The History of League Of Legends Worlds

League of Legends is now over a decade and a half old. Ever since 2011, the best teams from across the globe have met annually at Worlds to determine who will raise the Summoner’s Cup and be crowned the best team in the world. The journey is long and arduous, but in League, there is no greater accomplishment than hoisting that trophy at the end of the season.

There have been 14 teams to earn this honor so far. Without further ado, this is the history of League of Legends World Champions.

Season One – Fnatic

• Top – Enrique “xPeke” Cedeño Martínez
• Jungle – Lauri “Cyanide” Happonen
• Mid – Maciej “Shushei” Ratuszniak
• Bot – Manuel “LaMiaZeaLoT” Mildenberger
• Support – Peter “Mellisan” Meisrimel

League of Legends esports was still in its infancy in Season One. No infrastructure had really been established, and no meta had been defined. As such, Riot Games decided to hold the Season One World Championships at DreamHack Summer 2011 in Jönköping, Sweden.

Eight teams played through regional qualifiers to get there, three from North America, three from Europe, one from Singapore, and one from The Philippines. After barely scraping through the Group Stage with a 1-2 record, Fnatic were a long shot for the trophy. However, they were able to dispel Counter Logic Gaming 2-1, then sweep Epik Gamer. Fnatic then continued their run in the Upper Bracket Finals versus Against All Authority. Their opponents in the Grand Finals would be aAa once again, making Season One Finals an all European affair. After a three-game series, Fnatic reigned supreme and earned the title of the first-ever League of Legends World Champions. Their prize pool winnings were $50,000.

Season Two – Taipei Assassins

• Top – Wang “Stanley” June-Tsan
• Jungle – Sung “Lilballz” Kuan-Po
• Mid – Wai Kin “Toyz” Lau
• Bot – Chang “BeBe” Bo-Wei
• Support – Chen “MiSTaKE” Hui-Chung

Season Two marked a major shift in the League of Legends landscape. Riot Games started committing to esports infrastructure and nurturing their pro scene. Additionally, the Korean server was released, allowing Korean organizations to start competing in the game. And they were good. Coming into Worlds 2012, the Korean teams were favored to win it all.

The tournament took place in Los Angeles, California and had a prize pool of $2,000,000; an insane jump from Season One. The regional first seeds from North America, Europe, China, and Taiwan went straight to playoffs after a random drawing. After the Group Stage ended, TPA found themselves against the Korean NaJin Sword squad.

Surprisingly, the Taiwanese team was unfazed, easily sweeping NaJin. After a close 2-1 against Europe’s top seeded Moscow Five, they were in the Grand Finals. There they faced Azubu Frost, the Korean first seed. Taipei Assassins were able to consistently shut down Azubu Frost. They won the match 3-1 and brought home Taiwan’s first and only World Championship.

Season Three – SK Telecom T1

• Top – Jung “Impact” Eon-yeong
• Jungle – Bae “Bengi” Seong-woong
• Mid – Lee “Faker” Sang-hyeok
• Bot – Chae “Piglet” Gwang-jin
• Support – Lee “PoohManDu” Jeong-hyeon

The third World Championship featured fourteen teams with the top seed from North America, China, Taiwan, and Korea going straight to Quarterfinals. The tournament was held in Los Angeles for a second year in a row and featured the same sized prize pool.

SKT was not the Korean first seed, as that title belonged to NaJin Black Sword. However, their skill would be made apparent in the Group Stage. SKT went 7-1, trading games with the Chinese Oh My God roster. SKT topped their group and advanced to face the Gamania Bears. After an easy 2-0 victory, SKT faced off against their Korean rivals in NaJin Black Sword.

The game was incredibly close with teams trading blow for blow. This match was also the first series to go to all five games in Worlds history. Eventually, SKT edged out NaJin to earn their spot in the Grand Finals. The match against Royal Club would be anticlimactic as SKT stomped them 3-0 to earn Korea’s first title. This win would mark the start of Korea’s reign over League of Legends.

Season Four – Samsung White

• Top – Jang “Looper” Hyeong-seok
• Jungle – Choi “DanDy” In-kyu
• Mid – Heo “PawN” Won-seok
• Bot – Gu “imp” Seung-bin
• Support – Cho “Mata” Se-hyoung

The Season Four World Championships were significant for multiple reasons. It adopted the sixteen-team, double round robin Group Stage that is still in use today. This was also the first time Riot started to use the moniker “Worlds” as a shorthand for the tournament. Worlds 2014 took place in Seoul, South Korea and featured a $2,130,000 prize pool.

