THE WIRE is f0rmless’s weekly esports dispatch — the matches that just concluded, and the marquee slate ahead, across sixteen titles. A new edition posts every Monday. The schedule board stays spoiler-free; the calls live here.
LCK WON ALL FOUR WORLDS SWISS ROUND 1 GAMES AND THE LPL LOST ALL FOUR, THEN DPLUS KIA AND GEN.G WERE THE FIRST TEAMS THROUGH TO THE KNOCKOUTS
▲ Results ahead — the Wire calls the week as it happened.
Swiss Stage Round 1 was eight best-of-one games on October 23 in Allen, Texas. The LCK won all four of its games and the LPL lost all four.
See the slateLYON won the first game. Gen.G won the next two and reached the knockout stage at 3–0, on the same day as Dplus KIA.
BracketBeat G2 Esports in Round 1, then swept Movistar KOI 2–0 on October 25 to become the first team to reach the knockout stage at 3–0.
Liquipedia page▌ Match by match · Oct 19–25
The League of Legends World Championship Swiss Stage opened in Allen, Texas. In Round 1 on Thursday, the LCK went 4–0 and the LPL went 0–4. GosuGamers calls it the first winless opening round for the LPL in a Swiss Stage. On Sunday, Dplus KIA and Gen.G both won their Round 3 series and reached the knockouts at 3–0. In VALORANT, the Game Changers Championship began in São Paulo with ten teams.
Round 1 on October 23 was best-of-one. Round 3 on October 25 mixed best-of-ones with best-of-three series for the 2–0 teams.
Ten teams, double elimination, in São Paulo. Gen.G GC, the Pacific champions, lost 2–1 to KRÜ BLAZE on Friday and were out on Sunday after a 2–1 loss to FENNEL GC.
The week ahead ▶Oct 26 – Nov 1
The Swiss Stage ends Saturday in Allen, Texas. Six teams at 2–2 play best-of-three series at noon, 3 PM and 6 PM Central; the winners reach the knockouts and the losers go home. The VALORANT Game Changers Championship Lower Final is Saturday at 2 PM ET, and the Grand Final is Sunday. Gentle Mates GC beat Shopify Rebellion Gold 2–1 in the Upper Final on Friday, so they wait in the Grand Final. The PUBG Global Series Circuit 4 Grand Finals and the Apex Legends Global Series Split 2 playoffs also play Saturday. The board does not pick winners; it only tells you where to be, and when. Set a reminder, and your own device will call you to the stream.
Round 5 pairings are not set yet. Dplus KIA, Gen.G, T1, TOP Esports and Invictus Gaming are already through. The three series start at 12 PM, 3 PM and 6 PM Central.
Lower Final Saturday. The winner plays Gentle Mates GC in the Grand Final on Sunday. KRÜ BLAZE got here by beating MIBR GC 2–0 on Friday.
Grand Finals on Saturday. The first match starts at 10:00 UTC (6 AM ET).
Playoffs Bracket Stage on Saturday. The first match starts at 17:00 UTC (1 PM ET).
WATCHED BY THE F0RMLESS