EDward Gaming claim maiden Worlds title: final placement & recap

Isaac McIntyre
League of Legends World Championship 2021 Worlds to be played in Iceland.

DJ esports

EDward Gaming have claimed their first Worlds title after taking down DWG KIA in an unforgettable 3-2 Grand Final victory Here’s how Worlds 2021 unfolded.

22 teams traveled to Iceland in the hopes of winning the biggest title in League of Legends.

It was EDward Gaming, the top seed from China’s LPL, who will be returning home with the trophy after a fierce final against defending champions, DWG KIA.

One of the pre-tournament favorites, EDG found themselves largely discounted as they failed to win their group, finishing second behind Faker and T1.

They were also seen as the underdogs in their quarterfinal matchup, as they took on fellow LPL side and MSI 2021 winners, Royal Never Give Up. While they needed five games to beat their compatriots, EDG were able to overcome their quarterfinal curse and reach Worlds semifinals for the first time.

There they met LCK second seeds Gen.G. Once again, EDG needed five games but were able to outlast their opponents to reach the Worlds final.

Waiting for them was defending champions DWG KIA, who many were already crowning as the second team in World history to win back-to-back titles. However, the combination of Scout holding his own against ShowMaker in the mid lane, JieJie’s jungle domaince, and the coronation of the bot lane duo of Viper and Meiko saw EDG take the Summoner’s Cup for themselves.

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Worlds 2021: Schedule & Results

Play-In Stage (October 5 to October 9)

Play Ins was a rollercoaster from start to finish, opening with the highly-anticipated matchup between Korea’s Hanwha Life Esports and China’s LNG Esports.

While LNG ran away with Group A, things were a lot less clear in Group B. Cloud9 were one win away from automatically qualifying for the group stage, but couldn’t overcome a winless Unicorns of Love team, nor Japan’s DetonatioN FocusMe in a tiebreaker game. DFM became the Japanese team to qualify for the Worlds group stage.

Cloud9 eventually made it to the group stage as they swept Australian org PEACE in the Play Ins knockout stage.

Day 1: October 5

Group Match PT ET BST
Group A Hanwha Life Esports 0-1 LNG Esports 4AM 7AM 12PM
Group A Infinity 0-1 RED Canids 5AM 8AM 1PM
Group A LNG Esports 1-0 PEACE 6AM 9AM 2PM
Group A Hanwha Life 1-0 Infinity 7AM 10AM 3PM
Group B Unicorns of Love 0-1 DetonatioN FocusMe 8AM 11AM 4PM
Group B Galatasaray 1-0 Beyond 9AM 12PM 5PM
Group B DetonatioN FocusMe 0-1 Cloud9 10AM 1PM 6PM
Group B Unicorns of Love 0-1 Galatasaray 11AM 2PM 7PM

Day 2: October 6

Group Match PT ET BST
Group A PEACE 0-1 Hanwha Life Esports 4AM 7AM 12PM
Group A RED Canids 0-1 LNG Esports 5AM 8AM 1PM
Group A Infinity 0-1 PEACE 6AM 9AM 2PM
Group A RED Canids 0-1 Hanwha Life 7AM 10AM 3PM
Group B Beyond 0-1 Cloud9 8AM 11AM 4PM
Group B Galatasaray 0-1 DetonatioN FocusMe 9AM 12PM 5PM
Group B Beyond 1-0 Unicorns of Love 10AM 1PM 6PM
Group B Cloud9 1-0 Galatasaray 11AM 2PM 7PM

Day 3: October 7

Group Match PT ET BST
Group A LNG Esports 1-0 Infinity 4AM 7AM 12PM
Group A PEACE 1-0 RED Canids 5AM 8AM 1PM
Group B DetonatioN FocusMe 1-0 Beyond 6AM 9AM 2PM
Group B Unicorns of Love 1-0 Cloud9 7AM 10AM 3PM
Group B Tiebreaker Unicorns of Love 0-1 Beyond 8AM 11AM 4PM
Group B Tiebreaker Cloud9 0-1 DetonatioN FocusMe 9AM 12PM 5PM

Day 4: October 8

Group Match PT ET BST
Elimination Round Galatasaray 2-3 Beyond 4AM 7AM 12PM
Elimination Round PEACE 3-2 Red Canids 9AM 12PM 5PM

Day 5: October 9

Group Match PT ET BST
Qualification Round Hanwha Life Esports 3-0 Beyond 4AM 7AM 12PM
Qualification Round Cloud9 3-0 PEACE 9AM 12PM 5PM

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Main Stage (October 11 – October 18)

No-one saw the group stage coming. FPX collapsed, finishing fourth in Group A. Inversely, Cloud9 turned a 0-3 start into a knockouts berth thanks to a stellar final day of the group. Unsurprisingly, DWG KIA ran away with the group, going 6-0.

