With the League of Legends 2021 World Championships about to begin on October 5th in Iceland, teams have been drawn into their respective groups. Star jungler Jankos of G2 Esports did the honors of drawing teams for both the play-in stage and the group stage. For the play-in stage, there are two groups with 5 members each.
Group A:
Hanwha Life Esports
LNG Esports
Infinity Esports
PEACE
RED Canids
Group B:
Beyond Gaming
Cloud9
Unicorns of Love
Galatasaray Esports
Detonation FocusMe
Looking at group A, there is no doubt in my mind about the two teams that will emerge victorious. Hanwha and LNG should absolutely demolish the other teams. These Asian powerhouses possess team fighting capabilities, mechanical prowess, and have star-studded players such as mid laner Chovy with Hanwha and jungler Tarzan with LNG. It’s weird to see these two players face off against each other when they used to be on the same roster: Griffin 2019.
Group B is a bit harder to predict. I believe Cloud9 will make it out of groups for sure with mid laner Perkz as their carry. Cloud9, being one of the top NA teams, should be able to cruise through without much trouble. Regarding the second team, I’m conflicted between Unicorns of Love and Detonation FocusMe. I think it’s a 70/30 split with Unicorns being favored. I base my decision on the fact that Unicorns were present at the Group stage in Worlds 2020 and MSI 2020.
For the group stage, there are three members with an additional team that emerges victorious from the play-in stage. The teams that have been selected are as follows –
Group A:
DWG Kia
FunPlus Phoenix
Rogue
Group B:
EDward Gaming
100 Thieves
T1
Group C:
PSG Talon
Fnatic
Royal Never Give Up
Group D:
MAD Lions
Gen.G
Team Liquid
Group A is undoubtedly the notorious “Group of Death.” The fact that DWG and FPX are both in the same group means Rogue and whoever the fourth team is has absolutely no chance. Both DWG and FPX are world champions with the former taking 2020 and the latter taking 2019. The synergy between mid laner Showmaker and jungler Canyon is unparalleled and will strike fear into their enemies. However, FPX is no easy target to bully. They have Nuguri (arguably one of the world’s best top laners), Tian (a legend amongst junglers), and their core piece: mid laner Doinb. The star is know for his “dark technology” or his wonky picks that go against the meta, most notably his Nautilus and Malphite mid. He is a player that sacrifices his lane to play the macro game, assisting lanes and pushing carries like his ADC forward. However, his laning has drastically improved from Worlds 2019, and we will be lucky to witness what firepower he will bring this year.
Group B is also pretty easy to decide. My picks are EDward Gaming and T1. EDG have very experienced veterans on their team: mid laner Scout and support Meiko. However, the most anticipated player is ADC Viper, an ex-member of the infamous Griffin 2019. When Viper is given resources by his jungler or dominates lane, his snowball potential is unmatched. He can solo-carry games and can make the difference during late game team fights. I think that if EDG implements a “Raise the puppy” strategy like how RNG did with legendary ADC Uzi, then they will be destined for success. T1 is the most successful team at worlds with a whopping three wins. This year their hopes are reliant on mid and bot in my opinion. Faker, arguably the GOAT, will most likely pull out insane mechanics and even wilder team play. To back him up, he has solid ADCs in Gumayusi and Teddy.
In Group C, if Hanwha Life makes it out, they will be placed in this group. With that in consideration, I think Group C is the hardest to predict. HLE, RNG, and FNC are of similar caliber, but I think RNG should definitely make it out. Xiaohu has been finding much success up top after his role swap and if he continues to bully people as he did with Gnar, RNG will be in a very good spot. I would say their bot lane of ADC GALA and support Ming also ranks among the world’s best. GALA is a rising star, and Ming is a legend among supports. He’s played with the best of the best like Uzi, and his vision control is spectacular. Hopefully, the MSI champions fare well. As for HLE and FNC, I think FNC has a slight edge. I would argue that FNC has better team fighting late game.
Group D is also quite difficult to rank. LNG, should they make it out of play-ins, will enter this group as well. I think MAD will come out victorious due to their strong laners and the fact that they’re currently back-to-back LEC champions. I honestly don’t know whether LNG or Gen.G will make out. LNG is very dependent on Tarzan making clutch plays and accelerating his laners. I feel that Gen.G’s Clid is a weaker jungler, but I would argue that mid BDD and ADC Ruler have the edge over mid icon and ADC Light. It’s too close to call for me. If all hell breaks loose and Team Liquid make it out instead, I’d probably just quit League forever.
