Worlds 2021: Group Stage Wrap-Up and Playoff Predictions
As of Monday, October 18th, the group stage of the League of Legends world championship has ended.
We saw the miracle run from Cloud9 in group A, starting 0-3, and finishing 3-4, beating Rogue in a tiebreaker. We witnessed the resurgence of dominance from Faker and “T1” in group B, clawing back into the lead after defeating every team in their group to upset the top Chinese team, EDG.
A brawl between RNG and Hanwha Life Esports in group C as the two ran away with the group, and finally a four-way tie in group D in which the MAD Lions and Gen.G came out on top of.
This means the quarter-finals are set, and the stakes couldn’t be higher going into Friday.
Quarterfinals Previews
The first match is set to be a rematch of the Korean regular season, between T1 and Hanwha Life Esports. In the past year, T1 and Hanwha have met on multiple occasions, T1 winning three out of the four best of one game, and defeating Hanwha 3-2 in the regional qualifiers. This match is set to be one of the best in the quarterfinals
On Saturday, MSI champions RNG will take on their regional champions of EDG. EDG and RNG were the top teams in the LPL (Chinese League of Legends) during the spring. They met in the semi-finals in which RNG defeated EDG 3-2. Then during the summer, RNG’s performance dipped following their MSI victory, allowing EDG to win the summer season. Another great matchup, in which EDG can slay their demons.
Following up on Sunday is arguably the best match of the quarterfinals. Europe’s MAD Lions versus Korea’s Damwon KIA. Both teams were considered favorites coming into worlds, both won their respective regions and represented them at MSI. Damwon finished the group stages with an impressive 6-0 record, while MAD Lions escaped as the only European team in the quarterfinals by the skin of their teeth in a four-way tie. Will Damwon best MAD once again? Or can MAD be the team to finally take down the reigning world champs?
Finally, on Monday, Cloud9 looks to keep their run alive against Gen.G. Cloud9 is the only North American representative remaining, they were able to escape play-ins, then escape the group of death, defeating world favorites FPX. Gen.G on the other hand was one of the survivors of the four-way tie in group D. They are underdogs, but Cloud9 has looked impressive.
Predictions
My predictions are as follows; T1 will defeat Hanwha in a blowout, 3-0 or 3-1. EDG will eliminate the MSI champs RNG in a close 3-2. Damwon will once again put down the MAD Lions in another close 3-2 matchup. Then the final matchup will have Cloud9 carry the hopes of North America in a 3-1 victory over Gen.G.
All in all, the quarterfinals are all great matches, as NA fans, let’s hope we can finally make it to the finals.
