Night Vision is your nightly recap of the 2020 League of Legends World Championships.
Look below for Recaps, Takeaways, and my pick for which player had a Night to Remember.
Recaps
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FNC vs. TSM: FNC win
FNC Volibear Graves Orianna Senna Braum
TSM Camille Nidalee Galio Jhin Leona
TSM can’t get Bjergsen out of mid to hit sides; Broken Blade never has any pressure. Selfmade sneaks dragons. TSM have to 5v5, bad for their comp, FNC easy team fights to close.
LGD vs. GEN: GEN win
LGD Renekton Lillia Orianna Jhin Pantheon
GEN Volibear Nidalee Azir Senna Tahm Kench
Peanut Langx fail early gank, Rascal FB. Rascal Clid snowballing but GEN weak rotations, LGD punishing. Bdd engage -> Baron -> 2 inhibs. LGD fight back, Baron, int a nexus rush.
TSM vs. GEN: GEN win
TSM Volibear Lillia Lucian Aphelios Thresh
GEN Ornn Graves Orianna Senna Tahm Kench
TSM lead early from lvl 1 & messy skirmish. Ruler Life >> Doublelift Biofrost but Bjergsen map-active, v. strong. TSM horrible Baron throw and bad map play to give away inhib.
FNC vs. LGD: FNC win
FNC Volibear Hecarim Orianna Ashe Leona
LGD Renekton Graves Zoe Senna Nautilus
Hylissang Rekkles >>> Kramer Mark. Selfmade picks up their advantage and runs all over the map with it.
LGD vs. TSM: LGD win
LGD Shen Nidalee Orianna Jhin Pantheon
TSM Camille Graves Zilean Ashe Braum
Xiye solo kill FBs Bjergsen. Peanut Mark working together. LGD growing lead v. slowly; TSM scaling. LGD win fight, rush Baron, get an inhib. TSM pick xiye, try Baron; LGD backdoor.
GEN vs. FNC: GEN win
GEN Renekton Nidalee Lucian Aphelios Taric
FNC Malphite Graves Lulu Senna Leona
Selfmade good FB gank mid, but Rascal Clid dive Bwipo, Ruler Life 2v2 kill Hylissang Rekkles. Game over very early. GEN play it out reasonably cleanly.
Takeaways
TSM Underdeliver
Worlds has been a massive disappointment for TSM, given their #1 seed status and the credit I gave them for being the only North American team at Worlds capable of playing through the top side of the map, which has proven to be a key aspect of the meta. Even when they seemed to have found a good foothold against GenG after being mathematically eliminated, they managed to throw and leave their fans with nothing.
And despite being pretty far behind LGD for most of their game, TSM still managed to raise some hopes by resisting LGD’s weak close-out attempts, and then throw it at the end in the most gut-wrenching way possible. It just feels awful.
On a positive note, Spica looked decent throughout the tournament, under the circumstances of who he was playing against and what his team was doing. He didn’t rack up a big highlight reel or take over games exactly, but he never felt like a weak link or a point of exploitation. That’s something he, and TSM’s fans, can feel good about going into 2021.
Early Game Supremacy
I’m not sure we’ve ever seen such reliable snowballs and so few mid-game comebacks as we’re getting at Worlds this year. The GenG comeback against TSM was the exception that proves the rule. Level 1 plays that connected well have decided games; kills in lane and successful early ganks have massively swung outcomes.
That’s a nice thing to see for tournament favourites like Damwon and Top Esports that are known for their high skill and powerful early games.
Night to Remember
Ruler and Life absolutely dominated today. They 2v2 killed Rekkles and Hylissang in the game against Fnatic and created a big CS lead and multiple turret plates. Against LGD, their Senna and Tahm Kench saved the game when it looked like GenG’s top side lead was getting squandered. And they bot gapped Doublelift and Biofrost in the TSM game, too. Today was an absolutely dominant showing from arguably the best bot lane at Worlds this year.