History has been made! Nova Esports have won the first-ever Wild Rift Icons Global Championship tournament, organized in the year 2022! In a very dominating and easy-going fashion, Nova Esports has defeated J Team 4-0 in a Best-of-7 (Bo7) of the Grand Final of Wild Rift Icons Global Championship, in order to be crowned the first Wild Rift Global Champions. Let us take a look at their journey throughout the tournament.
Wild Rift Global Icons Championship 2022: Nova Esports and their campaign
The Icons tournament has been a whirlwind for the players and their supporters all around the world. The best teams were toppled, while the lowest seeds pulled off the biggest upsets. The event has truly been iconic, and it can be said that Wild Rift Esports is off to a great start.
The global tournament has been well-received by fans despite the game being only a year old. Players and esports enthusiasts tuned in from across the globe to watch the best teams from each region battle it out to reach the singular goal, “Become the Champions“.
Global Icons Qualification
In this stage, players from around the world duked it out in their respective regions, in order to qualify for Icons. Here are the teams qualified as winners from their respective regional tournaments.
| Championship Event | Date | Region | Qualified Teams |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wild Rift League Season 1 (WRL) | 19th March 2022 – 15th May 2022 | China | FunPlus Phoenix |
| Champions SEA Season 1 | 23rd April 2022 – 8th May 2022 | SOUTH-EAST ASIA | Team Flash |
| Champions Korea Spring | 21st February 2022 – 21st April 2022 | South Korea | KT Rolster Y |
| Japan Cup Season 1 | 9th April 2022 – 8th May 2022 | JAPAN | Sengoku Gaming |
| EMEA Championship Season 1 | 5th May 2022 – 8th May 2022 | EUROPE | Team Queso |
| North America Series Season 1 | 29th April 2022 – 1st May 2022 | NORTH AMERICA | Immortals |
| Wild Tour Season 1 | 18th February 2022 – 8th May 2022 | BRAZIL | Omegha E-Sports |
| Open Latinoamerica Season 1 | 1st March 2022 – 8th May 2022 | LATIN AMERICA | Leviatan |
Play-In Stage
The very first leg of this tournament was the play-in stage, which took place from June 14th to June 18th, 2022. These are the teams qualified for play-ins:
| Championship Event | Date | Region | Qualified Teams |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wild Rift League Season 1 (WRL) | 19th March 2022 – 15th May 2022 | CHINA | JD Gaming |
| Wild Rift League Icons LCQ | 13th May 2022 – 15th May 2022 | CHINA | Nova Esports J Team |
| Champions SEA Season 1 | 23rd April 2022 – 8th May 2022 | SOUTH-EAST ASIA | Flash Wolves Rex Regum Qeon Buriram United Esports |
| Champions Korea Spring | 21st February 2022 – 24th April 2022 | SOUTH KOREA | Kwangdong Freecs T1 |
| Japan Cup Season 1 | 9th April 2022 – 8th May 2022 | JAPAN | Donuts USG |
| EMEA Championship Season 1 | 5th May 2022 – 8th May 2022 | EUROPE | Rix.GG Game-Lord |
| North America Series Season 1 | 29th April 2022 – 1st May 2022 | NORTH AMERICA | Sentinels |
| Wild Tour Season 1 | 18th February 2022 – 8th May 2022 | BRAZIL | Keyd Stars Liberty |
| Open Latinoamerica Season 1 | 1st March 2022 – 8th May 2022 | LATIN AMERICA | Furious Gaming STMN Esports |
Wild Rift Global Icons Championship 2022: Group Stage
After having gruesome battles with each other in the play-in stage, the top 2 teams from each of the four groups advanced into the Group Stage. This is where the champions of each region fought with the play-ins teams as well as other champion teams.
Group A (Winners: Nova Esports, 2nd Place: Team Flash)
Nova Esports blasted through the Group Stage with back-to-back wins over Leviatan and Team Flash. Team Flash bounced back to enter the Knockout Stage, by beating T1 in the Decider match.
Group B (Winners: J Team, 2nd Place: Rex Regum Qeon)
J Team comfortably cruised to the Knockouts, only losing one game to RRQ. RRQ (Rex Regum Qeon) beat Sengoku Gaming to get one more chance at the Knockouts.
Group C (Winners: FunPlus Phoenix, 2nd Place: Flash Wolves)
FunPlus Phoenix did not lose a single match in the Group stage, while on their way to Knockouts. They beat down Omegha Esports and Flash Wolves to advance, while Flash Wolves defeated Omegha Esports in the decider match to advance.
Group D (Winners: JD Gaming, 2nd Place: KT Rolster Y)
The fourth WRL team, JD Gaming, went 4-1 in the Group Stage, only losing a match to KT Rolster Y. KT Rolster Y followed them right into the next stage with wins over Liberty and Immortals.
