DSG was the feel-good story of North American League of Legends this year. The team was brought in to supplement the second-tier NACL after a mass exodus from LCS teams. Furthermore, DSG was owned and operated by popular streamer DisguisedToast. The team was a collection of scene veterans and long-time academy players. Additionally, the team went on to steal the hearts of the community. As a cherry on top, the team went on to win the NACL Summer split.
However, just a month after that historic win, DSG is parting ways with that title-winning roster. “Today, we bid farewell to our NACL Championship League of Legends team. Since the start of the season, we wanted to make sure that our players would have the chance to prove their worth and value as some of the top players in the NA scene. With our win in the NACL, they have done exactly that. Our agreement with each of them was set so that after the season, they can all pursue LCS opportunities freely and without any kind of restrictions as LCS orgs look to revamp their roster for next year,” the team’s statement read in part.
DisguisedToast Explains Why He Released League Roster
Today, we bid farewell to our NACL Championship League of Legends team.
Since the start of the season, we wanted to make sure that our players would have the chance to prove their worth and value as some of the top players in the NA scene. With our win in the NACL, they have… pic.twitter.com/9LasU8GkZW
Speaking with Dexerto, DisguisedToast revealed that dropping the roster was actually the best thing he could do for their careers. “As an NACL team, there is currently no pathway for any DSG players to work their way up to the LCS as long as they remain on the team. We would vouch for each of their work ethics and encourage all LCS teams to give them a trial,” he explained. A fair amount of movement is expected in the LCS this offseason. Hopefully, that will present an opportunity for these players.
However, DSG won’t be going away. “DSG will be staying in the NACL for 2024. Thank you to all the fans for their support as we continue our journey in the esports scene,” the team’s statement about the rosters moves concluded. Meanwhile, DisguisedToast recently said that he was open to the idea of moving DSG up to the LCS in the future. However, Toast has a stringent financial plan in mind. Furthermore, the viability of that move has left him wary about taking the leap.
It’s been a rollercoaster of emotions for fans and staff of The Guard, the popular LA-based esports organization. Back in July, the popular Tier 2 org won the VALORANT Challengers Ascension tournament, meaning that they would earn a franchise slot for 2024 and 2025 for the Tier 1 VCT Americas competition. However, earlier this week, Riot Games announced that The Guard had forfeited their spot after failing to submit the correct paperwork.
This left fans, players, and coaches justifiably upset that the team’s hard work had gone to waste thanks to administrative incompetence. As a result, many people began imploring another organization to step in and pick up the roster. However, the team’s coach, JoshRT, went straight to the top. The well-respected community took to Twitter to pitch the team to Elon Musk and Ben Affleck. Musk and Affleck recently revealed themselves to be major VALORANT fans, attending the season-ending VALORANT Champions tournament in Los Angeles earlier this month.
“Hey @elonmusk or @BenAffleck, I heard you like VALORANT? X GAMING 2024: @valynfps @trentFPS @neT_valorant @JonahP_ @texerino Head Coach: @JoshRTz,” JoshRT tweeted on August 29. In a second tweet, JoshRT also added YouTuber MrBeast as a third option. The tweet received overwhelming support from the VALORANT community and beyond. However, many others did not like the idea of having to cheer for Elon Musk. At the time of writing, none of the famous faces tagged in the tweets have publicly responded.
However, all of this might be in vain. The idea that the roster could be signed by another org and still compete has been seemingly shot down by Riot themselves. “Allowing an acquisition by a different organization now opens the door for slots in the VCT to be sold, which we do not allow,” VALORANT Global Head of Esports Leo Faria said as part of a lengthy statement on the issue. For the time being, it appears that the only way that The Guard’s roster will appear in VCT International League is if a franchised team chooses to acquire them as free agents.
After the monumental change to move the LEC to three splits per year, we have finally reached the Summer Split. Here, champions will be forged, and the final attendees of the LEC Finals chosen. G2 and MAD Lions have already qualified. They will be joined by the winner of this split, plus the three-highest-scoring teams in Championship Points. From there, those six teams will battle it out for four places at Worlds. However, we’re getting ahead of ourselves.
HotNewHipHop is here to give you the perfect tool to follow along with all the action. In this article, you will find every roster move and an easy-to-understand breakdown of all ten teams’ rosters. Furthermore, you will be able to find the result of every game, as well as regularly-updated standings.
