After Vietnam’s separation from the Southeast Asia region and the GPL, LoL officially has 14 regional leagues. This article examines how the independent Vietmanese league will affect qualification for the three major international competitions this year: MSI, Rift Rivals, and the World Championship.

Projected Venues

Below is a list of international competition venues dating back to 2015.

2017 All-Stars: NA

2017 Worlds: China

2017 Rift Rivals: Vietnam, Latin America South, Europe, CIS, Taiwan

2017 MSI: Brazil

2016 All-Stars: Europe

2016 Worlds: NA

2016 MSI: China

2015 All-Stars: NA

2015 Worlds: Europe

2015 MSI: NA

Here is the list of predicted venues for 2018:

2018 Rift Rivals: Australia, Brazil, NA, Vietnam, China SEA – JP – OCE: Since SEA (Vietnam) hosted last year, Australia will host this year. BR – LAN – LAS: Since LAS hosted last year, Brazil will host this year. NA – EU: The event will shift over to NA this year. CIS – TR – VN: Since Russia hosted last year and Turkey is projected to host MSI this year (see below), Vietnam becomes the logical host. KR – CN – TW: Since Taiwan hosted last year and Korea is projected to host Worlds this year (see below), China becomes the logical host.

2018 Worlds: Given that all 5 premier regions have hosted the event since 2014, the logical choice for this year is South Korea. Given that Korea was a co-host in 2014 along with Taiwan and Singapore, South Korea would gladly welcome an expanded event. As a final note, hosting the world championship in the fall would complement the ongoing Winter Olympics. The play-ins and group stage will be held in Busan, SK’s second-largest city. Quarterfinals in Daegu. Semifinals in Daejeon. Finals will be held at the Olympic Stadum in Seoul. As a side note, travel is easily facilitated using the country’s high-speed KTX trains.

2018 MSI: Since Worlds will be held in the East, MSI will be held in the West. The best option would be Turkey, which is home to one of the top 3 play-in regions. MSI will be held in Europe this year, specifically the LCS studio in Berlin and Paris for the knockout stage.

MSI will be held in Europe this year, specifically the LCS studio in Berlin and Paris for the knockout stage. 2018 All-Stars: The event will be back in Europe North America this year.

2018 Mid-season Invitational



Play-in: Because there is an additional play-in region this year, the play-in stage is expected to be modified. Riot has not confirmed the tournament format yet, with the exception that 4 regions automatically qualify for the main event based on the last two years of international play. Given the condensed schedule for the play-in this year, here is the likely format:

Group stage 1: The 9 teams will be split into 3 groups of 3. Each team will play each other team in its group twice, for a total of 18 matches. The winners of each group advance to group stage 2. Based on international tournament standings from 2016 and 2017, the groups should be seeded as follows: Pool 1: Vietnam, Turkey, Brazil Pool 2: LAN, OCE, CIS Pool 3: SEA, LAS, LJL

Group stage 2: The 3 group stage 1 winners, along with the lowest-ranked premier region (LMS for 2018), will play each other twice, for a total of 12 matches. The top 2 teams will join the four other premier regions at the main event.

Main event: The main event format is expected to retain its existing format: a group stage with 6 teams leading into a 4-team playoff bracket.

2018 World Championship



Worlds will retain the same format as 2017, except that SEA’s second seed (earned at MSI 2017) will be given to Vietnam.

3 teams from South Korea (LCK)

3 teams from China (LPL)

3 teams from Europe (EU LCS)

3 teams from North America (NA LCS)

3 teams from Taiwan / Hong Kong / Macau (LMS)

1 team each from the 9 play-in regions: Vietnam (VCS) Brazil (CBLOL) Turkey (TCL) Southeast Asia (GPL) Oceania (OCL) CIS (LCL) Japan (LJL) Latin America North (LAN) Latin America South (LAS)



Assuming that only one play-in region makes the MSI event, the seeding will remain the same as in 2017:

Group stage

Pool 1: The 1 seeds from the four best regions at MSI

Pool 2: The 1 seeds from the next two best regions at MSI + the 2 seeds from the 5 premier regions + LCK seed 3

Pool 3: The 4 winners of the play-in stage

Play-in stage

Pool 1: The 3 seeds from NA, LMS, EU, LPL

Pool 2: The 1 seeds from the second- to fifth-best play-in regions

Pool 3: The 1 seeds from the four remaining play-in regions

Projected Schedule



To conclude, the projected timeline for 2018’s international competition is summarized below.

MSI Play-in stage: May 3 to May 9 Main event: May 11 to May 20

Rift Rivals July 5 to July 8

World Championship Play-in: September 21 to September 28 Group Stage: October 4 to October 14 Playoffs: October 18 to November 3

All Stars December 3 to December 9

