The League of Legends World Championship 2024 starts with this match.
The Play-In stage of League of Legends Worlds 2024 (LoL Worlds 2024) is just the beginning of a super exciting esports event. The main competitors skip these matches as they’ve already qualified for the Swiss Stage. Still, the global community has plenty of reasons to follow the Play-In qualifiers, like checking out the playstyle of minor regions and witnessing ambitious underdogs making it to the top-most level.
MAD Lions KOI (MDK) got the 3rd European seed thanks to their miraculous recovery in the second half of the Summer Split and great performance at the League of Legends EMEA Championship (LEC) Season Finals. Vikings Esports qualified for the LoL Worlds 2024 Play-In with the 2nd Vietnamese seed — which is a great result after reviving the team in 2023. These teams played the opening match of the entire tournament.
Everything about the Worlds Play-In match between MDK and VKE is here: the stream, live score, information on picked and banned LoL champions, a brief recap, and some extra details on the teams.
Where to watch the LoL Worlds 2024 match MDK vs VKE
The MDK vs VKE stream is embedded below on this page. MAD Lions KOI and Vikings Esports played on Sept. 25.
MDK vs VKE: Live score
The LoL Worlds 2024 Play-In matches are of the best-of-three (Bo3) format. MAD Lions KOI and Vikings Esports should secure two games to proceed to the upper-bracket qualifying match. The winners need one more victory to proceed to the Swiss Stage. The losers fall to the lower brackets to have one extra match before qualifications with the risk of elimination in each.
MDK 2:0 VKE — MAD Lions KOI won the series
Game | Winner |
|---|---|
| 1 | MAD Lions KOI |
| 2 | MAD Lions KOI |
| 3 | - |
Matchups and champion picks
MDK Picks | MAD Lions KOI | Position | Vikings Esports | VKE Picks |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| K'Sante (G1) K'Sante (G2) | Myrwn | Top | Nanaue | Camille (G1) Renekton (G2) |
| Nidalee (G1) Nidalee (G2) | Elyoya | Jungle | Gury | Lee Sin (G1) Jarvan IV (G2) |
| Syndra (G1) Syndra (G2) | Fresskowy | Mid | Kati | Orianna (G1) Orianna (G2) |
| Jinx (G1) Jinx (G2) | Supa | Bot | Shogun | Ezreal (G1) Jhin (G2) |
| Nautilus (G1) Rell (G2) | Alvaro | Support | Bie | Poppy (G1) Alistar (G2) |
Banned champions
Game | MDK Bans | VKE Bans |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jax, Senna, Ziggs, Jarvan IV, Kha'Zix | Vi, Ashe, Skarner, Yone, Braum |
| 2 | Jax, Senna, Ziggs, Poppy, Leona | Vi, Ashe, Skarner, Viego, Bel'Veth |
| 3 | - | - |
Match recap: MDK vs VKE
The opening LoL Worlds 2024 match turned out to be a great start for Europe! MAD Lions KOI looked like a better team in both games, even if the first one did not have such a dominant first half as the second. It’s a well-deserved victory for MDK and one step towards qualification for the Swiss stage.
Vikings Esports weren’t helpless victims at all. Their bravery and creativity have been certainly noted. It sure is interesting to follow the team in the lower bracket matches.
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Game 1
MDK won this game, but that wasn’t too easy. Vikings Esports did not let the opponents get a substantial kill and gold advantage — even if the Vietnamese team had to chase MAD Lions KOI all the time. VKE did some great steals, like a sneaky Baron fight when all the opponents were away or a Dragon in a seemingly hopeless situation.
One big push deleted all the doubts, though. MAD Lions KOI got one point in the match score, but Vikings Esports proved their explosive strength and brave approach.
Game 2
On the one hand, this game was pretty different in terms of scaling in the first half. MDK succeeded with this to the level of being a mighty gang — able to walk in and destroy everything on their way. On the other hand, Vikings again demonstrated the ability to be creative in their play — specifically in finding great team-fight angles in defense. With an obvious massive advantage on the opponents’ side, VKE held their ground for a surprisingly long time.
MAD Lions KOI did not overstep after snowballing the strength of their champions. Syndra looked like a powerful character in the hands of Fresskowy, and we may see her again in the LoL Worlds 2024 matches. Nidalee and Jinx also looked like a clever champion pick for enormous power. When a moment came, MDK struck, used a slight mistake by VKE in positioning, and eliminated their Nexus.
Thanks to skillful play with these picks, MAD Lions KOI won this game and match. Next, they play in the qualifying match on Sept. 27. Vikings Esports fell to the lower brackets, and their next match is on Sept. 28.
MAD Lions KOI and Vikings Esports: A chance for a breakthrough
For both teams, Worlds 2024 is a unique chance to prove themselves on the international LoL scene. But their chances have different flavors.
MAD Lions KOI are from one of the main LoL regions. While LEC teams are generally considered not-that-strong competitors compared to League of Legends Champions Korea (LCK) and the League of Legends Pro League (LPL), some of them have great results — like the top 4 at Mid-Season Invitational (MSI) 2024. The problem is that it’s not MDK yet. They’ve been qualifying for the World Championship since 2020, and the highest placement for MAD Lions KOI was the top 8 in 2021. Being 12th-14th in 2023? It’s not what European fans would consider a successful tournament run.
As an esports organization, Vikings Esports existed in 2018 and was disbanded that year. With new players, VKE rose from the ashes in 2023. In the Vietnam Championship Series (VCS), they reached second place in 2024 — at both splits. Only GAM Esprots performed better in VCS this year. A breakthrough from being number two in a minor region to performing well at Worlds? Who wouldn’t want that?
The Play-In stage of LoL Worlds 2024 continues from Sept. 25 to Sept. 29. Only four of eight teams will proceed further to the Swiss Stage. That starts on Oct. 3. For more LoL news and updates, stick around on esports.gg!
