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Worlds 2021 group stage recap

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League of Legends

Worlds 2021 group stage review

The 2021 World Championship group stage has concluded. All eight teams to battle it out in the quarter-finals have been established. There are spectacular results that no one predicted to happen, such as FunPlus Phoenix, who were regarded as one of the favorite teams of the World Championship, being knocked by the hands of Rogue. NA representative Cloud9 does not intend to go home without making history. DWG KIA and T1 reached the top of the mountain with the level of gameplay they showed until now. RNG could not outclass all of their rivals in group B and did not seem poised to repeat their success at MSI 2021, where they beat DWG KIA in the finals. Let’s take a quick look at what went on during the last week.

 

Here are all pairs in the quarterfinals

After a breathtaking group stage, Worlds 2021 excitement comes back with the knockout stage on Friday, 22. RNG will face off against one of their domestic rival, Edward Gaming. Both Chinese teams can make it to the finals. On the flip side, T1 and Hanwha Life will meet again after giving us an intense five-game series in Regional Finals. Here is the full schedule of the knockout stage:

  • Friday, October 22 – RNG vs EDG
  • Saturday, October 23 – GEN vs Cloud9
  • Sunday, October 24 – T1 vs HLE
  • Monday, October 25 – DWG vs MAD Lions

 

Group A

Decisive match of the group: DWG vs FPX

The two teams expected to win the World Championship, DWG KIA and FPX faced off in the opening match of the group stage. LCK’s first seed DWG had the advantage of snatching the leadership in group A by taking down LPL’s second seed, FunPlus Phoenix, with solid gameplay at the end of the first day of the group stage. In both matches, ShowMaker and Khan enhanced their impact on the map gradually and concentrated on winning side lanes. They turned into skirmishes in their favor and reacted to what FPX tried to get control of the match. LCK Summer Split champion looked well-prepared compared to other rivals at the main event. Unlike the 2021 MSI Finals, DWG figured out how to play against a Chinese team and which player to take under pressure to beat them.

 

Cloud9 has qualified for the quarter- finals, FPX disappointed fans

Group A, which was considered the group of death, was one of the exciting groups to watch in the 2021 World Championship. DWG KIA claimed the first seed and advanced to the quarter-finals with the score of 6W 0L in group A as everyone awaited. FunPlus Phoenix has been eliminated from the tournament after a disappointing loss against Rogue in a tie-breaker match. Cloud9 secured a spot in the next round led by the best player in Western League of Legends history, Perkz. Since 2018, a team from League Championship Series will battle it out in the quarter-finals again.

FunPlus Phoenix upset Chinese supporters by anchoring in the last stand in the group, while Rogue and Cloud9 put their best to break out of the inferno. Although FPX made it to the finals in their domestic league with consistent gameplay, they massively underperformed at Worlds 2021. Each player on the team looked like they were not on the same page in every single match they played during the tournament. FPX’s starting roster will probably have changed before the next season begins.

 

Group B

Edward Gaming fell to second place, T1 took the lead

After missing international tournaments in 2020, T1 came back to the stage to demonstrate that they are still the most accomplished organization of all time. Although T1 reached the finals after defeating GEN in the semifinals in LCK Summer Split, owing to the Championship Points, they took part at Worlds 2021 as the third seed. Their roster comprises rookie players like Oner and Gumayusi and veteran members such as Cuzz, Teddy, and Faker. Canna and Keria are two of the most talented players in the World Championship. T1 upraised prospects for the rest of the tournament while facing off against Edward Gaming in the same group. Faker created a chance for his team to hoist the Summoner’s Cup again, as he did in 2016. They qualified for the knockout stage by making out of the group ahead of EDG as 100 Thieves beat LPL’s best team with outstanding gameplay that we never expected from them.

Possibly DWG — EDG match-up has been seen on the horizon at the end of the second day. LPL teams underperformed in the second round-robin and RNG will soon join that convoy. Their pathway to the finals does not look encouraging. On the other hand, no one could say that North America is not fighting. 100 Thieves fell into the same group with two titans, and except for their second match against T1, they put on an admirable performance with a total of three victories, two of which were against DFM.

 

Group C

Hanwha Life bounced back from 1–2, RNG dodged Korean teams in the quarters

This group may have been thought to be tedious under RNG’s sovereignty. However, Hanwha Life Esports, who advanced from the play-in stage to the main event, made trouble in the second round-robin and took RNG to a tiebreaker match. Although they lost the last match against MSI 2021 champion, Hanwha Life controlled the early-mid game until things went into the late. RNG utilized their opponent’s inexperience to play on the big stage. After skewering Hanwha Life in an intense game, they escaped from DWG and T1 in the quarter-finals.

Another team that exceeded prospects in the tournament was Hanwha Life Esports. They made group C more thrilling to watch and showed that RNG is not among the favorite teams of the 2021 World Championship. Moving forward to the knockout stage is an absolute victory for LCK’s fourth seed. Hanwha Life will return to Korea with their heads held high even if they lose in the quarters.

Fnatic and PSG Talon were knocked out from the tournament. When everything was over, that question occurred to mind: If Upset had played for FNC (he returned to his country because of personal issues before the group stage came out, according to the statement), would Fnatic have made it out of the group?

 

Group D

MAD advanced to the knockout stage somehow, GEN claimed the first seed

For the first time in League of Legends World Championship history, all four teams in the group tied in 3W-3L. It was known that there could be a close war between MAD, TL, GEN, and LNG to pick up a ticket for the quarters, but no one thought of a four-way tiebreaker.

MAD Lions could not make a great start against both TL and Eastern representatives. However, the second round-robin was where the node broke and MAD changed matters to their advantage by recalling the working formula. They played a striking game that we used to watch in LEC when the issues get rough. Kaiser turned his decision-maker role and the coaching staff prioritized comfort picks for the rest of the team. People knew that even if they fell behind the opposite teams in most of the remaining matches, MAD’s team fight ingenuity could bring them needed wins.

 

Tiebreaker matches

LEC Champion took LNG Esports to the tiebreaker after beating TL and GEN. Each one of League of Legends fans’ eyes were on this match. MAD focused on keeping control of the top side, attempts to kill Hu “Ale” Jia-Le repeatedly failed and LNG was closer to the next round until the game went on to the late. Matyas “Carzzy” Orsag ruled over skirmishes around the neutral objectives by outperforming the opponent. With two wins over the LPL representative in the second round-robin, MAD secured a spot in the quarterfinals and they will be the only European team to compete in the knockout stage.

Team Liquid was the other team to handle Eastern dominance in group D. The NA second seed took down both LNG and GEN with a solid game led by CoreJJ, who hoisted the Summoner’s Cup with Ruler four years ago. Team Liquid kept their hope alive until their loss against GEN in the tiebreaker match. They could qualify for the next round, but Gwak ’’Bdd’’ Bo-Seong played one of his career games with Zoe and pushed TL out of the quarterfinals.

 

We hope you enjoyed the article ‘Worlds 2021 group stage recap’ Which teams do you think will make it to the final? Let us know!

 

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