The 2017 League of Legends World Championship was an esports tournament for the multiplayer online battle arena video game League of Legends. It was the seventh iteration of the League of Legends World Championship, an annual international tournament organized by the game's developer, Riot Games. It was held from September 23 – November 4, 2017, in cities across China. Twenty four teams qualified for the tournament based on their placement in regional circuits such as those in North America, Europe, South Korea, and China, with twelve of those teams having to reach the group stage via a play-in round.
| 2017 | |
 | |
| Tournament information | |
|---|---|
| Location | China |
| Dates | September 23–November 4 |
| Administrator | Riot Games |
Tournament format(s) | 12 team double round-robin Play-in Stage 16 team double round-robin group stage 8 team single-elimination bracket[1] |
| Venue(s) | |
| Teams | 24 |
| Purse | $4,596,591[2] |
| Final positions | |
| Champion | Samsung Galaxy |
| Runner-up | SK Telecom T1 |
| MVP | Park "Ruler" Jae-hyuk (Samsung Galaxy) |
The finals featured a rematch of last year's competitors, and in 2017, Samsung Galaxy secured their second championship win after defeating the three-time world champion SK Telecom T1, with a 3–0 sweep in a best of five final series. Samsung has previously won the 2014 League of Legends World Championship. Park "Ruler" Jae-hyuk, the AD carry of Samsung, was named the MVP of the tournament for his outstanding performances.[3]
Against The Current and Jay Chou collaborated with Riot Games to produce two exclusive songs titled "Legends Never Die" and "Hero" respectively for the tournament, while Alan Walker also produced his own remix of "Legends Never Die".
The 2017 World Championship was praised for its ceremonial performances,[4][5] while receiving attention worldwide due to the high quality of the tournament, its multiple dramatic and emotional series,[6][7][8][9] and SK Telecom T1's tributary moments.[10] The finals was watched by 60 million unique viewers, breaking 2016's viewer record.[11] A donation of US$2.35 million was also raised through the sales of Worlds 2017 Championship Ashe skin.[12]
Teams and qualifications
editBased on the results of MSI and the World Championship in the previous two years, all teams from South Korea (LCK) were seeded directly into the group stage and Taiwan/Hong Kong/Macau (LMS) received an extra seed. With the ranking of the 2017 Mid Season Invitational, Southeast Asia (GPL) received a group stage seed for the summer champion team and one more slot in the play-in stage for the summer runner-up team, and the North American (NA LCS) summer split champion team was seeded to Pool 2 due to not qualifying for the top 4 at the MSI.
| Region | League | Path | Start in | Pool | Teams | ID |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| China | LPL | Summer Champion | Group stage | 1 |  Edward Gaming
|
EDG |
| Championship Points | 2 | Royal Never Give Up
|
RNG | |||
| Regional Finals | Play-in stage | 3 | Team WE
|
WE | ||
| Europe | EU LCS | Summer Champion | Group stage | 1 |  G2 Esports
|
G2 |
| Championship Points | 2 | Misfits Gaming
|
MSF | |||
| Regional Finals | Play-in stage | 3 | Fnatic
|
FNC | ||
| North America | NA LCS | Summer Champion | Group stage | 2 |  Team SoloMid
|
TSM |
| Championship Points | Immortals
|
IMT | ||||
| Regional Finals | Play-in stage | 3 | Cloud9
|
C9 | ||
| South Korea | LCK | Summer Champion | Group stage | 1 |  Longzhu Gaming
|
LZ |
| Championship Points | 2 | SK Telecom T1
|
SKT | |||
| Regional Finals | Samsung Galaxy
