The time for the League of Legends world championship has come.
The tournament is not only distinguished by the large prize pool associated with it, but also as being a time for friends from across the globe to get together and check out one of the most watched esport events.
This year, staying true to the tournament’s name, the competition headed to Beijing for the final matches.
There’s a lot on the line for one team but it’s not what people might expect. SK Telecom T1 (SKT)—the reigning three-time winner—is not only looking to be the first team to win a threepeat; they’re looking to regain their status as best team in the world. Longzhu Gaming currently holds that title after demolishing SKT in the finals of the Korean regional league. On an individual level, some of the players from SKT will be looking for blood, and a lot of it. The SKT players did not rank nearly as high as the vast majority of fans would have expected in many of the power rankings held by large media outlets like ESPN or theScore.
With the group stages coming up next, we’ll get to see the full power of all the remaining teams on a global stage.
Closer to home, North America has with Team Solo Mid (TSM) one of the best chances of getting out of group stages that it’s had for a long time; the team was drawn into one of the easiest groups possible for them. Immortals, while in a hard group, have proven to be a fantastic team and could place second in their group, which would allow them to continue to the quarterfinals section of the tournament.
Overall, the action will be plentiful and the storylines will be stronger than ever.
In what’s shaping up to be one of the most interesting and bloody tournaments for the past few years, the 2017 League worlds will be a show to watch, rage at, cheer at, and support.