30th: Team Vitality bench jungler Bo and promote academy jungler Daglas
July 2023
4th: Team Vitality jungler Daglas returns to Vitality.Bee
August 2023
21st: Team Vitality release inactive jungler Selfmade
LEC Finals
The LEC Finals will take place in Montpellier, France between August 19 and September 10. The top-three teams will qualify for the Swiss Stage of Worlds 2023. The fourth-place finisher will qualify for a best-of-five qualifier against the fourth-place team from the LCS. The winner of that best-of-five will qualify for the Worlds Play-In Stage.
Qualified:
G2 (Winter split champions)
MAD Lions (Spring split champions)
Excel Esports (Summer split berth)*
Team BDS (Highest championship points)
Fnatic (Second-highest championship points)
SK Gaming (Third-highest championship points)
*Excel Esports finished 2nd in the Summer split but earned the split’s berth as G2 had already qualified for Finals.
Upper Bracket Round 1
G2 3 – 1 Team BDS
MAD Lions 3 – 0 Excel
Lower Bracket Round 1
Fnatic 3 – 2 Excel
SK Gaming 0 – 3 Team BDS
Upper Bracket Final
G2 v MAD Lions
Lower Bracket Round 2
Team BDS v Fnatic
Regular Season Match Results
Per the new league format, the split’s regularseason will comprise of three weeks of three matchdays each. The top eight teams qualify for the GSL round of the playoffs.
David Beckham’s esports org Guild Esports is taking a novel approach to rounding out their Street Fighter 6 roster. Cammy main JoKeR JoKeZ, Ken main Takamura, and Chun-Li main Vegapatch are already signed with Guild. However, the org has designed to host a unique tournament to determine their fourth and final SF6 star. An incredibly lucrative scene is already forming for the newly released game. As well as a wealth of Tier I and II tournaments in the coming months, it was the headline event at Evo 2023 earlier this month.
But back to Guild Esports. Next week (August 31), Guild will be hosting a special tournament to determine who gets their final roster spot. Per a press release, eight players have been invited to take part in “The Sweat Box”, which will be broadcast on the YouTube channel of Sky Sports. However, “The Sweat Box” is much more than a cutesy name. Instead, it’s a very accurate description of the playing conditions for the tournament.
Make sure you tune into our YouTube channel on 31st August, powered by @SkyUK, to find out who has ice in their veins and takes the final spot on our team! pic.twitter.com/KdDF3zxY6H
“The Sweat Box” will be held in a climate-controlled environment at Guild’s headquarters in London. However, more specifically, that climate will be maintained at a toasty 150°F. That’s equivalent to the low end of a standard sauna. Additionally, the tournament will feature beloved community casters Tyrant, Damascus, and F-Word. However, players will have to contend with the heat or get out of the kitchen. It is certainly one of the more unique tournament ideas in recent memory.
While the eight players selected for “The Sweat Box” have not been named, the winner amongst them will earn Guild’s final pro contract for the game. Whoever it ends up being will join a fairly strong stable of players. JoKeR JoKeZ finished third at the Brussels Major earlier this year. Takamura recently earned a top-12 finish at Gamers8. Meanwhile, VegaPatch recently won the WorldWarrior Spain and Portugal event. It’s a team with a high ceiling, especially as the scene solidifies and metas begin to emerge.
After the monumental change to move the LEC to three splits per year, we have finally reached the Summer Split. Here, champions will be forged, and the final attendees of the LEC Finals chosen. G2 and MAD Lions have already qualified. They will be joined by the winner of this split, plus the three-highest-scoring teams in Championship Points. From there, those six teams will battle it out for four places at Worlds. However, we’re getting ahead of ourselves.
HotNewHipHop is here to give you the perfect tool to follow along with all the action. In this article, you will find every roster move and an easy-to-understand breakdown of all ten teams’ rosters. Furthermore, you will be able to find the result of every game, as well as regularly-updated standings.
30th: Team Vitality bench jungler Bo and promote academy jungler Daglas
July 2023
4th: Team Vitality jungler Daglas returns to Vitality.Bee
LEC Finals
The LEC Finals will take place in Montpellier, France between August 19 and September 10. The top-three teams will qualify for the Swiss Stage of Worlds 2023. The fourth-place finisher will qualify for a best-of-five qualifier against the fourth-place team from the LCS. The winner of that best-of-five will qualify for the Worlds Play-In Stage.
Qualified:
G2 (Winter split champions)
MAD Lions (Spring split champions)
Excel Esports (Summer split berth)*
Team BDS (Highest championship points)
Fnatic (Second-highest championship points)
SK Gaming (Third-highest championship points)
*Excel Esports finished 2nd in the Summer split but earned the split’s berth as G2 had already qualified for Finals.
