Official Season 3 World Championship Discussion...

[quote=Jebus McAzn][h1]Announcement: This thread is being unstickied on October 31st.[/h1] Stream: [url=lolesports.com]lolesports.com[/url] Hello, friends! The Southeast Asia qualifier concluded last night with an extremely impressive display from Mineski, beating out SGS 2-0 and coming back from the loser's bracket to win the spot. Worlds begin in [i]less than a month.[/i] On September 15th, fourteen teams from around the world will compete for a [b][i]two million dollar prize pool[/i][/b], culminating in the final match at the Staples Center in California. The format is as follows (in chronological order): [rule] [color=#ff8000]Southeast Asia[/color]: Winner of the [url=http://lol.gamepedia.com/Season_3_Southeast_Asia_Regional_Finals]Southeast Asia Regional Finals[/url]. Six teams from various qualifiers gather and play a double elimination bracket. Tournament is August 17th-18th. [color=#ff8000]International Wildcard[/color]: Five teams from regions around the world play in the [url=http://lol.gamepedia.com/Gamescom_2013#International_Wildcard_Tournament_4]International Wildcard Tournament[/url], first in a round-robin group stage and then in a single elimination bracket of 4. Occurs at Gamescom 2013 from August 21st-23rd. [color=#ff8000]Europe[/color]: Top three teams of the [url=http://lol.gamepedia.com/Gamescom_2013#European_LCS_Playoffs_3]EU LCS Playoffs[/url]. Top six teams from the EU LCS Summer Split compete in a single elimination bracket, with 1st and 2nd place receiving a first round bye. Occurs at Gamescom 2013 on August 23rd-25th. [color=#ff8000]Taiwan/Hong Kong/Macau[/color]: 12 teams play through a fierce group stage, then a double elimination bracket stage at the [url=http://lol.gamepedia.com/Season_3_Taiwan_Regional_Finals]Taiwan Regional Finals[/url]. There is only one match left between the Taipei Snipers and Gamania Bears, which will be played on August 29th. [color=#ff8000]North America[/color]: Top three teams of the [url=http://lol.gamepedia.com/Riot_League_Championship_Series/North_America/Season_3/Summer_Playoffs]NA LCS Playoffs[/url]. Top six teams from the NA LCS Summer Split compete in a single elimination bracket, with 1st and 2nd place receiving a first round bye. Occurs at PAX 2013 on August 30th-September 1st. [color=#ff8000]Korea[/color]: Two teams with the most [url=http://lol.gamepedia.com/Season_Three/Circuit_Points_Korea]circuit points[/url] automatically qualify for Worlds. 3rd-6th place teams in circuit point standings play a single elimination bracket at the [url=http://lol.gamepedia.com/Season_3_Korea_Regional_Finals]Korea Regional Finals[/url] - winner gets the third spot. Occurs from September 4th-7th. [color=#ff8000]China[/color]: Top two teams of the [url=http://lol.gamepedia.com/Season_3_China_Regional_Finals]LPL Playoffs[/url]. Top two teams from the LPL Spring Split and the top two teams from the LPL Summer Split compete in a double elimination bracket. Playoffs are September 7th-9th. [rule] The fourteen teams first play through a group stage, with two groups of five. Four teams get a group stage bye (the first place teams in North America, China, Southeast Asia, and Korea). The top two teams from each group advance to the quarterfinals - the eight teams here will play a single elimination bracket, culminating in a best-of-five grand final. So, what are your predictions for this year's World Championship? Who are your favorite teams going into it? Any potential guesses on which 14 teams will make it?[/quote]

[quote=Khazem]sucks that najin sword is still pretty much set. They're good and all but in their current state there's just better teams in korea and it's a shame we'll miss out on any of them pretty excited to finally see some international league of legends action again though.[/quote]

[quote=BloBBloB99]And it feels like S2 world championships was like yesterday...[/quote]

[quote=Wayne3100]Really hope I'll see EG qualify for worlds at Gamescom. As far as Korea goes I'm kinda rooting for the KT Rolster Bullets, though I'm not really as fanboyish about them, I mainly like inSec :3[/quote]

[quote=Vynertje]I am really wondering what Lemondogs will do. I'd love to see them compare to some other world-class teams if they were to make it into. I just hope CLG.NA and EG will make it through :3[/quote]

[quote=Luther3000]clg pls ;-;[/quote]

[quote=Jebus McAzn][quote=Khazem] sucks that najin sword is still pretty much set. They're good and all but in their current state there's just better teams in korea and it's a shame we'll miss out on any of them pretty excited to finally see some international league of legends action again though. [/quote] Sword managed to 2-0 Blaze in NLB the other day and are actually looking very strong. I agree, though - I've been a Sword fan ever since S2 Worlds, and ever since they won Winter, they've disappointed me for two seasons of OGN in a row. They're just not consistent. In any case, Sword are guaranteed to finish the season with at least 570 circuit points - and that means that the only way that they don't automatically qualify for Worlds is if the finals are either Frost vs. Ozone or Bullets vs. Ozone - and Ozone loses. If Sword win NLB, then Frost [b]HAVE[/b] to win OGN and Ozone have to take second in order for Sword to be bumped to 3rd place.[/quote]

[quote=Napoleon D]CLG AND CLG EU PLEASE I WANT YOU IN WORLDS. Only korean team i want to see is SK TT(FAKER OP). CLG should make it past the first round of the NA LCS considering they are up against FREESM[/quote]

[quote=Shalasyr]I'm honestly hoping that from NA, Curse, Vulcun, and C9 make it. TSM has a tendency to choke under pressure and make irrational decisions. All in all, NA wont make it very far because they'll get stomped by international team as always. Although i feel like there is hope with C9![/quote]

[quote=Pheyniex]I doubt Curse will make it to Worlds. From last split, CLG and TSM seem the most reliable, imo. C9 takes too much strategy from Korea to win against them, so I have the opinion that what gave them their position in LCS may work as a double-edged sword. Mineski is currently a big question mark, same as the Lemondogs, but have a conviction that the World Champion will be Korean, this year. For Europe, i really only see hopes for... noone, really. Gambit can distract themselves with earlygames easily and Fnatic has been on a bumpy road. We'll see. Edit: international day. Just logged into twitch for the stream and I know nothing of the participating teams. Seems even Jatt doesn't know a lot about them as well. Edit 2: double stream, gg. Edit 3: the brazilians do seem the team to beat, HUE. Edit 4: so... I heard madlife was banned out? rofl.[/quote]