|
SSG | ||||
| Taiwan Hong Kong Macau |
LMS | Summer Champion | Group stage | 1 |  Flash Wolves
|
FW |
| Championship Points | 2 | ahq e-Sports Club
|
AHQ | |||
| Regional Finals | Play-in stage | 3 |  Hong Kong Attitude
|
HKA | ||
| Vietnam ►Southeast Asia |
VCS►GPL | Summer Champion | Group stage | 2 |  GIGABYTE Marines
|
GAM |
| Summer Runner-up | Play-in stage | 4 | Young Generation
|
YG | ||
| Brazil | CBLOL | Summer Champion |  Team oNe Esports
|
ONE | ||
| CIS | LCL |  Gambit Esports
|
GMB | |||
| Turkey | TCL |  1907 Fenerbahçe
|
FB | |||
| Japan | LJL | 5 |  Rampage
|
RPG | ||
| Latin America North | LLN |  Lyon Gaming
|
LYN | |||
| Latin America South | CLS |  Kaos Latin Gamers
|
KLG | |||
| Oceania | OPL |  Dire Wolves
|
DW |
Venues
editWuhan, Guangzhou, Shanghai, Beijing were the four cities chosen to host the competition.[13]
| China
| |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Wuhan, Hubei | Guangzhou, Guangdong | Shanghai | Beijing |
| Play-ins and Group Stage | Quarterfinals | Semifinals | Finals |
| Wuhan Sports Center Gymnasium | Guangzhou Gymnasium | Shanghai Oriental Sports Center | Beijing National Stadium |
| Capacity: 7,000 | Capacity: 10,000 | Capacity: 18,200 | Capacity: 91,000 |
| Sep 23 – Oct 15 | Oct 19 – Oct 22 | Oct 28 – Oct 29 | Nov 4 |
|
|
|
|
Play-in stage
editGroups
edit- Group A
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | L | PCT | Qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Team WE | 4 | 4 | 0 | 1.000 | Advance to play-in knockouts |
| 2 | Lyon Gaming | 4 | 2 | 2 | .500 | |
| 3 | Gambit Esports | 4 | 0 | 4 | .000 |
- Group B
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | L | PCT | Qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cloud9 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 1.000 | Advance to play-in knockouts |
| 2 | Team One Esports | 5 | 2 | 3 | .400 | |
| 3 | Dire Wolves | 5 | 1 | 4 | .200 |
- Group C
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | L | PCT | Qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Fnatic | 4 | 3 | 1 | .750 | Advance to play-in knockouts |
| 2 | Young Generation | 4 | 2 | 2 | .500 | |
| 3 | Kaos Latin Gamers | 4 | 1 | 3 | .250 |
- Group D
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | L | PCT | Qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1907 Fenerbahçe Espor | 5 | 4 | 1 | .800 | Advance to play-in knockouts |
| 2 | Hong Kong Attitude | 5 | 3 | 2 | .600 | |
| 3 | Rampage | 4 | 0 | 4 | .000 |
Knockouts
edit| Round 1 | |||
| Team WE | 3 | ||
| Young Generation | 0 | ||
| Cloud9 | 3 | ||
| Lyon Gaming | 0 | ||
| Fnatic | 3 | ||
| Hong Kong Attitude | 0 | ||
| 1907 Fenerbahçe | 3 | ||
| Team oNe Esports | 1 | ||
Source: LoL Esports (Archived 2018-12-18 at the Wayback Machine)
Group stage
edit- Group A
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | L | PCT | Qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | SK Telecom T1 | 6 | 5 | 1 | .833 | Advance to knockouts |
| 2 | Cloud9 | 6 | 3 | 3 | .500 | |
| 3 | ahq e-Sports Club | 6 | 2 | 4 | .333 | |
| 4 | Edward Gaming | 6 | 2 | 4 | .333 |
- Group B
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | L | PCT | Qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Longzhu Gaming | 6 | 6 | 0 | 1.000 | Advance to knockouts |
| 2 | Fnatic | 8 | 4 | 4 | .500 | |
| 3 | GIGABYTE Marines | 7 | 2 | 5 | .286 | |
| 4 | Immortals | 7 | 2 | 5 | .286 |
Rules for classification: 1) Winning percentage; 2) Tiebreaker match(es); 3) Total game victory time[a]
- Group C