Upper Bracket Round 1
G2 3 – 1 Team BDS
MAD Lions 3 – 0 Excel
Lower Bracket Round 1
Fnatic v Excel
SK Gaming v Team BDS
Regular Season Match Results
Per the new league format, the split’s regularseason will comprise of three weeks of three matchdays each. The top eight teams qualify for the GSL round of the playoffs.
The 2023 League of Legends World Championships, better known as Worlds 2023, represents a major change for the long-running tournament. Ahead of the 2023 pro season, Riot Games announced that major format changes would be coming to the season-ending tournament. Since 2017, the tournament has operated a play-in stage, a group stage, and a knockout stage.
Starting in 2023, the scope of the play-in stage will be reduced and modified. Firstly, the play-in will no longer feature teams from South Korea or China. Furthermore, a maximum of one team from Europe or North America will be present. The last of the eight teams to qualify for the play-in stage will be determined by a preliminary qualification tournament.
Furthermore, the Worlds Qualifying Series will pit the fourth seed from Europe against the fourth seed from North America. Subsequently, The winner of this best-of-five series will compete in the Worlds play-in stage.
Additionally, the Worlds group stage has been replaced by a Swiss Stage format. Teams will play a maximum of five matches, with their opponents determined by their previous results. Subsequently, the top eight teams in the Swiss Stage will progress to an unchanged single-elimination bracket.
When Is Worlds 2023?
Worlds 2023 will be held between October 10 and November 19, 2023.
Where Is Worlds 2023 Being Held?
Worlds 2023 is being hosted by South Korea. Games will be played in Seoul and Busan. Furthermore, the Grand Final will be hosted at Gocheok Sky Dome, a domed baseball stadium in Seoul. Additionally, it is the first time since 2018 that South Korea has hosted Worlds.
What Is The 2023 Worlds Song?
The official song of Worlds 2023 has not yet been released. The Worlds song is traditionally made available in October, usually around one or two weeks before Worlds begins. However, the Worlds 2022 song was “STAR WALKIN’” performed by Lil Nas X.
How Much Do You Get For Winning Worlds?
The prize pool for Worlds varies each year. There is a base prize pool provided by Riot Games. Furthermore, the prize pool is supplemented by the sale of in-game events and tickets for the event. However, the prize pool for the Worlds 2022 is $2.25 million. In 2022, the tournament champions received 22%, or $489,500, of the prize pool.
Who Won Worlds 2022?
Worlds 2022 was won by LCK team DRX. They defeated fellow Korean team T1 in a thrilling Grand Final in San Francisco. However, DRX have struggled immensely in 2023. If DRX do fail to qualify, it would be the first time since 2020 that the defending champion failed to make the subsequent Worlds.
Who Has Qualified For Worlds 2023?
22 teams will qualify for Worlds 2023 based on their performance in their regional Summer split. Furthermore, the 22 places at Worlds 2023 are divided as follows:
1 team from the Worlds Qualifying Series (LEC or LCS)
Teams Still In Contention
Furthermore, here are all the teams still in contention.
LCK: Hanwha Life Esports, DRX, DPlus, KT Rolster
LEC: G2, MAD Lions**, Team BDS, Excel Esports, Fnatic, SK Gaming
LCS: Cloud9*, NRG*, Team Liquid*
PCS: PSG Talon, Beyond Gaming, CFO Flying Oyster, Frank Esports
VCS: GAM Esports, Team Whales, Team Secret, CERBERUS Esports, Team Flash, Saigon Buffalo
CBLOL: RED Cainds, PaiN Gaming, LOUD, INTZ
LLA: Rainbow7, Estreal Esports
*Teams have qualified for Worlds but their seeding is yet to be determined
**Teams have qualified for Worlds but their seeding is yet to be determined
Qualified for Worlds 2023 Swiss Stage
Gen.G
T1
Hanwha Life Esports/KT Rolster
DRX/Dplus/TBD
JDG
Bilibili Gaming
LNG
Weibo Gaming
MAD Lions/TBD/TBD
MAD Lions/TBD/TBD
MAD Lions/TBD/TBD
Cloud9/TBD
Cloud9/TBD
NRG/Team Liquid
Qualified for Worlds 2023 Play-In Stage
PCS Summer Champion
PCS Summer Runner Up
VCS Dusk Champion
VCS Dusk Runner Up
CBLOL Split 2 Champion
Rainbow7/Estreal Esports
DetonatioN FocusMe
LEC Finals 4th Place/Golden Guardians
Changes From 2022
Three regions will no longer be represented at Worlds from 2023. Firstly, the TCL, which represents Turkey, vacated its Worlds spot to become part of the European Region League system. Similarly, the LCO, which represents Oceania, vacated its Worlds spot and will seek qualification through the PCS. Finally, the LCL, which represents Russia, has been suspended since the Russian Invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
With the elimination of Team Bliss and Chiefs Esports Club from the PCS playoffs, Worlds 2023 will be the first since 2016 not to feature any teams from Oceania.
