Riot Games has announced that Teamfight Tactics (TFT), the League of Legends auto battler game, is getting its first TFT Global LAN.
After four years and five Global Set Championships, TFT is now getting a worldwide LAN esports event, taking place at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas from December 8th to 10th 2023.
The event will adopt an open bracket format, offering 512 spots to aspiring competitors (both pro players and content creators), who will be able to secure a spot by obtaining a competitor pass. Priority will be given to players based on their Set 9 ladder rankings, and full details on how to obtain a competitor pass will be shared at a later date.
The TFT Global LAN will feature the upcoming Set 10, with the event taking place at the start of the Set’s launch. Riot said in a press release this will ’emphasise players’ ability to adapt quickly to the new meta instead of focusing solely on players’ mastery of the set’.
“As competitive TFT continues to evolve, the global LAN event in Las Vegas represents the first step toward the future of TFT esports. This tournament aims to be an unforgettable experience for both players and fans alike,” Riot said in a press release.
TFT allows players to climb the ladder from anywhere, on multiple platforms. And while TFT does not rely on low tick-rate servers, enabling all Global Set Championships to be held online, it’s now ready for the first TFT Global LAN.
‘We may bring more events like these in the future’ – Riot on TFT Global LAN
We caught up with Michael Sherman, Global Head of TFT Esports
What is your goal with the first TFT Global LAN?
We want the future of TFT esports to embody approachability and diversity of skill. To achieve this, we are expanding our esports events and opening more of them to anyone who wants to compete.
Recognizing the incredible potential of competitive TFT, we are thrilled to announce our first-ever global LAN event, which will take place this December in Las Vegas.
Why launch this LAN event now? Tells us what this brings to competitive TFT
This is an event we have been planning for a while. The first Global Set Championship – Galaxies – was actually planned to be a LAN event but with the pandemic, all our plans for a LAN event had to be pushed back. Since then all of our Set Championships have been held online but we are finally ready to bring together the player community in person.
Since coming into this role last year, I’ve had the chance to speak with many different people in the community and there has been a common thread within my conversations – TFT has wide appeal because anyone can play the game from virtually anywhere, on mobile or PC. And because of its approachability, players have less barriers to aim for the top of the ladder. We want to introduce a mass open bracket event to let players know that competing in TFT is possible no matter where you’re from or how you play.
Will this event be an annual fixture, and if so, will it change location each year? Could it come to other cities around the world?
At the moment, we are viewing this as a one-off event to celebrate not only the launch of Set 10, but also to welcome the new cadence of three Sets per year (no more mid-sets starting in 2024)! With that said, if this event is a big hit with
our players, we may revisit bringing more events like these in the future.
Please tell us a bit about the different regions in TFT and which you see the most demand from competitively?
There are currently nine regions within our competitive ecosystem – China, Brazil, EMEA, North America, LATAM, Korea, OCE, Japan, and our newest region, Southeast Asia. Each region is quite independent when it comes to tournament schedules, however, we have moved toward all Regional Qualifiers to occur around the same time.
I recently took a trip to view the CN regional finals and was blown away by the integration of TFT culture and fandom into the event, including a talent show, a series of All-Star matches, and allowing competitors to invite their fans to attend
the event.
“We’ve been hard at work figuring out how to make a more exciting player experience through improved esports events, new competition formats, and partnering even closer with the game team to make the whole experience more integrated. This Vegas event is an exciting combination of the three of those goals.”
Michael Sherman, Global Head of TFT Esports
Can you tell us anything more about the pass and how qualifying will work?
As you know, there will be 512 competitor passes available for this event. These passes will be available for purchase in the coming months with specific details being shared closer to that time. What I can say is that when passes go up for sale, we’ll give special access to high level players to purchase their pass before others… We are also mindful of making sure all our regions are represented as well as bringing together a mixture of top tier players, content creators, and up-and-coming names in the ecosystem.
Is there anything else you’d like to add?
We’re so excited for everything we have in-store for TFT and TFT esports this year. Especially on the esports front, we’ve been hard at work figuring out how to make a more exciting player experience through improved esports events, new competition formats, and partnering even closer with the game team to make the whole experience more integrated. This Vegas event is an exciting combination of the three of those goals.
Related article: EMEA TFT Monsters Attack Rising Legends Finals sees UK player Kurfuzzled take part and progress to Monsters Attack Championship
Runeterra Reforged announced
Teamfight Tactics players have been able to express themselves in-game from the cosmetics they equip to how they choose to approach each battle. Riot Games has revealed the next step on that journey, with the announcement of Teamfight Tactics: Runeterra Reforged.
Riot says players will revisit the world of Runeterra through a new lens and that Runeterra Reforged is all about giving players more options. It starts with a new pre-draft phase, which lets players choose what playstyle they want to employ via the new Legends system.
Runeterra Reforged gives players a chance to influence where they’re going next by allowing them to vote on a specific region to portal to at the start of the game. Each region has its own unique gameplay elements.
Teamfight Tactics: Runeterra Reforged will be available on the Public Beta Environment starting on May 31st, with a full release coming shortly afterward on June 14th. Runeterra Reforged is free to play and available on PC, iOS and Android, with cross-play, cross-progression, and co-op between all platforms.
Dom is an award-winning writer and finalist of the Esports Journalist of the Year 2023 award. He graduated from Bournemouth University with a 2:1 degree in Multi-Media Journalism in 2007.
As a long-time gamer having first picked up the NES controller in the late ’80s, he has written for a range of publications including GamesTM, Nintendo Official Magazine, industry publication MCV and others. He worked as head of content for the British Esports Federation up until February 2021, when he stepped back to work full-time on Esports News UK and offer esports consultancy and freelance services. Note: Dom still produces the British Esports newsletter on a freelance basis, so our coverage of British Esports is always kept simple – usually just covering the occasional press release – because of this conflict of interest.
