Riot Games reveal host cities for 2021 Worlds – Which are they?
As seen in the video above, the 2021 Worlds event will be hosted in 5 Chinese cities. Namely: Shanghai, Qingdao, Wuhan, Chengdu, and Shenzhen. Due to the Pandemic, Riot saw it fit to host the 2021 World Championship in China once again. Last year, the event took place solely in Shanghai, but this time round the tournament will be set in a multi-city tour. Each city will have its very own stage, and this will be revealed in the near future. The Worlds 2021 Final will take place on the 6th of November in Shenzhen.
At the time of writing, it is not yet confirmed if any fans will be welcomed at the tournament. Hopefully, the pandemic calms down during the summer season, and some of the restrictions in China are lifted.
Final thoughts
Looking at this year’s first international event, the Mid-Season Invitational, we can already expect a lot of competition in this year’s world championship. Will the other regions take the throne, or will Korea reign supreme once more?
As you may have seen recently, TSM have partnered with cryptocurrency exchange FTX and changed their name, marking it as one of the biggest partnerships in esports history. In recent news however, Riot Games are disallowing TSM to change its name for LCS and VALORANT competitions. Read more:
New: Riot Games is NOT allowing TSM to change its name for both the LCS and VALORANT, the company told Upcomer in a statement.
"TSM's new naming convention…will not apply to the LCS or other Riot Games esports in North America" pic.twitter.com/i7cwBIhTHF
Riot disallowing TSM to change its name for LCS and VALORANT competitions – Why?
Apparently, the sponsorship involving TSM & FTX would be in direct violation of Riot Games’ developer guidelines. A name and jersey change is a big no-no for Riot Games when it is supporting something like cryptocurrency. Even though TSM has been allowed to continue with this FTX partnership, the LCS has placed restrictions around the use of FTX and their branding. On the Riot Games broadcasts, TSM will be represented as TSM and not as TSM FTX, and TSM FTX jerseys are disallowed as well.
Chris Greeley, Head of Esports of North America, said the following:
“The TSM and FTX sponsorship deal does not break any LCS sponsorship rules. But crypto exchanges fall under a category of sponsorship that carries activation restrictions. As a result, TSM’s new naming convention and FTX brand placement on TSM jerseys will not apply to the LCS or other Riot Games esports in North America.”
What’s Riot’s issue with Crypto?
According to George Ceddes, Reporter for Upcomer, it’s an unregulated decentralised exchange. Meaning that it is pretty risky for anybody to use and typically not the best thing to be promoting to under 18s that watch the broadcast.
Maximilian Peter Schmidt, Head of Esports for League of Legends, has announced that Viego and Gwen are to be enabled during the first week of the LEC Summer Split 2021. Here is everything you need to know:
League’s newest addition Gwen will be enabled and is expected to be a serious thread.
Viego is also expected to finally make his competitive debut next week.
Make sure to tune in next Friday at 6PM CEST for the return of the (unofficial) best League in the world.
— Maximilian Peter Schmidt (@RiotMAXtheX) June 4, 2021
Viego and Gwen to be enabled during first week of LEC Summer 2021 – Details
We’re finally going to see the two newest champions to arrive at the League of Legends champion pool in action! As we’ve covered in previous articles, Viego is an impactful Assasin with a spicy playstyle, and Gwen is a top or mid-lane Skirmisher. Both are very interesting champions, and it’s exciting to see them up and running in the European League of Legends scene.
Community Reaction
It’s fair to say that the general League of Legends community didn’t take the news too well. To reference, here’s one tweet that indicates this:
https://t.co/ROOtjRPHNV I mean when I see this… I wonder how long it will take for Viego to be pick , then bug out , 45 min long pause then chronoshift not able to work since it’s Viego and the draft to be remade without him
The kick off match of the European Summer Split will be MAD Lions against G2 Esports. MAD lions being the regional champions and G2 being the former champions will certainly create some interesting storylines. Here’s a short rundown of the schedule:
The recent Mid-Seasonal Invitational was quite the dramatic affair, with the LPL pushing LCK off the international throne. Namely, with DWG KIA recovering from their loss, it’s back to the drawing board with a regional season. Accordingly, the LCK Summer 2021 is almost here. Kicking off on June 9th, read on for another episode of How to Watch!
