Day #5 | Thoughts LoL Worlds groups draw 2020

My first esports blog post. Yay 😬!

I saw the group draw and have some thoughts about it. Of course, I'm by no means an expert in League of Legends, just somebody who likes to watch it. My thoughts could also change after the play-in stage, but here are my initial thoughts for the LoL 2020 worlds.

Play-in Stage

My reaction to the play-in stage was overall good. I expect of course LGD and Mad Lions to get out of the groups. This is only based on the region's strength and hasn't watched to other regions. Due to PSG can't field their roster, I'm also counting them out.

So there are two spots left. I believe it will be between SuperMassive, V3, and UoL. The only reason is that they have access to the strongest regions when it comes to practice. I can speculate that UoL and SuperMassive scrims LEC teams and for V3 the same for either LCK and LPL. If I have to go on gut feeling these will be the teams that get out.

LGD, MAD Lions, UoL, V3.

Group Stage

This was pretty fun. Like everybody else, I wanted Rogue vs TSM. But it seems like we won't get that at all. Here are my thoughts for each group.

Group A - G2,  Suning

G2 and Suning will get out. Don't know about Machi Esports but would estimate the same level as PSG. G2 is just too good and Suning has known stars like SwordArt and SFM. Feels bad for Taiwan to get a hard group again, but I don't think they will surprise anyone.

Group B - DAMWON, JDG

Here I feel sorry for Rogue. DAMWON and JDG are just teams that may win the whole thing. Also, Rogue's weak point from the playoffs seemed their Top Laner Finn. In this group, you can't have a weak top laner cause you will be facing against Nuguri and Zoom. These are the top laners that can be considered the best. They will dominate Finn.

(Of course, we hope that Nuguri can play on his usual level after his recovery.)

To make things worst for Rogue. Their strongest player is their mid-laner Larssen. Problem is that he has to face off against Yagao and ShowMaker. Again players that are considered the best in their role especially ShowMaker.

The discussion should be which one will place first between JDG or DAMWON. I would say DAMWON places first but this is going to be close.

Group C  - GEN.G, LGD?

This is one of the groups that may be very interesting since I expect LGD to join this group. I believe everybody every one of these teams has a chance to be knocked-out or proceed to play-offs. However, looking at player strength respective to their region. I will say GEN.G and LGD will get out.

If I have to bet, I would say that TSM will be the one that is going to be knocked out. Bjergsen is good but won't have the same impact against these players compared to in NA. Also, TSM has a rookie jungler vs veteran and better junglers in the form of Peanut, SelfMade, and Clid. These are monsters.

For FNC, I think they are not working together. I feel like they have conflicting views on how to play the game. Bwipo and Hylissang want to fight for most of the objectives. Then there is SelfMade, Rekkles, and Nemesis who wants to farm up and play around their power spikes. These conflicting views on the game can't be happening vs teams that know their identity. GEN.G is one of them.

All-in-all I think GEN.G will get out and if LGD joins this group, they as well.

Group D - TES, DRX

I truly think TES is going to win the whole thing. They have arguably the best mid-laner in the world Knight and world championship, teams usually have the most impactful mid-laner in the tournament. Look at Faker, DoinB, Rookie, and Toyz. It just the nature of the role.

For DRX I'm worried a bit. They do have a play-style which makes them sometimes vulnerable, especially in BO1s. They will draft some very hard to execute comps and lose some BO1s. I would guess 2 games at least, however, I still expect them to get out.

FlyQuest gets the Rogue treatment. Maybe even worse since I don't think any player there, can compete with their opponents. Since no player can compete with the others, I don't think they have their win condition.

Overall, I think the groups are pretty balanced except group B. I don't think the format that should allow two world contenders to be in the same group. Also, don't think DAMWON should have gotten JDG. Imagine that you win the LCK and then get a harder group than GEN.G.

But this is the only outlier. The other first seeds (G2, TSM, TE) should be happy with their group and our the favorites except maybe TSM.

The Chinese teams are also favorites to get out since they don't have to quarantine compared to teams from abroad.

All-in-all I'm excited about worlds since this will be the biggest esports offline tournament in 2020. 🔥