EDG and T1 battled it out for control of Group B, with T1 finally getting the upper hand as LCS first seed 100 Thieves pulled off an upset win over EDG in the final match of the group.

Group C was perhaps the simplest of the groups. Fnatic couldn’t find traction after having to replace AD Carry Upset hours before the group stage began, while PSG Talon were simply unable to keep pace with RNG and Hanwha Life.

And then there was Group D. Gen.G, Team Liquid, MAD Lions, and LNG Esports achieved the first-ever four-way tie in the Worlds group stage. After a full tiebreaker bracket, Gen.G and MAD Lions moved onto the playoffs.

Day 1: October 11

Group Match PT ET BST
Group A FunPlus Phoenix 0 – 1 DWG KIA 4AM 7AM 12PM
Group C Royal Never Give Up 1 – 0 PSG Talon 5AM 8AM 1PM
Group C Fnatic 0 – 1 Hanwha Life Esports 6AM 9AM 2PM
Group D Gen.G 1 – 0 LNG 7AM 10AM 3PM
Group B T1 1 – 0 DetonatioN FocusMe 8AM 11AM 4PM
Group B 100 Thieves 0 – 1 EDward Gaming 9AM 12PM 5PM
Group D Liquid 1 – 0 MAD Lions 10AM 1PM 6PM
Group A Rogue 1 – 0 Cloud9 11AM 2PM 7PM

Day 2: October 12

Group Match PT ET BST
Group B T1 0 – 1 EDward Gaming 4AM 7AM 12PM
Group A Rogue 0 – 1 DWG KIA 5AM 8AM 1PM
Group C PSG Talon 1 – 0 Hanwha Life Esports 6AM 9AM 2PM
Group C Royal Never Give Up 1 – 0 Fnatic 7AM 10AM 3PM
Group A FunPlus Phoenix 1 – 0 Cloud9 8AM 11AM 4PM
Group B 100 Thieves 1 – 0 DetonatioN FocusMe 9AM 12PM 5PM
Group D Gen.G 0 – 1 MAD Lions 10AM 1PM 6PM
Group D Liquid 0 – 1 LNG 11AM 2PM 7PM

Day 3: October 13

Group Match PT ET BST
Group C Royal Never Give Up 1 – 0 Hanwha Life Esports 4AM 7AM 12PM
Group D MAD Lions 0 – 1 LNG 5AM 8AM 1PM
Group A Rogue 0 – 1 FunPlus Phoenix 6AM 9AM 2PM
Group C Fnatic 0 – 1 PSG Talon 7AM 10AM 3PM
Group D Liquid 0 – 1 Gen.G 8AM 11AM 4PM
Group A DWG KIA 1 – 0 Cloud9 9AM 12PM 5PM
Group B EDward Gaming 1 – 0 DetonatioN FocusMe 10AM 1PM 6PM
Group B T1 1 – 0 100 Thieves 11AM 2PM 7PM

Day 4: October 15

Group Match PT ET BST
Group A FunPlus Phoenix 0 – 1 DWG KIA 4AM 7AM 12PM
Group A Rogue 0 – 1 Cloud9 5AM 8AM 1PM
Group A FunPlus Phoenix 0 – 1 Cloud9 6AM 9AM 2PM
Group A Rogue 0 – 1 DWG KIA 7AM 10AM 3PM
Group A Rogue 1 – 0 FunPlus Phoenix 8AM 11AM 4PM
Group A DWG KIA 1 – 0 Cloud9 9AM 12PM 5PM
Group A Tiebreaker FunPlus Phoenix 0 – 1 Rogue 10AM 1PM 6PM
Group A Tiebreaker Cloud9 1 – 0 Rogue 11AM 2PM 7PM

Day 5: October 16

Group Match PT ET BST
Group B EDward Gaming 1 – 0 DetonatioN FocusMe 4AM 7AM 12PM
Group B T1 1 – 0 100 Thieves 5AM 8AM 1PM
Group B EDward Gaming 0 – 1 T1 6AM 9AM 2PM
Group B 100 Thieves 1 – 0 DetonatioN FocusMe 7AM 10AM 3PM
Group B T1 1 – 0 DetonatioN FocusMe 8AM 11AM 4PM
Group B 100 Thieves 1 – 0 EDward Gaming 9AM 12PM 5PM

Day 6: October 17

Group Match PT ET BST
Group C  PSG Talon 0-1 Hanwha Life Esports 4AM 7AM 12PM
Group C Royal Never Give Up 0-1 Fnatic 5AM 8AM 1PM
Group C PSG Talon 0-1 Royal Never Give Up 6AM 9AM 2PM
Group C Fnatic 0-1 Hanwha Life Esports 7AM 10AM 3PM
Group C Royal Never Give Up 0-1 Hanwha Life Esports 8AM 11AM 4PM
Group C Fnatic 0-1 PSG Talon 9AM 12PM 5PM
Group C Tiebreaker Royal Never Give up 1-0 Hanwha Life Esports
10AM 1PM 6PM