Icons Knockout Stage
Quarter-Finals
- Nova Esports beat down KT Rolster Y in the QF to advance into the Semi-Finals.
- FunPlus Phoenix won 3-0 against RRQ and entered the Semi-Finals as the tournament favorites.
- J Team, the third WRL team in the Quarter Finals, crushed the hopes of Flash Wolves, winning 3-0 and cruising into the Semis.
- Team Flash was the only non-WRL team to advance into the Semi-Finals, as they defeated an out-of-form JD Gaming 3-0.
Semi-Finals
In the first semi-final, Nova Esports pulled off the biggest upset of the tournament as they dominated FunPlus Phoenix 3-0 to become the first-ever Wild Rift Icons finalists. Team Flash, carrying the hopes of all of South-East Asia with them, unfortunately, lost to a very in-form J Team 0-3, making J Team the second finalists and the opponents of Nova Esports.
Wild Rift Global Icons Championship 2022 Grand Finals: Nova Esports vs J Team
After going through numerous hurdles, and pulling off some big upsets, Nova Esports crushed J Team straight 4-0 in the finals of the Wild Rift Icons Global Championship tournament. This has cemented their place in history as the first-ever Icons of Wild Rift.
Game 1
| Nova Esports | J Team |
|---|---|
| Y1ze: Riven Long: Jax Nian: Corki Remake: Orianna yami: Alistar | Dawn128: Renekton Cherry: Camille pan: Jayce Berry: Karma dy: Galio |
In Game 1, things were looking good for J Team in the early game, as they managed to find openings to kill Nova’s members, and even took down Long in a few fights. Although, when mid-game rolled around, Nova completely flipped the script. Long dove straight into a 3v1 around the dragon pit and got a double kill, and it was here that the downfall of J Team began. Nova steamrolled them to win 1-0.
Game 2
| Nova Esports | J Team |
|---|---|
| Y1ze: Renekton Long: Ekko Nian: Jayce Remake: Morgana yami: Galio | Dawn128: Riven Cherry: Nunu and Willump pan: Orianna Berry: Lucian dy: Nami |
Here, similarly to game 1, J Team had a good start, but could not match up to the scaling of Long and Remake in the late game. This game also cemented the fact that Lucian is disadvantaged in pro-play past the 15-minute mark, making the term “Lose-cian” even more appropriate. Nova won this game comfortably to go 2-0.
Game 3
| Nova Esports | J Team |
|---|---|
| Y1ze: Shen Long: Xin Zhao Nian: Diana Remake: Corki yami: Yuumi | Dawn128: Sett Cherry: Lee Sin pan: Zed Berry: Senna dy: Gragas |
Though J Team had the scaling Senna in Game 3, that did not help them against the formidable Long’s Xin Zhao. Yami’s Yuumi kept healing, while Nian kept diving with Diana. Y1ze teleported in with Shen for some very smart, big-brain plays with his ultimate, standing united with this team, whenever they needed him. J Team’s aggressors just couldn’t match up to Nova, and they won 3-0.
Game 4
| Nova Esports | J Team |
|---|---|
| Y1ze: Camille Long: Xin Zhao Nian: Corki Remake: Ziggs yami: Rakan | Dawn128: Riven Cherry: Lee Sin pan: Jayce Berry: Karma dy: Gragas |
This is the match-point. J Team could pull off a stunning reverse sweep, or Nova can absolutely crush them for a 4-0 win, becoming champions. The picks were locked in, Long on Xin Zhao once again, and Remake on his best champion, Ziggs. J Team at this point were exhausted, as Nova had banned away their jungler Cherry’s best champion Wukong, in all 4 games. They couldn’t delve any deeper into their champion pool and decided to stick with the standard picks. Nova was so confident here, that they didn’t even need 5 bans, they went ahead with only 4!
Right from the start, Nova had control of the game, and any hopes of a reverse sweep evaporated into thin air. Around the mid-game mark, Nova got a beautiful ace, and cruised through the mid-lane to J Team’s Nexus, destroying it to become the first-ever Wild Rift Icons Global Champions.
After the finals, Long was awarded MVP, a very well-deserved award. With this, the first Wild Rift World Championship has come to a close, and Nova Esports is the shining light at the top.
Wild Rift Global Icons Championship 2022: Nova Esports would choose their champion skins
With this momentous win, Nova Esports get to choose their own, which will be known as Nova Esports skins for the champions they select. Like in League PC, the World Champions here will also have a “Winner Skin“, as confirmed by Riot Games earlier.
This is a big moment for Wild Rift as an Esports title. It is getting the recognition it deserves, and Riot is looking to capitalize on the hype. Hopefully, we get to see such amazing tournaments in Wild Rift year after year.
What did you think of Nova Esports winning the Wild Rift Global Icons Championship 2022? Do let us know in the comments below!
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