Riot Games published the Worlds 2021 Primer that contains detailed information about Worlds 2021 which had quite a lot of changes at the very last minute.
You can click this link to read the whole thing from an official website or continue reading to see a summarized version.
The 22 teams that will attend Worlds 2021 and team pools
12 of the 22 participants of Worlds 2021 will go directly to Groups while the other 10 will play in Play-In stage for a chance to grab the last 4 tickets for Group Stage. Here are the pools that these 12 teams will be drawn from:
- Pool 1
- EDward Gaming (EDG – LPL first seed)
- DWG KIA (DK – LCK first seed)
- MAD Lions (MAD – LEC first seed)
- PSG Talon (PSG – PCS first seed)
- Pool 2
- FunPlus Phoenix (FPX – LPL second seed)
- Gen.G (GEN – LCK second seed)
- Fnatic (FNC – LEC second seed)
- 100 Thieves (100 – LCS first seed)
- Pool 3
- Royal Never Give Up (RNG – LPL third seed)
- T1 (T1 – LCK third seed)
- Rogue (RGE – LEC third seed)
- Team Liquid (TL – LCS second seed)
The fourth pool will include teams from the Play-In stage. The Play-In stage will have groups and therefore pools as well. Here are the two pools for these 10 teams:
- Play-In Pool 1
- LNG Esports (LNG – LPL fourth seed)
- Hanwha Life Esports (HLE – LCK fourth seed)
- Cloud 9 (C9 – LCS third seed)
- Beyond Gaming (BG – PCS second seed)
- Play-In Pool 2
- Galatasaray Esports (GS – TCL first seed)
- Infinity (INF – LLA first seed)
- DetonatioN FocusMe (DFM – LJL first seed)
- PEACE (PCE – LCO first seed)
- Unicorns of Love (UOL – LCL first seed)
- Red Canids (RED – CBLOL first seed)
Play-In groups will consist of five teams – two teams from Pool 1 and three teams from Pool 2. Groups will be drawn in September 22, 12.00 GMT
Worlds 2021 Format: Play-In
From October 5 to October 7, Play-In groups will have a round robin Bo1’s and the fate of those teams will be decided at the end of those three days. The first place of both groups will go up to Groups and the last place will say an early goodbye.
The third and fourth place teams on both groups will face each other in a Bo5 series. Winner of those matches will go on to face the second place team of the other group to determine who gets the last two chances at the big trophy and who gets to go to the airport with only a taste left in their mouth.
Worlds 2021 Format: Group Stage
The group stage will start when the four teams that come victorious out of Play-In stage are determined. You might have noticed in the previous group draws that sometimes some teams are not placed in the groups they were drawn for. The reason for this is Riot not allowing two or more teams from the same region to be in the same group.
After these adjustments are done, Group Stage will begin at October 11 and end in 18 October with double round robin. These matches will start at 11 GMT and after they end, the first and second place of both groups will advance to Elimination Stage to compete with the other 7 that also have their eyes set on that shiny trophy.
Worlds 2021 Format: Elimination Stage
8 teams will participate in Elimination Stage which will consist of quarterfinals, semifinals and the grand finals. Only one team will earn the right to call themselves world champions in these Bo5 series with no safety nets – it’s a single elimination bracket.
