2018 League of Legends World Championship

The 2018 League of Legends World Championship was the eighth world championship for League of Legends, an esports tournament for the video game developed by Riot Games. It was held from October 1 to November 3, 2018, in cities across South Korea. Twenty four teams qualified for the tournament based on their placement in regional circuits such as those in China, South Korea, Europe, and North America, with twelve of those teams having to reach the group stage via a play-in round.[2] The tournament became known for its very surprising results, numerous upsets, and has often been considered the most unpredictable worlds in League of Legends' history.[3][4][5] The tournament also became the most watched esports event in history, reaching a peak of over 200 million concurrent viewers during the finals. It surpassed the viewership of the 2017 League of Legends World Championship, as well as the peak viewership of numerous worldwide sporting events including the Super Bowl.[6][7][8]

League of Legends World Championship
2018
Tournament information
Location South Korea
DatesOctober 1–November 3
Administrator(s)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
Venue(s)
Teams24
Purse6.7 million[1]
Final positions
Champion Invictus Gaming
(1st title)
Runner-up Fnatic
MVP Gao "Ning" Zhenning (Invictus Gaming)

The tournament's opening ceremony received significant attention, with over 90 million concurrent viewers tuning in for the performance. An augmented reality K-pop group, K/DA was unveiled by Riot Games during the ceremony, with Soyeon and Miyeon from (G)I-dle, Madison Beer and Jaira Burns representing the group as its human counterpart and in the live performance of the finals. K/DA topped global music charts after the initial release of their debut song "Pop/Stars", receiving considerable attention online and raking in one of the fastest viewership records for its music video on YouTube. A dance practice video of "Pop/Stars", as popular in the K-pop scene, was also released.[9][10][11] "RISE" is the tournament's theme song, put together by The Glitch Mob, Mako and The Word Alive. A remix version of "RISE" featuring Bobby from IKON was also released shortly after, with the song being performed on the tournament's finals by all the involved music groups and artists.[12]

The victory of China's Invictus Gaming over Europe's Fnatic in the tournament's finals marked the first time in League of Legends history that the LPL (China) as a region won the world championship, as well as the first time a non-LCK (Korean) team has won after five consecutive years of prior Korean winners. The final series is also the fastest world championship finals in history at 85 minutes total game time.[13] Gao “Ning” Zhenning was awarded the MVP of the finals due to his outstanding performance and contributions during the series, marking the first time a jungle position player has won a world championship MVP.[14][15]

Qualified teams

Although the South Korea (LCK) representative, Kingzone DragonX, lost to China's (LPL) representative Royal Never Give Up (LPL) in 2018 Mid-Season Invitational (MSI) Finals, all three teams from South Korea (LCK) started in the Main Group Stage, having won the 2017 Mid-Season Invitational and the previous two World Championships. With the results of 2018 MSI and following their separation from the rest of the Southeast Asian (SEA) region, Vietnam (VCS) had a direct seed into the Main Group Stage for the summer split victor in their region, but unlike the previous year, Vietnam had no additional slots in the Play-In Stage for their summer runner-up team, because of the 24 team limit. The North American (NA LCS) summer split champion team was seeded to Pool 2 due to their performance at the 2018 Mid-Season Invitational.

Region League Path Team ID Pool
Start in Main event's Group stage
South Korea LCK Summer Champion KT Rolster KT 1
Most Championship Points Afreeca Freecs AFs 2
Regional Finals Winner Gen.G Esports GEN
China LPL Summer Champion Royal Never Give Up RNG 1
Most Championship Points Invictus Gaming IG 2
Europe EU LCS Summer Champion Fnatic FNC 1
Most Championship Points Team Vitality VIT 2
North America NA LCS Summer Champion Team Liquid TL 2
Most Championship Points 100 Thieves 100
TW/HK/MO LMS Summer Champion Flash Wolves FW 1
Most Championship Points MAD Team MAD 2
Vietnam VCS Summer Champion Phong Vũ Buffalo PVB 2
Start in Play-in stage
China LPL Regional Finals Winner EDward Gaming EDG 1
Europe EU LCS G2 Esports G2
North America NA LCS Cloud9 C9
TW/HK/MO LMS G-Rex GRX
Brazil CBLOL Summer Champion KaBuM! e-Sports KBM 2
CIS LCL Gambit Esports GMB
Latin America North LLN Infinity eSports CR INF
Turkey TCL SuperMassive e-Sports SUP
Japan LJL DetonatioN FocusMe DFM 3
Latin America South CLS Kaos Latin Gamers KLG
Oceania OPL Dire Wolves DW
Southeast Asia SEA Ascension Gaming ASC

