13th competition of the League of Legends World Championship
The 2023 League of Legends World Championship was an esports tournament for the multiplayer online battle arena video game League of Legends. It was the thirteenth iteration of the League of Legends World Championship, an annual international tournament organized by the game's developer, Riot Games. The tournament began in South Korea on October 10 until November 19.[2] Twenty-two teams from nine regions qualified for the tournament based on their placement in regional circuits;[3] defending champions DRX[4] failed to do so after losing to Dplus KIA in the 2023 LCK Regional Finals.[5][6]JD Gaming were in contention to become the first team to complete the "Golden Road"[a], but lost to eventual champions T1 in the semifinals of the knockout stage.[7]
"Gods" (stylized in all caps), performed by NewJeans, was announced as the tournament's theme song.[8][9] A virtual boyband named "Heartsteel" (stylized in all caps) was unveiled by Riot Games during the event, with Baekhyun from Exo and SuperM, ØZI, Tobi Lou and Cal Scruby representing the group as its human counterpart and in the live performance of their debut song, "Paranoia".[10]
The final took place on 19 November 2023 at the Gocheok Sky Dome, where T1 defeated Weibo Gaming by a 3–0 score, marking the organization's record-extending fourth World Championship.[11][12] The event's concurrent viewership reached a peak of 6.4 million viewers, breaking the all-time viewership record for a single esports event, not accounting for Chinese viewership.[13]
Format changes
Starting from 2023, teams from LCL (CIS), TCL (Turkey), and LCO (Oceania) region no longer qualified directly for Worlds due to their leagues being cancelled (LCL, by the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine) and downgraded (TCL became a regional league for EMEA Masters, LCO was merged into PCS).
The number of teams was decreased from 24 to 22 compared to 2022. For seedings, first-seeded teams from PCS (Asia-Pacific) and VCS (Vietnam) were relegated to start in the play-in stage, while fourth-seeded teams from LCK (South Korea), LPL (China) and third-seeded from LEC (EMEA) and LCS (North America) were promoted to the main event. Prior to the kick off of the tournament, a "Worlds Qualifying Series" match between the fourth-seeded teams from LEC and LCS was played to decide the last team for the play-in stage.[14]
The Swiss Stage was played at KBS Arena (pictured above is the match between T1 and BLG)
Seoul and Busan were the two cities chosen to host the tournament.[17][18] The LoL Park, which hosted the play-in stage of the tournament, is the only venue that hosted a Worlds tournament, having hosted the same phase during the 2018 League of Legends World Championship.
Worlds Qualifying Series
Date and time: October 9, start time at 13:00 (KST) (UTC+9)
The fourth-seeded teams from LEC (Team BDS) and LCS (Golden Guardians) faced off in a best-of-five series to determine the last team that would qualify for the play-in stage.[19]
Play-in stage
Groups
Date and time: October 10–14, start time at 16:00 KST (UTC+9)
8 teams were divided into 2 groups of four teams each playing in a GSL-style double-elimination format. Teams from same region could not be placed in the same group.
All matches were best-of-three.
Group A
Group B
Qualifiers
Date and time: October 15, start time at 12:00 KST (UTC+9)
Upper bracket winner of one group faced the lower bracket winner of the other group.
Qualifiers were best-of-five.
Two winners of the qualifiers advanced to the swiss stage as Pool 4.[20]
Swiss stage
Date and time: October 19–29, start time at 14:00 KST (UTC+9)
16 teams play in Swiss-system format with five rounds.
In Round 1, Pool 1 teams will play against Pool 4 teams, and Pool 2 teams will play against Pool 3 teams. Teams from the same region do not play against each other.
From Round 2 onward, teams with the same record will play each other. Match up will be determined by draw after each round and teams from the same region can play each other.
Teams had matched each other in previous rounds will not matched again until last round (score 2–2).
Teams with three wins advance to knockout stage, while teams with three losses are eliminated.
All matches are best-of-one, excluding the advancement and elimination matches in round 3 along with the latter 4th and 5th round matches, which are best-of-three matches.
Bracket
Knockout stage
Date and time: November 2–19, all games start time at 17:00 KST (UTC+9)
Eight teams from group stage are drawn into a single-elimination bracket.
