Analysis and Opinion

NIGHT VISION: Play-Ins, Day 3

Welcome to Night Vision, your nightly recap of the 2020 League of Legends World Championship.

Look below for Recaps, Takeaways, and my pick for which player had a Night to Remember.

Recaps

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Game 1: LGD def. V3
V3 Renekton Lee Sin Zoe Ashe Braum
LGD Ornn Kindred Syndra Jhin Bard

LGD very awkward early rotational play gives away first dragon and Herald, but Langx solo kills Paz, Peanut steals dragon 2. LGD outscale. Absolutely sloppy but LGD eventually gold out the win.

Game 2: R7 def. UOL
R7 Camille Evelynn Lucian Ezreal Alistar
UOL Wukong Skarner Cassiopeia Senna Nautilus
Acce and Aloned control the solo lanes, AHaHaCiK gives away map control with bad gank mid. R7 punish well, hit their win conditions early.

Game 3: PSG def. V3
PSG Ornn Kindred Syndra Senna Rakan
V3 Renekton Sylas Galio Ashe Leona

Kongyue good mid lane gank work unlocks Uniboy, that duo carries hard with map pressure. Rough game for Bugi, bad invade and failed dive.

Game 4: UOL def. LGD
UOL Camille Nidalee Syndra Twitch Alistar
LGD Volibear Lillia Sylas Ezreal Bard

LGD good start, prio in side lanes, xiye FB solo kills Nomanz. But xiye ints a bit, UOL get early DRG/HLD. Gadget map-mobile, creates kills, pops off hard. BOSS good mental.

Game 5 (tiebreaker): PSG def. UOL
UOL Renekton Hecarim Ziggs Ezreal Bard
PSG Gangplank Lillia Orianna Senna Rakan

UOL get lead through mid w/ AHaHaCiK invades / Santas roams. UOL many plays in side lanes. Eventually UOL spread themselves too thin, feed Uniboy/Kongyue. Kaiwing game-winning engage.

Game 6 (tiebreaker): LGD def. V3
LGD Jax Graves Orianna Jhin Leona
V3 Camille Elise Sett Xayah Nautilus

Bugi can’t find ganks against LGD defensive laning. V3 spend tempo on drake but aren’t a scaling comp. Langx controls lane, split pushes; LGD close via team fighting and remaining drakes.

Takeaways

  • Group A has had a higher level of play than Group B. It’s not by a large margin, but the difference is there. PSG performed better than expected, but LGD was far worse, bringing down the average significantly. Impressions could change on day 4, but from the current vantage point I have to think Group A is in good position to win both of the final Bo5s.
  • Josedeodo was the brightest star in R7’s upset of UoL, thriving in a me-first carry role on Evelynn. Acce and Aloned did a lot of the work to put him in that position, using their big lane advantages (which UoL gifted them with a greedy draft). It will be fun to see whether that trio can again put their best foot forward in the Bo5s.
  • LGD‘s Play-In stage performance will be discussed for a long time. Of those who answered my Twitter poll, 57% thought LGD’s 0-2 start was just “Bad games; it’ll be fine.” But the other 43% agreed with me: LGD was playing like a bad team, and was at a very real risk of failing to qualify to the Group Stage. The final game of the day exonerated LGD partially, since they defeated V3 so convincingly, but in my opinion their overall level on the day still vindicates the minority. On the whole, LGD showed the same flawed game plans, bad reads, individual mistakes, and lack of coordination. It will take more than one win to earn back the fanbase’s trust.

Night to Remember

Uniboy and Kongyue are getting so much praise for the work they did leading PSG to qualification into the Group Stage, despite coming in as emergency subs. I don’t really have anything to add to all the other superlatives; what a set of games from these two.

Obviously offseason implications from this run could be very significant for the PCS, and I hope that drives sustained interest in the region and helps it climb back into the prominence southeast Asia has enjoyed in past years.