# 2017 League of Legends World Championship

The 2017 League of Legends World Championship was an esports tournament for the multiplayer online battle arena video game League of Legends. It was the seventh iteration of the League of Legends World Championship, an annual international tournament organized by the game's developer, Riot Games. It was held from September 23 – November 4, 2017, in cities across China. Twenty four teams qualified for the tournament based on their placement in regional circuits such as those in North America, Europe, South Korea, and China, with twelve of those teams having to reach the group stage via a play-in round.
The finals featured a rematch of last year's competitors, and in 2017, Samsung Galaxy secured their second championship win after defeating the three-time world champion SK Telecom T1, with a 3–0 sweep in a best of five final series. Samsung has previously won the 2014 League of Legends World Championship. Park "Ruler" Jae-hyuk, the AD carry of Samsung, was named the MVP of the tournament for his outstanding performances.
Against The Current and Jay Chou collaborated with Riot Games to produce two exclusive songs titled "Legends Never Die" and "Hero" respectively for the tournament, while Alan Walker also produced his own remix of "Legends Never Die".
The 2017 World Championship was praised for its ceremonial performances, while receiving attention worldwide due to the high quality of the tournament, its multiple dramatic and emotional series, and SK Telecom T1's tributary moments. The finals was watched by 60 million unique viewers, breaking 2016's viewer record. A donation of US$2.35 million was also raised through the sales of Worlds 2017 Championship Ashe skin.

## Teams and qualifications

Based on the results of MSI and the World Championship in the previous two years, all teams from South Korea (LCK) were seeded directly into the group stage and Taiwan/Hong Kong/Macau (LMS) received an extra seed. With the ranking of the 2017 Mid Season Invitational, Southeast Asia (GPL) received a group stage seed for the summer champion team and one more slot in the play-in stage for the summer runner-up team, and the North American (NA LCS) summer split champion team was seeded to Pool 2 due to not qualifying for the top 4 at the MSI.
| Region | League | Path | Start in | Pool | Teams | ID |
| China | LPL | Summer Champion | Group stage | 1 | Edward Gaming | EDG |
| China | LPL | Championship Points | Group stage | 2 | Royal Never Give Up | RNG |
| China | LPL | Regional Finals | Play-in stage | 3 | Team WE | WE |
| Europe | EU LCS | Summer Champion | Group stage | 1 | G2 Esports | G2 |
| Europe | EU LCS | Championship Points | Group stage | 2 | Misfits Gaming | MSF |
| Europe | EU LCS | Regional Finals | Play-in stage | 3 | Fnatic | FNC |
| North America | NA LCS | Summer Champion | Group stage | 2 | Team SoloMid | TSM |
| North America | NA LCS | Championship Points | Group stage | 2 | Immortals | IMT |
| North America | NA LCS | Regional Finals | Play-in stage | 3 | Cloud9 | C9 |
| South Korea | LCK | Summer Champion | Group stage | 1 | Longzhu Gaming | LZ |
| South Korea | LCK | Championship Points | Group stage | 2 | SK Telecom T1 | SKT |
| South Korea | LCK | Regional Finals | Group stage | 2 | Samsung Galaxy | SSG |
| Taiwan Hong Kong Macau | LMS | Summer Champion | Group stage | 1 | Flash Wolves | FW |
| Taiwan Hong Kong Macau | LMS | Championship Points | Group stage | 2 | ahq e-Sports Club | AHQ |
| Taiwan Hong Kong Macau | LMS | Regional Finals | Play-in stage | 3 | Hong Kong Attitude | HKA |
| Vietnam ►Southeast Asia | VCS►GPL | Summer Champion | Group stage | 2 | GIGABYTE Marines | GAM |
| Vietnam ►Southeast Asia | VCS►GPL | Summer Runner-up | Play-in stage | 4 | Young Generation | YG |
| Brazil | CBLOL | Summer Champion | Play-in stage | 4 | Team oNe Esports | ONE |
| CIS | LCL | Summer Champion | Play-in stage | 4 | Gambit Esports | GMB |
| Turkey | TCL | Summer Champion | Play-in stage | 4 | 1907 Fenerbahçe | FB |
| Japan | LJL | Summer Champion | Play-in stage | 5 | Rampage | RPG |
| Latin America North | LLN | Summer Champion | Play-in stage | 5 | Lyon Gaming | LYN |
| Latin America South | CLS | Summer Champion | Play-in stage | 5 | Kaos Latin Gamers | KLG |
| Oceania | OPL | Summer Champion | Play-in stage | 5 | Dire Wolves | DW |

