VCS representatives will have to work harder at MSI and Worlds 2023 if they want to regain their position in the world arena.
In the past, the VCS region has been awarded 2 slots by Riot Games to attend Worlds every year with 1 ticket to the Play-In Round and 1 ticket to the Group Stage. But in 2023, the VCS region’s Worlds ticket has been “reduced in value”.
More specifically, a few hours ago, Riot Games revealed the new competition format of MSI and Worlds 2023. With Worlds, the tournament is no longer divided into 3 stages: the Warm-Up Round, the Group Stage and the Knockout Qualifier. Instead, this year’s Worlds is divided into 3 rounds: Play-In, Swiss and Knockout.
VCS has lost its place in the “Group Stage” – Swiss Stage of Worlds 2023.
Basically, the top teams in the strongest regions in the world will be sent directly to the Swiss round, the remaining teams will be sorted into the Play-In – this is also where both VCS representatives will ” debut” at Worlds 2023. Therefore, 1 of 2 Worlds slots of VCS has been “degraded” compared to 2022.
According to the announcement from Riot Games, the reason that both the VCS region’s attendance must start from the “parking round” and because of the achievements from recent international tournaments:
2022: GAM top 15-16 Worlds, SGB top 19-20 Worlds, SGB top 5-6 MSI. 2019: GAM top 13-16 Worlds, LK top 17-20 Worlds, SGB top 6 MSI.
In addition to Worlds 2023, VCS’s MSI 2023 participation is also “relegated”, the VCS representative will not be able to confront the world’s top players immediately. Instead, the Vietnamese League of Legends champion will have to start from the Play-In round.
See also: MSI and Worlds 2023: Brand new venue and format