Hoping to continue their dominance in front of the home crown, Samsung White earned a clean 6-0 Group Stage record. They, as well as the other two Korean teams at the event, advanced out of their groups at first seed. In Quarterfinals, SSW took down Team Solo Mid 3-1. Their next test would be against their sister team Samsung Blue.

The anticipated matchup turned out to be a quick 3-0 dismantling. The Grand Finals matchup between SSW and Star Horn Royal Club was a bit more competitive, but SHRC could only muster one game win. Samsung White went on to win their first title and Korea’s second in a row. Royal Club, now Royal Never Give Up, remains the only team to be the Worlds runner-up more than once.

Season Five – SK Telecom T1

• Top – Jang “MaRin” Gyeong-hwan
• Jungle – Bae “Bengi” Seong-woong
• Mid – Lee “Faker” Sang-hyeok
• Bot – Bae “Bang” Jun-sik
• Support – Lee “Wolf” Jae-wan
• Sub – Lee “Easyhoon” Ji-hoon

Worlds 2015 was identical in format to the previous year. It also maintained the same prize pool. The World Championship returned to Europe for the first time since Season One. Each stage was played in a different iconic city; from Paris, to London, to Finals in Berlin.

Back from a disappointing year, SK Telecom T1 had high hopes for their revamped roster. Right away, their strength would be on display to the world. The Group Stage saw SKT go undefeated after dominating all of their opponents.  Their Quarterfinals and Semifinals matchups were against ahq e-Sports and Origin respectively. Neither team could put up a fight and both got 3-0 swept.

In the Grand Finals, SKT faced off against the KOO Tigers, making this the first of three consecutive all Korean Worlds Finals. The KOO Tigers managed to take one game off of SKT, ruining their perfect Worlds run. However, that was all they could do. SKT won the series 3-1 and became the first ever two-time World Champions.

Season Six – SK Telecom T1

• Top – Lee “Duke” Ho-seong
• Jungle – Bae “Bengi” Seong-woong
• Mid – Lee “Faker” Sang-hyeok
• Bot – Bae “Bang” Jun-sik
• Support – Lee “Wolf” Jae-wan
• Sub – Kang “Blank” Sun-gu

The 2016 World Championship had one major change to it. For the first time since 2012, Riot Games was drastically increasing the prize pool. Now, over $5,000,000 was on the line as the prize pool ballooned with the sale of the Championship Zed and ward skins. Worlds would return to North America with stages taking place in San Francisco, Chicago, New York, and Los Angeles.

SKT fielded a nearly identical roster from the previous year. They were hungry to become the first consecutive World Champions. However, this year would prove much more difficult. After topping their group, SKT faced off against Royal Never Give Up in Quarterfinals. RNG took one game, but SKT still looked indomitable after winning 3-1.

Their Semifinals matchup would be a rematch of the previous year’s Finals against the now ROX Tigers. This match would go down in history as one of the best in League of Legends history. Big name players and even bigger plays lined both teams throughout the five games. In the end, SKT triumphed and earned a spot in Grand Finals. Another grueling series awaited them, this time against Samsung Galaxy. After five long games full of emotion, SKT proved that they were still the kings, even if they could bleed. SKT achieved their third title by winning the only five game Worlds Final ever.

Season Seven – Samsung Galaxy

• Top – Lee “CuVee” Seong-jin
• Jungle – Kang “Ambition” Chan-yong
• Mid – Lee “Crown” Min-ho
• Bot – Park “Ruler” Jae-hyuk
• Support – Jo “CoreJJ” Yong-in
• Sub – Kang “Haru” Min-seung

Worlds 2017 took place in China for the first time and saw Riot shake up the tournament format. In order for more minor region teams to gain international experience, 24 teams now qualified for the World Championship. The minor region and lowest seeded major region teams now have to start in the Play-Ins for a chance at making the Group Stage.

Samsung Galaxy entered Worlds 2017 as Korea’s third seed, but went straight to Groups Stage due to Korea’s dominance. Their performance reflected this, as they managed to make it out in second place with a 4-2 record. In the Quarterfinals, SSG got matched against a team that dominated them in regular season, Longzhu Gaming. Longzhu had just gone undefeated in their group and were looking like the easy favorites. It was here where Samsung turned expectations on their head.

