In a tense best-of-one against LPL’s fourth seed LNG Esports, they pulled through to qualify for the Knockout Stage. In the second half, a four-way tie ensued. In Group D, the 2021 LEC Spring and Summer champions MAD Lions ended the first half of the Group Stage 1-2, and experienced a similar story. While Cloud9 head coach Alfonso “Mithy” Aguirre Rodríguez has been vocal about League of Legends’ best-of-one format all year, he also acknowledged that the format allowed the North American squad to turn around their 0-3 half into a 3-4 run to qualify for the quarterfinals.
One fan went all out and posted a reimagined Worlds format on the League of Legends subreddit, with all sixteen teams from the Group Stage fielded in a double elimination upper and lower bracket.Įven LEC and Worlds host Eefje “sjokz” Depoortere spoke out on Twitter that a double elimination playoffs Worlds format is “long overdue”.
This year, two of the biggest MOBA competitions in the world, Worlds 2021 and Dota 2’s The International, coincided at the same time, which sparked a tournament format discussion among League of Legends esports viewers.
