page_title: 2016 League of Legends World Championship
section_title: Finals
hierarchical_section_title: 2016 League of Legends World Championship / Knockout stage / Finals
caption_attribution_description: English: A picture of the Staples Center as used for the 2016 League of Legends World Championship finals.
context_page_description: The 2016 League of Legends World Championship was the sixth world championship for League of Legends, a video game developed by Riot Games. It was held from September 29 – October 29, 2016, in cities across the United States. Sixteen teams qualified for the tournament based on their placement in regional circuits such as those in North America, Europe, South Korea, and China. The tournament's group stage was held at the Bill Graham Civic Auditorium in San Francisco, the quarterfinals at The Chicago Theater in Chicago, and the semifinals at Madison Square Garden in New York City. The final was held in front of a crowd of nearly 20,000 fans at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. Russian-German DJ Zedd made an exclusive song for the tournament titled "Ignite", the song became available for streaming viewing on the game's official YouTube channel.
  SK Telecom T1 defended their title from the 2015 League of Legends World Championship by defeating runner-up Samsung Galaxy 3–2 in a best of five final series. With their win, SKT became the first three-time League of Legends world champion. SKT's Lee "Faker" Sang-hyeok was named MVP of the tournament.
context_section_description: The final lasted six hours and was played in front of a crowd of nearly 20,000 fans at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. A projection of the minimap which showed each team's map control was shown on the floor of the arena between the two teams. Most of the players for Samsung Galaxy (SSG) had never played in the finals before, while most members of SK Telecom (SKT) were returning members of the 2015 championship team. It was the first finals series in a League of Legends world championship to go the full five games.
  The first match of the best of five series lasted 40 minutes and was won by SK Telecom, who were able to attack Samsung Galaxy's undefended base after winning a big "all-in" battle between the two teams. The second match was also won by SKT, who were able to continuously build up an insurmountable advantage after winning a battle in the mid-game, ending the game after 31 minutes.
  After losing the first two games, Samsung Galaxy won a long third game against SK Telecom. SKT dominated the early stages of the game and built up a lead in both kills and gold. The turning point in this game was a fight over Baron, an important in-game objective, where Samsung Galaxy was able to kill half of SK Telecom's team and destroy two of their turrets afterwards. After winning a similar engagement over Baron later in the game, Samsung Galaxy was then able to quickly destroy five of SKT's defensive towers and win the game. This third game was the second-longest in competitive League of Legends history, at 71 minutes and 20 seconds.
  Samsung Galaxy then won the fourth game, also after winning a key fight over Baron. Despite losing two inhibitor buildings in their base, SKT was able to stall SSG with defensive play until the 42-minute mark, after which SSG took three Dragons – another in game objective – uncontested and gained buffs that allowed them to win the game. In the final game, SK Telecom played a more cautious gameplay style, which was effective against Samsung Galaxy's riskier play. SKT was able to grab two Baron kills and two Elder Dragon kills en route to winning the final game.
  SK Telecom's team shared a $2 million prize purse between its members. The championship victory was SKT's third in four years, and a successful defense of their 2015 title. SKT also became the first team to win three world championships. ESPN's Timothy Lee called the finals "an instant classic". SKT's Lee Sang-hyeok, who uses the handle "Faker", was named as the tournament MVP. It was Faker's first Worlds MVP. Faker's performance on the map's middle lane broke the previous 208 kills record at Worlds by the third map of the finals, and he ended up with 217 kills.
caption: The Staples Center as used for the 2016 League of Legends World Championship finals.
exif: {}