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | L | PCT | Qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Royal Never Give Up | 6 | 5 | 1 | .833 | Advance to knockouts |
| 2 | Samsung Galaxy | 6 | 4 | 2 | .667 | |
| 3 | G2 Esports | 6 | 3 | 3 | .500 | |
| 4 | 1907 Fenerbahçe Espor | 6 | 0 | 6 | .000 |
- Group D
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | L | PCT | Qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Team WE | 6 | 5 | 1 | .833 | Advance to knockouts |
| 2 | Misfits Gaming | 7 | 4 | 3 | .571 | |
| 3 | Team SoloMid | 7 | 3 | 4 | .429 | |
| 4 | Flash Wolves | 6 | 1 | 5 | .167 |
Knockout stage
editBracket
edit
| Quarterfinals | Semifinals | Final | |||||||||||
| A1 | SK Telecom T1 | 3 | |||||||||||
| D2 | Misfits Gaming | 2 | |||||||||||
| SK Telecom T1 | 3 | ||||||||||||
| Royal Never Give Up | 2 | ||||||||||||
| C1 | Royal Never Give Up | 3 | |||||||||||
| B2 | Fnatic | 1 | |||||||||||
| SK Telecom T1 | 0 | ||||||||||||
| Samsung Galaxy | 3 | ||||||||||||
| D1 | Team WE | 3 | |||||||||||
| A2 | Cloud9 | 2 | |||||||||||
| Team WE | 1 | ||||||||||||
| Samsung Galaxy | 3 | ||||||||||||
| B1 | Longzhu Gaming | 0 | |||||||||||
| C2 | Samsung Galaxy | 3 | |||||||||||
Quarterfinals
edit| Quarterfinals | October 19 | Longzhu Gaming | 0 | – | 3 | Samsung Galaxy | Guangzhou, China | |
| Source | Guangzhou Gymnasium | |||||||
| 0 | Game 1 | 1 | ||||||
| 0 | Game 2 | 1 | ||||||
| 0 | Game 3 | 1 | ||||||
| Quarterfinals | October 20 | SK Telecom T1 | 3 | – | 2 | Misfits Gaming | Guangzhou, China | |
| Source | Guangzhou Gymnasium | |||||||
| 1 | Game 1 | 0 | ||||||
| 0 | Game 2 | 1 | ||||||
| 0 | Game 3 | 1 | ||||||
| 1 | Game 4 | 0 | ||||||
| 1 | Game 5 | 0 | ||||||
| Quarterfinals | October 21 | Royal Never Give Up | 3 | – | 1 | Fnatic | Guangzhou, China | |
| Source | Guangzhou Gymnasium | |||||||
| 1 | Game 1 | 0 | ||||||
| 1 | Game 2 | 0 | ||||||
| 0 | Game 3 | 1 | ||||||
| 1 | Game 4 | 0 | ||||||
| Quarterfinals | October 22 | Team WE | 3 | – | 2 | Cloud9 | Guangzhou, China | |
| Source | Guangzhou Gymnasium | |||||||
| 1 | Game 1 | 0 | ||||||
| 0 | Game 2 | 1 | ||||||
| 0 | Game 3 | 1 | ||||||
| 1 | Game 4 | 0 | ||||||
| 1 | Game 5 | 0 | ||||||
Semifinals
edit| Semifinals | October 28 | SK Telecom T1 | 3 | – | 2 | Royal Never Give Up | Shanghai, China | |
| Source | Shanghai Oriental Sports Center | |||||||
| 0 | Game 1 | 1 | ||||||
| 1 | Game 2 | 0 | ||||||
| 0 | Game 3 | 1 | ||||||
| 1 | Game 4 | 0 | ||||||
| 1 | Game 5 | 0 | ||||||
| Semifinals | October 29 | Team WE | 1 | – | 3 | Samsung Galaxy | Shanghai, China | |
| Source | Shanghai Oriental Sports Center | |||||||
| 1 | Game 1 | 0 | ||||||
| 0 | Game 2 | 1 | ||||||
| 0 | Game 3 | 1 | ||||||
| 0 | Game 4 | 1 | ||||||
Final
edit| Final | November 4 | SK Telecom T1 | 0 | – | 3 | Samsung Galaxy | Beijing, China | |
| Source | Beijing National Stadium | |||||||
| 0 | Game 1 | 1 | ||||||
| 0 | Game 2 | 1 | ||||||
| 0 | Game 3 | 1 | ||||||
Final standings
edit| Places | Team | Prize (USD) |
|---|---|---|
| 1st | Samsung Galaxy | $1,855,114 |
| 2nd | SK Telecom T1 | $667,841 |
| 3rd–4th | Royal Never Give Up | $346,288 |
| Team WE | ||
| 5–8th | Longzhu Gaming | $197,879 |
| Misfits Gaming | ||
| Fnatic | ||
| Cloud9 | ||
| 9–11th | Team SoloMid | $111,307 |
| G2 Esports | ||
| GIGABYTE Marines | ||
| 12–13th | Edward Gaming | $86,571 |
| ahq e-Sports Club | ||
| 14–16th | Flash Wolves | $61,837 |
| Immortals | ||
| 1907 Fenerbahçe | ||
| 17–20th | Lyon Gaming | $37,102 |
| Hong Kong Attitude | ||
| Team oNe Esports | ||
| Young Generation | ||
| 21–24th | Rampage | $24,735 |
| Kaos Latin Gamers | ||
| Dire Wolves | ||
| Gambit Esports | ||
