| Players to watch |
| Group A |
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| Group B |
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| Group C |
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| Group D |
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| Conclusion |
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Thanks for making it this far! (And let's be real, it was very far.) More info on our Fantasy Tournament can always be found here! Next article will be of a similar format, with a summary of the events during the group stage and a preview of the knockout phase. If you have any feedback or thoughts regarding the article, feel free to leave a comment on send me a private message! Enjoy Worlds 2022, have fun building your team and may the odds ever be in your favour! |
| Lots of credit to LoL.fandom Wiki for their collection of player portraits, up-to-date statistics, overviews and all-around fantastic work documenting LoL esports. |
| Thanks to Magrob from E-go for providing me with some of the player data! |
Thanks to @ Jovy for the signature!
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In this installment we'll be taking a look at the results from the first tournament stage, the fantasy league standings and the top points-earning players so far! But there is more. Since the group stage commences only a few days later already, we'll take a preview at the teams and players to watch as well. Only a few can be highlighted, but let's note the group stage is absolutely stacked, so you can almost never go wrong while building your teams!
With their full squad, Fnatic continued their dominance led by Upset, who ended up with the highest KDA during play-ins. Despite getting absolutely demolished by LOUD in perhaps the biggest upset of the tournament so far, it did not matter as Fnatic topped group A and locked in a spot in the group stage.
This brings me to the Brazilian side LOUD, who performed better than most would have expected. With an explosive, passionate style, they consistently put up a tough fight and even locked the 3rd place! Their victory over Fnatic was the cherry on top. Truly a great example of how a team can be better than the sum of their parts.
Despite the new challengers and their loss to FNC, Evil Geniuses were left unfazed as they bounced back with 3 wins in a row. Inspired and Impact were the driving forces behind their success, as they also had to miss botlaner Danny. Though substitue Kaori has been pulling his weight considering his short time on the main roster. A solid look for EG, until they stumbled at the finishline and lost to DFM, losing them out on a chance for 1st place.
At the same time a solid DetonatioN FocusMe had clearly learned from their MSI experience, tieing with both LOUD and EG at a 3-2 record to secure a top 4 spot.
EG took the previous upset personally, making quick work of both DFM and LOUD in tiebreakers to secure their 2nd place. The Japanese and Brazilian representatives luckily got another shot at groups through a Bo5.
Left without consolation prize were Beyond Gaming and The Chiefs. BYG stranded on a respectable 2-3 finish, ultimately proving to be too inconsistent and scrappy in their play to contest for a group stage spot. Tragedy for the OCE fans as their team ended dead last without a single win. Hopefully more luck next year!
Despite the loss to DRX, Royal Never Give Up furthermore had not much trouble showcasing they're still a top LPL team. GALA leveling up during international tournaments is basically a given by now, as he carried his team to the runner-up spot.
Perhaps more interesting was to see how the dark horses in this group would fare. MAD Lions didn't look very clean throughout their 5 matches, but ultimately took the expected 3rd spot to the Bo5s. Largely on the back of botlaner UNF0RGIVEN and especially jungler Elyoya with massive performances.
Best of the rest were the brave young lads of Saigon Buffalo. Although they ended up losing to all 3 major region teams, their games were most certainly entertaining to watch with their unconvential picks and agressive style. And consistently beating the other minor region teams still netted them a chance to advance through Bo5s.
It wouldn't be a group of death without sacrifices along the way. Turkish and Latin American representatives Wildcats and Isurus proved to still be a tier below the others to end at the bottom of the barrel. In their last game matching up against each other, Isurus overcame the Wildcats to save their honour in front of the home crowd.