## Venues

Wuhan, Guangzhou, Shanghai, Beijing were the four cities chosen to host the competition.
China :
| Wuhan, Hubei | Guangzhou, Guangdong | Shanghai | Beijing |
| Play-ins and Group Stage | Quarterfinals | Semifinals | Finals |
| Wuhan Sports Center Gymnasium | Guangzhou Gymnasium | Shanghai Oriental Sports Center | Beijing National Stadium |
| Capacity: 7,000 | Capacity: 10,000 | Capacity: 18,200 | Capacity: 91,000 |
| Sep 23 – Oct 15 | Oct 19 – Oct 22 | Oct 28 – Oct 29 | Nov 4 |
| WuhanGuangzhouShanghaiBeijing ||||

## Play-in stage
### Groups
#### Group A

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | L | PCT | Qualification |
| 1 | Team WE | 4 | 4 | 0 | 1.000 | Advance to play-in knockouts |
| 2 | Lyon Gaming | 4 | 2 | 2 | .500 | Advance to play-in knockouts |
| 3 | Gambit Esports | 4 | 0 | 4 | .000 | |

#### Group B

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | L | PCT | Qualification |
| 1 | Cloud9 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 1.000 | Advance to play-in knockouts |
| 2 | Team One Esports | 5 | 2 | 3 | .400 | Advance to play-in knockouts |
| 3 | Dire Wolves | 5 | 1 | 4 | .200 | |

#### Group C

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | L | PCT | Qualification |
| 1 | Fnatic | 4 | 3 | 1 | .750 | Advance to play-in knockouts |
| 2 | Young Generation | 4 | 2 | 2 | .500 | Advance to play-in knockouts |
| 3 | Kaos Latin Gamers | 4 | 1 | 3 | .250 | |

#### Group D

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | L | PCT | Qualification |
| 1 | 1907 Fenerbahçe Espor | 5 | 4 | 1 | .800 | Advance to play-in knockouts |
| 2 | Hong Kong Attitude | 5 | 3 | 2 | .600 | Advance to play-in knockouts |
| 3 | Rampage | 4 | 0 | 4 | .000 | |

### Knockouts

| Round 1 | Round 1 | Round 1 |
| Team WE | Team WE | 3 |
| Young Generation | Young Generation | 0 |
| Cloud9 | Cloud9 | 3 |
| Lyon Gaming | Lyon Gaming | 0 |
| Fnatic | Fnatic | 3 |
| Hong Kong Attitude | Hong Kong Attitude | 0 |
| 1907 Fenerbahçe | 1907 Fenerbahçe | 3 |
| Team oNe Esports | Team oNe Esports | 1 |
Source: LoL Esports (Archived 2018-12-18 at the Wayback Machine)

## Group stage
### Group A

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | L | PCT | Qualification |
| 1 | SK Telecom T1 | 6 | 5 | 1 | .833 | Advance to knockouts |
| 2 | Cloud9 | 6 | 3 | 3 | .500 | Advance to knockouts |
| 3 | ahq e-Sports Club | 6 | 2 | 4 | .333 | |
| 4 | Edward Gaming | 6 | 2 | 4 | .333 | |

### Group B

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | L | PCT | Qualification |
| 1 | Longzhu Gaming | 6 | 6 | 0 | 1.000 | Advance to knockouts |
| 2 | Fnatic | 8 | 4 | 4 | .500 | Advance to knockouts |
| 3 | GIGABYTE Marines | 7 | 2 | 5 | .286 | |
| 4 | Immortals | 7 | 2 | 5 | .286 | |

### Group C

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | L | PCT | Qualification |
| 1 | Royal Never Give Up | 6 | 5 | 1 | .833 | Advance to knockouts |
| 2 | Samsung Galaxy | 6 | 4 | 2 | .667 | Advance to knockouts |
| 3 | G2 Esports | 6 | 3 | 3 | .500 | |
| 4 | 1907 Fenerbahçe Espor | 6 | 0 | 6 | .000 | |

