After four days of competition, the 2022 League of Legends World Championship Play-In Stage is nearing its end. Fnatic and DRX managed to qualify directly for the Worlds 2022 Group Stage by finishing first in their Play-In group. The teams that finished second to fourth in Group A and Group B have been seeded into two single elimination brackets to determine which two teams will also advance to the Group Stage in New York City.
The Play-In Stage’s knockout phase works differently from the rest of the tournament. Each group’s third-placed team first plays its own group’s fourth-placed team in a best-of-five. The winner of that best-of-five then takes on the other group’s second-placed team in another best-of-five for a ticket to the Group Stage.
On Oct. 3, at 8 PM CEST, MAD Lions (Group B #3) takes on Saigon Buffalo (Group B #4). When the two first met, it was a messy affair which MAD Lions emerged victorious from. The winner of the series between MAD Lions and Saigon Buffalo plays Evil Geniuses (Group A #2) at 8 PM CEST on Oct. 4.
CBLoL champions LOUD and Japan’s DetonatioN FocusMe face each other in the other single elimination bracket after bot dropping to Evil Geniuses in Group A’s tiebreaker games on Day 4. Their series will start at 1 AM CEST on Oct. 4. A mighty foe awaits whoever wins this series: reigning MSI champion Royal Never Give up awaits in the Group Stage qualification series, played on Oct. 5 at 1 AM CEST.
