Welcome to Dawnbringer, your daily recap of the 2021 League of Legends World Championship.
Every day of Worlds competition, I’ll post a brief rundown of each game, along with some larger takeaways about the team and player performances we’re seeing and what it might mean for the rest of the tournament.
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Game Recaps
DK vs FPX: DK win
DK Graves Trundle Leblanc Miss Fortune Yuumi
FPX Jayce Jarvan IV Galio Kai’sa Nautilus
FPX try to play through top side. BeryL and ShowMaker respond well, DK get Ks and steal H1. DK snowball turrets with HLDs, super clean close-out.
RNG vs PSG: RNG win
RNG Syndra Jarvan IV Twisted Fate Miss Fortune Rell
PSG Kennen Lee Sin Tryndamere Aphelios Thresh
Ming Flashes in lvl 1 for 2v2 FB. RNG play to top. Huge mid-game snowball. RNG over-dive bot, Maple 4K. PSG force Baron, get it but RNG win fight, take inhib, end from there.
HLE vs FNC: HLE win
HLE Kennen Lee Sin Yasuo Aphelios Thresh
FNC Sett Graves Ryze Miss Fortune Braum
Bwipo all over Willer early. Chovy mid prio gives HLE good presence, despite Adam roams mid. HLE out-skirmish, extend lead steadily through mid-game.
LNG vs GEN: GEN win
LNG Gwen Lee Sin Sylas Aphelios Rakan
GEN Renekton Xin Zhao Zoe Miss Fortune Leona
Bdd TPs top off first reset for a dive, then solo Ks icon twice. GEN play a slow, secure macro game, control river/dragons, win conclusive fight at soul to end.
T1 vs DFM: T1 win
T1 Graves Talon Azir Jhin Yuumi
DFM Sett Lillia Orianna Ezreal Leona
Gumayusi Keria get FB 2v2. Keria starts sitting on Oner’s Talon and they run around and get comically fed together. T1 break mid, defend DFM plays top. DFM got Onered.
EDG vs 100: EDG win
EDG Graves Lee Sin Leblanc Kai’sa Nautilus
100 Aatrox Jarvan IV Zoe Miss Fortune Yuumi
FBI huhi pressure bot but EDG win top harder with H1/FT. 100 engages earn kill trades, but Flandre is destroying sides. EDG ace, Jiejie 4K, end on next push.
TL vs MAD: TL win
TL Camille Xin Zhao Leblanc Ezreal Leona
MAD Jax Jarvan IV Twisted Fate Aphelios Rell
Alphari controls lane; Santorin camps for him. TL ahead. MAD want to fight, good one at 20m but over-reach mid a couple times. TL win the fights w/ Santorin plays, Tactical carry.
RGE vs C9: RGE win
RGE Rumble Qiyana Twisted Fate Lucian Nami
C9 Gnar Xin Zhao Sylas Miss Fortune Yuumi
C9 lead 2v2 action bot. Blaber bad invade gets punished. Larssen controls Perkz. C9 take bad fights; RGE get huge lead, able to resist C9’s comeback tries.
Takeaways
The Day’s Best Performer Was Not Who You’d Expect
If you asked me to predict who would have the biggest individual game on the first day of the main group stage, I certainly would not have put Oner on my shortlist, but the 18-year-old T1 jungler went absolutely wild, supported very impressively by Keria‘s Yuumi. (A strong argument could be made for Keria to get the honour but it’s my article and I’m picking Oner so there.) The Talon/Yuumi combo proved devastating as T1 steamrolled DetonatioN FocusMe.
REYKJAVIK, ICELAND – OCTOBER 11: T1 reacts on stage after a victory match at the League of Legends World Championship Groups Stage on October 11, 2021 in Reykjavik, Iceland. (Photo by Michal Konkol/Riot Games)
Other candidates could include Bdd, who solo killed icon twice, and ShowMaker, who also got to wear a Yuumi backpack and took good advantage of it.
REYKJAVIK, ICELAND – OCTOBER 11: Gen.G’s Gwak “Bdd” Bo-seong competes at the League of Legends World Championship Groups Stage on October 11, 2021 in Reykjavik, Iceland. (Photo by Michal Konkol/Riot Games)
Santorin also deserves a shoutout for his good Xin Zhao work in Team Liquid’s upset over the MAD Lions.
LNG Overrated?
Buoyed by their showing in the Play-Ins, and surrounded by the aura of an LPL representative, LNG Esports came into the group stage with many fans believing they would win their group.
I do not agree with that assessment. I put LNG last in their group in my Pick ‘Ems.
Gen.G slowly, steadily dismantled LNG today, led of course by Bdd from the mid lane but mostly executing a clean, solid macro game and giving LNG nothing to work with as GenG slowly, steadily increased their lead until they were in an unloseable position.
Play-Ins were fools’ gold for LNG. They faced weak opposition, by Worlds standards. I mean no disrespect towards their minor region opponents, but I do mean to cast some further aspersions upon Hanwha Life Esports, who I have been consistently taking issue with in these write-ups, but who nearly beat LNG in their Play-In game, if you’ll recall.
In my Pick ‘Ems, I don’t have either HLE or LNG making it to the Quarterfinals. Today’s evidence makes me feel pretty okay with those predictions.
I’m So Blue I Don’t Know What To Do
The blue side of the map went 7-1 today, with only GenG breaking the trend by taking down LNG Esports from the red side.