‘Airport speed run’? : LoL esports fans debate expectations for Western squads at Worlds 2023
Western League of Legendsteams have consistently fallen short of their expectations at the World Championship. In a recent thread on the League subreddit they discussed how far the best Western teams will go at the World Championship.
No one has much faith.
Western teams, don’t get too downhearted. You guys aren’t particularly bad,it is just that the Eastern team that will be going to the tournament is incredible.
Akamiso29, a Reddit commenter, wrote: “The West is likely to be airport speed races as usual.” I think the quality of their teams has improved, but holy crap they have some monster teams in the East right now.
Since at least 2020, Eastern teams have dominated the most prestigious international League tournaments. This hasn’t happened since the middle of the 2010’s. Since 2011, when Eastern teams were not invited to Worlds, a Western team had not won the tournament. But in recent years they have not been close.
Seven of the eight teams that advanced to the bracket stage at the World Championship last year were either from Korea or China. Rogue was the only Western team that made it to the quarterfinals. They were quickly sent home after a 3-0 sweep by JD Gaming. North American teams also had the worst performance ever at last year’s Worlds. They lost nine games in a row to begin group stage, resulting in a combined 3-15 record.
It’s possible that this year the East will pull off a similar sweep, given the growing gap between the East and the West. Six of the eight top teams at MSI this season were from the East. The Grand Finals hosted the second consecutive inter-regional matchup in an international event.
Javiklegrand, another commenter, said: “One Western team in knockout[s] would be a damn wonder.” “However, outside of G2, I don’t think any Western team will be able to beat [an] Asian squad. The rest of EU and NA are also bad.”
All teams qualified to 2023 LoL World Championship
This point of view may be more depressing than other points of views, but it demonstrates the dramatic decline in Western teams’ performance at international events during the past five seasons. In 2018, three out of four teams in the Worlds semi-finals were from the West. Over the past two years, however, there have been no Western semi-finalists at Worlds.
Eight teams are confirmed so far for Worlds 2023. All four Chinese teams and all three North American squads have secured their places. Korea and Europe still have their national championships to complete, but it is expected that their representatives will be confirmed in the next few weeks.
North America and Europe each have the opportunity to Send an Extra Team To Worlds through a “grudge Match” between their fourth-place teams. Golden Guardians has already secured its ticket to this event.
It’s possible, given the disparity in records between East and West over the past few years, that this grudge match will be the most exciting series for either region.