Worlds 2023 Rosters
Team
Top
Jungle
Mid
ADC
Support
Gen.G
Doran
Peanut
Chovy
Peyz
Delight
T1
Zeus
Oner
Faker
Gumayusi
Keria
LCK 3
LCK 4
JDG
369
Kanavi
Knight
Ruler
MISSING
Bilibili Gaming
Bin
XUN
Yagao
Elk
ON
LNG
Zika
Tarzan
Scout
Gala
Hang
Weibo Gaming
TheShy
weiwei
Xiaohu
Light
Crisp
LEC 1
LEC 2
LEC 3
Cloud9/TBD
Cloud9/TBD
NRG/Team Liquid
PCS 1
PCS 2
VCS 1
VCS 2
CBLOL
LLA
DetonatioN FocusMe
Yutapon
Steal
Aria
Milan
Harp
LEC 4/LCS 4
Worlds 2023 Play In
The Worlds 2023 Play-In Stage will be conducted using the GSL format. The top two teams from each group qualify for a best-of-five series. The winners of those series will then qualify for the Swiss stage.
After the monumental change to move the LEC to three splits per year, we have finally reached the Summer Split. Here, champions will be forged, and the final attendees of the LEC Finals chosen. G2 and MAD Lions have already qualified. They will be joined by the winner of this split, plus the three-highest-scoring teams in Championship Points. From there, those six teams will battle it out for four places at Worlds. However, we’re getting ahead of ourselves.
HotNewHipHop is here to give you the perfect tool to follow along with all the action. In this article, you will find every roster move and an easy-to-understand breakdown of all ten teams’ rosters. Furthermore, you will be able to find the result of every game, as well as regularly-updated standings.
30th: Team Vitality bench jungler Bo and promote academy jungler Daglas
July 2023
4th: Team Vitality jungler Daglas returns to Vitality.Bee
LEC Finals
The LEC Finals will take place in Montpellier, France between August 19 and September 10. The top-three teams will qualify for the Swiss Stage of Worlds 2023. The fourth-place finisher will qualify for a best-of-five qualifier against the fourth-place team from the LCS. The winner of that best-of-five will qualify for the Worlds Play-In Stage.
Qualified:
G2 (Winter split champions)
MAD Lions (Spring split champions)
Excel Esports (Summer split berth)*
Team BDS (Highest championship points)
Fnatic (Second-highest championship points)
SK Gaming (Third-highest championship points)
*Excel Esports finished 2nd in the Summer split but earned the split’s berth as G2 had already qualified for Finals.
Upper Bracket Round 1
G2 v Team BDS
MAD Lions 3 – 0 Excel
Lower Bracket Round 1
Fnatic v Excel
SK Gaming v TBD
Regular Season Match Results
Per the new league format, the split’s regularseason will comprise of three weeks of three matchdays each. The top eight teams qualify for the GSL round of the playoffs.
Divisive caster and esports personality MonteCristo has made some bombshell claims about the state of the LCS. Speaking on the Last Free Nation podcast, the former League of Legends caster relayed some of the rumblings that he had heard coming out of Riot Games. “Even if it [league revenue] goes down, it’s quite easy to break even if you just have league minimum salaries,” he said. “If the league moves out of Los Angeles, it becomes even easier in many ways. I’m not sure it’s going to happen, so I’m not trying to put it out there saying, like, ‘This is something that is going to happen’, but those conversations have occurred at Riot. I know that factually. And why wouldn’t they? It makes logical sense. The LCS doesn’t need to be in Los Angeles.”
Furthermore, Monte said that a merger with the Brazilian CBLOL was “on the table”. Riot Games’ other major esport, VALORANT, operates an Amercias league that covers both North and Latin America. “My hope is that they move it fuck out of Los Angeles to decrease costs, because the more the costs are decreased around production, the more of the money that is made in revenue can go to getting better players and teams,” he continued. “If the league stays in Los Angeles, the teams are going to make the logical decision to cut money to spend on the teams themselves, on the players, on the coaches, on the infrastructure. That is what will happen. You will have worse teams.”
