The race to qualify for this year’s League of Legends World Championship has come to a close, as the regional qualifiers for North American and Europe League of Legends Championship Series took place over the weekend, and the final list of 24 teams has been set.
The third and final seed from North America is Cloud9, which defeated Counter Logic Gaming 3-1 on Sunday in the regional finals. Cloud9 has qualified for every single worlds since it became part of the NA LCS in Season 3, this year marking the fifth worlds berth in a row for the organization.
The third seed from the EU LCS went to Fnatic, the top team of Group A during the regular season with a record of 11-2. But a 3-1 playoff semifinal loss Misfits sent Fnatic to the regional gauntlet. With a ticket to worlds on the line, Fnatic swept H2K Gaming 3-0 on Sunday. As one of the most storied teams in Europe, Fnatic is the only Western organization with a championship to its name.
Worlds expanded from 16 to 24 teams this year, with every major and minor region taking part in the game’s largest annual tournament. The top four teams (out of 12) in the play-in stage will join 12 teams that qualified for the group stage for a chance to win the world championship. The group draw for both regions will take place Tuesday. The other 22 teams competing in the tournament are:
Longzhu Gaming (Korea)
SK Telecom T1 (Korea)
Samsung Galaxy (Korea)
EDward Gaming (China)
Royal Never Give Up (China)
G2 Esports (Europe)
Misfits (Europe)
Fnatic (Europe)
Team SoloMid (North America)
Immortals (North America)
Cloud9 (North America)
Flash Wolves (Taiwan/Hong Kong/Macao)
ahq e-Sports Club (Taiwan/Hong Kong/Macao)
GIGABYTE Marines (Southeast Asia)
Team WE (China)
Hong Kong Attitude (Taiwan/Hong Kong/Macao)
Team oNe eSports (Brazil)
Gambit (CIS)
Rampage (Japan)
Lyon Gaming (Latin America – North)
Kaos Latin Gamers (Latin America – South)
Dire Wolves (Oceania)
Young Generation (Southeast Asia)
1907 Fenerbahçe (Turkey)