As we know, Riot has decided to experiment with new formats at two familiar international tournaments of the League of Legends (LoL) scene in 2023, namely MSI and the World Championship. Specifically at the World Championship 2023, many changes have been made, especially the introduction of the Swiss round.
Here, the matches will be divided into multiple Rounds, and each day of competition, the next groups will be drawn based on the results of the teams. As of now, only JD Gaming and Gen.G are the two teams that have won all 3 matches in the Swiss round, becoming the first names to advance to the Quarterfinals.
Initially, with the matches in the Play-In round being BO3 and the finals being BO5, the new format applied for the Play-In round received enthusiastic praise from fans. The problem only arose when in the Swiss round, it was still the BO1 format similar to the group stages from previous years. But in the 2023 World Championship, teams no longer knew their opponents in advance. Meanwhile, many viewers believe that Riot has “interfered” as the Summer Finals of various regions were repeatedly featured, such as Gen.G – T1 or JDG – LNG Esports.
However, according to Gumayusi, the continuous competition with opponents only decided at the end of the day left T1 with little time to prepare for the next opponent. Gumayusi noted: “Compared to the old format, the important thing is that you don’t know who you will meet. In the previous group stage, you did not face teams outside your group. But in this year’s Swiss round, you can meet anyone depending on your win/loss record.” However, Gumayusi also admitted that T1 still has many shortcomings.
In fact, the new format could make the Swiss round more exciting but will also pose challenges for the teams. Gen.G also experienced some hiccups when facing T1. T1’s defeat came from many factors, both objective and subjective. But undoubtedly, the inability to prepare adequately was also a significant reason why Faker and his teammates faced defeat against Gen.G.