Rosters
Teams Players Coach
Top Jungle Mid ADC Support
China - LPL
Royal Never Give Up Letme Mlxg
Karsa		 Xiaohu Uzi Ming Heart
Invictus Gaming TheShy
Duke		 Ning Rookie JackeyLove Baolan Kim
EDward Gaming Ray Haro
Clearlove		 Scout iBoy Meiko NoFe
Europe - EU LCS
Fnatic Bwipo
sOAZ		 Broxah Caps Rekkles Hylissang Dylan Falco
Team Vitality Cabochard Kikis Jiizuke Attila Jactroll
Dreams (DP)		 YamatoCannon
G2 Esports Wunder
Sacre (DP)		 Jankos Perkz Hjarnan Wadid GrabbZ
North America - NA LCS
Team Liquid Impact
V1per (DP)		 Xmithie Pobelter Doublelift Olleh Cain
100 Thieves Ssumday AnDa Ryu Rikara
Cody Sun (DP)		 aphromoo pr0lly
Cloud9 Licorice Svenskeren
Blaber		 Jensen Sneaky Zeyzal Reapered
South Korea - LCK
KT Rolster Smeb
Kingen (DP)		 Score Ucal Deft Mata Noexcuse
Afreeca Freecs Kiin Spirit
Mowgli		 Kuro Kramer TusiN Ccomet
Gen.G Esports CuVee Haru
Ambition		 Crown Ruler CoreJJ Edgar
Taiwan/Hong Kong/Macau - LMS
Flash Wolves Hanabi
MMD (DP)		 Moojin Maple Betty SwordArt WarHorse
MAD Team Liang Kongyue
Benny		 Uniboy Breeze K GreenTea
G-Rex PK baybay
Empt2y		 Candy Stitch Koala Wei
Toyz
Vietnam - VCS
Phong Vũ Buffalo Zeros Meliodas
XuHao		 Naul BigKoro Palette Ren
Brazil - CBLOL
KaBuM! e-Sports Zantins Ranger dyNquedo Titan Riyev
Wos (DP)		 Hiro
Commonwealth of Independent States - LCL
Gambit Esports PvPStejos Diamondprox
Seigimitsu (DP)		 Kira Lodik Edward ATRemains
Turkey - TCL
SuperMassive e-Sports fabFabulous Stomaged GBM
Secaf Reis (DP)		 Zeitnot Snowflower Irean
Japan - LJL
DetonatioN FocusMe Evi Steal Ceros Yutapon
Pink Bean (DP)		 viviD Kazu
Latin America North - LLN
Infinity eSports CR Relic SolidSnake Cotopaco Renyu
ottovaG (DP)		 Arce Soren
Latin America South - CLS
Kaos Latin Gamers Nate Tierwulf Plugo Fix
Zealot (DP)		 Slow Pierre
Oceania - OPL
Dire Wolves BioPanther Shernfire (BAN)
UDYSOF		 Triple k1ng Cupcake Sharp
Southeast Asia - SEA
Ascension Gaming Rockky Lloyd G4
SunSunSun (DP)		 Niksar Rich Chainarin

Venues

Seoul, Busan, Gwangju, Incheon were the four cities chosen to host the competition.

 South Korea
Seoul Busan
Play-in Stage Main Group Stage & Quarterfinals
LOL PARK, Gran Seoul 3F BEXCO Auditorium
Capacity: 450 Capacity: 4,002
Gwangju Incheon
Semifinals Finals
Gwangju Women's University
Universiade Gymnasium		 Incheon Munhak Stadium
Capacity: 8,327 Capacity: 50,256

Play-in Stage
  • Venue: LOL PARK, Gran Seoul 3F, Seoul.
  • Date and time: October 1–4, started from 17:00 KST (UTC+09:00)

Round 1
  • Twelve teams are drawn in four groups, with three teams each group.
  • Double round robin, all matches are best-of-one.
  • If teams have same win-loss record and head to head, they will play a tiebreaker match for 1st or 2nd place.
  • The top two teams of each group advance to round 2. The 3rd-place team is eliminated.