Event Background
Indeed, this is the second episode for the LCK this season, following the Spring season earlier on this year. Accordingly, the 10 franchised teams will be going at it once more. Indeed, the event will run for 2 months, kicking off from 9th June up to August 15th. Specifically, here are these 10 teams as a little reminder:
The stakes for this season are quite clear – only the Top 6 teams will make it to the Playoffs. Namely, the top 2 get to dive straight into the semifinals of the incredible event.
Format
As you’d expect, this format is typical of a regular season event. Namely, Riot Games is throwing these 10 teams at one another in a Double Round Robin format – each team plays against one another twice. Accordingly, each match will be a BO3.
Credits: Riot Games
While it’s simple, there are also some tiebreaker rules we’ll list below:
Overall map difference is given priority
If map difference is equal, ties broken by head-to-head record
If still tied, a tiebreaker match will be played
All of this will make for an epic showdown heading towards the end of the competitive ten weeks.
Schedule for the LCK Summer 2021 (CET)
With a weekly schedule, the games are played at the same times running from Wednesday to Sunday – 2 games on each day. As an example, we have the schedule for the first week below:
Furthermore, for an entire schedule, we recommend you keep up with the LCK page.
Watch the LCK Summer 2021 on esportsguide
You can also watch the LCK Summer 2021 live stream via our very own website. Providing an extensive list of the biggest esports together with streams for each esports match live today or upcoming matches.
Heading into the LCK Summer 2021 event, there are definitely a few unresolved storylines heading into this season. Namely, after finishing second place at the MSI Invitational 2021, doubts are floating above their reputation. Hence, I believe that DWG KIA will be doing their best to prove themselves as the top dogs.
Other than that, the next top 4 teams are quite clear. Indeed, Gen.G, Hanwha, T1 and DRX are all likely to be here in the top 5. Heading into this next season, it’ll be interesting to see how these teams stack up against one another once again.
However, Nongshim RedForce managed to just squeeze into sixth place, with only one win over KT Rolster and Liiv SANDBOX. Accordingly, there’ll likely be another battle at the bottom for one of these teams to crack into the top 6.
Indeed, it’s that exciting time of year, where multiple regions of competitive League of Legends are building up some anticipation towards the next step. Accordingly, the LPL Summer 2021 is next for us to discuss, after the LCS and LCK. Let’s dive into this episode of ‘How to Watch’!
Event Background
Heading into this event, this is the second stage of the LPL for the season of 2021, there’s a lot to discuss. Once again, the top 17 teams in the region are back to compete once again as of 7th June – there’s $660,000 on the line once again.
Credits: Riot Games
Accordingly, after Royal Never Give Up won the MSI Invitational 2021 for the region, the hype is real to see them back in action. Let’s see how the other 16 teams stack against the favourites. For those unaware, here’s the full list of competitors:
Bilibili Gaming
EDward Gaming
FunPlus Phoenix
Invictus Gaming
JD Gaming
LGD Gaming
LNG Esports
Oh My God
Rare Atom
Rogue Warriors
Royal Never Give Up
Suning
Team WE
ThunderTalk Gaming
Top Esports
Ultra Prime
Victory Five
It’s a long list – let’s see how the format will run. Notably, apart from the prize, the winner qualifies for the World Championship 2021!
Format
Credits: Riot Games
To chop this long list up, Riot Games has sorted out an incredible format for this team. To begin with, there’ll be a Group Stage of total weeks. Here, a single round-robin of BO3 matches will determine a top 10. These top 10 will be catapulted into the Playoffs.
The Playoffs will be split into two Phases:
Phase 1 – King of the Hill – 3-10th seeded fight in two brackets, where the two standing at the end join the top 2 teams at the double elimination
Phase 2 – Double Elimination – the top 4 teams will compete in a classic BO5 double elimination format, fighting for prize and pride.
Schedule for the LPL Summer 2021 (CEST)
In terms of schedule, it’s a jam-packed 3 months of competition. Just to get you all warmed up, we’ve listed the schedule for Week 1 below:
Week 1
June 7th
Invictus Gaming vs Suning (11:00)
FunPlus Phoenix vs Rogue Warriors (13:00)
June 8th
Oh My God vs Rare Atom (11:00)
EDward Gaming vs Bilibili Gaming (13:00)
June 9th
FunPlus Phoenix vs Ultra Prime (11:00)
LNG Esports vs Victory Five (13:00)
The 2021 #LPL Summer Split will finally begin on June 7th!!
You can also watch the LPL Summer 2021 live stream via our very own website. Providing an extensive list of the biggest esports together with streams for each esports match live today or upcoming matches.
