The 2022 League of Legends World Championship group stage has officially concluded. Only 8 of the 16 League of Legends teams from the League of Legends group stage have qualified for the League of Legends knockout stage. The final records of each team in the group stage are as follows:
Group A
1. T1 (5-1)
2. EDward Gaming (4-2)
3. Fnatic (2-4)
4. Cloud9 (1-5)
Group B
1. JD Gaming (5-1)
2. DWG KIA (5-1)
3. Evil Geniuses (1-5)
4. G2 Esports (1-5)
Group C
1. DRX (4-2)
2. Rogue (4-2)
3. Top Esports (3-3)
4. GAM Esports (1-5)
Group D
1. Gen.G (5-1)
2. RNG (5-1)
3. 100 Thieves (1-5)
4. CTBC Flying Oyster (1-5)
What is the Knockout Stage
The League of Legends knockout stage is the continuation of the main event of the World Championship. After eliminating half of the teams from the group stage, the remaining eight teams are placed into two brackets. The brackets are single elimination, meaning each team must win or they will be eliminated from the tournament. Contrary to the group stage’s best-of-one format, the knockout stage consists entirely of best-of-five matchups. This means that a team must beat their opponent three times in order to progress to the next round of the knockout stage.
Crucially, the League of Legends knockout stage has one rule to ensure a variety of competition: teams from the same group cannot compete against each other in the first round of the knockout stage. This means that teams from the same group will not be matched against one another in the knockout stage. The only way for them to ever meet up again is if they both make it to the last round of the knockout stage: the finals.
There is one downside to this rule. Historically, LPL and LCK teams make up the vast majority of teams in the knockout stage. As a result, it is impossible for teams of the same region to not compete against each other. For this reason, the same region rule does not apply to the League of Legends knockout stage, and teams from the same region can be matched against each other for the first round of the knockout stage. While this does not promote international competition as the tournament intends, it is the only structure that works given the circumstances.
What Does the Worlds 2022 Knockout Stage Look Like?
Because Worlds 2022 is held in North America this year, the knockout stage will take place in various locations across the United States. While the semifinals were meant to take place in Scotiabank Arena in Toronto, Canada, COVID-19 induced visa issues prevented that from happening.
The quarterfinals will take place in the same location as the group stage: Hulu Theatre at Madison Square Garden New York, NY. The semifinals and finals, however, take place at two different locations. First, the semifinals will be held in Atlanta, GA at the State Farm Arena. Second, the finals will be held in San Francisco, CA at the Chase Center.
Immediately following the conclusion of the group stage, the knockout stage bracket was drawn. The bracket and schedule for the knockout stage is as follows:
Quarterfinals
October 20th at 5:00 EST: JD Gaming (Group B) vs Rogue (Group C)
October 21st at 5:00 EST: T1 (Group A) vs RNG (Group D)
October 22nd at 5:00 EST: Gen.G (Group D) vs DWG KIA (Group B)
October 23rd at 5:00 EST: DRX (Group C) vs EDward Gaming (Group A)
Semifinals
October 29th at 5:00 EST: TBD vs TBD
October 30th at 5:00 EST: TBD vs TBD
Finals
November 5th at 8:00 EST: TBD vs TBD
