by The journey to crown this year’s League of Legends world champion has just begun, but the competition is already heating up.
Four teams have been eliminated, and 16 remain on the road to glory.
Even in the play-in stage, one major region has already fallen short of expectations.
100 Thieves, from North America, suffered a disappointing defeat to PSG Talon in the lower bracket final, marking an early exit from LoL Worlds 2024.
With the Swiss Stage now set, exciting first-round matchups are on the horizon.
#Words2024 Swiss Stage round 1 match order:@BilibiliGaming ?? @MADLionsKOI @TOP_Esports_?? @T1LoL@GenG ?? @WeiboGamingLoL @FNATIC ?? @DplusKIA @TeamLiquidLoL ?? @LNG_Esports @HLEofficial ?? @psgtalonlol @FlyQuest ?? @GAMesportsVN @G2League ?? @paiNGamingBR https://t.co/i0oHBJbfpe
— LoL Esports (@lolesports) September 29, 2024
T1 will start their title defence against Top Esports, while European fans have reason for cautious optimism: G2 Esports faces paiN Gaming, and Fnatic goes head-to-head with Dplus KIA.
On the other hand, MAD Lions fans may feel a pang of anxiety as their team has drawn LPL Summer champions, Bilibili Gaming, in the first round.
In an interview, Supa from MAD Lions expressed a desire to face a North American team for revenge, but it seems that match will have to wait.
GAM Esports, fresh off a strong play-in stage performance, will now face FlyQuest, while PSG Talon must take on the LCK Summer winners, Hanwha Life Esports.
Meanwhile, Team Liquid is set to face LNG Esports, and Weibo Gaming is lined up against Gen.G, the dominant second seed from the LCK.
This year’s World Championship will take place across Berlin, Paris, and London, with the Swiss Stage held in two parts: October 3-7 and October 10-13.
The opening day will feature best-of-one round one matchups, followed by 1-0 and 0-1 matchups on October 4.
From then on, the decisive best-of-three matches will determine who moves on to the knockout stage and who goes home.
The play-in stage has already concluded, with eight teams competing for four qualification spots.
These four teams will now join the twelve already qualified teams in the Swiss Stage, where many consider the ‘real’ Worlds to begin.
The 16 teams are divided into four pools, with Pool 1 teams facing Pool 4, and Pool 2 taking on Pool 3.
Importantly, no teams will face opponents from their own region in the first round.
After that, matchups will pair teams with the same record regardless of region, and rematches will be prohibited.
To qualify for the knockout stage, a team must win three matches, while three losses mean elimination from Worlds 2024.
The Swiss Stage format will feature best-of-one matches until the qualification and elimination series, which will be best of three.
Fans can catch all the Swiss Stage action on the official LoL Esports channels on Twitch and YouTube.
The final eight teams that survive this gruelling stage will advance to the knockout stage, bringing them one step closer to the Summoner’s Cup.
Thursday’s Swiss Stage matches
- Hanwha Life Esports ($1.06) vs PSG Talon ($8.00) @ 2pm CET
- FlyQuest ($1.36) vs GAM Esports ($3.00) @ 3pm CET
- G2 Esports ($1.16) vs paiN Gaming ($4.50) @ 4pm CET
- Bilibili Gaming ($1.08) vs MAD Lions KOI ($7.00) @ 5pm CET
- Top Esports ($2.00) vs T1 ($1.72) @ 6pm CET
- Team Liquid ($3.00) vs LNG Esports ($1.36) @ 7pm CET
- Fnatic ($3.75) vs Dplus KIA ($1.25) @ 8pm CET
- Gen.G ($1.20) vs Weibo Gaming ($4.33) @ 9pm CET
