YMCA member Austin Manengu works the keyboard as he plays a game of Fortnite during the unveiling of the new gaming lab at the Maplewood Family YMCA in Rochester Thursday, June 20, 2024. YMCA of Greater Rochester in partnership with Metro Sports & Entertainment Group will open two gaming labs for youth and teens this year. G2 Esports and Hanwha Life Esports won their respective groups Wednesday and advanced to the playoff stage at the Esports World Cup League of Legends event in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Two more playoff berths are on the line Thursday, as FlyQuest and FURIA landed in the Group A lower-bracket final and KOI and CTBC Flying Oyster will square off in the equivalent in Group B.
Twelve teams are competing for shares of a $2 million prize pool at the Esports World Cup 2025. The tournament is also part of the Club Championship that will award $7 million to the winning team at the end of the Cup.
The event began with a double-elimination group stage Wednesday and Thursday featuring the eight Low Seed teams. All matches were best-of-one, and the top two teams from each group advance to the playoffs, where they join the four High Seeds (Gen.G Esports, Bilibili Gaming, AG.AL and T1).
The single-elimination playoffs run through Sunday. All matches are best-of-three until the grand final, which is best-of-five.
On Wednesday, G2 Esports opened Group A with a 32-minute win over FURIA while playing on blue. FlyQuest defeated Cloud9 in 39 minutes on blue to join G2 in the upper-bracket final, where G2 pulled out a 34-minute win on red.
FURIA eliminated Cloud9 with a 34-minute win on red in the lower-bracket semifinal. The winner between FlyQuest and FURIA on Thursday morning will have a quick turnaround to face Gen.G Esports in the playoff quarterfinals.
In Group B, Hanwha Life cruised to a 28-minute win on blue over CTBC Flying Oyster, while KOI earned a tidy 30-minute victory on blue over GAM Esports. Hanwha Life continued to dominate in the upper-bracket final, though, prevailing over KOI in 29 minutes on blue.
CTBC Flying Oyster stayed alive by beating GAM in 28 minutes on red and will face KOI in Thursday’s do-or-die match.
The tournament continues Thursday with four matches:
–FlyQuest vs. FURIA (Group A lower-bracket final)
–KOI vs. CTBC Flying Oyster (Group B lower-bracket final)
–Gen.G Esports vs. FlyQuest-FURIA winner (playoff quarterfinals)
–Bilibili Gaming vs. G2 Esports (playoff quarterfinals)
Esports World Cup 2025 League of Legends prize pool (money, EWC club points):
1. $600,000, 1,000 club points — TBD
2. $320,000, 750 — TBD
3. $230,000, 500 — TBD
4. $160,000, 300 — TBD
5-8. $110,000, 200 — TBD
9-10. $75,000, no points — TBD
11-12. $50,000, no points — Cloud9, GAM Esports
–Field Level Media
