Top Esports and JD Gaming Secure Spots at 2022 League of Legends World Championship
The top two teams in China, Top Esports and JD Gaming, have secured their spots at the upcoming 2022 League of Legends World Championship. However, the remaining two spots will be decided through the LPL Regional Qualifier, where four other teams from the deep league will compete.
Chinese teams have been dominant in recent international tournaments, winning six out of the last eight championships. As a result, the LPL will continue to send four teams to this year’s World Championship. While not every Chinese Worlds champion has come through the regional gauntlet, there is still potential for underdogs like Suning Gaming to make a strong run at Worlds, as they did in 2020.
In order to determine the participants for the Regional Qualifier, the LPL uses Championship Points, which are awarded based on teams’ performance in the Spring and Summer splits. With Top Esports and JD Gaming already securing their spots in the LPL Summer Finals and China’s first and second Worlds seeds, the Championship Points for other teams have been finalized.
Royal Never Give Up, EDward Gaming, Victory Five, and LNG Esports have finished third through sixth in terms of Championship Points. These teams will compete in a “waterfall-style” bracket for the LPL’s third and fourth Worlds berths.
In the first match, third-seeded RNG will face off against fourth-seeded EDward Gaming in a best-of-five series. The winner of this match will qualify as China’s third seed and advance directly to the group stage. The loser will then compete against the winner of the match between the fifth and sixth seeds, Victory Five and LNG, for the LPL’s fourth seed and a spot in the Play-In Stage.
If a team loses their match in the qualifier, their journey for the year comes to an end.
Here are the matchups for the LPL Regional Qualifier:
Friday, Sept. 2
- 3:00am CT: (No. 3) Royal Never Give Up vs. (No. 4) EDward Gaming
Saturday, Sept. 3
- 4:00am CT: (No. 5) Victory Five vs. (No. 6) LNG Esports
Sunday, Sept. 4
- 4:00am CT: Loser of match one vs. winner of match two
The 2022 League of Legends World Championship will begin on Thursday, Sept. 29 with the Play-in Stage at the Arena Esports Stadium in Mexico City. The group stage will then commence on Friday, Oct. 7 at Madison Square Garden in New York City.
This article will be updated as the qualifier progresses.
Esports, League of Legends, World Championship, LPL, Regional Qualifier, Chinese teams, Top Esports, JD Gaming, Championship Points, Play-In Stage.