The second annual Esports World Cup’s League of Legends tournament is set to begin in a matter of days, just after the completion of the ongoing Mid-Season Invitational. Now, the Saudi Arabian tournament has announced the two groups, Groups A and B, where eight of the twelve invited teams will compete in. They’ll be fighting to make it to the playoffs stage, where the other four teams, the LPL and LCK’s top two representatives, have already been seeded.

Group A’s Western Brawl

Group A features four teams, all from the west, including the LTA North’s FlyQuest and Cloud9, the LTA South’s FURIA, and the LEC’s G2 Esports.

All of Group A save Cloud9 have already been eliminated from MSI 2025. C9 didn’t play at MSI at all, in a controversial move to leave the LTA North’s second seed out of the tournament. As the second seed of the LTAN, C9 has a solid roster mixing talented Korean players like Park “Thanatos” Seung-gyu and Lee “Loki” Sang-min with Cloud9 mainstays like Robert “Blaber” Huang and Jesper “Zven” Svenningsen. They’re looking to make this international tournament, having missed the last, really count.

FlyQuest, the first seed from the LTA North, is fresh off another impressive, but just-short-of-history-making performance at MSI. At recent internationals, the team, captained by 3-time Western MVP jungler Kacper “Inspired” Słoma, has taken LCK and LPL teams alike to five games in best-of-five series. But the team hasn’t been able to get past that final hurdle, this time facing elimination from MSI at the hands of BLG in a Game 5. Truly impressive, even world-class performances from Inspired, support Alan “Busio” Cwalina, and the rest of the roster have given FLY and their NA fans real hope for the region to grow and compete internationally, which FLY will seek to deliver on at EWC.

FURIA is the only representative from the LTA South at EWC. They were eliminated first at MSI, but had a dominant performance domestically, coming out of the lower bracket to 3-0 frequent Latin American representative paiN in the LTAS’ finals. Hyped Brazilian players like superstar botlaner Andrey “Ayu” Saraiva and feast-or-famine carry toplaner Guilherme “Guigo” Araújo define the team’s aggressive style.

G2 Esports is a very familiar name to LEC and LoL internationals fans, a frequent first seed from the LEC starring the Western GOAT Rasmus “Caps” Winther in the midlane. Two still-adjusting new players in new jungler and support Rudy “Skewmond” Semaan and Labros "Labrov" Papoutsakis, respectively, have left the team feeling less dominant this year, and an 0-3 defeat to FLY sending them home early at MSI continued that trend. But a history of triumph and international success are synonymous with G2, so they can’t be counted out.

Group B: Reunions and Powerhouses

Group B features the two LCP representatives, in CTBC Flying Oyster and GAM Esports, as well as the LCK’s third seed, Hanwha Life Esports, and the LEC’s first, Movistar KOI.

CFO had an incredibly impressive run at MSI this year, taking the once-minor-region to new heights, and showcasing why the LCP deserves true respect. The first seed from the region made quick work 3-1 of MKOI and brought reigning World Champs T1 to five games in a tight loss, before eventually being eliminated by AL. Jungler Yu “JunJia” Chun-Chia’s excellent awareness and his new 18-year old supercarry mid Tsai “HongQ” Ming-Hong both have the potential to bring the team further than ever before for the Pacific region at EWC.

GAM, the LCP’s second seed, didn’t make it out of MSI play-ins, but did almost take G2 down in what was a very intense and close qualifying series. Their team is led by long-time veteran jungler Đỗ "Levi" Duy Khánh, who has captained GAM over his six years there. In a group with LCP rivals CFO, they'll be looking for any chance possible to grab the title of LCP's best team for themselves.

Hanwha Life Esports is easily the heaviest hitter in the EWC’s group stage, a team filled with four World Champions who’ll be eyeing the EWC’s trophy for themselves. All five players are undeniably top-of-the-world in their skills, including Choi “Zeus” Woo-je, the reigning two-time World Champion. HLE also didn’t play at MSI, where the LCK’s third seed was not invited. For many fans, this team seems like a shoe-in to qualify past the Group Stage, making this a tough group for its other three contenders.

Movistar KOI, the LEC’s first seed, is a unique one. The Spanish team features four Spanish players, including jungler and leader Javier “Elyoya” Prades, and the region’s first NA import in Joseph Joon “Jojopyun” Pyun. While they did win the LEC in a dominant performance over G2, they struggled at MSI just as their finals opponents did, losing 1-3 to their EWC group-mate in CFO. MKOI will thus be hungry to secure revenge, and to show more of their skill off, at this event.

A look ahead

After the GSL Group Stage format concludes, in which teams will play in a double-elimination bracket to advance past the stage, the Knockout Stage will begin. There, the two qualifying teams from each group will meet up in the Quarterfinals with the LCK’s T1 and Gen.G, and the LPL’s BLG and AL, competing this tournament as AG.AL. There, the Saudi Arabian tournament will conclude only four days after it begins, in an ultra-fast and surely exhausting follow-up to the already-demanding MSI most teams just attended. Demanding or not, each team, including these Group Stage ones, will seek to realize their ambitions in the coming days at the Esports World Cup.