Last-gasp NA vs. EU qualifier to reportedly be played in Korea as Worlds opener

The western clash is set to open the event.

Worlds 2022 trophy on stage during the tournament's final.
Photo by Colin Young-Wolff via Riot Games

The Worlds 2023 Qualifying Series, where the North American and European fourth seeds will face off for a final spot at this year’s biggest event, will reportedly take place in South Korea.

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Golden Guardians (NA’s fourth seed) will travel to Korea to face the yet-to-be-determined LEC fourth seed, according to League of Legends journalist Arsh Goyal on Aug. 15. On top of that, the series will reportedly take place right before the start of the play-in stage.

The Worlds Qualifying Series is a best-of-five series introduced this year after changes to Worlds’ format. The series will see EMEA’s fourth seed go against NA’s fourth seed, with the winner gaining a spot in the play-in stage of Worlds 2023.

The fourth LEC seed will be determined on Sept. 2, when the second round of the 2023 LEC Season Finals comes to an end. So far, only two European teams have been left out of contention—Astralis and Team Vitality.

In NA, however, the final standings of the 2023 LCS Championship have almost been determined Three teams will compete this upcoming weekend to determine the champions. Golden Guardians have already taken the fourth seed.

Eight teams have booked their spots in Korea so far, including all four Chinese representatives, three NA squads, and Korea’s Gen.G, who will qualify either by winning the 2023 LCK Summer Split or via Championship Points.

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Update Aug. 16 12:50pm CT: Riot has confirmed that the LCS vs. LEC qualifying series will be played at LoL Park in Seoul, South Korea on Oct. 9.

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Mateusz Miter
Freelance Writer at Dot Esports. Mateusz previously worked for numerous outlets and gaming-adjacent companies, including ESL. League of Legends or CS:GO? He loves them both. In fact, he wonders which game he loves more every day. He wanted to go pro years ago, but somewhere along the way decided journalism was the more sensible option—and he was right.