Welcome To Worlds 2019
Last year gave us WTF is a meta?
Earlier this year we wondered what organizational structure was.
This season was long with adversity for teams and fanbases alike. Raizada broke Rick Fox in financials and spirit, our expectations for this year’s worlds video were let down, and the hopes and dreams of 90% of the fans and teams shattered into oblivion.
But that all doesn’t matter now. It’s time for the main event WORLDS!! In no particular order, let us see who will attempt to climb the mountain.
SKT: The Unkillable Demon King is bloodthirsty for revenge. Heck RIOT is helping him with Oriana buffs. He is the esport version of Old Boy; no group of death or hype machine will stop him on his 2-year broccoli fueled quest for global vengeance. After losing at MSI and starting the summer 0-5, SKT got their shit together to win their 2nd consecutive title. I don’t know if that’s mental toughness or fragility as SKT always seems to trip over themselves domestically if they don’t win internationally.
FunPlusPheonix: In the absence of IG’s dominance comes a new challenger with a name that doesn’t quite roll off the tongue right away. Throughout the year this squad dominated the regular season with convincing wins over the likes of IG and RNG. In past splits never seemed to be able to get over the hump however, they cast aside their demons this summer to rule China.
RNG: King Uzi was banished from his own kingdom by a surprise attack from the G2 samurai shogun. He bid his time to reclaim what was rightfully his. This would be no easy task as the meta became faster and harder to carry as an ADC. The clan that usurped their power are now oppressive warlords with much larger aspirations for world domination. Unfortunately, the rest of China got sick of seeing RNG and IG winning year after year and banished you to the group of death.
G2: After making a surprise run last year. The clan made a power move to recruit one of the youngest and most feared warriors whose exploits have been rumored throughout the Rift; CAPS! There were concerns that the hype was too much and that the success would hinder their mental fortitude. Then the samurai shogun wasted no time in committing wanted destruction across the land. Team after team were obliterated and left with the smoldering remains of their nexus. They saw MSI nothing more than a mere exhibition. Worlds is the only thing standing between them and world domination. We might be witnessing the reincarnation of the 2013 SKT squad.
Griffin: Let me take you back to the start of the season in the Spring. Griffin looked by far through and through the class of the LCK ripping apart teams with unprecedented efficiency and running circles around their competition mechanically styling on them any chance they could. After SKT dominated them in finals, Griffin was just never the same. Teams caught on to some of their tricks and that dominance that defined their spring conquest just wasn’t there. Worlds is always the perfect opportunity to shed Summer Split woes to construct a deep playoff run.
Fnatic: You guys were so close to beating G2 twice. You’ll need an exorcism to purge demons like that. Your punishment, oh nothing just a group with both SKT and RNG. You’re going to need some of that 2017 magic to make it and survive. It’s a shame as this squad has really banded together. Nemesis has done a great job in satisfying the expectations left in CAPS’ absence. Reckless, lead your squad to glory!
Splyce: How many cardiac medics and aeds are you going to need after that nail-biter of a series against the Unicorns. Humanoid has emerged as another product in the prestigious line of EU mid-laners. Bugs of underachieving in previous models like Febiven have been smoothed out. They seem to fill a similar niche to Misfits as they are creative with their picks, but a little more practical and scaling focused than the grinning bunny. Kobbe has been playing like a man-possessed, and by possessed I mean having Jhin whisper into his ear as he snipes people who have slivers of health.
Team Liquid: Ah that time where we either hope for our local domestic empire to collapse in groups or we begrudgingly route for them come playoff time. You guys even broke the curse of Doublelift at MSI. You were even gift-wrapped an easy group with an IG team looking vulnerable, with the exception of DAMWON. I am not fully sold on the TL hype train yet. Make it out of groups, then we’ll talk.
C9: The meme team didn’t even need the gauntlet this year to make it to worlds now that they don’t need to work out any bugs early in the summer or late in the spring. Sneaky and his witty band of cosplay crusaders are charging headfirst into the 2 arguably most aggressive teams in G2 and Griffin. The only question is if the lack of warming up in the play-in stage going cause us to fruitlessly spin the tires throughout groups. Either that or G2 carries us out of groups by pulling some bullshit against Griffin.
CG: You had me worried during playins that you would choke but after getting revenge on the Unicorns, it was smooth sailing from there. This squad is defined by young raw talent that is showing increasingly frequent flashes of brilliance. My only concern is that they play a fairly one-dimensional game with early brawls around the Rift Herald. Their champion pool also acts as a double edged sword and it forces phase 1 bans leaving power picks open but can also leave them looking for answers when those pocket picks don’t work. Oh, and you're in the group of death; have a nice day.
GAM (Still like to call them Gigabyte Marines): Ah yes, everybody’s favorite suicide squad that actually established themselves as a regional powerhouse without needing Levi to carry them. They don’t give a shit about how good you are or how big the stakes are at worlds. They will come early and punch you in the mouth as hard as possible. Macro is not in their vocabulary; it is either win early or fail trying.
DAMWON Gaming: Congrats on escaping a top heavy Korean region alive with a worlds berth. It also just happens to be that your region is no longer the apex region so you needed to get your hands dirty with the playin stage. A relatively young squad, this team mixes the flashiness and aggression of today’s teams with the tradition control of the old guard. Showmaker, like his name suggests, is always looking to make a big play or go for the kill. This made Team Liquids group a bit more treacherous.
CTBC J Team?: With Flash Wolves now being irrelevant without their core of Maple and Karsa, the rest of the region can now actually compete for a Worlds berth. I forgot that the region had teams other than Flash Wolves and AHQ. They seem to have a nice balance between scaling and early play-making. As an added bonus, Koala is determined for vindication on his redemption tour.
ahq eSports: The other team that is always in contention in the LMS. A team that always seems snakebitten at the group stage, they are put in a less than desirable group with teams that were domestically dominant in major regions. But hey it’s Worlds, anything can happen!
Hong Kong Attitude: The swag dragons made it out of play-ins and into groups with relatively smooth efficiency disposing of their knockout-stage opponent with little drama. Also, I miss the old logo of the dragon in shades that was the best part of the 2nd longest game in league history. For the record I saw that game in which Teddy accumulated 1456 CS in a 94 minute base defense against his current team SKT.
(For the record, I don’t really follow the LMS so I have little context as to how they play and won’t go into that much detail.”
Predictions As for who I think will make it out of groups, this year is a different beast in which all but 1 group look like murderers' row. For this flamepost’s sake, Here’s who I think will make it out, playoff predictions yet to be determined.
Group A G2 and C9
Group B FPX and Splyce
Group C SKT and FNC
Group D TL and IG May our sacrifices please the Rift Gods.