Group A
# Team - EDG INF DW Win Lose
1 EDward Gaming EDG - 1-1 2-0 3 1
2 Infinity eSports CR INF 1-1 - 1-1 2 2
3 Dire Wolves DW 0-2 1-1 - 1 3
Date Game Blue side Result Red side
October 2 1 EDG W L INF
2 DW W L INF
3 DW L W EDG
October 4 4 INF W L EDG
5 INF W L DW
6 EDG W L DW

Group B
# Team - G2 SUP ASC Win Lose T-B
1 G2 Esports G2 - 1-1 2-0 3 1 W
2 SuperMassive e-Sports SUP 1-1 - 2-0 3 1 L
3 Ascension Gaming ASC 0-2 0-2 - 0 4
Date Game Blue side Result Red side
October 2 1 G2 L W SUP
2 ASC L W SUP
3 ASC L W G2
October 4 4 SUP L W G2
5 SUP W L ASC
6 G2 W L ASC
T-B SUP L W G2

Group C
# Team - C9 DFM KBM Win Lose T-B
1 Cloud9 C9 - 2-0 2-0 4 0
2 DetonatioN FocusMe DFM 0-2 - 1-1 1 3 W
3 KaBuM! e-Sports KBM 0-2 1-1 - 1 3 L
Date Game Blue side Result Red side
October 1 1 C9 W L KBM
2 DFM W L KBM
3 DFM L W C9
October 3 4 KBM W L DFM
5 KBM L W C9
6 C9 W L DFM
T-B DFM W L KBM

Group D
# Team - GRX GMB KLG Win Lose
1 G-Rex GRX - 2-0 2-0 4 0
2 Gambit Esports GMB 0-2 - 2-0 2 2
3 Kaos Latin Gamers KLG 0-2 0-2 - 0 4
Date Game Blue side Result Red side
October 1 1 GMB L W GRX
2 GRX W L KLG
3 GMB W L KLG
October 3 4 GRX W L GMB
5 KLG L W GMB
6 KLG L W GRX

[16]

Round 2
  • Eight teams are drawn randomly into a single-elimination match, with 1st-place teams of each group facing 2nd-place teams of another group.
  • All matches are best-of-five.
  • The 1st-place team chooses the side for all odd-numbered games, while the 2nd-place team chooses the side of even-numbered games.
  • The winner advances to the main group stage.

Match 1
  • Date and time: October 6, 13:00 KST (UTC+09:00).
Team Result
C1 Cloud9 (C9) 3
D2 Gambit Esports (GMB) 2
Game Blue side Result Red side
1 C9 W L GMB
2 GMB W L C9
3 C9 W L GMB
4 GMB W L C9
5 C9 W L GMB

Match 2
  • Date and time: October 6, 17:00 KST (UTC+09:00).
Team Result
A1 EDward Gaming (EDG) 3
C2 DetonatioN FocusMe (DFM) 0
Game Blue side Result Red side
1 DFM L W EDG
2 EDG W L DFM
3 DFM L W EDG
4 X - - X
5 X - - X

Match 3
  • Date and time: October 7, 13:00 KST (UTC+09:00).
Team Result
B1 G2 Esports (G2) 3
A2 Infinity eSports CR (INF) 1
Game Blue side Result Red side
1 G2 L W INF
2 INF L W G2
3 G2 W L INF
4 INF L W G2
5 X - - X

Match 4
  • Date and time: October 7, 17:00 KST (UTC+09:00).
Team Result
D1 G-Rex (GRX) 3
B2 SuperMassive e-Sports (SUP) 1
Game Blue side Result Red side
1 GRX L W SUP
2 SUP L W GRX
3 GRX W L SUP
4 SUP L W GRX
5 X - - X

[17]

Group Stage
  • Venue: BEXCO Auditorium, Busan.
  • Date and time: October 10–17, started from 17:00 KST (UTC+09:00).
  • Sixteen teams are drawn in four groups with four teams per group. Teams of same region cannot be placed in the same group.
  • Double round robin, all matches are best-of-one.
  • If teams have the same win-loss record and head-to-head record, a tiebreaker match is played.
  • The top two teams of each group advance to Knockout Stage. The bottom two teams are eliminated.