Day 7: October 18

Group Match PT ET BST
Group D Gen.G 1 – 0 MAD Lions 4AM 7AM 12PM
Group D Liquid 1 – 0 LNG 5AM 8AM 1PM
Group D Gen.G 0 – 1 LNG 6AM 9AM 2PM
Group D MAD Lions 1 – 0 Liquid 7AM 10AM 3PM
Group D Liquid 1 – 0 Gen.G 8AM 11AM 4PM
Group D MAD Lions 1 – 0 LNG 9AM 12PM 5PM
Group D Tiebreaker Team Liquid 0 – 1 Gen.G 10AM 1PM 6PM
Group D Tiebreaker LNG 0 – 1 MAD Lions 11AM 2PM 7PM
Group D Tiebreaker Gen.G 1 – 0 MAD Lions 12PM 3PM 8PM

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Knockout Stage (October 22 – November 6)

Quarterfinals (October 22 – October 25)

T1, DWG KIA, and Gen.G all picked up relatively simple 3-0 sweeps over their opponents, sending Hanwha Life, MAD Lions, and the miracle run Cloud9 home.

In the all-LPL matchup between RNG and EDG, it was a much more tense affair that went a full five games, with EDG beating the MSI champions.

Date Match PT ET BST
October 22 T1 3 – 0 Hanwha Life Esports 5AM 8AM 1PM
October 23 Royal Never Give Up 2 – 3 EDward Gaming 5AM 8AM 1PM
October 24 DWG KIA 3 – 0 MAD Lions 5AM 8AM 1PM
October 25 Gen.G 3 – 0 Cloud9 5AM 8AM 1PM

Semifinals (October 30 – October 31)

Worlds saw both semifinal series go a full five games.

DWG KIA faced T1, in a matchup headlined by the showdown between ShowMaker and T1. While it was a very back-and-forth series, DWG KIA were able to fell the old gods of the LCK.

EDG also needed to five games to overcome the other Korean team left in the tournament to reach their first-ever Worlds final.

Date Match PT ET BST
October 30 T1 2 – 3 DWG KIA 5AM 8AM 1PM
October 31 EDward Gaming 3 – 2 Gen.G 5AM 8AM 1PM

Grand Final (November 6)

Despite DWG KIA being the heavy favorites, EDward Gaming held nothing back.

EDG took Game 1, but DWG KIA by storming to Championship point with dominant wins in Games 2 and 3.

That’s when EDG kicked into gear, storming to wins in Game 4 and decimating DWG KIA in Game 5 to win their first ever World Championship.

Date Match PT ET BST
November 6 DWG KIA 2 – 3 EDward Gaming 5AM 8AM 1PM

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Worlds 2021: Final placements

Overall placements

Placement Team Prize Money (USD)
1 EDward Gaming $489,500
2 DWG KIA $333,750
3-4 Gen.G $178,000
T1
5-8 Royal Never Give Up $100,125
Cloud9
Hanwha Life Esports
MAD Lions
9-12 Rogue $55,625
100 Thieves
PSG Talon
Team Liquid
13-16 LNG $50,062
FunPlus Phoenix
DetonatioN FocusMe
Fnatic
17-18 Beyond Gaming $38,937
PEACE
19-20 Galatasaray Esports $27,812
RED Canids
21-22 Infinity Esports $22,250
Unicorns of Love

Play-In Stage

Group A

Placement Team Record
1 LNG Esports 4-0
2 Hanwha Life Esports 3-1
3 PEACE 2-2
4 RED Canids 1-3
5 Infinity Esports 0-4

Group B

Placement Team Record
1 DetonatioN FocusMe 4-1
2 Cloud9 3-2
3 Galatasaray Esports 2-2
4 Beyond Gaming 2-3
5 Unicorns of Love 1-4

Main Stage

Group A

Placement Team Record
1 DWG KIA 6-0
2 Cloud9 3-4
3 Rogue 3-5
4 FunPlus Phoenix 2-5

Group B

Placement Team Record
1 T1 5-1
2 EDward Gaming 4-2
3 100 Thieves 3-3
4 Detonation FocusMe 0-6

Group C

Placement Team Record
1 Royal Never Give Up 5-2
2 Hanwha Life Esports 4-3
3 PSG Talon 3-3
4 Fnatic 1-5

Group D

Placement Team Record
1 Gen.G 5-3
2 MAD Lions 4-4
3 LNG 3-4
4 Team Liquid 3-4

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2021 World Championship format

The League of Legends World Championship is split into three phases: the play-in stage, the main event, and the knockout stage.

