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
GAME 1: DK win
DK Gwen Lee Sin Syndra Miss Fortune Rakan
MAD Gnar Graves Orianna Aphelios Leona
ShowMaker and Khan bully lane. Kaiser Elyoya mid gank gets ShowMaker. DK get picks in bot, use Heralds to snowball. Canyon and BeryL make strong plays. DK crush mid-game.
GAME 2: DK win
MAD Jayce Jarvan IV Orianna Miss Fortune Rakan
DK Kennen Lee Sin Azir Jhin Leona
Elyoya Kaiser camp top; Elyoya’s super fed. DK try comeback plays but MAD maintain lead. DK bait Baron, Khan huge engage, ace, Baron. DK catch Humanoid mid, Canyon dfkljs!? DK win.
GAME 3: DK win
MAD Wukong Gragas Viktor Miss Fortune Rakan
DK Jayce Lee Sin Syndra Ziggs Pyke
Khan destroys Armut, multiple solo Ks. MAD scrap but BeryL pops off with picks. MAD punish Baron attempt, 4-0+Baron. DK protect flanks on next objectives, close at soul.
Takeaways
It’s my son’s birthday so I’ve got to keep this one brief! No video today, but I’ll try to share some additional thoughts on this series as part of tomorrow’s Gen.G vs. Cloud9 recap.
Can he carry? Yes he Canyon
Canyon is seriously just waaaay too good at League of Legends. He looks like a man on the hunt for a second Worlds title and a place in the doesn’t-exist-yet-but-really-should-soon LoL esports Hall of Fame.
It’s very rare to see a jungler reach the kind of peak Canyon did last year and then maintain it for multiple years. How many junglers have we seen take over the “best in the world” label and then fade away within a year afterwards? That’s not the story of Canyon’s career so far, and it looks like he’s got legitimate staying power to add a lot more to his legacy before he’s done.
Khan was also really good today, by the way, and BeryL was a huge difference-maker, but Canyon stole the show.
REYKJAVIK, ICELAND – OCTOBER 24: DAMWON KIA’s Dong-ha “Khan” Kim (L) and Kim “Canyon” Geon-bu
pose backstage at the League of Legends World Championship Quarterfinals Stage on October 24, 2021 in
Reykjavik, Iceland. (Photo by Colin Young-Wolff/Riot Games)