Is It Worth It To Watch LoL Esports Matches Outside of Worlds?

There are tens of thousands of people who watch LoL esports matches during the regular season but that number is tripled once the League of Legends World Championships Finals Match is underway. Many people don’t think it’s worth watching the regular season because the quality of games is terrible. Do you think it’s worth watching LoL esports matches during the regular season?

Regular Season Matches

Regular season matches are held around the months of January to April for the first split that leads to the Mid-Season Invitationals and from May to August for the 2nd split that leads to the League of Legends World Championships. Depending on the region, all games throughout the regular season are broadcasted with most of them having live matches that people can attend by booking a ticket in advance.

The regular season matches feature the 10 teams (17 for the Chinese LPL) that will be competing for a chance to represent their country. Depending on the tournament format, the Top 4, 6, or 8 teams in the standings will compete in the regional Playoff for a chance to secure tournament points and eventually win the domestic trophy. The winning team in each region automatically gains an invite to the nearest international tournament.

International Tournaments

There are two official international tournaments for League of Legends which are the Mid-Season Invitationals and the coveted League of Legends World Championships. In these tournaments, all teams from each acknowledged Riot Games region will be sending their qualified teams to play. The tournaments usually last around 3-5 weeks, depending on the scheduling of the tournament and the number of teams participating.

Fans can watch the matches on any official Riot Games broadcast but they can also book a ticket to watch LoL esports matches live at the assigned venue. For international events, booking tickets are much more difficult, especially since there are thousands of people trying to acquire a slot to watch the tournament. It is almost impossible to get a ticket for the League of Legends World Championship Finals if you’re only booking a ticket a week before.

Is It Worth To Watch LoL Esports Matches in the Regular Season?

Unfortunately, not all LoL esports matches in the regular season are worth watching. While it’s important to see the journey of how international representatives managed to qualify for the tournament, there are some teams that simply don’t provide quality games that give the viewers anything at all. Hardcore viewers might argue that every game is important but it’s objectively untrue, especially if two lower-tier teams are playing against each other.

The main reason you always want to watch LoL esports matches is to understand the current meta and the playstyle of each team going into the tournament. Arguably, it’s more important to watch the latter half of the season since it’s the one that’s closest to the format and meta that will be applied to the next international event. During the first few weeks, it’s difficult to see the full potential of each team since most rosters don’t have a lot of experience playing the current patch and with each other as teammates.

If you want to have more knowledge about the esports scene and be able to hold conversations with hardcore esports fans, you essentially want to watch at least 3 matches per week from each of the major regions (LPL, LCK, LCS, LEC) to have more context about each tournament league. It’s a good idea to understand the games when you watch LoL esports matches when it comes to player history, performance, and meta distribution.

It’s a good idea to follow official esports pages and major esports personalities on Twitter to keep yourself updated on the most important games you need to watch. A good cheat to follow is to listen to casters and analysts talk about the games and matches. This will ensure that you’re always updated with the most relevant matches in the esports scene without wasting hours of your time.

The Best Way to Watch LoL Esports Matches

The best way to watch LoL esports matches is by watching official costreams from relevant personalities like LS, IWillDominate, and Caedrel. These people often add more unfiltered context to the games. Some of the personalities on stream are radical to specific ideologies about the game but if you take their opinions with a grain of salt, it can be an insightful experience to immerse yourself in a costream of an official League of Legends match.

If you are a player with more experience playing the game at a higher level, you can watch the streams without relying on a costreamer’s personal opinion. The best place to watch streams is through the official LoLesports website since you won’t get distracted by unnecessary opinions. However, if you want to see the community’s opinions you can go on Twitch. It’s important to keep in mind that Twitch chat almost never provides insightful comments and often just ends up trash talking each other or the teams.

Is it Bad to Be a Worlds-Only Watcher?

It’s not exactly bad to only watch LoL esports matches during the League of Legends World Championships. However, it can be obnoxious to talk like a League of Legends esports expert when you only appear during the biggest tournament of the year. You can enjoy the esports scene to your personal preference but you might formulate incorrect opinions when you assume facts about a team simply by their performance during one tournament.

Remember, just because a team won the World Championship doesn’t mean they were one of the best teams coming into the tournament. For example, DRX (Worlds 2022 Champion) were not expected to progress into the later stages of the tournament because of their unimpressive performance during the regular season as the LCK’s 4th seed. Those types of information can only be inferred when you watch the regular season avidly.