Chris Greely, Riot Games’ global head of League of Legends (LoL) esports, made a surprise announcement at the First Stand press conference held in Sao Paulo, Brazil on the 22nd. In this year’s League of Legends World Championship (Worlds Cup), two seeds were assigned to Brazil’s CBLoL.
Except for 2025, when it merged with the North American LCS and then came out as LTA, CBLoL will have two teams participating in Worlds for the first time since 2017. The region that Riot Games is currently focusing on is Brazil.
◆ Why Brazil?
Gigabyte Marines (now GAM Esports), which participated in the 2017 Mid-Season Invitational (MSI) Play-In, took first place with 5 wins and 1 loss in the group stage. After a close battle from the bracket stage to the final match, they defeated Supermassive and won a ticket to the finals.
Amid the performance of Gigabyte Marines, Vietnam, which had to pass the GPL (League of Legends SEA Tour) to enter MSI and Worlds, was recognized as a single region in 2018. So, has Riot Games started paying attention to the Brazilian region following Vietnam?
In 2015, Riot Games announced LTA, which integrated CBLoL and North American LCS. When CBLoL disappeared, Brazilian fans rebelled. It was criticized for not taking into account the higher number of concurrent users and fan heat than the LCS.
◆ A concern about the decreasing number of domestic players
The enthusiasm of Brazilian fans is beyond imagination. Before the game starts, the cheering squad outside bursts into flames and cheers for their team. One player who played in CBLoL said, “The support from the Brazilian fans is really great,” adding, “It was so hard to tear my ears through the headset during the game.”
Riot Games also held the America’s Cup and First Stand in Brazil earlier this year, with LCS and CBLoL teams participating. CBLoL Furia defeated Cloud Nine to win the America’s Cup. Brazilian media reported, “In consideration of many requests from the community and the recent performance of the CBLoL team, we have decided to give the team a second seed.”
General Manager Chris Greeley explained, “The results of the recent LCS match did not affect this decision. We began reexamining the competition format last January. At that time, we decided to increase the World Cup seeds for CBLoL teams.”
Brazil is famous for its passionate fan support, but it is not without concerns. According to Brazilian media Mys Esports, only 18 Brazilian players out of 40 were registered in CBLoL Split 1, which opened on the 28th of last month. This number is 7 fewer than the 25 in LTA Split 1 and CBLoL Cup.
The most important thing is grades. An official emphasized, “Looking at the enthusiasm of the LoL market, it is natural for the Brazilian team to be added as a seed. However, last year’s CTBC Flying Oyster broke expectations and reached the quarterfinals. In order for the Brazilian team to maintain its seed, its performance must also keep up.”
Reporter Kim Yong-woo (kenzi@dailyesports.com)