19th Asian Games: Decision to play League of Legends on patch 13.12 leaves fans upset

Preparations for the 19th Asian Games in China are underway for League of Legends national teams. While this event has the potential to increase the legitimacy of esports among the general public, certain decisions about how the game will be played in the tournament have left fans wondering if the organizers are taking things seriously.

The 19th Asian Games Sport Technical Handbook for Esports states that League of Legends matches will be conducted on patch 13.12.

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Fans react as League of Legends matches in 19th Asian Games set to be played on patch 13.12, released 3 months ago

So the Hangzhou Asian Games committee just released their final version of the Technical Handbook by u/lolliftw in leagueoflegends

The Technical Handbook of the Hangzhou Asian Games that was leaked from the website of the Taiwan Olympic Committee presents an outline of various events, including e-sports. As mentioned earlier, these details reveal that the matches in the League of Legends event will be conducted on patch 13.12.

This has left some fans pretty upset since the meta has shifted drastically since then. Many gamers played on a different patch throughout their playoffs, and they will have to perform on a new one at Worlds 2023.

Although the Technical Handbook doesn't reveal why the patch in question has been implemented, the decision has caused some speculation among fans. Some believe that the Chinese national team, which has been in training camp for a month already, will be given an unfair home advantage.

As the team is expected to win gold medals in most events, more time in boot camp would give them a significant edge in League of Legends over their biggest rival, South Korea. The South Koreans, on the other hand, just started practicing last week after the LCK Summer Split concluded.

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With only three weeks between the Worlds on patch 13.19 and the Asian Games on patch 13.12, it's a tight schedule, causing some anxiety among teams.

The tournament's format has also been met with some criticism. Specifically, fans are skeptical of the BO3 format set for knockout rounds up to the finals. It's been suggested that a better approach would be to have BO5 matches in the playoff stage.