The inaugural edition of the Swiss stage at the League of Legends World Championship concluded on Sunday, and many believe that the switch in format was an overwhelming success.
Over the last two weeks, the 16 teams that qualified for the main event of LoL Worlds 2023 battled it out for the final eight spots to head into the knockout stage of the tournament.
JD Gaming and Gen.G both asserted their dominance by winning their first three series to book a place in the knockout stage last week, which has given them nearly two weeks off before their respective quarterfinal matches.
LNG Esports, T1 and NRG were next to punch their tickets after compiling 3-1 records across their four series each.
The final day of the Swiss stage was dominated by LPL and LCK teams, as Bilibili Gaming defeated G2 Esports, Weibo Gaming edged past Fnatic and KT Rolster dominated Dplus KIA to secure the final three places in the knockout stage.
The final eight teams include all four representatives from the LPL, three LCK teams and the sole Western hope in NRG from the LCS.
For the first time since 2014, there will be no LEC representative in the quarters, with Team BDS, MAD Lions, G2 Esports and Fnatic all failing to progress.
Due to their dominance throughout the 2023 League of Legends season, where they won both the LPL Spring and Summer splits as well as the Mid-Season Invitational, JD Gaming remain the outright favourites at $2.20 with esports betting sites to claim Worlds 2023.
The opening series of the quarterfinals will feature NRG and Weibo Gaming, which will take place at 5pm KST on Thursday, November 2.
Quarterfinals series
- Thursday, November 2 — NRG ($6.00) vs Weibo Gaming ($1.11) @ 5pm KST
- Friday, November 3 — Gen.G ($1.25) vs Bilibili Gaming ($3.75) @ 5pm KST
- Saturday, November 4 — JD Gaming ($1.16) vs KT Rolster ($4.50) @ 5pm KST
- Sunday, November 5 — LNG Esports ($1.83) vs T1 ($1.83) @ 5pm KST
The #Worlds2023 Quarterfinals schedule!
Which matchup are you most hyped for? pic.twitter.com/lgwECPweER
— LoL Esports (@lolesports) October 29, 2023