As we know, 2024 is shaping up to be an exciting year for League of Legends and esports in general. Last year, alongside domestic leagues and the familiar MSI and World Championship, League of Legends players also welcomed the Asian Games in Hangzhou, where esports became an official medal-contending sport. This year, a new tournament named Esports World Cup is set to debut. According to the recently announced schedule, EWC 2024 will be held in Saudi Arabia around mid-July, coinciding with the return of many domestic leagues.
Recently, EWC 2024 announced the 8 teams invited to compete in the League of Legends segment of the tournament. It turns out that these 8 teams are the top 2 teams from 4 major domestic leagues in the League of Legends scene. They are: Gen.G – T1 (LCK), Bilibili Gaming – Top Esports (LPL), G2 Esports – Fnatic (LEC), and Team Liquid – FlyQuest (LCS). Notably, except for FlyQuest, the remaining 7 teams recently participated in the group stage of MSI 2024. It can be said that the goal of the EWC 2024 organizers is to leverage the appeal of the 8 strongest teams from 4 regions and recreate MSI 2024 for their still-nascent tournament.
However, this news has not generated much excitement among the audience. According to fans from Europe and America, FlyQuest and Fnatic did not perform well at the recent MSI. The LCS runners-up were even defeated by a team from the minor region, PSG Talon, and had to exit the tournament in the Play-In stage. Meanwhile, Fnatic’s performance included only 2 wins against a team with a patched-up roster and an unstable Spring split – GAM Esports. The rest of their matches were losses, leading to an early exit from the tournament.
Furthermore, some T1 fans expressed concern that T1 must balance their efforts in the crucial LCK arena while also competing in the EWC. Although the tournament duration is short, the long travel distance could impact the players’ stamina, especially since many T1 superstars have reported injury issues after returning from MSI 2024.
However, the above list only includes the 8 invited teams, and some teams have yet to confirm their participation in EWC 2024. Therefore, this list may change at the last minute if the players feel unprepared for a short yet challenging journey like the upcoming tournament in Saudi Arabia.