Despite having the best record in the League of Legends Japan League (LJL) the last three splits, DetonatioN FocusMe has failed to win the LJL title. Each of the last three splits, DetonatioN lost the final to Rampage (now Pentagram) and failed to compete at Worlds and MSI. Today, DetonatioN ended its runner-up curse and defeated Unsold Stuff Gaming 3-1 to qualify for the World Championship.

DetonatioN’s last LJL title came in 2016, when teams from emerging regions did not directly qualify for Worlds. DetonatioN participated in the International Wildcard Qualifier, but will now make its World Championship debut. DetonatioN FocusMe will participate in the World Championship Play-In stage among 12 other teams, four from the five major regions. The Play-In stage begins on October 1st in Seoul, South Korea at Riot Games’ new LoL Park venue. The Play-In stage will run until October 7th, with four teams advancing to the Group Stage in Busan, South Korea.

Congratulations to @team_detonation on winning the 2018 #LJL Summer Finals and qualifying for the 2018 World Championship! #Worlds2018 pic.twitter.com/Pi64vlkSRS — lolesports (@lolesports) September 15, 2018

Japan won Rift Rivals last year against VCS and OPL, but has never made it out of the Play-In stage. DetonatioN FocusMe will be the first Japanese team not named Rampage or Pentagram to compete at Worlds. This will also be the first World Championship for each player, excluding Shunsuke “Evi” Murase who competed on Rampage.

Teams currently qualified for the World Championship are as follows:

Flash Wolves, LMS

KT Rolster, LCK

Ascension Gaming, SEA

Fnatic, EU LCS

Team Liquid, NA LCS

Gambit Esports, CIS

Dire Wolves, OPL

Afreeca Freecs, LCK

KaBuM! e-Sports, CBLoL

Infinity eSports, LAN

Royal Never Give Up, LPL

MAD Team, LMS

100 Thieves, NA LCS

Team Vitality, EU LCS

Kaos Latin Gamers, CLS

Invictus Gaming, LPL

DetonatioN FocusMe, LJL

Photo: (Lolesports, Riot Games JP)