Two teams with a 3–0 record in the swiss stage are on opposite sides of the bracket and face those with a 3–2 record, while all remaining teams will be seeded randomly.
All matches are best-of-five.
The members of the winning team will lift the Summoner's Cup, earning their title as the League of Legends 2023 World Champions.
Qualified teams
Eight teams qualified for the playoff portion of the tournament from the swiss stage.
Bracket
Ranking
Team ranking
References
^"Korea's T1 win record fourth League of Legends world title". The Korea Times. Agence France-Presse. November 19, 2023. Retrieved November 20, 2023.
^Nicholas Taifalos (July 10, 2023). "LoL Worlds 2023: Dates, location, tickets, and more". Dot Esports. Retrieved October 2, 2023.
^"Worlds 2023 Primer". Riot Games Esports Media Center. September 14, 2023. Retrieved October 2, 2023.
^Shannon Liao (November 5, 2022). "DRX beats T1 to win 2022 League of Legends World Championship". Washington Post. Retrieved November 6, 2022.
^Mateusz Miter (August 25, 2023). "3-time LoL Worlds finalist fails to qualify for 2023 tournament after LCK Finals disappointment". Dot Esports. Retrieved October 2, 2023.
^Paik Ji-hwan (August 28, 2023). "Dplus KIA, KT Rolster top LCK regionals to earn ticket to Worlds". Korea Joongang Daily. Retrieved October 2, 2023.
^Anna Bernardo (November 12, 2023). "League of Legends Worlds 2023: T1 defeat JDG 3–1 to face Weibo Gaming in the Grand Finals". Yahoo News. Retrieved November 13, 2023.
^Tom Daniels (September 27, 2023). "K-pop group NewJeans to perform League of Legends World Championship anthem". Dot Esports. Retrieved October 2, 2023.
^Charisma Madarang (October 4, 2023). "NewJeans Immortalize 'League of Legends' With 'Gods' Championship Anthem". Rolling Stone. Retrieved October 6, 2023.
^Tom Daniels (October 23, 2023). "Riot Games unveils new League of Legends virtual music group HEARTSTEEL". Esports Insider. Retrieved October 16, 2023.
^Mary Yang; Paik Ji-hwan (November 19, 2023). "T1 take down Weibo Gaming 3–0 to win LoL Worlds in Korea". Korea JoongAng Daily. Retrieved November 19, 2023.
^"Korea's T1 win record fourth League of Legends world title". The Korea Times. November 19, 2023. Retrieved November 20, 2023.
^Tom Daniels (November 20, 2023). "League of Legends World Championship 2023 breaks esports viewership record". Esports Insider. Retrieved November 21, 2023.
^Ethan Garcia (October 6, 2023). "Golden Guardians and Team BDS kick off LoL Worlds 2023 with inaugural NA vs. EU qualifying series". Dot Esports. Retrieved October 7, 2023.
^Tyler Esguerra (September 14, 2023). "LoL Worlds 2023: How does the Swiss-style format work?". Dot Esports. Retrieved October 23, 2023.
^David Jang (September 10, 2023). "All teams qualified for Worlds 2023". Inven Global. Retrieved October 2, 2023.
^"Announcing Worlds 2023 Venues, Dates, and Ticket Sales". Riot Games Esports Media Center. April 22, 2023. Retrieved October 2, 2023.
^Lee Si-jin (October 1, 2023). "2023 LoL World Championship to entertain esports fans". Korea Herald. Retrieved October 2, 2023.
^Cecilia Ciocchetti (October 9, 2023). "Good morning Europe: BDS squeeze in as last LoL Worlds team after crushing NA hopes". Dot Esports. Retrieved October 23, 2023.
^David Jang (September 10, 2023). "Play-in Brackets for Worlds 2023 Fixed". Inven Global. Retrieved October 2, 2023.
External links
Wikimedia Commons has media related to 2023 League of Legends World Championship.
Official website
2023 World Championship Rules
Notes
^When a team wins all four major League of Legends titles in a single season (Spring and Summer domestic titles, Mid-Season Invitational and the World Championship).
