Quarterfinals bracket set as SKT and C9 advance

Every single North American fan came into Worlds 2016 today thinking the same thing: why oh why didn’t Group Stages end after Week 1?

It was a mixed bag for NA. On the one hand, the region lost their great hope in TSM. On the other hand, Cloud9 managed to make it to the Quarterfinals to keep the dream alive.

It was a nailbiter of a finish here at the Bill Graham Civic Auditorium in San Francisco. North America has probably never cheered as loudly for SK Telecom T1 as they did in the final game of the day. Their hopes and dreams rested on the shoulders of the Korean giants. It would be logical to bank on them coming away with the win. Though if there is one thing that this tournament has lacked, it’s logic.

In the end SKT was able to end their losing streak to the Flash Wolves, and the Korean kryptonite made a graceful exit from the competition -- they went down fighting. It was a night that proved that the cycle of Worlds continues. Korea will live, others will die. They’ve heard of your “gap” and they’re not particularly interested in it. They’re now the only region to have three representatives in the Quarterfinals, and they did it with style -- all three teams are No. 1 seeds, which means it’s possible that all three teams will reach the Semifinals.

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Whatever happens now, Cloud9 will forever be the saving grace of North America here at Worlds 2016. It wasn’t perfect, but it was enough for them to move on to the Quarterfinals. So let’s have a look at the takeaways from Group B:

• Every time SKT has attended a World Championship, they’ve won. This alone should be scary, but the way they played in the Group Stage should only make them scarier. Their games were clean. They consistently won lane, and their macro game was excellent. Their only downfall came against the Flash Wolves, and any future challenger to SKT’s throne should try to learn as much from that game as possible. Out of all the Korean teams here at Worlds, they traversed the Group Stage with the least amount of mistakes, and should be considered one of the favorites going forward.


• Cloud9 woke up today as the last great hope for North America. NA held their breath as C9 dropped games to both SKT and the Flash Wolves to start the day. We clenched our buttcheeks as their game against I May dragged on, and it looked like Cloud9 might throw away their huge lead. It felt like an eternity, but in the end Cloud9 came away with the win, and the whole of NA exhaled. Their qualification wasn’t exactly convincing. They struggled to make plays when they fell behind -- the Flash Wolves game being the odd exception -- and if they want to make it past the Quarterfinals, learning to create and capitalize on openings is something they’ll need to improve on.


• The term “wildcard” gets thrown around a lot at Worlds, but if any team was a true wildcard coming into this tournament, it was I May. They really don’t care about your meta. Kennen support? Sure. Kha’Zix in the jungle? Let’s go. They played their own style and with it managed to take two games off the Flash Wolves -- heavily shaping the outcome of the group. For a team that went from Challenger to the World Championship over the course of a split, this was a respectable showing. If they take this experience back with them to the LPL, and continue building on their strengths, then this won’t be the last time you see them at Worlds.


• I feel like Flash Wolves could use the immortal words from “Glengarry Glen Ross:” Always be closing, always be closing, always be closing. They need to burn those words into their minds as they head back to the LMS. This tournament was sand slipping through the Flash Wolves’ fingers. They were among the most dominant early game team out of any in the competition. They got first turret gold and first blood in nearly all their games but failed to capitalize on all that hard work. They will continue to be a dominant force in the LMS, but if they want to be a true Worlds contender, they’ll have to sharpen a killer instinct and be ready to close out games when it matters most.

Now, we enter Quarterfinals territory. And we’re already jumping on the hype train with matches as good as these:

• SK Telecom T1 vs. Royal Never Give Up
• ROX Tigers vs. Edward Gaming
• H2K vs. Albus NoX Luna
• Samsung Galaxy vs. Cloud9

Worlds returns on October 13th as the Quarterfinals kick off in Chicago. See you there!