The Teamfight Tactics (TFT) team representing English Premier League Football Club, Wolves, have won the TFT Esports World Cup (EWC) 2024.
They defeated South Korean esports organisation T1 in the grand final yesterday, after losing the first round to win three on a bounce and claim the trophy with a 3-1 scoreline.
Wolves’ Chinese TFT team consisted of Sheltie, YGQF, Serein and LiShao, with the latter named tournament MVP.
The roster made their way to the TFT Esports World Cup after winning the China Closed Qualifier last month. They were competing in that qualifier as DaBao Gaming, but represented Wolves in the finals in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
The TFT Esports World Cup had a $550,000 prize pool, with Wolves taking $200,000 and 1,000 EWC Club Points for finishing first. LiShao took an additional $50,000 for being named MVP.
While there were no UK TFT players in the finals, several UK broadcast talent featured, including host Jasmine ‘Veracity’ Kanuga, casters Stuart ‘ITzSTU4RT’ Gilson and Peter ‘Counterfeit’ Hartnell, plus interviewer and host Iain Chambers.
After the final, Wolves MVP LiShao told Veracity on stage: “We practiced, we played hard and now we are the champions today.
“After playing this game, I think I’m gonna practice more and more, to stay as good as I am today.
“The MVP is not only me, it’s my whole team. It’s not my work, it’s our team’s work.”
LiShao, Wolves Esports
ITzSTU4RT added on the broadcast: “Wolves came into this as the lowest expected [team from China to go beyond the group stage], but I feel the underdog story for Wolves Esports is incredible.”
Team Vitality’s North American TFT team finished third, and Twisted Minds’ Chinese roster finished in fourth.
Meanwhile, London-headquartered esports organisation Fnatic had a finals to forget, after moving into TFT esports a few months ago. They finished in 13th-16th place.
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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.
