Photo by Michal Konkol/Riot Games via Flickr
The field for the 2022 League of Legends World Championships continues to grow a month before the international competition begins. Following today’s Playoffs match in the LEC, the region has added a third team to their Worlds representative, with only one spot remaining.
MAD Lions will return to Worlds late next month alongside G2 Esports, Rogue, and an undetermined LEC team. They have earned this spot thanks to G2 having defeated Misfits in today’s match, automatically giving MAD possession of the third qualifying spot.
WELCOME TO #WORLDS2022:
Congratulations to @MADLions_EN on qualifying for the 2022 World Championship! pic.twitter.com/uK4su5uq1p— LoL Esports (@lolesports) August 27, 2022
The Summer Split regular season reinvigorated the drive within MAD that had propelled them to back-to-back champion status just last year—mostly due to the new stability on the team brought by their new mid laner and LEC veteran, Nisqy. Despite not having played in the LEC for half a year, Nisqy quickly became a stand-out among all the players in the region, helping MAD venture out of their Spring Split drought and earn himself the Summer Split MVP award.
Yesterday, in the first match of the Summer Playoffs, MAD faced off against Rogue, a team they struggled to defeat even a single time during the regular season. After a five-game series, Rogue emerged victorious and ultimately became the second team in the LEC to qualify for Worlds, next to G2 Esports.
Therefore MAD qualifying for Worlds depended on today’s match between G2 Esports and Misfits or the skirmishes in the lower bracket. Despite now having qualified, MAD’s run in the Summer Playoffs is not yet over, as the second-seed will now have to battle through two matches in the lower bracket to reach the grand finals.
The 2022 League World Championships is set to begin on Sept. 29 with play-ins in Mexico City, Mexico, then head to the United States for the remainder of the legs. The final team from the LEC to qualify for Worlds has not yet been determined, though it will be between Fnatic, Excel, or Misfits due to their status as the only teams that currently have not qualified in the Summer Playoffs.