SSG easily cleaned out Longzhu 3-0, then defeated China’s Team WE in the semifinals 3-1. The Grand Finals would be an exact rematch of the previous year against SKT. Another nail-biting Finals was surely in store, until the games actually began. SKT wasn’t playing like the juggernauts they were supposed to be. Samsung’s form was too much to handle, resulting in a 3-0 sweep. Although they had a new roster, Samsung Galaxy

Season Eight – Invictus Gaming

• Top – Kang “TheShy” Seung-lok
• Jungle – Gao “Ning” Zhen-Ning
• Mid – Song “Rookie” Eui-jin
• Bot – Yu “JackeyLove” Wen-Bo
• Support – Wang “Baolan” Liu-Yi
• Sub – Lee “Duke” Ho-seong

The 2018 World Championship was identical in format to its predecessor, but the prize pool did see a sizeable increase. The 24 teams would travel to South Korea to play for $6,450,000. At that time, Korea as a region was on a five Worlds win streak and were looking to continue it at home. Invictus Gaming had other ideas.

For the first time ever, every Chinese team made it out of the Group Stage. Invictus Gaming lost a tiebreaker to Fnatic for first seed, meaning they would have to play Korea’s top seeded KT Rolster in the quarterfinals. The match featured the best macro team in the tournament face off against IG’s mechanical prowess. After the fifth game, IG pulled off the 3-2 upset.

No team from here on out would come close to touching Invictus. G2 Esports was easily rolled past in Semifinals and Fnatic might as well have not shown up to Grand Finals. Both matches ended 3-0, solidifying IG as the undisputed best team in the World. This achievement marked the first Chinese World Championship victory.

Season Nine – FunPlus Phoenix

• Top – Kim “GimGoon” Han-saem
• Jungle – Gao “Tian” Tian-Liang
• Mid – Kim “Doinb” Tae-sang
• Bot – Lin “Lwx” Wei-Xiang
• Support – Liu “Crisp” Qing-Song
• Sub – Chang “Xinyi” Ping

The 2019 World Championship took place in Europe with stops in Berlin, Madrid, and Paris. The exact prize pool amount and Worlds skins haven’t been solidified yet, but it started at a base of $2,225,000 and will likely live up to expectations. This Worlds was interesting because for the first time, all four major regions had a realistic shot at the title.

As China’s first seed, FunPlus Phoenix was expected to dominate the Group Stage. After a slow first week, FPX barely managed to escape their easy group. Their confidence could have been shaken, but FPX were quick to recover. The Quarterfinals against Fnatic were clean and controlled, ending in a 3-1 win.

In the Semifinals, FPX found themselves against the defending champions Invictus Gaming. This regional clash had Grand Finals vibes, as both teams brought China’s aggressive style into the spotlight. The chaotic match went to four games, in which FPX’s draft and team fighting reigned supreme. The true Grand Finals against G2 Esports was touted as a battle for regional supremacy after Korea’s falling off. In the end, FPX demolished the European squad 3-0, earning a second consecutive Worlds title for China.

Season 10 – DAMWON Gaming

• Top – Jang “Nuguri” Ha-gwon
• Jungle – Kim “Canyon” Geon-bu
• Mid – Heo “ShowMaker” Su
• Bot – Jang “Ghost” Yong-jun
• Support – Cho “BeryL” Geon-hee

League of Legend’s tenth competitive season was an interesting one for a number of reasons. The global COVID pandemic caused multiple regional leagues around the world to be delayed and even see games canceled. When it came time for Worlds, travel restrictions had still not been fully lifted. Due to Vietnam as a region not being able to attend, there were only 22 teams at the event overall. The tournament was held in China, but ended up being restricted to Shanghai only with no live audience until Grand Finals.

The base prize pool of $2,225,000 was the same as last year, but extra money was paid out to the missing VCS teams and the backup Gambit Esports squad in case they were needed. Despite the strange proceedings, there were still many expectations for teams to uphold. China was on a back-to-back Worlds winning streak, although both Invictus Gaming and FunPlus Phoenix had failed to qualify. The region’s hopes now rested on JD Gaming, Top Esports, and Suning who all advanced to Quarterfinals.

However, there was a massive threat to the home region looming in the distance. DAMWON Gaming were Korea’s first seed coming into Worlds 2020 and one of the tournament favorites. After earning a 5-1 record in their group, DAMWON’s first knockout match was against DRX. They easily swept their regional rivals before coming up against Europe’s hope in G2. Although the teams looked more even, G2 couldn’t stand up to the juggernauts that were DAMWON.

The Grand Finals were between DAMWON and Suning. While Suning weren’t China’s favorite coming into Worlds, their tournament form was the best of any of the LPL teams. If someone was going to claim the Summoners’ Cup in front of the home crowd, it would be them. Unfortunately, Suning was no match for DAMWON. A decisive 3-1 result resulted in DAMWON taking the trophy back to Korea.

