The wild cards of League of Legends prepare to take on Worlds 2018

We all love a good David vs Goliath story, so will teams like Bahçeşehir Supermassive or DetonatioN FocusMe give us some crazy upsets?

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Esther Pang

Published: 7:05pm, 1 Oct 2018Updated: 8:40am, 20 Sep 2019

This article originally appeared on ABACUS

Worlds is back in South Korea, and the month-long tournament is kicks off on Monday in Seoul. But for many players, their journey to the pinnacle of League of Legends fame could end just as they get their foot in the door.

Before they can officially say they made it into Worlds Group Stage, 12 teams will have to battle it out at play-ins for just four spots.

The League of Legends World Championship schedule is out!

Some are well-known names in the major regions, like C9 and EDward Gaming. The third seeds from Europe and North America -- as well as China, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau -- are joining the play-in stage.

But for eight regions, the champions are the ones who have to compete for a group stage spot at Worlds.

That’s because these are the Wild Card teams, regions with less attention when it comes to the regular competitive season. But there have been moments when these underdog regions surprised fans and analysts with upset victories.

During the Worlds 2016 group stage, Russian team Albus NoX Luna won enough games against North America’s Counter Logic Gaming, South Korea’s ROX Tigers, and Europe’s G2 Esports to secure a spot in the quarterfinals. Their win over ROX Tigers was a jaw-dropping moment in Worlds history.