10 Things We Learned on Day 1

On the first day of Worlds 2016, our true love gave to us... some really freaking weird games!

This was supposed to be a fairly routine day. A few of the matchups featured heavyweights and early championship favorites against wild card regions. Both EU and NA fans claimed the other region belonged in the wild card denomination. Well, there was a lot of wild -- that much is true. Let’s overreact a little bit, though! Here's what we learned on day one:

1. I'll be honest. I knew INTZ e-Sports would beat Edward Gaming. 

If anyone tells you that, they're a liar. You should duo queue with them and then report them after the game. This was the single greatest upset in League of Legends history. This is bigger than Kabum, who played their hearts out in a game that didn't have much bearing for their tournament life. ITZ beating EDG puts them at 1-0. They could still sweep the group! And EDG was pegged as a favorite to win it all! We had three of their players on our Top 20 list this year! If I used any more exclamation marks, I'd break my keyboard! The Bill Graham Civic Auditorium was so loud it probably registered on a few seismographs. 

2. Wild card regions have really leveled up. Aside from ITZ, Albus NoX Luna managed to scare the ROX Tigers with some aggressive plays in the early game. I actually won a bet with a colleague who thought ANX would win after the opening minutes. Fool! If there's anything I've learned in my time following esports, it's don't bet against Korean teams!

3. We still haven't really fixed Aurelion Sol. Remakes make everyone sad. I am sad. You are sad. I'm going to see orbs in my sleep. And then I won't. 

4. A giant Teemo onesie is kind of scary. There was a cosplayer who showed up in one and I wanted to point it towards the Donnie Darko convention. Not to harp on it too much, though -- it perfectly captured the essence that is Teemo. 

5. We can believe in North America this year! Counter Logic Gaming dismantled the top seed in Europe in a coordinated and efficient rout to open the World Championship. Faith age restored!

6. We should really temper our faith in North America this year... Well, that was quick. TSM struggled against China's Royal Never Give Up to close out the day. They opened strong and kept it close throughout the game but couldn't deal with RNG's aggression and engages.

7. RNG Mata's Alistar should be banned. Mata constantly found ways to sneak behind TSM. There were no matadors on the rift -- just Mata and no doors! 

8. Europe's struggles at MSI 2016 weren't much of a fluke. Their teams fell completely flat today. Luckily for them, though, there's still a lot of League of Legends to be played. 

9. It really needs to be said again -- ITZ's win against EDG is the stuff of legends. Some day, someone is going to make a documentary on how that moment signaled the rise of the wild card regions. This is the kind of upset that inspires me to play League of Legends. It's the kind of thing that makes Worlds so freaking awesome.

10. Korea is still the standard bearer. Everyone else is dealing with wild cards and call each other wild cards. They're basically playing Uno while Korea is playing poker. 

Be sure to tune in today as Group B joins the action -- starting with defending champion SK Telecom T1 vs. Cloud9 at 4:00 PM PT.