Let’s roll it back with a question – are Royal Never Give Up the undisputed favourites? Although yes, they have some awesome momentum thanks to their international win, back in the moshpit of the LPL it’s not going to be so easy.
Credits: Riot Games
For those unaware, RNGU made it to MSI 2021 with a very narrow advantage of one win over EDward Gaming, followed narrowly by Top Esports and JD Gaming. They definitely need to keep their heads up and take the competition seriously to stay on top.
Bearing this in mind, all eyes are on the LPL following their win – expectations are high for a competitive season and have one team make it to World Championship 2021!
The Mid-Season global competition is done and it’s time to return to regional competition. Accordingly, one of the first to do so is the LCS. Indeed, kicking off on 4th June, the 10 North American teams will once again go at it and continue the fun from Spring. Read on for a How To Watch for the LCS Summer 2021 season!
Event Background
For context, this is the second split for the ninth season for the North American region. For this year, unlike all previous seasons, score will be carrying from the Spring split.
Accordingly, the stakes are pretty clear. Specifically, only the top 8 teams will make it to the Championship at the end of the year. Running from 4th June up to 1st August, it’s all anybody cares about.
As a reminder, here are the 10 LCS teams that will be going at it once again:
100 Thieves
Cloud9
CLG
Dignitas
Evil Geniuses
FlyQuest
Golden Guardians
Immortals
Team Liquid
TSM
Let’s dive right into the format.
Format
As our #MSI run comes to an end, we would like to thank all the support around #C9LoL even though the results were not as expected.
A lot of games came down to the wire and despite not closing them out, we showed that we can fight on the International stage. Worlds next. #C9WINpic.twitter.com/2LXpYbjGPh
In terms of format, it’s a stretched out format to give us two whole months of incredible matches. Accordingly, all teams will play one another three times in BO1 matches. Naturally, points are earned by winning to assist with the standings.
At the end of the season, the seeding for the Championship will be as follows:
Top 2 – R2 Upper Bracket
3-6th – R1 Upper Bracket
7-8th – R1 Lower Bracket
It’s a simple format that fans of the LCS will definitely enjoy. For teams, it’s a marathon and not a sprint. Teams will need to stay consistent for 9 weeks.
Schedule for the LCS Summer 2021
As you can imagine, the schedule is quite massive to cover 9 weeks. Accordingly, you can find a screenshot of the first three weeks all set to the CET time zone thanks to Liquipedia:
You can also watch the LCS Summer 2021 live stream via our very own website. Providing an extensive list of the biggest esports together with streams for each esports match live today or upcoming matches.
It’s fair enough to go off of the Mid-Seasonal LCS Showdown for predictions. Specifically, it’s natural to assume that Cloud9 will be the favourite for this upcoming, especially after a strong showing at MSI 2021 with a 5-6th finish.
Credits: LoL Flickr
Otherwise, Team Liquid and TSM are primed to finish in the top three behind Cloud9 with the possibility of perhaps upsetting Cloud9, especially over 2 months. Then, likely to contest for fourth place is 100 Thieves.
Furthermore, it’s towards the bottom where the doubts lie. Specifically, it’s unsure as to who will make it – it’ll be a battle between Immortals, Flyquest, Evil Geniuses and Dignitas.
Any roster changes that could swap things up? Sources have Golden Guardians trying to make a couple changes to try and better their chances. However, they’ll need to really bump up their performance if they want a chance to reach top 8.
Here’s who the leaderboard looks as of right now:
Credits: Liquipedia
In terms of safety, nobody is safe for these next three months. Moreso, we’re hoping for a few lead changes to make things interesting, or Cloud9 may assert a degree of dominance.
It has been announced that Zwyrooo will be joining the Schalke 04 Esports League of Legends academy roster heading into the Summer Split. Here is their announcement:
EU Masters competitor, Azir connoisseur and boy, does he look good in blue: Please welcome our new t̶e̶n̶n̶i̶s̶ ̶p̶l̶a̶y̶e̶r Academy Midlaner @Zwyrooo to Schalke 04 Esports! #S04WINpic.twitter.com/rnBzhgRz7r
Zwyrooo joining Schalke 04 Esports Evolution – Who is he?
Artur “Zwyroo” Trojan is a professional League of Legends player from Poland. He started competing in 2018 with iDomina eSports, and then went on to play for multiple other teams. Namely: Bursapor Esports, Team Queso, Cream Real Betis, and most recently Mkers. Due to his very limited experience in competition, young Zwyroo hasn’t won much. However, he has set his eyes on getting some solid results in the upcoming Prime League Summer 2021.
