Worlds semifinals and NA LCQ among top events to watch this weekend

This weekend we will find out which team will be the last to qualify for VALORANT Champions and the two teams that will face off at the League of Legends World Championship final. Also, the New Legends stage of the PGL Major Stockholm kicks off with plenty of intriguing matchups. Here’s a quick guide on what to watch for this weekend.

100 Thieves vs. Rise, Friday, 9 p.m. ET

Most people expected 100 Thieves would be in position to reach the NA Last Chance Qualifier final. Not many expected Rise would be in this position, but the more they play, the less they are considered underdogs.

They beat FaZe and then took out Cloud9 Blue in a three-map set that included two maps going to overtime and lasted two days due to a power outage. At this point, it shouldn’t be surprising if Rise manage to beat 100T. This is a must-watch match.

PGL Major Stockholm New Legends matches, Saturday, 4 a.m. ET

The New Legends stage is where things will start to get really interesting as the top 16 teams will face off. The field of 16 is almost set pending the three final New Challengers matches happening Friday: Heroic vs. Movistar Riders, BIG vs. MOUZ and Spirit vs. Astralis.

Looking at Saturday’s matches, Ninjas in Pyjamas and FURIA kick off the action, and Evil Geniuses and G2 Esports will close out the eight opening round matches. Although the eight “Legends” teams will likely be favored in these matchups, don’t be surprised if FaZe and Copenhagen Flames pull off first-round upsets. They both looked impressive during the New Challengers stage. Evil Geniuses’ and G2’s matches will be followed by four matches among the eight teams that win their opening matchups and four matches between the losers.

T1 vs. DWG KIA, Saturday, 8 a.m. ET

On one side, you have the old Korean champions. T1 (then known as SK Telecom T1) and the Unkillable Demon King himself Lee “Faker” Sang-hyeok won the League of Legends World Championship three of four years -- 2013, 2015 and 2016 -- and finished second in 2017.

On the other side, you have the new Korean champions. DWG KIA (known as DAMWON Gaming last year) and their star Heo "ShowMaker" Su won Worlds in 2020, retaking the Summoner’s Cup for Korea after Chinese teams won in consecutive years.

Looking at the KDA leaderboard for Worlds, it’s remarkable to see that all but two of the top 10 players compete for either T1 or DWG KIA.

• Lee "Gumayusi" Min-hyeong (T1) - 22.33
• Ryu "Keria" Min-seok (T1) - 18.4
• Wang "Light" Guang-Yu (LNG) - 10.11
• Kim "Canyon" Geon-bu (DWG) - 8.54
• ShowMaker (DWG) - 8.36
• Moon "Oner" Hyeon-joon (T1) - 7.82
• Faker (T1) - 7.44
• Kim "Canna" Chang-dong (T1) - 7.4
• Park "Ruler" Jae-hyuk (Gen.G) - 6.94
• Jang "Ghost" Yong-jun (DWG) - 6.06

This is a matchup that’s worthy of the Worlds final, but instead we’ll get it in the semis. Will T1 return to the Worlds final? Or will DWG KIA reach the final for the second straight year and be one win away from establishing a new Korean dynasty?

EDward Gaming vs. Gen.G, Sunday, 8 a.m. ET

This matchup is not nearly as sexy as T1 vs. DWG KIA, but both of these teams will be eager to prove themselves as world championship-caliber teams. EDG are one win away from reaching their first Worlds final after five straight years at Worlds between 2014 and 2018. If they beat Gen.G and win the final, they would be the third Chinese team in four years to win the world championship.

Gen.G are the underdog among the four remaining teams and, like EDG, are looking for their first Worlds final appearance (although the org can trace their roots to previous world champion Samsung Galaxy). They shouldn’t be discounted, as they did survive the toughest group at Worlds this year, in which all four teams finished 3-3. Gen.G won two tiebreakers in order to reach the bracket stage.

NA LCQ grand final, Sunday, 3 p.m. ET

On Sunday, we’ll finally learn who the 16th and final team to qualify for Champions will be. We know either 100 Thieves or Rise will be fighting for that spot as both are in the upper bracket final. The loser of that matchup will have to contend with a team coming out of the lower bracket to reach the grand final.

Among the teams in the lower bracket, XSET and Cloud9 Blue are both good bets to make a run. We saw 100 Thieves do well at Masters: Berlin, but regardless of which team qualifies after this weekend, they’ll be among the favorites at Champions along with NA’s other two teams that have already qualified: Sentinels and Envy.

Lead photo credit: Riot Games