Vietnam misses Worlds for a second time due to COVID, 2021 format revealed

Riot Games revealed earlier today the first details around the 2021 League of Legends World Championship, confirming the Laugardalshöll in Reykjavík, Iceland as the host venue for the biggest tournament in League’s competitive season.

However, this long-rumoured announcement arrived with some bad news for the League community in Vietnam, as for the second year in a row, the teams from the Vietnamese Championship Series (VCS) won’t be able to attend Worlds.

As was the case for both Worlds 2020 and the Mid-Season Invitational 2021, the absence of the VCS is due to the current travel restrictions imposed by the Vietnamese government, along with the cancellation of the VCS 2021 Summer Split.

“We will continue to work with our trusted partners to explore every option to get a VCS representative to MSI 2022,” said Riot’s global esports division in their press release.

Prior to this unfortunate decision, a report from Korean news outlet Naver Esports indicated Riot and Garena were working on solutions during the last few weeks, either by sending the top two teams from the Spring Split, GAM Esports and Saigon Buffalo, or hosting a regional qualifier between the top four teams from the Spring Split.

Worlds 2021 format revealed, Rogue advances to Groups

With the absence of the Vietnamese teams, the format for the Worlds 2021 Play-In and Group Stages has undergone a reconstruction, now following the one used during the 2020 edition with all 22 qualified teams.

Play-Ins will feature the first seeds from Brazil, Japan, Oceania, CIS, Latin America and Turkey, the second seed from Southeast Asia’s PCS, the third seed from North America, and the fourth seed from both the LPL and LCK.

All of these teams will be drawn into two groups of five teams each, playing in a single round-robin format. The top team from each group will automatically advance to the Group Stage, and the third and fourth-place teams will play a best-of-five, with winners challenging the other group’s second seed for the last two spots.

As for the Group Stage, the only change will come with the LEC’s third-seeded team ‘Rogue’, as they will occupy Vietnam’s first seed spot in the tournament.

Here, the 16 qualified teams will be split into four groups of four, with each competitor playing against every team in their group twice. The top two teams from each of the four groups will advance to the Knockout Stage, where they will compete in a best-of-five single elimination bracket for a chance to become world champions.

Worlds 2021 is scheduled to run from 5th October to 6th November.

You can learn more about all qualified teams, format, prize pool, and everything around the 2021 World Championship in the viewers’ guide below.

• Read more: How to watch Worlds 2021: All qualified teams, format, venues, prize pool, and more

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