10 teams from around the world have partaken in the Play-In stage (down from the usual 12 due to Vietnam’s travel restrictions), with four main event spots going to the best performing teams in the qualifying stage. The main event features 16 teams, split across four groups, with the top eight teams from each seeded group progressing to the knockout stage.

The knockout stage is a single-elimination, eight-team bracket.

Teams will play in best-of-five series all the way to the final, with the winner of the knockout stage winning Worlds and taking home the Summoner’s Cup.

Event Information

  • Location: Laugardalshöll Sport Center, Reykjavik
  • Prize Pool: TBA
  • Play-In
    • Group Stage (Round 1)
      • 10 teams participate
      • Teams are drawn into two groups based on seeding
      • Single Round Robin
      • Matches are best of one
      • Top team from each group advances to the Main Event
      • 2nd to 4th teams from each group advance to Round 2
    • Knockout Stage (Round 2)
      • 3rd place teams from the group stage face the 4th place team from the same group
      • Winners of these matches face the 2nd place team from the opposite group
      • Winners of these final matches advance to the Main Event
      • Matches are best of five
  • Main Event
    • Group Stage
      • 16 teams participate
      • Teams are drawn into four groups based on seeding
      • Double Round Robin
      • Matches are best of one
      • Top two teams from each group advance to the Knockout Stage
    • Knockout Stage
      • Single elimination bracket (drawn randomly, 1st place teams face 2nd place teams, no two teams from the same group can be placed in the same half of the bracket)
      • Matches are best of five

Worlds 2021 was played on League patch 11.19, with Akshan and Vex disabled.

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Akshan is the 157th champion added to League of Legends since early 2009.
League’s 156th champion, Akshan, will play no part in the 2021 World Championship.

All qualified LoL teams

24 teams from 12 regions across the world will send teams to Worlds 2021. China and Korea, League’s two historic powerhouses, will have four squads a piece, while Europe and North America will send three teams. Smaller regions, ranging from Oceania to Latin America, will send a single representative.

However, due to visa issues, Worlds was contested by 22 teams after the withdrawal of the two representatives from Vietnam’s VCS.

You can find the full list of teams who have qualified for Worlds below.

Italics = Substitute.

Team Region Players
EDward Gaming China Flandre, Jiejie, JunJia, Scout, Viper, Meiko
FunPlus Phoenix China Nuguri, xiaolaohu, Tian, Doinb, Lwx, Crisp, Shenyi
Royal Never Give Up China Xiaohu, Wei, Cryin, Yuekai, GALA, Ming
LNG Esports China Ale, Tarzan, icon, Light, Iwandy, Kedaya
DWG KIA Korea Khan, Canyon, ShowMaker, Ghost, Rahel, BeryL
Gen.G Korea Rascal, Burdol, Clid, YoungJae, Bdd, Ruler, Life
T1 Korea Canna, Oner, Cuzz, Faker, Teddy, Gumayusi, Keria
Hanwha Life Esports Korea Morgan, DuDu, Willer, yoHan, Chovy, Deft, Vsta
MAD Lions Europe Armut, Elyoya, Humanoid, Carzzy, Kaiser
Fnatic Europe Adam, Bwipo, Nisqy, Bean, Hylissang
Rogue Europe Odoamne, Inspired, Larssen, Hans sama, Trymbi
100 Thieves NA Ssumday, Tenacity, Closer, Kenvi, Abbedagge, FBI, huhi
Team Liquid NA Alphari, Jenkins, Santorin, Armao, Jensen, Tactical, CoreJJ
Cloud9 NA Fudge, Max, Blaber, Perkz, Zven, Vulcan
PSG Talon PCS Hanabi, Kartis, River, Maple, Unified, Kaiwing
Beyond Gaming PCS Liang, PK, HuSha, Maoan, Doggo, Kino
Unicorns of Love CIS BOSS, AHaHaCiK, Nomanz, Argonavt, SaNTaS
Infinity Esports LATAM Buggax, Brayaron, SolidSnake, cody, WhiteLotus, Kz, Ackerman
Galatasaray Esports Turkey Crazy, Mojito, Bolulu, Alive, Padden, Zergsting
RED Canids Brazil Guigo, Aegis, Grevthar, Avenger, TitaN, Jojo
DetonatioN FocusMe Japan Evi, Steal, Aria, Ceros, Yutapon, Gaeng
PEACE Oceania Vizicsacsi, Lived, Babip, Tally, Violet, Aladoric

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About The Author

Isaac was formerly the Australian Managing Editor at Dexerto. Isaac began his writing career as a sports journalist at Fairfax Media, before falling in love with all things esports and gaming. Since then he's covered Oceanic and global League of Legends for Upcomer, Hotspawn, and Snowball Esports.