LCS) making it, the NRG.
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Gen.G and JD Gaming asserted their dominance in the Swiss Stage, maintaining flawless 3-0 records and securing early berths to the Knockout Stage. Trailing closely, LNG Esports, NRG and T1 held their ground with commendable 2-1 records.
The culmination of the Swiss Stage witnessed an intense final day where six teams—Dplus KIA vs. KT Rolster, Fnatic vs. Weibo Gaming and G2 Esports vs. Bilibili Esports—fiercely contested in 2-2 tiebreakers. Ultimately, Bilibili Gaming, KT Rolster, and Weibo Gaming emerged as the victors of these encounters.
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NRG's triumph and T1's redemption
NRG's victory over Gen.G Esports at Worlds 2023 marks the first time in nearly a decade that a team other than Cloud9 has made it to the quarterfinals. Gen.G was the favorite to win the series, but NRG outplayed their opponents at every turn.
This victory is a huge moment for the North American League of Legends, and it shows that the region is finally starting to catch up to the rest of the world.
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"We've always been the underdog. We've always been doubted. But look who's here," NRG jungler Contractz said.
Meanwhile, T1 secured their ticket after overcoming Bilibili Gaming (BLG). T1 arrived at the showdown with a score to settle with BLG following their previous encounter at the MSI semifinals. BLG emerged victorious then, leading to T1's elimination from the tournament. This time, T1 emerged triumphant, relegating BLG to the last-chance qualifiers at Worlds 2023.
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Prestigious Summoner's Cup unveiled
Set to unfold from November 2 to November 19 at the Sajik Indoor Gymnasium in Busan, the highly anticipated Knockout Stage will be the battleground where teams fiercely vie for the prestigious Summoner's Cup.
In this stage, the top eight teams are seeded into a single-elimination bracket. All matches are best-of-five, with the winning teams advancing to the next round while the losers are eliminated.
The action for the Knockout Stage kicks off on November 2 at 1 a.m. PST as NRG faces off against Weibo Gaming. Following this, Gen.G takes on Bilibili Gaming on November 3.
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On November 4, the heat continues with JD Gaming squaring up against KT Rolster. Then, T1 will battle it out against LNG Esports on November 5.
Viewers eager to watch the Worlds 2023 Knockout stage can tune in live via Riot Games' official channels on both Twitch and YouTube.
The Knockout stage will conclude with the semifinals, which will take place in Busan on November 11-12. The Grand Final will be held on November 19 at Gocheok Sky Dome in Seoul, where the two remaining teams will compete for the championship.
JD Gaming , officially JDG Intel Esports Club, is a Chinese professional esports organization based in Beijing. (wikipedia)
Esports, short for electronic sports, is a form of competition using video games. Esports often takes the form of organized, multiplayer video game competitions, (wikipedia)