### Group D

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | L | PCT | Qualification |
| 1 | Team WE | 6 | 5 | 1 | .833 | Advance to knockouts |
| 2 | Misfits Gaming | 7 | 4 | 3 | .571 | Advance to knockouts |
| 3 | Team SoloMid | 7 | 3 | 4 | .429 | |
| 4 | Flash Wolves | 6 | 1 | 5 | .167 | |

## Knockout stage
### Bracket

| Quarterfinals | Quarterfinals | Quarterfinals | Semifinals | Semifinals | Semifinals | Final | Final | Final |
| A1 | SK Telecom T1 | 3 | | | | | | |
| D2 | Misfits Gaming | 2 | | | | | | |
| D2 | Misfits Gaming | 2 | SK Telecom T1 | SK Telecom T1 | 3 | | | |
| | | | Royal Never Give Up | Royal Never Give Up | 2 | | | |
| C1 | Royal Never Give Up | 3 | Royal Never Give Up | Royal Never Give Up | 2 | | | |
| B2 | Fnatic | 1 | | | | | | |
| B2 | Fnatic | 1 | | | | SK Telecom T1 | SK Telecom T1 | 0 |
| | | | | | | Samsung Galaxy | Samsung Galaxy | 3 |
| D1 | Team WE | 3 | | | | Samsung Galaxy | Samsung Galaxy | 3 |
| A2 | Cloud9 | 2 | | | | | | |
| A2 | Cloud9 | 2 | Team WE | Team WE | 1 | | | |
| | | | Samsung Galaxy | Samsung Galaxy | 3 | | | |
| B1 | Longzhu Gaming | 0 | Samsung Galaxy | Samsung Galaxy | 3 | | | |
| C2 | Samsung Galaxy | 3 | | | | | | |

### Quarterfinals

| Longzhu Gaming | 0 | – | 3 | Samsung Galaxy | Guangzhou, China |
| Source | Source | Source | Source | Source | Guangzhou Gymnasium |
| 0 | Game 1 | Game 1 | Game 1 | 1 | |
| 0 | Game 2 | Game 2 | Game 2 | 1 | |
| 0 | Game 3 | Game 3 | Game 3 | 1 | |
| SK Telecom T1 | 3 | – | 2 | Misfits Gaming | Guangzhou, China |
| Source | Source | Source | Source | Source | Guangzhou Gymnasium |
| 1 | Game 1 | Game 1 | Game 1 | 0 | |
| 0 | Game 2 | Game 2 | Game 2 | 1 | |
| 0 | Game 3 | Game 3 | Game 3 | 1 | |
| 1 | Game 4 | Game 4 | Game 4 | 0 | |
| 1 | Game 5 | Game 5 | Game 5 | 0 | |
| Royal Never Give Up | 3 | – | 1 | Fnatic | Guangzhou, China |
| Source | Source | Source | Source | Source | Guangzhou Gymnasium |
| 1 | Game 1 | Game 1 | Game 1 | 0 | |
| 1 | Game 2 | Game 2 | Game 2 | 0 | |
| 0 | Game 3 | Game 3 | Game 3 | 1 | |
| 1 | Game 4 | Game 4 | Game 4 | 0 | |
| Team WE | 3 | – | 2 | Cloud9 | Guangzhou, China |
| Source | Source | Source | Source | Source | Guangzhou Gymnasium |
| 1 | Game 1 | Game 1 | Game 1 | 0 | |
| 0 | Game 2 | Game 2 | Game 2 | 1 | |
| 0 | Game 3 | Game 3 | Game 3 | 1 | |
| 1 | Game 4 | Game 4 | Game 4 | 0 | |
| 1 | Game 5 | Game 5 | Game 5 | 0 | |

