The 2021 League of Legends World Championship will be held in Iceland, as Riot Games announced this morning. The squad also confirmed that the two representatives from the Vietnam Championship Series will be unable to attend due to travel limitations. As a result, Rogue, the third seed in the LEC, will automatically progress to the group round of the event.

Owing to several reported concerns, including contractual troubles between Garena and Riot, as well as lengthy delays due to the ongoing circumstances surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic in the country, the VCS was forced to cancel its 2021 Summer Split in August. However, there have been rumors that GAM Esports and Saigon Buffalo, two of the region's finest teams from the 2021 Spring Split, could be sent to Worlds.

The VCS, like last year's Worlds, is unable to send its teams to Reykjavik, meaning the region will miss its third international League event in a row. Since the end of their season, each VCS team will have only played three months of competitive matches in the entire year of 2021.

Meanwhile, Rogue, Europe's third seed, will no longer compete in the play-in stage at Worlds 2021. Instead, because to the absence of the VCS, they will begin the event at the group stage. This is a significant change for the EU representative, since they may now spend more time preparing and practicing.

However, it's uncertain whether Rogue will benefit from the extra time away from Summoner's Rift. Despite being the best team in the LEC throughout the regular season, the young squad was eliminated from the playoffs after being swept in back-to-back series by MAD Lions and Fnatic. More practice time is always beneficial, but using the play-in stage to shake off the rust against inferior opponents is also a fantastic approach to warm up for the rest of the tournament.

The 2021 World Championships will commence on Tuesday, October 5th.