The 2016 League of Legends World Championship officially starts today in San Francisco. Group Stage matches will begin at 7:30 EDT, leading off with an anticipated matchup between North America’s Counter Logic Gaming and European Summer Split winners, G2 Esports.
The match to watch is the last match of the night between North American favorites Team Solo Mid and China’s talented team Royal Never Give Up. The scheduled time for the last game is at 12:30 a.m. EDT, so you might have to catch a VOD for that one. In fact, with eight straight days of group stages, you’ll probably find it difficult trying to watch every single match.
The tournament will move to Chicago from Oct. 13-16 for the quarterfinals, then onto New York Oct. 21-22 for semifinals, finally arriving at Los Angeles’ Staples Center for the grand finals on Oct. 29.
Here is a breakdown of the 2016 League of Legends World Championship groups:
Group A
ROX Tigers (LCK)
G2 Esports (EU LCS)
Counter Logic Gaming (NA LCS)
Albus NoX Luna (IWC)
Two summer split winners, ROX Tigers and G2 esports, are featured in this rather formidable group. Add in third place NA LCS team Counter Logic Gaming to the mix, and you get one of the strongest groups in the tournament.
Group B
Flash Wolves (LMS)
SK Telecom T1 (LCK)
I May (LPL)
Cloud9 (NA LCS)
Featuring the legendary mid player “Faker” Sang-hyeok, SK Telecom T1 is the defending World Champion that looks poised to make another deep run in this year’s tournament. Also looking to make a splash is fan favorite Cloud 9. Runner-up to the NA LCS summer split, C9 is looking to become the first North American team to take the Summoner’s cup.
Group C
EDward Gaming (LPL)
ahq e-Sports Club (LMS)
H2K (EU LCS)
INTZ (IWC)
Two standout teams make up this group. EDward Gaming and H2K are the favorites to win Group C. While analysts are considering these two teams shoe-ins, the dark horse of the group is the Taiwanese team ahq e-Sports Club. While their third place finish in the LMS summer split was disappointing, they are a talented team that can turn some heads if they start to click.
Group D
Team SoloMid (NA LCS)
Royal Never Give Up (LPL)
Samsung Galaxy (LCK)
Splyce (EU LCS)
Group D has a plethora of talent and is shaping up to be the group to watch. Featuring two Summer Split runner-ups and a Summer Split champion, Group D might be the toughest to predict. While TSM seems to be one of the favorites to advance out of the group, the second slot to advance to the knockout stage is up for grabs.
That’s quite an exciting lineup. Stay tuned to Fandom for more coverage on the League of Legends World Championship all month.