Next up was a battle among minor regions, with Brazil's LOUD vs Japan's DetonatioN FocusMe. The first game was immediately a banger. When it looked like DFM would take over the game after some great teamfighting, LOUD jungler Croc found 2 back to back Baron and Dragon steals to keep the Brazilian side in the game. Robo's insane
In the next round we finally got another Bo5 between Europe and North America! EG and MAD Lions faced off with their honour and a group stage qualification at stake. It promised to be perhaps the most interesting match so far. From the very start it immediately became clear EG had done their homework. Banning out Elyoya's carry junglers and Armut's signature
In the final series to determine the group stage participants, DFM matched up against LPL behemoths RNG. It looked like an impossible mission, but the minor region team had nothing to lose. They crawled their way to victory through great teamfighting in a similar fashion to how they defeated LOUD a day prior. 1-0 to DFM, but RNG isn't MSI champion without reason. From then on they started drafting better to their strengths, putting Xiaohu and Wei on a high-agency mid/jungle duo every game. Especially Wei then proceeded to demolish DFM with his renowned
Breathing in their neck or even overtaking them should be T1. While their summer was a bit rough, their results were still impressive. And the meta changes coming into the tournament might benefit them a lot, with carry toplaners for best performing player Zeus and more playmaking supports for Keria.
I'm sure Cloud9 will put up a good fight, but I'm not sure if that'll be enough. They certainly do have the experience with players like Jensen, Blaber and Zven. Add some X-factor from rookie botlaner Berserker and you got a solid mix to deal some damage. On top of that the org as a whole has historically always been the best performing LCS team at the Worlds stage.
The biggest questionmark here is Fnatic to me. They looked okay during play-in stage, but might still be a tad too inconsistent to win vs EDG or T1. Their main strength is through Upset, but their opponents have some insanely good botlanes of their own to match. And with jungle meta shifting away a bit from
For the runner-up spot it will most likely be a tossup between G2 and DWG KIA. Both have had their fair share of struggles, especially Damwon. But on paper the Worlds meta should be in their favour. Perhaps I'm too influenced by EU Hopium, but my prediction is that G2 will advance to the knockout stage over the Korean 3rd seed. My reasoning is that G2 has always been a squad with a certain X factor to them, always willing to innovate. Usually when a meta hasn't fully settled down yet, they are the ones to figure things out quickly and surprise their opponents. As seen at MSI just a few months ago. On the other hand Damwon is still a very solid team and the mid/jungle duo of Showmaker and Canyon alone should be enough to get wins.
Sorry NA fans, but group stage is the final destination of the Evil Geniuses. EG's main winconditions are Inspired and Jojopyun. But all the other teams of their group have among the very best mid/jungle duos of their own, while being straight up stronger across the rest of the map.
Coming in second I see the LEC's first time champion Rogue. Since some time they have been known as one of the most consistent European teams, but they would always fall short right before the finish. Until 2022 summer. Playing in an arena suddenly saw them levelling up massively and overcoming their demons. The Worlds stage might be the ideal opportunity to continue that form. Rogue might lack the absolute starpower of a TES or DRX, but they got great players across all roles and so there's always a member to step up.
During play-ins we've seen a cleaner DRX, but I think they're still vulnerable. There is still some uncertainty regarding their jungle spot, as they've fielded both Pyosik and Juhan during Play-ins so far. Rotating might hurt their stability in the long run. Midlaner Zeka has looked fantastic so far, but it's no secret he has been relient on his
It's not easy to gauge VCS first seed GAM Esports, but we've heard some great things from them. Back in Vietnam they have been an unstoppable force with 2 back to back titles this year. It's not really a surprise with how experienced their roster is and those who have seen Mr. Buffalo play the past few days know that the VCS teams never are easy opponents. However, they have been struggling a bit more this summer. And while I can totally see them taking a game off a big team, I don't expect them to make it out of the group.
RNG are the other obvious choice to make it out. We've seen them struggle during play-ins, but even that is a bit of an exaggeration. Even when not at 100%, this squad has enough quality to beat the other teams in the group. And extra stage games beforehand to test out the meta might be a big advantage.
I can see either of CFO or 100T taking the 3rd place, but I don't think it'd be much more than that. Flying Oyster (yes I agree it's the best team name in existence) were one game away from winning spring split as well, so note they are definitely no slouches. They also have several veteran players that have attended Worlds on different teams before. They might not reach the level of Gen.G or RNG, but with the momentum from winning the PCS, I think they can beat 100 Thieves, who struggled more lately. During their playoff run C9 beat them twice in a row, and against EG who had to field substitute Kaori for the first time they only barely made it. So 3rd or 4th, either way I don't think they can advance.