Karmine Corp rallied for a win and MVK Esports cruised to a sweep as the League of Legends World Championship play-in event got underway Thursday in Los Angeles.
After Karmine Corp came from behind to defeat Cloud9 3-2, MVK Esports dominated FURIA 3-0 to begin the double-elimination play-in phase.
Just one of the four play-in teams will advance to compete in the Swiss stage, which runs from Oct. 23-31 in Allen, Texas. Early-round Swiss stage matches will consist of a single map, while advancement and elimination matches will be best-of-three.
Half of the 16 Swiss stage teams will qualify for the knockout stage, which gets underway on Nov. 3 and features a single-elimination bracket. The knockout stage, consisting of best-of-five matches, will also be played in Allen except for the grand final, which will be held at Barclays Center in New York on Nov. 14.
The championship team will receive $1 million from the event’s $5 million prize pool.
On Thursday, Cloud9 and Karmine Corp began by exchanging 35-minute wins on red. Cloud9 jumped back in front with a 38-minute victory on red, but again Karmine Corp exactly equalized that result, posting a 38-minute win on red.
On the decisive fifth map, Karmine Corp prevailed in 31 minutes on blue.
France’s Caliste “Caliste” Henry-Hennebert paced Karmine Corp with a 20-12-23 kill-death-assist ratio. The United States’ Edward “Tactical” Ra led Cloud9 with a 22-9-25 K-D-A ratio.
MVK Esports got past FURIA in 35 minutes, 35 minutes and 27 minutes, all on blue. Luong “Gury” Hai Long led all-Vietnamese MVK Esports with a 15-7-23 K-D-A ratio. Arthur “Tutsz” Machado wound up at 6-8-12 for all-Brazilian FURIA.
The Friday schedule:
–Upper-bracket final, Karmine Corp vs. MVK Esports
–Lower-bracket opener, Cloud9 vs. FURIA
League of Legends World Championship prize pool
1. $1 million
2. $800,000
3-4. $400,000
5-8. $300,000
9-11. $175,000
12-14. $125,000
15-16. $90,000
17. $50,000
18. $40,000
19. $30,000
–Field Level Media
