The League of Legends World Championships are in full swing and below we will reveal the latest results as the tournament heats up until the finale on November 6^th. There is plenty of action in store and below we will also talk about what lies ahead for gaming fans and esports junkies alike!

Round of 16

The 12 teams that got their ticket punched to the LOL World Championships hail from China, South Korea, Europe, Southeast Asia, and North America. They will be joined by the four teams from the Play-In Stage and these 16 teams are divided into four groups battling in a round-robin format. The top two teams in each group will advance to the next round of the playoffs.

The teams remaining, the groups to which they have been assigned, and their current records are as follows:

Group A

1. DWG KIA (2-0)

2. Rogue (1-1)

3. FunPlus Phoenix (1-1)

4. Cloud9 (0-2)

Group B

1. EDward Gaming (2-0)

2. T1 (1-1)

3. 100 Thieves (1-1)

4. DetonatioN FocusMe (0-2)

Group C

1. Royal Never Give Up (2-0)

2. PSG Talon (1-1)

3. Hanwha Life Esports (1-1)

4. Fnatic (0-2)

Group D

1. Gen.G (1-0)

1. Team Liquid (1-0)

3. LNG (0-1)

3. MAD Lions (0-1)

As you can see, DWG KIA, Edward Gaming, and Royal Never Give Up have the early track on exiting the group stage and advancing to the Elite Eight and the playoff round. And it is not surprising that the best online sportsbooks have sports betting odds on the League of Legends World Championships.

That’s right, esports has become big business for bookmakers because as the prize money continues to grow and the popularity of these tournaments increases there is a greater call from customers to be able to wager on these contests. It’s an entirely new demographic of sports bettors and the bookies welcome them with open arms!

UOL Will Have New Roster

It’s one thing to be a big fish in a small pond but when that same fish ventures into deeper waters and gets swallowed whole by the sharks swarming then it’s time to rethink one’s strategy. And such is the case for the Unicorns of Love as they will have an entirely new roster after dominating their league but getting swept in international competition with the big boys.

UOL won their fifth consecutive LCL championship but in the Worlds, they couldn’t even notch a victory. And then it came to this, from a press release via a tweet from @UnicornsOfLove, “Today is the day.

Today, by mutual agreement, we say goodbye to BOSS, AHaHaCiK, Nomanz, SaNTaS, and Argonavt.

We accept the fact that players need constant development and, winning everything in the LCL for 3 years, it’s time to move to the next level – to try yourself in Europe – in EU Masters and in LEC.

Therefore, Unicorns of Love is letting the players step out of their contracts. They are becoming free agents and are ready to receive proposals from any organizations outside the CIS.

We are incredibly grateful to each of the guys, together we became the organization, with most titles in the CIS and were able to represent the region on the international stage in Berlin and Shanghai and Reykjavik.

Unicorns of love is not leaving and our goal remains the same – to win every season and go far at international events. Look forward to the announcement of a completely new roster that will continue to make history in the LCL.”

No Chat for You!

Riot Games has announced the removal of the /all chat feature. It’s a brazen attempt to diminish bullying and vulgarity on the platform, and its inception is scheduled to begin in Patch 11.21 and continue in subsequent patches.

“While /all chat can be the source of fun social interaction between teams, as well as some good-hearted banter, right now negative interactions outweigh the positives,” the post from Riot said. “We’ll evaluate the impact of this change through verbal abuse reports and penalty rates, as well as surveys and direct feedback from you all.”

“We know this sucks for those of you who just want to compliment your lane opponent’s skin or ask for a dance party in Baron pit,” Riot said. “But we believe the tradeoff is worth it to cut down on the growing negativity /all chat has been creating in your games.” As we all know, verbal abuse is rampant on the internet but the toxicity can often ruin the experience for those who are using LOL and other esports as a way to kick back, relax, and forget about the stressors of everyday life. Sometimes having a foul-mouthed fool spit expletives at you is not the escape from the real world that we are seeking and Riot Games is taking a gamble that its bold move will be well-received.