League of Legends 2014 World Championship
Summoners, Beware!
By Volen Mihaylov (Contributor)
It is that time of the year again! The time when millions rush to Twitch.tv, YouTube, Azubu, Lolesports.com, or even buy live tickets to watch the final clash between the best of the best. The fourth season of League of Legends is coming to an end, meaning the 2014 World Championships are here. The best teams from every region will compete to claim the grand prize. The first-place victors of this tournament will return home with a huge 1 million dollar cheque to split between the 5 players, while the second-place team will come back with a whopping $250, 000 cheque, and teams in the third and fourth place will get $150, 000 dollars each. In 2013, the finals had a viewership of 32 million people, so we can see that money is not the only prize. Fame awaits those who make it to the top!
As most of us already know, the regionals started the 7th of August and came to a glorious end a month later on September 7th. From North America, we have The First Seeds, Team SoloMid, Cloud9, and LMQ, who will be going to South Korea for the quarterfinals. The competition was fierce and the final matches between C9 and TSM kept everyone on their toes from beginning to end. From Europe; we have Alliance, Fanatic, and SK Gaming. Dark Passage came out victorious from Turkey, Russia, and Oceania. From Southeast Asia and Taiwan, it was AHQ E-Sports Club. From South Korea, where it is believed the bestgamers reside, it is Najin White Shield, Samsung Blue, and Samsung White who will represent their region. Finally, we have the world renowned season 2 World Championship winners. Taipei Assassins (TPA) qualified, but Kabum E-Sports from Latin America and Brazil came out on the top. From China, after many lengthy battles, the grand victors are Royal Club – who came second at the 2013 World Championships – The Top Seeds (OMG) and Edward Gaming.
The teams have now until October 3rd to practice and prepare themselves. So each and every player that qualified is currently working extra hard, for these professional gamers know they will have to give 100% of their effort in the upcoming clash. Rotations, team compositions, timing, skill shots, last hitting, reaction times, mechanics, team fights, map awareness, item sets, vision control… everything has to be perfect, since any error can be devastating and game changing. Only the best will survive in the League of Legends 2014 World Championships, so stay tuned to find out who wins!