Analysis and Opinion

DAWNBRINGER: Worlds Daily, October 18 incl. Knockout Draw Reactions

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

GEN vs MAD: GEN win
GEN Graves Lee Sin Syndra Aphelios Rakan
MAD Gwen Viego Azir Miss Fortune Leona

Ruler Life take FT. MAD try to force fights; GEN nice disengages. MAD brilliant Baron sneak. GEN trade away a Baron to get infernal soul. MAD flip another Baron, Bdd kills them.

LNG vs TL: TL win
LNG Gwen Viego Lissandra Ezreal Yuumi
TL Graves Trundle Leblanc Tristana Rell

Santorin camps mid. Alphari bullies lane. Tactical CoreJJ prio->H1->FT. Jensen solo Ks icon. Tactical gets Light mid. TL play for tempo/turrets. CoreJJ engage->Baron.

GEN vs LNG: LNG win
GEN Irelia Lee Sin Azir Aphelios Lulu
LNG Fiora Xin Zhao Syndra Miss Fortune Rakan

Ale steals Burdol’s lunch money. Flame horizon pre-17:00. LNG extreme-slow-play mid game, Ale mistake gives up Baron but LNG lead so big it doesn’t mean much.

MAD vs TL: MAD win
MAD Kennen Viego Sylas Miss Fortune Rakan
TL Jarvan IV Trundle Twisted Fate Aphelios Thresh

Carzzy Kaiser 2v2 kill Tactical, FB. CoreJJ Santorin roam the whole map. Mid-game super back-and-forth. MAD 5v5 better in late-game around neutrals.

TL vs GEN: TL win
TL Gnar Lee Sin Syndra Jhin Rakan
GEN Renekton Taliyah Yone Miss Fortune Leona

Tense early, TL narrowly win skirmishes, stack drakes. GEN up in farm, turrets, but TL get soul, prevent GEN from trading Baron. Jensen CoreJJ engage secures Elder+Baron->end.

LNG vs MAD: MAD win
LNG Jax Lee Sin Irelia Ziggs Leona
MAD Gwen Poppy Orianna Lucian Nami

Kaiser bubbles win the early game. Carzzy Humanoid get fed. Humanoid solo Ks icon. MAD snowball, play mid-game very cautiously: Barons, inhibs, four-way tiebreaker secured!

TIEBREAKER 1 – GEN vs TL: GEN win
GEN Graves Jarvan IV Zoe Miss Fortune Yuumi
TL Jayce Xin Zhao Syndra Tristana Rell

TL lead early off good HLD rotation. GEN bring it back. Bdd great mid-game snipes. Rascal solo Ks Alphari->Jensen steals Baron. Bdd poke earns mtn soul, Baron.

TIEBREAKER 2 – MAD vs LNG: MAD win
MAD Gnar Qiyana Leblanc Ezreal Rakan
LNG Kennen Viego Ryze Miss Fortune Leona

MAD fail top dives badly, Ale outplays. LNG pick Elyoya, get Baron, but MAD kill 4. MAD try for Baron w/ Elyoya dead->LNG cloud soul. Indescribable late-game action.

TIEBREAKER 3 – GEN vs MAD: GEN win
GEN Kennen Olaf Syndra Miss Fortune Yuumi
MAD Irelia Lee Sin Viktor Lucian Nami

GEN have more jump early, but play slow with the lead. MAD linger. GEN Baron; MAD 4-3 fight. Armut bad engage; GEN soul. Bdd huge catches, Baron, Elder. What a game.

Takeaways

Mid Lane Standouts

The story of Group D’s final day was the story of mid lane carry performances.

Team Liquid fell short in the tiebreaker, but the fact they were even in a tiebreaker was largely thanks to Jensen‘s excellent day. His LeBlanc carried against LNG Esports, his Twisted Fate was highly influential, and he made key plays on Syndra to take down Gen.G. Jensen has had huge international showings before, and this will feel especially sweet for him (individually speaking) after a relatively weak domestic year. Sadly it wasn’t quite enough to push through the Quarterfinals.

REYKJAVIK, ICELAND – OCTOBER 18: Team Liquid’s Nicolaj “Jensen” Jensen walks off stage at the League of Legends World Championship Groups Stage on October 18, 2021 in Reykjavik, Iceland. (Photo by Lance Skundrich/Riot Games)

Part of the reason Jensen’s efforts weren’t enough is that he came up against Bdd. For as much as GEN have been criticized for some of how they played in the group stage, Bdd himself was among the very strongest individual performers of Groups as a whole. His Zoe carried GEN into the Quarterfinals, and his Syndra was the lynchpin of GEN’s victory over the MAD Lions in the final tiebreaker.

Speaking of MAD, I also want to give props to Humanoid. He had a somewhat more mixed performance, overall, but he particularly impressed me with his team fighting on LeBlanc, preceded by a good Orianna game, to beat LNG twice in a row and reach the Quarterfinals. He also drew a ton of ban pressure against GEN, showing how much respect he engenders from his opponents.

All in all, it was a great day for mid laners not-named-icon. :(

Bracket Draw Quick Reactions

Cloud9 draw up against Gen.G: This is good!

MAD Lions draw DWG KIA: This is bad.

C9 definitely have a shot to take down Gen.G. A lot will come down to draft prep, and which team understands their own strengths best.

EDward Gaming against Royal Never Give Up means there will be one LPL team in the Semifinals. But that doesn’t mean China can’t bring the Summoner’s Cap back home. I still see EDG as a favourite to win the tournament, despite their stumble against 100 Thieves that has pushed DWG KIA a bit higher in most people’s expectations.

Other than EDG, if any second-place team is going to take down DWG KIA, it’s going to be MAD. They don’t back down from anyone, and while they’ll be huge underdogs, their aggression and persistence should make it at minimum a very entertaining series, and potentially an upset in the making.