The LCS is in a dire spot right now. The ongoing 2023 Summer Split has had an average of 72,210 viewers according to Esports Charts. That’s a 34% drop from the Spring split and a 37% drop from the 2022 Summer split. Two series remain in the current split, with NRG and Team Liquid facing off before the winner plays Cloud9 in the Grand Final. Aside from steadily decreasing viewership, orgs are suffering through an “esports winter” amid prolonged financial struggles. Seven of the league’s 10 franchises dropped their academy team earlier this year.
Relocating the league’s base of operations out of Los Angeles could help with the financial burden. LA is the second-most expensive city in America. It echoes plans from other organizations, such as the US government. With DC also increasingly prohibitively expensive, the US government has looked to move some government departments further west. Additionally, leaving the West Coast could help with viewership. LCS matches are currently played nine hours behind mainland Europe. Moving to the midwest, Chicago for example, would serve to cut that number to seven. Of course, as mentioned, nothing is yet confirmed. However, if Monte is hearing correctly, big changes could be coming for the ailing league.
Joseph “Jojopyun” Pyun has been named the MVP of the LCS Summer split. He won the award in a landslide ahead of Blaber of Cloud9 and River of Golden Guardians. The Evil Geniuses midlaner is coming off his second full year in the league. Furthermore, he impressed voters with his consistent performances and highlight reel plays. Jojopyun helped guide Evil Geniuses to a 12-6 record during the regular season, good enough for third place in the standings. However, things help apart in the playoffs. Evil Geniuses were swept 3-0 by Cloud9 before falling to Team Liquid 3-1 in their do-or-die match with Worlds qualification on the line.
Jojopyun finished the split with a 4.2 KDA, 72.4% kill participation rate, a 9.1 CSM rate, and a 31.4% damage contribution rate. Furthermore, the young mid laner was named to the All-Pro First Team. However, not everyone is happy about the choice made by the voters. According to the LCS, “the awards are voted on by the LCS broadcast team, third-party media, and the pro teams themselves.”
Jojopyun is definitely one of the best North American players to debut in many years. However, did he have an MVP-level split in Summer 2023? His KDA mark of 4.2 was only 16th best in the league. Furthermore, three of his teammates (UNF0RGIVEN, Armao, and Eyla) performed better in the statistic than Jojo. Additionally, his 4.2 was also almost half the league leader, Cloud9’s Berserker (8.2). Meanwhile, his KP% was 17th in the league, his CSM 11th. Granted, he was second in the league in DMG% but elsewhere, his numbers were well below where you would expect the overwhelming MVP choice to be. It’s very much a “vibes” win.
Then there are the playoffs. Granted, voting was done between the end of the regular season and the playoffs. But regardless, Jojopyun and Evil Geniuses won just four of their 12 playoff matches. After beating TSM 3-2 in the first round, they were swept by Cloud9. Then they were stomped 3-1 by Team Liquid in the series that had the last chance at a Worlds spot on the line. Jojpyun had a 2.5 KDA in those 12 games. His ability to dominate and make an impact was completely solved and neutralized by better opposition. While congratulations are in order for Jojopyun, questions remain about the voters
If reports are correct, there will be two vacant slots in the LCS ahead of the 2024 season. The first will be that of TSM, who said earlier this year that they would be leaving the North American league to join another tier-one region. Then came the news, courtesy of content creator Daniel Gonzales, that a team not named TSM had already sold their franchise slot.
That left many people wondering just who would be filling the multiple spots in the league. MrBeast has previously expressed interest in joining the league. However, there has been little talk on that front since Worlds 2022. But for many, the ideal candidate was Jeremy “DisguisedToast” Wang. The League superfan and highly successful streamer recently entered the esports scene with his second-tier League team, Disguised. The team excelled in their first split in the NACL, winning the tournament outright. Now, Wang has said he’s not opposed to taking the team up a step.
Speaking with Travis Gafford, Wang admitted that he was “open to join the LCS.” However, he admitted he was worried about the financial impact. He said that he wanted to “break even” in the next two years. Furthermore, he hadn’t heard positive things about LCS financials. “I heard joining the LCS actually loses you more money, which is kinda crazy,” he said. “The more you win and the more successful you are, you actually lose more money in esports. It’s better to just lose.”
Furthermore, Wang reiterated that he didn’t want to box himself into purely running League operations. Wang has already announced that he will be forming a VALORANT team. Additionally, he also expressed interest in other Riot products like Teamfight Tactics and the upcoming Project L. Outside of Riot Games, Wang also floated scenes like Counter-Strike 2, Apex Legends, and Rainbow Six: Siege also potential future ventures. It’s clear that Wang has big goals for his newly formed org. However, to the disappointment of many fans, it appears that the golden opportunity to join the LCS might have come just a little too early.
