Worlds 2021 Group Stage Complete, Quarterfinals Bracket Drawn
Today market the conclusion of the League of Legends 2021 World Championship Group Stage, ending with a bang after Group D ended up in a four-way tie, three wins and three losses each, decided by two tie breakers. In the first week of the Groups, things were looking grim for North American and European fans, as Cloud 9 was yet to get a win, and LEC Champions MAD Lions had lost two games to what were expected to be dominant wins.
To start off the second week, NA and EU teams Cloud 9 and Rogue rose to the occasion in Group A, upsetting one of the teams favorites to win Worlds, FunPlus Phoenix. Cloud 9 and Rogue both defeated FPX, resulting in a three-way tie of two wins and four losses. The tiebreakers were blessed with Rogue v. FPX to start, followed by C9 v. FPX if Rogue were to lose, giving the west two chances to take out the former World Champions.
European fans were thrilled to watch Rogue unravel and pick apart FPX, making the 2019 World Champions the first team to be sent home. The west had secured a spot in the quarterfinals, with Cloud 9 v. Rogue as the tiebreaker to decide whether it was a North American or European team to join Damwon in the playoffs. The tiebreaker was incredibly close, but ultimately Cloud 9 prevailed, with leader and star player Perkz taking control of the game on LeBlanc.
The next day was once again filled with hope for North America in Group B, but after LCS Champions 100 Thieves lost to 3-time World Champions T1, they were unable to qualify for playoffs. 100 Thieves did not exit without a fight however, as they managed to prevail over the LPL Champions and potential 2021 World Champions Edward Gaming, dropping EDG to second place below T1.
Following 100 Thieves’ exit from the tournament, Group C started the next day with hope for European team FNATIC, who claimed a clutch victory over MSI and Spring Split Champions Royal Never Give Up. Unfortunately for FNATIC, their Worlds journey would end there, as their night concluded with losses to Hanwha Life Esports and PSG Talon. The final fight of the night was a tiebreaker for first seed in the group, between HLE and RNG. The game was looked to be in HLE’s favor but after a long neck and neck game, Chinese team RNG claimed their victory.
Before entering today’s games in Group D, European fans sat anxiously in wait, as they were potentially going to have no teams sent through to playoffs. Spring and Summer split LEC Champions MAD Lions had other plans however, as after a disheartening loss to LCK’s Gen.G managed to take two wins over Team Liquid and LNG to put themselves at three wins, three losses. Hope was on the horizon for North American fans too, as Team Liquid took two close victories over Gen.G and LNG, leaving the group in a four way tie, each team with three wins and three losses.
The two tie-breakers to decide the teams moving on to playoffs were Gen.G v. Team Liquid, and MAD Lions v. LNG. The first game started relatively close, but the game started to slip away from Team Liquid as players got picked off and the gold lead bled larger and larger, resulting in Gen.G’s victory.
The second game was one of the closest games seen this tournament, with things looking grim for MAD as multiple attempted dives on LNG’s Top laner Ale failed, resulting in a considerable gold difference in favor of LNG. Although behind, the MAD Lions kept their cool, closing the gold lead back up with taking of objectives and an increase in pressure towards the top lane.
As the players moved toward full item builds, the game became neck and neck, each team on an essentially even playing field. A trade of the Baron Nashor for the lives of four LNG players swung things slightly in MAD’s favor, allowing them to take towers despite the loss of the Baron. Following this minutes later MAD claimed the Elder Dragon and subsequently the Baron Nashor, allowing them to breach into LNG’s base and take their inhibitors. While MAD Lions retreated, LNG launched an attack, taking down Armut and forcing the remaining four to Lions to return to their base.
LNG saw this as an opportunity to end the game, taking one of the two nexus towers in MAD’s base, but after some incredibly clutch teamfighting, MAD fought them off and held their base, and their Worlds run along with it. While LNG’s remaining two members fled the scene to reset, Armut had respawned and teleported into the enemy base, launching a backdoor on their base. The MAD players in base chased the LNG players onwards, preventing them from defending their base, and after a perfectly placed Trueshot Barrage from Carzzy, the remaining LNG players were slain, and MAD Lions were able to destroy the enemy nexus and secure their place in the quarterfinals.
Following the forty-six minute extravaganza, the first and second seeds were to be decided between the tiebreaker victors, which was Gen.G v. MAD Lions. The game was close but the stakes weren’t as high, and ultimately Gen.G came out on top securing the first seed of Group D.
QUARTERFINALS PLAYOFF DRAW
Following the nail-biting conclusion to the Group Stage, the bracket was drawn for the quarterfinals, with the most notable draw being MAD Lions v. DWG KIA, sparking a rematch from the Mid-Season Invitational Semi-Finals, which ended in a 3-2 victory for DWG. As the year has progressed however, Damwon has looked like the clear favorites to win Worlds 2021, so not only European fans but North American and Chinese fans are surely hoping for an upset in this best of five, in order to give their teams a better chance to take the trophy.
Playoffs commence on the 22nd of October, starting with HLE v. T1, followed daily by RNG v. EDG, MAD v. DK, and finally C9 v. Gen.G.