Season 11 – EDward Gaming

• Top – Li “Flandre” Xuan-Jun
• Jungle – Zhao “JieJie” Li-Jie
• Mid – Lee “Scout” Ye-chan
• Bot – Park “Viper” Do-hyeon
• Support – Tian “Meiko” Ye

Initially set to take place in China, the COVID-19 pandemic forced Worlds 2021 to be relocated to Reykjavík, Iceland. The event took place entirely at the Laugardalshöll arena, with no live audience. In a surprising turn of events, it was the Chinese team EDward Gaming who came out victorious, giving China’s last world championship title.

Coming in as the summer champions, EDG was seeded with T1 in group B, qualifying to the next stage as the second-place team. After taking down RNG in the quarterfinals by the slightest of margins, EDG had to face two Korean powerhouses: Gen.G and the reigning world champions DWG KIA. In what was one of the greatest finals, EDG pushed the Korea squad to five games and lifted the trophy after a tough 41-minute game 5.

Season 12 – DRX

• Top – Hwang “Kingen” Seong-hoon
• Jungle – Hong “Pyosik” Chang-hyeon
• Mid – Kim “Zeka” Geon-woo
• Bot – Kim “Deft” Hyuk-kyu
• Support – Cho “BeryL” Geon-hee

Worlds 2022 produced one of the most incredible Cinderella stories in not just League of Legends but also esports history. What was supposed to be a short run from DRX in Los Angeles turned out be so much more for the team, defying all odds to lift the Summoner’s Cup.

DRX qualified through Worlds through the regional finals as the sixth seed in the summer split. While they were one of the teams expected to make it through the play-in stage, DRX started catching people’s attention when it took a win against LPL’s Royal Never Give Up, going undefeated.

Placed in a competitive group with LEC’s Rogue and LPL’s Top Esports, DRX finished in first place, which gave them an advantage heading into the quarterfinals. Their knockout stage draw, however, was the worst one as the team was placed with the reigning world champions EDG.

DRX’s run was supposed to end there as the opponents got a 2-0 lead. That series, however, proved that it’s not over until it’s over: DRX reverse-swept the world champions and proceeded to knock out Gen.G in the semis.

The final between T1 and DRX is definitely going down in the LoL esports history books. On one hand, T1 made it back to a Worlds final as the team chased a world championship that was missing from 2016. On the other, Deft was chasing his first trophy after playing competitively for 10 years. In the end, it was the latter who smiled, taking down T1 in a game 5 shocker and capturing the world championship.

For T1, it was another heartbreaking loss following the 2017 Worlds final… but it was probably for the better.

Season 13 – T1 

• Top – Choi “Zeus” Woo-je
• Jungle – Mun “Oner” Hyeon-jun
• Mid – Lee “Faker” Sang-hyeok
• Bot – Lee “Gumayusi” Min-hyeong
• Support – Ryu “Keria” Min-seok

With the disappointment of the previous year, T1 was eager to show their worth in the following season and what better way to do it than in front of the home crowd in South Korea? Despite not winning the LCK title in both splits, T1 was once again the team at the world championship.

After a convincing 3-1 in the newly introduced Swiss stage, T1 swept LPL’s LNG Esports in the quarterfinals and took down title contenders JD Gaming in the semifinals. The LPL #1 seed, led by one of Faker’s greatest rivals, Ruler, was unable to finish the “golden road” (winning all domestic and international tournaments in a season).

Worlds 2023 will remember Faker and T1 as the ultimate LPL killer. At the Gocheok Sky Dome in Seoul, T1 faced the last Chinese representative, Weibo Gaming. Unlike the previous year, T1 left the opponents no chance, dominating them with a 3-0 record. The Korean team finally lifted the Worlds trophy for the fourth time, creating one of the most successful lineups in the modern era of LoL.

Season 14 – T1

• Top – Choi “Zeus” Woo-je
• Jungle – Mun “Oner” Hyeon-jun
• Mid – Lee “Faker” Sang-hyeok
• Bot – Lee “Gumayusi” Min-hyeong
• Support – Ryu “Keria” Min-seok

Worlds 2024 saw the tournament come back to Europe, with the tournament taking place across Berlin, Paris, and London. Once again, it was T1 who claimed the title, winning back-to-back championships and lifting the trophy in front of thousands of fans at the O2 Arena.

The final against LPL’s Bilibili Gaming was probably second to their series against DRX. The teams traded games initially until BLG took match point in Game 3. Despite a tough start from T1 in Game 4, it was Faker who salvaged the game and pushed the series to Silver Scrapes with one of the most memorable Sylas plays in recent times. Unlike 2022, however, T1 did not falter in the last game, winning the fifth world championship and further cementing the team as the greatest organization in League of Legends history.

Season 15 – TBD

Worlds 2025 will be kicking off in October and returning to China, across Beijing, Shanghai, and Chengdu. The world champions will be officially crowned on November 9.