Here are some of his best achievements:
5th-8th in the European Masters Spring 2021 – 27th April 2021 – $9,622
3rd at Trinity Force Puchar Polski 2020 – 14th November 2020 – $2,112
8th in Ultraliga Season 2 – 31st July 2019 – $507
Why are they signing him?
It’s very evident that Schalke did not have the best results in the European Masters Spring 2021. In that tournament, the team finished in 9th-12th and only managed to scrape up $4,808 of the prize money. Hopefully with this roster change, the team is stronger and can get better results moving forward.
A tonne of changes – rostermania – is expected to ensue with the conclusion of the Mid-Season Invitational 2021. Indeed, teams are hungry for success. Whether player or coach, one change could be the key to transforming a team. With regards to the announcement of Invictus Gaming NoFe – a new coach could rebuild this team! Read on for more.
Invictus Gaming NoFe – Bringing in LCK Expertise
We would like to give a warm welcome to our https://t.co/OIPOJEqTOG new head coach Jeong "NoFe" No-chul!
NoFe has great experience and performance in leading ROX Tiger, EDG and AFS over the years and the journey with us start in this summer!
Accordingly, “NoFe” looks to be the new head coach for the LPL team of Invictus Gaming. Indeed, this news quickly follows the individual’s flick on the LCK analyst desk on the broadcast. Could this be what Invictus Gaming need?
Why the change in coach? Well, it’s quite obvious really. The team has been underperforming significantly since the beginning of the year. Specifically, a 9th place finishing in the regular season, with a 9-10th finish at the LPL 2021 Spring Playoffs tells you all you need to now.
Credits: Riot Games
As a coach, “NoFe” has reached a total of four World Championships, being at the finals and semifinals on separate occasions. Otherwise, a total of 5 regional victories sit under his belt too. Overall, he’s got the experience that this team needs. However, is this the only change this roster needs or is there more to it?
Following the success of their rivals, Royal Never Give Up, it seems that Top Esports is choosing to shake things up. Indeed, with an unsavory performance in the Spring season, Top Esports sign Qingtian to perhaps reclaim the league they dominated last year. Read on to learn more about this roster change!
Top Esports Sign Qingtian – An MVP Player
His name in full, Yu “Qingtian” Zi-Han has left ripples wherever he’s gone. So far in his career, he’s been a part of the success of Young Miracles over in the LDL. As the official FMVP for the LDL Spring Split, his impressive individual play helped his team to a championship victory at the Playoffs.
With that being said, this is a very respectable move from Top Esports, as they announced on Twitter:
We are happy to announce that TOP Zi-Han Yu (ID: Qingtian) has joined TES. Qingtian played for YM in the past and he got the FMVP of 2021 LDL spring split.
In terms of playstyle, the youngster does love playing as a Top Laner. Indeed, he looks to continue in this role on Top Esports. However, we’re still awaiting official news and gameplay to verify this.
So, how is the Top Esports roster looking? Below, here’s the official list of players currently active on the roster:
With Fnatic’s recent announcement, Adam, former player of Karmine Corp, has joined the team as its top laner. Obviously this created an opportunity for Bwipo. He could either change teams or stay within the lineup, but move to another role.
Our first ten years in League of Legends ends. Our next ten begins.
In late April we covered an article which stated that Bwipo and former Fnatic player Selfmade turned down their contract extensions with the team. This increased suspicion as to what these players had in mind, and what their future plans were. Well, it seems like Bwipo is giving it one more shot with Fnatic in a totally different role, the Jungle.
This is what LoL Team Director Javier “dardo” Zafra said about the move:
As we look to the future of Fnatic League of Legends and the arrival of Adam, we’re happy to have found a solution to keep Bwipo’s experience and chemistry with the team. The coaching staff made the decision that made the most sense for everyone for this upcoming split, and we look forward to seeing where it takes us in Summer. Bwipo is an extremely intelligent player, and will undoubtedly be able to use his knowledge of multiple roles in League of Legends to develop his jungle playstyle very quickly. He has all the right ingredients to be a success in this upcoming split as a jungler.
Bwipo has made his abilities within League of Legends very evident. Hopefully this change will impact Fnatic in a positive manner and reprise Bwipo as one of Europe’s best.