| Total | $4,946,970 | |
Entertainment
editLeague of Legends Live
editLeague of Legends Live was held on the eve of the finals, November 3, in Beijing National Aquatics Center (or known as the Water Cube) to commemorate the tournament, featuring international artists and League of Legends community musicians. It featured performances of a wide variety of music from League of Legends, including Get Jinxed, hits from Pentakill, DJ Sona, Warsongs, Star Guardian, The Curse Of The Sad Mummy, medleys of a wide variety of Worlds and Champion themes, DJ and music producer Alan Walker, and many other tracks over the course of the 90-minute show.[15]
Opening and closing ceremonies
editDuring the opening ceremony of the finals, dancers wore different masks, as the ground around them had visual effects and colors. It was followed by Jay Chou's Worlds 2017 remix Hero performance, and a live version of Legends Never Die by Against the Current, with Chou playing the piano behind. An augmented reality dragon (modeled after the in-game Elder Drake) also flew around the arena halfway through the performance, with the Summoner's Cup rising from the grounds of the stadium at the same time. The closing ceremony featured Alan Walker performing his own remix of Legends Never Die, with Chrissy Costanza on the vocals.[16] The overall performances of the ceremonies were well received.[4][5]
Legacy
editThe finals had 60 million unique viewers worldwide, breaking 2016's viewer record.[11]
League of Legends fans raised over US$2 million for three different charities (BasicNeeds, Learning Equality and the Raspberry Pi Foundation) with the sales of the "Worlds 2017 Championship Ashe" skin.[17]
The loss of SK Telecom T1 in a 0–3 defeat, as well as Faker's emotional moment is considered to be one of the greatest upsets in League of Legends' history, and noticeably caught the attention of League of Legends' fans throughout the world, with many tributes given to the team and Faker for their success.[10]
Notes
edit- ^ The total amount of time it took a team to win their games against all other teams in the tiebreaker
References
edit- ^ "24 teams complete the lineup for the 2017 League of Legends World Championship". www.invenglobal.com.
- ^ "Update: Fan Contribution to Worlds 2017 Prize Pool".
- ^ "Ruler is our MVP of Worlds 2017 – here's why". Red Bull.
- ^ a b Allen, Eric Van. "League of Legends World Finals Had A Freaking Dragon". Compete.
- ^ a b "The opening ceremony for the 2017 World Championship finals had a live performance and a dragon". The Rift Herald.
- ^ "GIGABYTE Marines pull out the support Zilean and almost take down Longzhu – Dot Esports". dotesports.com.
- ^ Dwan, Hannah (October 19, 2017). "The League of Legends 2017 World Championship quarter finals have started | Where to watch, our predictions, and the results so far". The Telegraph.
- ^ "LoL Worlds: Fenerbahçe shines on Day 4". ESPN.com.
- ^ "'League of Legends' 2017 world championships, semi final recap SKT vs RNG". Blasting News.
- ^ a b "How a dynasty was toppled at the League of Legends World Championship". pcgamer.
- ^ a b "The League of Legends Worlds final reached 60 million unique viewers". Archived from the original on December 25, 2017. Retrieved November 19, 2017.
- ^ "Over $2 million raised for charity from Championship Ashe proceeds". November 17, 2017.
- ^ "2017 International Events". lolesports.com. Riot Games.
- ^ "Worlds 2017: Finals News and Updates".
- ^ "League of Legends Live | League of Legends". na.leagueoflegends.com.
- ^ "LoL Esports". www.lolesports.com.
- ^ "2017 Worlds Charity Fundraiser".