With the 2016 League of Legends World Championship kicking off in a couple of weeks, here’s everything you need to know about the international tournament:

What is the 2016 World Championship?

The 2016 League of Legends World Championship, more commonly called Worlds, is an international esports event takes place over five weeks of competitive play with 16 top teams.

The World Championship travels to different host regions and this year, the event will take place in North America.

Who is participating at Worlds 2016?
Here’s the breakdown of the regions with teams competing at Worlds 2016 and how many spots each region gets:

North America - NA League Championship Series (NA LCS) - 3 seeds
Europe - EU League Championship Series (EU LCS) - 3 seeds
Korea - League of Legends Champions Korea (LCK) - 3 seeds
China - League of Legends Pro League (LPL) - 3 seeds
Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan - League of Legends Master Series (LMS) - 2 seeds
Wildcard regions determined at the International Wildcard Qualifier (IWCQ) - 2 seeds

Top teams from LCK, LPL, LMS, NA LCS, and EU LCS receive direct invitations to Worlds 2016, while squads from Wildcard regions qualify via an International Wildcard Qualifier.

The teams attending Worlds are:

LCK:

ROX Tigers
SK Telecom T1
Samsung Galaxy

LPL:

EDward Gaming
Royal Never Give Up
I MAY

LMS:

Flash Wolves
ahq e-Sports Club

NA LCS:

TSM
Counter Logic Gaming
Cloud9

EU LCS:

G2 Esports
H2K
Splyce

IWCQ:

INTZ
Albus NoX Luna

What are they playing for?

In addition to international pride and glory, teams are competing for the chance to be the 2016 World Champions, the Summoner's Cup, and a prize pool of over $2,000,000 USD. Teams will earn prize money based on their finish in the event.

World Champion - $1,000,000 USD

2nd place - $250,000 USD

3rd / 4th place - $150,000 USD

5th - 8th place - $75,000 USD

9th - 12th place - $45,000 USD

13th - 16th place - $25,000 USD

What’s the format of Worlds?

Worlds is played out in two stages: A Group Stage followed by a Knockout Stage.

Group Stage

In the Group Stage, 16 teams are sorted into four groups comprised of four teams each. They play in double Round Robin-style, Best of 1 (Bo1) matchups, meaning each team plays every other team in its group twice. Learn more about the process of how we determine which teams will face each other at the Group Stage on our Group Draw Starter Guide.

To find out which group your favorite team is playing in, watch the Group Draw Show on September 10 at 11:00 AM PT.

When is Worlds happening? How can I watch?
The Group Stage takes place over two weeks. The Quarterfinals, Semifinals and Finals will all be held a week apart from one another. For more information about ticket availability, head over to the Tickets page.

Group Stage

Dates: September 29 - October 2 and October 6 - 9

Location: San Francisco, CA

Bill Graham Civic Auditorium, 99 Grove St., San Francisco, CA 94102

Quarterfinals

Dates: October 13 - 16

Location: Chicago, IL

The Chicago Theatre, 175 N State St, Chicago, IL 60601

Semifinals

Dates: October 21 - 22

Location: New York, NY

Madison Square Garden, 4 Pennsylvania Plaza, New York, NY 10001

Finals

Dates: October 29

Location: Los Angeles, CA

STAPLES Center, 1111 S Figueroa St, Los Angeles, CA 90015

Stay tuned to Lolesports to cheer on the best teams in the world as they meet on the premier stage during the 2016 League of Legends World Championship starting on September 29.