Group A
# Team - AFS G2 FW PVB Win Lose T-B
1 Afreeca Freecs AFS - 1-1 1-1 2-0 4 2
2 G2 Esports G2 1-1 - 1-1 1-1 3 3 W
3 Flash Wolves FW 1-1 1-1 - 1-1 3 3 L
4 Phong Vũ Buffalo PVB 0-2 1-1 1-1 - 2 4
Date Game Blue side Result Red side
October 10 1 PVB L W FW
2 AFS L W G2
October 11 3 FW W L AFS
4 PVB W L G2
October 13 5 AFS W L PVB
6 G2 W L FW
October 15 7 AFS W L FW
8 G2 W L PVB
9 FW W L G2
10 PVB L W AFS
11 FW L W PVB
12 G2 L W AFS
T-B FW L W G2

Group B
# Team - RNG C9 VIT GEN Win Lose T-B
1 Royal Never Give Up RNG - 1-1 1-1 2-0 4 2 W
2 Cloud9 C9 1-1 - 2-0 1-1 4 2 L
3 Team Vitality VIT 1-1 0-2 - 2-0 3 3
4 Gen.G eSports GEN 0-2 1-1 0-2 - 1 5
Date Game Blue side Result Red side
October 10 1 RNG W L C9
2 GEN L W VIT
October 11 3 VIT L W C9
4 GEN L W RNG
October 12 5 RNG W L VIT
6 C9 L W GEN
October 14 7 VIT W L RNG
8 GEN L W C9
9 VIT W L GEN
10 C9 W L RNG
11 C9 W L VIT
12 RNG W L GEN
T-B RNG W L C9

Group C
# Team - KT EDG TL MAD Win Lose
1 KT Rolster KT - 1-1 2-0 2-0 5 1
2 EDward Gaming EDG 1-1 - 1-1 2-0 4 2
3 Team Liquid TL 0-2 1-1 - 2-0 3 3
4 MAD Team MAD 0-2 0-2 0-2 - 0 6
Date Game Blue side Result Red side
October 10 1 KT W L TL
2 EDG W L MAD
October 12 3 MAD L W KT
4 TL L W EDG
October 13 5 TL W L MAD
6 KT W L EDG
October 16 7 TL L W KT
8 MAD L W EDG
9 MAD L W TL
10 EDG W L KT
11 EDG L W TL
12 KT W L MAD

Group D
# Team - FNC IG 100 GRX Win Lose T-B
1 Fnatic FNC - 1-1 2-0 2-0 5 1 W
2 Invictus Gaming IG 1-1 - 2-0 2-0 5 1 L
3 100 Thieves 100 0-2 0-2 - 2-0 2 4
4 G-Rex GRX 0-2 0-2 0-2 - 0 6
Date Game Blue side Result Red side
October 11 1 100 L W FNC
2 IG W L GRX
October 12 3 FNC L W IG
4 100 W L GRX
October 13 5 IG W L 100
6 GRX L W FNC
October 17 7 FNC W L 100
8 GRX L W IG
9 FNC W L GRX
10 100 L W IG
11 GRX L W 100
12 IG L W FNC
T-B FNC W L IG

[18]

Knock-out Stage
  • Eight teams are drawn into a best-of-five single elimination bracket.
  • The 1st-place team of each group is drawn against the 2nd-place team of another group.
  • Teams of the same group can not play each other until the finals.
  • All matches are best-of-five.
Quarterfinals Semifinals Finals
         
C1 KT Rolster 2
D2 Invictus Gaming 3
Invictus Gaming 3
G2 Esports 0
B1 Royal Never Give Up 2
A2 G2 Esports 3
Invictus Gaming 3
Fnatic 0
A1 Afreeca Freecs 0
B2 Cloud9 3
Cloud9 0
Fnatic 3
D1 Fnatic 3
C2 EDward Gaming 1

Quarterfinals
  • Venue: BEXCO Auditorium, Busan.
  • The 1st-place team chooses the side for all odd-numbered games, while the 2nd-place team chooses the side of even-numbered games.
  • Winner advances to the semifinals.

