As of now, the World Championship (CKTG) has completed its 12th season. Additionally, in 2015, Riot decided to hold another international tournament, which is MSI. To this day, these are the two largest international tournaments in the world of League of Legends (LMHT). The MSI tournament gathers the Spring Split champions from each region, while the CKTG features a greater number of representatives.
At the CKTG, teams from smaller regions have to go through a quite challenging Play-In Stage, and many teams have had to exit early after this round. Moreover, teams from smaller regions, even if they progress, have little chance to compete with the “big names”. In the history of CKTG, very few teams from smaller regions have been able to advance past the Group Stage. Only DRX at CKTG 2022 caused a lot of surprises by reaching the Finals despite starting from the Play-In Stage.
One of the important formats in international Esports tournaments is Double Elimination. This is a competitive format that is well-known even to the LMHT community, as some domestic tournaments have already adopted it for a long time, such as in the LPL. Both champions of the LPL in 2021, Royal Never Give Up (RNG) and EDward Gaming (EDG), came up from the losers’ bracket. Both teams later became champions of the international tournaments they participated in (MSI 2021 and CKTG 2021).
However, despite the benefits shown by the Double Elimination format, Riot remains adamant in saying no. Recently, Ms. Naz Aletaha – Global Director of League of Legends has stated that there will be many changes to the format of both MSI and CKTG starting in 2023. However, Ms. Aletaha also confirmed that Riot will still not implement Double Elimination.
This has left many fans feeling disappointed. The absence of a Double Elimination format will maximize competitiveness but also eliminate any opportunity for teams to make a comeback. However, according to John Needham – President of Riot, the publisher is aware of the importance of the Double Elimination format. Nonetheless, Riot aims for CKTG to still deserve its status as one of the most exciting Esports tournaments in the world, ensuring that every match is highly competitive.
It can be said that in the near future, MSI and CKTG will certainly not feature the Double Elimination format. However, Riot also promises many changes, and fans can look forward to new developments in the upcoming 2023 season.