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
RNG vs HLE: RNG win
RNG Lucian Lee Sin Twisted Fate Ziggs Sett
HLE Camille Viego Sylas Kai’sa Leona
Xiaohu Wei create gold lead top, but Willer is fed. RNG stack drgs, can’t always use Ming’s engages. HLE get one fight+Baron, try to force a 2nd, RNG win 5v5 and end.
MAD vs LNG: LNG win
MAD Gnar Xin Zhao Ryze Aphelios Thresh
LNG Camille Lee Sin Syndra Jhin Leona
Lots of action top. LNG lead in Ks; MAD get H1/FT, slight lead. LNG find some plays, MAD chase for pushback and get punished. Ale solo K on Humanoid. LNG win 5v5 for drg3->Baron.
FPX vs RGE: FPX win
FPX Jayce Viego Ryze Jhin Leona
RGE Rumble Lee Sin Leblanc Miss Fortune Braum
Lwx Crisp 2v2 kill Trymbi for FB. Nuguri solo Ks Odoamne while approaching H1. RGE find a few picks, Hans sama some great individual plays, but FPX lead is too big.
PSG vs FNC: PSG win
PSG Gangplank Lee Sin Sylas Miss Fortune Braum
FNC Kennen Jarvan IV Tryndamere Jhin Thresh
FNC bad H1 fight, PSG ahead. Nisqy is fed, solo Ks Hanabi. FNC sneak Baron. Maple solo Ks Maple->FNC soul. FNC pick Maple; PSG rush Baron. PSG clutch final 5v5, Maple huge.
GEN vs TL: GEN win
GEN Camille Trundle Sylas Miss Fortune Amumu
TL Jax Sejuani Irelia Ziggs Shen
Clid lvl 2 FB gank top. GEN rotate better, get solos well ahead. GEN annihilate TL, but bad inhib dive->TL 4-1+Baron. GEN close-out macro is poor, TL linger a while until Bdd gets mad.
DK vs C9: DK win
DK Graves Xin Zhao Twisted Fate Jhin Rell
C9 Jax Qiyana Ryze Miss Fortune Leona
DK catch Blaber in river lvl 1 for FB. Khan systematically dismantles Fudge in lane. C9 find some picks but DK lead only grows. Old-school Korean dominance game.
EDG vs DFM: EDG win
EDG Jayce Lee Sin Twisted Fate Ezreal Braum
DFM Poppy Talon Sylas Jhin Leona
Steal great early ganks, attacking Scout’s lane control. Steal solo Ks Flandre. DFM up 5-0 in kills. But EDG outlane, group 5v5 and execute team fights better, ace, Baron, phew.
100 vs T1: T1 win
100 Renekton Trundle Leblanc Lucian Nami
T1 Kennen Poppy Twisted Fate Aphelios Lulu
Oner ganks bot before Closer, FB for T1. T1 win both side lanes, lead rotations; 100 contest H1 instead of crossmapping. T1 up 10k at 20m. Canna big flank engages.
Takeaways
Ender’s Shadow (Yes, I know this is a bit of a deep cut)
Credit to Fnatic for nearly taking down PSG, arguably deserving the win based on how they played most of it out, despite the tough circumstances they’re working through.
I’ve always respected FNC’s aggressive mentality and willingness to take big risks and put themselves out there. Even when they’re playing with a sub bot laner, they’re going to go out there and give it everything they’ve got, without any fear of making silly mistakes or looking dumb, and that’s exactly why they’re often able to look so good.
REYKJAVIK, ICELAND – OCTOBER 13: Fnatic’s Louis “Bean” Schmitz competes at the League of Legends World Championship Groups Stage on October 13, 2021 in Reykjavik, Iceland. (Photo by Joosep Martinson/Riot Games)
Speaking of which, BEAN deserves a special shoutout for delivering above expectations as such an inexperienced last-second substitute. I’m not going to go overboard and demand that he get an LEC spot next year — maybe he does deserve that, but if anything, his performance is yet another example of what young players can do if you put them alongside some veterans and give them a real shot to learn and grow (cough Danny, cough Tactical, cough Bwipo, need any more?) — but I do want to make sure he gets credit for his efforts.
Best of luck to BEAN and FNC in week 2.
The Higher You Reach, the Further You Fall?
Today it was Team Liquid‘s turn to get NA fans excited for a little while before ultimately losing a key game that puts them in a significant hole with a 1-2 record.
The first half of the game was pure Gen.G dominance, until GEN tried their very hardest to throw it all away at the bot lane inhibitor. But even as I sat bolt upright in my chair with that shot of adrenaline and watched TL secure the Baron afterwards, I knew that play was unlikely to presage an actual Liquid upset win. It had been a GEN throw, not really an active TL comeback play, and GEN reorganized themselves, took a couple deep breaths, and immediately resumed their clean, easy-looking win.
Having that shot of hope can make the loss hurt even worse, not only as a fan but as a player. Hopefully Team Liquid is able to take motivation and drive out of that part of their game and move into week 2 with some energy, and not just feel it as a demoralizing letdown.
Map Side Check-In
In case you haven’t been following along with the map side win rates:
- Day 1, blue side 7-1
- Day 2, blue side 2-6
- Day 3, blue side 6-2
What in the world is going on with that?