Match 1
  • Date and time: October 20, 13:00 KST (UTC+09:00).
Team Result
C1 KT Rolster (KT) 2
D2 Invictus Gaming (IG) 3
Game Blue side Result Red side
1 KT L W IG
2 KT L W IG
3 KT W L IG
4 KT W L IG
5 KT L W IG

Match 2
  • Date and time: October 20, 17:00 KST (UTC+09:00).
Team Result
B1 Royal Never Give Up (RNG) 2
A2 G2 Esports (G2) 3
Game Blue side Result Red side
1 RNG W L G2
2 G2 W L RNG
3 RNG W L G2
4 G2 W L RNG
5 RNG L W G2

Match 3
  • Date and time: October 21, 13:00 KST (UTC+09:00).
Team Result
A1 Afreeca Freecs (AFS) 0
B2 Cloud9 (C9) 3
Game Blue side Result Red side
1 C9 W L AFS
2 C9 W L AFS
3 C9 W L AFS
4 X - - X
5 X - - X

Match 4
  • Date and time: October 21, 17:00 KST (UTC+09:00).
Team Result
D1 Fnatic (FNC) 3
C2 EDward Gaming (EDG) 1
Game Blue side Result Red side
1 FNC L W EDG
2 FNC W L EDG
3 FNC W L EDG
4 EDG L W FNC
5 X - - X

Semifinals
  • Venue: Gwangju Women's University Universiade Gymnasium, Gwangju.
  • The winner advances to the finals.

Match 1
  • Date and time: October 27, 17:00 KST (UTC+09:00).
Team Result
Invictus Gaming (IG) 3
G2 Esports (G2) 0
Game Blue side Result Red side
1 IG W L G2
2 IG W L G2
3 IG W L G2
4 X - - X
5 X - - X

Match 2
  • Date and time: October 28, 17:00 KST (UTC+09:00).
Team Result
Cloud9 (C9) 0
Fnatic (FNC) 3
Game Blue side Result Red side
1 FNC W L C9
2 C9 L W FNC
3 FNC W L C9
4 X - - X
5 X - - X

Finals
Team Result
Invictus Gaming (IG) 3
Fnatic (FNC) 0
Game Blue side Result Red side
1 FNC L W IG
2 FNC L W IG
3 IG W L FNC
4 X - - X
5 X - - X

Ranking

Team ranking
  • (*) Does not include tiebreaker games.
Place Region Team PS1 PS2 GS QF SF Finals Prize (%) Prize (USD)[19]
1st LPL Invictus Gaming* 5-1 3-2 3-0 3-0 37.5% $2,418,750
2nd EU LCS Fnatic* 5-1 3-1 3-0 0-3 13.5% $870,750
3rd–4th NA LCS Cloud9* 4-0 3-2 4-2 3-0 0-3 7% $451,500
EU LCS G2 Esports* 3-1 3-1 3-3 3-2 0-3
5th–8th LCK KT Rolster 5-1 2-3 4% $258,000
LPL Royal Never Give Up* 4-2 2-3
LPL EDward Gaming 3-1 3-0 4-2 1-3
LCK Afreeca Freecs 4-2 0-3
9th–12th LMS Flash Wolves* 3-3 2.25% $145,125
EU LCS Team Vitality 3-3
NA LCS Team Liquid 3-3
NA LCS 100 Thieves 2-4
13th–16th VCS Phong Vũ Buffalo 2-4 1.25% $80,625
LCK Gen.G eSports 1-5
LMS G-Rex 4-0 3-1 0-6
LMS MAD Team 0-6
17th–20th LCL Gambit Esports 2-2 2-3 0.75% $48,375
TCL Super Massive e-Sports* 3-1 1-3
LLN Infinity eSports CR 2-2 1-3
LJL DetonatioN FocusMe* 1-3 0-3
21st–24th CBLOL KaBuM! e-Sports* 1-3 0.5% $32,250
OPL Dire Wolves 1-3
CLS Kaos Latin Gamers 0-4
SEA Ascension Gaming 0-4
Place Region Team PS1 PS2 GS QF SF Finals Prize (%) Prize (USD)

