The 2021 League of Legends World Championships is right around the corner and we’ve arrived at everyone’s favorite milestone marker on the path there: The Worlds 2021 group draw. As 22 teams get set to clash over three stages at the Worlds, fans now know who everyone will be playing in their respective groups.
Worlds 2021 group draw: play-ins
The play-in stage is the first (and last, for six teams) foray at Worlds 2021. Ten teams will face off in a round robin format to battle over seeding. After each team has faced every other team in their group one time, the top team in each group will automatically qualify for the Worlds 2021 group stage. The third and fourth place teams will then face off in a best-of-five series. The winner of that series will take on the second place team in the other group.
Here are how the two groups in the play-in stage shake out:
Group A
- Hanwha Life Esports (South Korea)
- LNG Esports (China)
- Infinity Esports (Latin America)
- PEACE (Oceania)
- RED Canids (Brazil)
Group B
- Beyond Gaming (Pacific League)
- Cloud9 (North America)
- Unicorns of Love (Russia)
- Galatasaray Esports (Turkey)
- DetonatioN FocusMe (Japan)
To break down the above format, here is an example scenario: Beyond Gaming finish in first place in Group B, while DetonatioN FocusMe finish in second, Cloud9 in third and Unicorns of Love in fourth. Under these circumstances, Beyond Gaming would automatically move on to the next stage, while Turkey’s Galatasaray Esports would be eliminated from the tournament.
From there, Cloud9 (3) and Unicorns of Love (4) would face each other in a best-of-five series. The winner of that series would take on the second place team in Group A. DetonatioN FocusMe, who would have finished as the second seed of Group B in this scenario, would take on the winner of the three seed vs. four seed matchup from Group A.
Worlds 2021 group stage draw
The group stage at Worlds 2021 will see the remaining 12 teams waiting in the wings for the four play-in qualifiers to make it through. Once play-ins is over, and each group has its four squads finalized, it’s a straightforward path from there: win your group.
Each squad will play against every other team in their group two times. The top two records at the end of the stage will win their groups and move on to the Knockout Stage.
The 12 teams that made it directly through were drawn into these groups:
Group A
- DWG KIA (South Korea)
- FunPlus Phoenix (China)
- Rogue (Europe)
- Play-In Qualifier
Group B
- Edward Gaming (China)
- 100 Thieves (North America)
- T1 (South Korea)
- Play-In Qualifier
Group C
- PSG Talon (Pacific League)
- Fnatic (Europe)
- Royal Never Give Up (China)
- Play-In Qualifier
Group D
- MAD Lions (Europe)
- Gen.G (South Korea)
- Team Liquid (North America)
- Play-In Qualifier
The 22 teams that have qualified for Worlds 2021 now have their first instructions. Win your group, or make it out the hard way.
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