These days, the global League of Legends community is focused on Iceland – the venue for the highest-level Esports tournament, Worlds 2021 – which gathers the best teams from various regions competing for the most prestigious title in League of Legends.
According to the format in recent years, Worlds consists of two parts: the play-in stage and the Main Event. In the play-in stage, the third and fourth-seeded teams or teams from minor regions (minor major) as defined by Riot will compete against each other to find the final four teams that will join the Main Event alongside those that have already qualified for the group stage. For the League of Legends community, the play-in stage is also considered a part of Worlds, and notably, the 2021 play-in stage features several noteworthy names such as Cloud9, Hanwha Life Esports, and LNG Esports.
However, Riot is being accused of completely neglecting the play-in stage, even showing a certain level of disdain for it. According to the latest announcement from Riot regarding Pick ‘Ems, the event will only take place once the Main Event group stage officially begins.
For those who may not know, Pick ‘Ems is an event, or in other words, a prediction game during the Worlds. Participants will make choices such as which teams will advance from the group stage, who will be crowned champions, etc. In return, players will receive prizes from Riot.
However, this has revealed that Riot does not care about the play-in stage, even though it is also part of Worlds. The matches in the play-in stage are considered to be extremely fierce and tense, yet viewers are not allowed to make predictions based on these matches. Moreover, according to some international League of Legends players, Riot’s use of the term “fiesta” to describe the play-in stage is incredibly disrespectful to the teams competing there and the significance of this stage. The reasoning from these fans is that the word “fiesta” is only used for fun, frivolous celebrations, while the play-in stage could be the unattainable dream for teams from minor major regions, or even for larger teams struggling to secure the third or fourth seed to participate, such as LNG, HLE, or C9, Beyond Gaming.
It is evident that although they are both part of Worlds, the play-in stage only serves to determine which teams will fill the slots for the Main Event. In fact, there have been instances in history where teams originating from the play-in stage achieved high rankings, notably at Worlds 2018 with teams like EDward Gaming, Fnatic, and G2 Esports. However, Riot still has not shown the appropriate level of interest in this stage or the teams competing there. This could impact the reputation of Worlds and Riot itself in the eyes of League of Legends fans globally, especially the fans of the teams preparing to compete in the upcoming play-in stage.