Regional ranking
  • The win-ratio is determined by number of won games compared the number of games played.
  • Bracket stage wins are prioritized.
  • (*) Does not include tiebreaker games.
Place Region Teams Play-in Round 1
(4 games total)		 Play-in Round 2
(Best-of-five)		 Group Stage
(6 games total)		 Quarterfinals
(Best-of-five)		 Semifinals
(Best-of-five)		 Finals
(Best-of-five)
1st
LPL		 2G+1P 1 team
3W-1L
(75%)		 1 team
3W-0L
(100%)		 3 teams
12W-6L
(66.67%)*		 3 teams
6W-8L
(42.86%)		 1 team
3W-0L
(100%)		 3W-0L
(100%)
2nd
EU LCS		 2G+1P 1 team
3W-1L
(75%)*		 1 team
3W-1L
(75%)		 3 teams
11W-7L
(61.11%)*		 2 teams
6W-3L
(66.67%)		 2 teams
3W-3L
(50%)		 0W-3L
(0%)
3rd
NA LCS		 2G+1P 1 team
4W-0L
(100%)		 1 team
3W-2L
(60%)		 3 teams
8W-10L
(44.44%)*		 1 team
3W-0L
(100%)		 1 team
0W-3L
(0%)
4th
LCK		 3G 3 teams
10W-8L
(55.56%)		 2 teams
2W-6L
(25%)
5th
VCS		 1G 1 team
2W-4L
(33.33%)
6th
LMS		 2G+1P 1 team
4W-0L
(100%)		 1 team
3W-1L
(75%)		 3 teams
3W-15L
(16.67%)*
7th
LCL		 1P 1 team
2W-2L
(50%)		 1 team
2W-3L
(40%)
8th
TCL		 1P 1 team
3W-1L
(75%)*		 1 team
1W-3L
(25%)
9th
LLN		 1P 1 team
2W-2L
(50%)		 1 team
1W-3L
(25%)
10th
LJL		 1P 1 team
1W-3L
(25%)*		 1 team
0W-3L
(0%)
11th
CBLOL		 1P 1 team
1W-3L
(25%)*
12th
OPL		 1P 1 team
1W-3L
(25%)
13th
CLS		 1P 1 team
0W-4L
(0%)
14th
SEA		 1P 1 team
0W-4L
(0%)

References
  1. Austen Goslin (December 11, 2018). "The 2018 League of Legends World Finals had nearly 100 million viewers". Rift Herald. Retrieved November 8, 2019. Through purchasing the [Champion Kha'Zix] skin, fans managed to raise the prize pool by more than $4.2 million adding to the $2.5 million that Riot themselves contributed.
  2. "24 teams complete the lineup for the 2018 League of Legends World Championship".
  3. "The Worlds 2018 Quarterfinals were full of upsets". The Rift Herald.
  4. "Fnatic, Worlds 2018 and the pain of believing". ESPN.com.
  5. "Ranking the League of Legends World Championship finals". ESPN.com.
  6. "League of Legends in 2018 was the World's Most Viewed Esports Game in History - TalkEsport". www.talkesport.com.
  7. "LoL World Championship draws more viewers than the Super Bowl". Dexerto.
  8. "2018 World Championship detailed stats". esc.watch.
  9. Crecente, Brian (November 7, 2018). "Fictional Hologram Band Tops Real-World Charts After Stunning 'League of Legend' Show (Watch)". Variety.
  10. "Watch The Word Alive crush their 'League Of Legends' Worlds performance". Alternative Press. November 3, 2018.
  11. "K/DA comes to life through AR at the 2018 Worlds Finals Opening Ceremony". The Rift Herald.
  12. "RISE is the newest Worlds theme song". The Rift Herald.
  13. "Fnatic, Worlds 2018 and the pain of believing". ESPN.com.
  14. "China's frenzy over League of Legends championship sheds light on esports growth". TechCrunch.
  15. "Ning is your 2018 League of Legends World Championship Finals MVP".
  16. "Play In Groups Standings". LoL Esports. Retrieved October 11, 2018.
  17. "Play In Knockouts Standings". LoL Esports. Retrieved October 11, 2018.
  18. "Groups Standings". LoL Esports. Retrieved October 11, 2018.
  19. "2018 Season World Championship". Leaguepedia | League of Legends Esports Wiki. Retrieved January 9, 2020.
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