### Semifinals

| SK Telecom T1 | 3 | – | 2 | Royal Never Give Up | Shanghai, China |
| Source | Source | Source | Source | Source | Shanghai Oriental Sports Center |
| 0 | Game 1 | Game 1 | Game 1 | 1 | |
| 1 | Game 2 | Game 2 | Game 2 | 0 | |
| 0 | Game 3 | Game 3 | Game 3 | 1 | |
| 1 | Game 4 | Game 4 | Game 4 | 0 | |
| 1 | Game 5 | Game 5 | Game 5 | 0 | |
| Team WE | 1 | – | 3 | Samsung Galaxy | Shanghai, China |
| Source | Source | Source | Source | Source | Shanghai Oriental Sports Center |
| 1 | Game 1 | Game 1 | Game 1 | 0 | |
| 0 | Game 2 | Game 2 | Game 2 | 1 | |
| 0 | Game 3 | Game 3 | Game 3 | 1 | |
| 0 | Game 4 | Game 4 | Game 4 | 1 | |

### Final

| SK Telecom T1 | 0 | – | 3 | Samsung Galaxy | Beijing, China |
| Source | Source | Source | Source | Source | Beijing National Stadium |
| 0 | Game 1 | Game 1 | Game 1 | 1 | |
| 0 | Game 2 | Game 2 | Game 2 | 1 | |
| 0 | Game 3 | Game 3 | Game 3 | 1 | |

## Final standings

Final standings, 2017 :
| Places | Team | Prize (USD) |
| 1st | Samsung Galaxy | $1,855,114 |
| 2nd | SK Telecom T1 | $667,841 |
| 3rd–4th | Royal Never Give Up | $346,288 |
| 3rd–4th | Team WE | $346,288 |
| 5–8th | Longzhu Gaming | $197,879 |
| 5–8th | Misfits Gaming | $197,879 |
| 5–8th | Fnatic | $197,879 |
| 5–8th | Cloud9 | $197,879 |
| 9–11th | Team SoloMid | $111,307 |
| 9–11th | G2 Esports | $111,307 |
| 9–11th | GIGABYTE Marines | $111,307 |
| 12–13th | Edward Gaming | $86,571 |
| 12–13th | ahq e-Sports Club | $86,571 |
| 14–16th | Flash Wolves | $61,837 |
| 14–16th | Immortals | $61,837 |
| 14–16th | 1907 Fenerbahçe | $61,837 |
| 17–20th | Lyon Gaming | $37,102 |
| 17–20th | Hong Kong Attitude | $37,102 |
| 17–20th | Team oNe Esports | $37,102 |
| 17–20th | Young Generation | $37,102 |
| 21–24th | Rampage | $24,735 |
| 21–24th | Kaos Latin Gamers | $24,735 |
| 21–24th | Dire Wolves | $24,735 |
| 21–24th | Gambit Esports | $24,735 |
| Total | Total | $4,946,970 |

## Entertainment
### League of Legends Live

League of Legends Live was held on the eve of the finals, November 3, in Beijing National Aquatics Center (or known as the Water Cube) to commemorate the tournament, featuring international artists and League of Legends community musicians. It featured performances of a wide variety of music from League of Legends, including Get Jinxed, hits from Pentakill, DJ Sona, Warsongs, Star Guardian, The Curse Of The Sad Mummy, medleys of a wide variety of Worlds and Champion themes, DJ and music producer Alan Walker, and many other tracks over the course of the 90-minute show.

### Opening and closing ceremonies

During the opening ceremony of the finals, dancers wore different masks, as the ground around them had visual effects and colors. It was followed by Jay Chou's Worlds 2017 remix Hero performance, and a live version of Legends Never Die by Against the Current, with Chou playing the piano behind. An augmented reality dragon (modeled after the in-game Elder Drake) also flew around the arena halfway through the performance, with the Summoner's Cup rising from the grounds of the stadium at the same time. The closing ceremony featured Alan Walker performing his own remix of Legends Never Die, with Chrissy Costanza on the vocals. The overall performances of the ceremonies were well received.

## Legacy

The finals had 60 million unique viewers worldwide, breaking 2016's viewer record.
League of Legends fans raised over US$2 million for three different charities (BasicNeeds, Learning Equality and the Raspberry Pi Foundation) with the sales of the "Worlds 2017 Championship Ashe" skin.
The loss of SK Telecom T1 in a 0–3 defeat, as well as Faker's emotional moment is considered to be one of the greatest upsets in League of Legends' history, and noticeably caught the attention of League of Legends' fans throughout the world, with many tributes given to the team and Faker for their success.