Do you like LOL esports? Do you like watching your favorite players play against each other to prove who’s the mightiest? Are you interested in the most competitive League of Legends games? Then check this list of 5 LOL tournaments you can’t miss in 2018.
5. All-Stars:
Prize pool: not announced yet
Date: December 3rd – December 9th
Venue: North America
All-Stars is always an entertaining tournament, and since the improved the brackets and organization of it, it has become even more appealing. Teams made of fan-favorites on each position compete with each other, and with the added feature of players dueling themselves in 1v1 matches, the whole event is just a delight for passionate fans and people who just enjoy League of Legends.
4. Rift Rivals:
Prize pool: $300.000-400.000 across all regions
Date: July 2nd – July 8th
Venue: USA (NA vs EU), China (LCK vs LPL vs LMS), Brazil (BR vs LAN vs LAS), Australia (OCE vs SEA vs JP), and Vietnam (RU vs TR vs VN)
Starting last year, Rift Rivals has managed to gather fans to support a single cause: be better than the other region. Played with the 3 best teams of each region from spring split, this event is really exciting for the audience, and is a good chance to gather international experience for these teams. Rift Rivals’ biggest appeal is the ability to put everything in a single game against your fans’ enemies, and make or break the internet with your performance.
3. LCK Spring Split:
Prize pool: $250.000
Date: January 16th – April 14th
Venue: Seoul
Although the Split is already half way through, if you don’t want to wait a mayor tournament and just want to watch some unpredictable and incredible games, I advise you to check the LCK regularly. Filled with figures such as Faker, Khan, Deft, and many others, expect to see the most precise mechanical skill in each game. But what makes the LCK Spring Split a must-watch this time is how close in skill level are all the competing teams, as shown by bottom-half team BBQ defeating Kingzone and breaking their 14 games winning streak, and it was a well-deserved victory. Right now the most competitive and amazing League of Legends is being played in Korea, and this time it is by all teams.
2. Mid Season Invitational:
Prize pool: expected to be $1 - 1.5 million (not announced yet)
Date: May 3rd – May 20th
Venue: Berlin (Group stage) and Paris (Knockout stage)
Although is not as flashy as it should be, MSI is the second most competitive international tournament of LOL (only behind Worlds). It is the perfect opportunity to watch the performance of the best teams halfway throughout the road to Worlds, and a good performance can catapult a team for a great summer split. According to current rankings, we can expect some really good matches, as Kingzone, Fnatic, Echo Fox and Invictus Gaming will probably go and represent their regions amongst many others.
1. Worlds:
Prize pool: Not announced yet. $5 million prize pool expected for 2018 based on previous year.
Date: Around October (exact dates not announced yet)
Venue: South Korea
Worlds has always been the most important League of Legends tournament every year, as it is the most prestigious one for Riot Games and for the community. Some people might say it is only competitive on the final knockout stage playing only the Korean teams and the best of each region, but the gap has been closing up recently (as proven by teams such as Gigabyte Marines and Misfits last Worlds), and this year is particularly promising as each region seem to be more and more competitive.
