As the first Esports World Cup in history, EWC 2024 attracted significant attention from the Esports community in general and League of Legends in particular. This time, the organizers intentionally invited 8 teams from 4 Major regions. The reason being that the competition days for League of Legends at EWC 2024 were too brief. Moreover, the 8 teams from Major regions would ensure the quality of the matches. After 3 days of competition, on the night of July 7 to the early morning of July 8 (Vietnam time), the finals of EWC 2024 took place between Top Esports and T1.
TES demonstrated significant improvement compared to MSI 2024, with clear proof being their two convincing victories against Gen.G and G2 Esports – both of which are currently among the strongest teams in the LCK and LEC. However, winning the first game was all that TES managed. They allowed T1 to dominate in nearly all of the remaining 3 games. In fact, in the decisive game 4, Faker was so confident that he could even use Yasuo Mid Lane and still perform effectively.
However, the more exciting the match was, the more exhausting it was for both the audience and the players before the match began. In all 4 games of the finals, each game faced issues that forced them to start later than scheduled. With players primarily from Asia, along with most of the audience coming from LCK, LPL, or VCS, waiting for hours throughout the night was not a pleasant experience at all. The exhausted expressions on the faces of both teams were evident, especially since the match was very intense and not easy for any name involved.
While it is understandable that the first event may have many oversights and issues, the fact that all 4 games consistently encountered technical problems is indeed concerning. Moreover, both players and audiences were very fatigued, and this serves as an important lesson for the EWC organizers to prepare more thoroughly for future seasons.