A Look at the Worlds 2021 Main Event: Who Can Win?

The play-in stage has come and gone, and the sixteen teams for the main event group stage have been confirmed. With a double round robin to determine the eight teams that will advance to the knockout stage, each team will have to do their best for a shot at the summoner’s cup. We take a look at the road ahead and how each group might play out during the group stage. 

Group A

Teams in the group: Damwon Kia, FunPlus Phoenix, Rogue, Cloud9

Who will most likely make it out: Damwon Kia, FunPlus Phoenix

The moment Damwon Kia and Funplus Phoenix were drawn into this group, everyone knew that this would be a tough group for everyone else. Damwon Kia, the defending world champions, are the first seed of the LCK coming off a rather dominant playoff run. They are known for very good mid and late game team fighting, but their laning phase as a team is not too shabby either. FunPlus Phoenix was in the finals of both splits of the LPL, and they have the fastest average game time in China. This team fights and fights, to either press an advantage or to turn the tides of a game. 

Rogue has so much to prove. Despite having stellar regular seasons in both splits, they are known to drop the ball in best of fives. No one knows how they would perform against international competition, but there is the hope that they might do better since groups is played out in best of ones. Cloud9 is in the same basket as Rogue, and had some struggles even in the play-in stage. While at MSI they did take games from Damwon Kia and from Royal Never Give Up, they have problems channeling a consistent level of play. They will surely be a wildcard. 

Group B

Teams in the group: Edward Gaming, 100 Thieves, T1, DetonatioN FocusMe

Who will most likely make it out: Edward Gaming, T1

Edward Gaming, the LPL first seed, are known to be a relatively slower team in the LPL, but they must not be underestimated as they can channel the aggression whenever they need to. Park “Viper” Do-hyeon is perhaps the best bottom laner in the tournament, and if any game goes into the later stages, he will surely carry. T1, South Korea’s third seed, on the other hand, is a team that usually excels in the early game. The team usually relies on expanding laning advantages with Moon “Oner” Hyeon-joon and Lee “Faker” Sang-hyeok roaming around the map. They have problems around the later stages of the game, though. 

100 Thieves won the LCS with some rather questionable early game decisions but with exceptional team fighting prowess. If they could channel the form that they had in the LCS playoffs, they could cause some real damage to this group. DetonatioN FocusMe could be seen as the weakest team in this group, but they have proven to have a very good understanding of their team compositions’ win conditions, and they communicate well around their movements on the map. This is their chance to prove that the LJL is one of the better regions in competitive League of Legends. 

Group C

Teams in the group: PSG Talon, Fnatic, Royal Never Give Up, Hanwha Life Esports

Who will most likely make it out: Royal Never Give Up, Fnatic

No one is quite sure of how this group would go. PSG Talon got into the semifinals of MSI, but had two competitive series against Beyond Gaming during the summer. Royal Never Give Up won the Mid-season Invitational, but had a shaky start to the summer regular season. In the summer playoffs, they got knocked out by a surging LNG Esports, and made it up in the Regional Qualifier against Team WE. 

Fnatic has had a tumultuous season in the LEC. After a fifth place finish in spring, they shook up their roster, with Gabriel “Bwipo” Rau roleswapping into the jungle role. They placed second after the summer playoffs, but how exactly this roster would do on the international stage is unknown. Hanwha Life Esports’ worst enemy is themselves– whether it be in the draft, or in their decision-making. The only sure thing about this team is that Jeong “Chovy” Ji-hoon may perhaps be the best mid laner in the world. We have no idea how the news of Elias “Upset” Lipp having to return home for personal matters will affect the team, but their substitute player is prepared and ready to fight.

With all of these teams having rather questionable runs throughout the 2021 season, who knows how this group would turn out?

Group D

Teams in the group: MAD Lions, Gen G, Team Liquid, LNG Esports

Who will most likely make it out: MAD Lions, LNG Esports

This is another group that people are rather uncertain about. Everyone knows that the MAD Lions are a great team, having won spring and summer back-to-back, but their fans also know that they are not the most consistent team in best of ones. Gen G is in a rather similar position as Rogue, where they did well for most of the season, but faltered towards the end. 

Team Liquid was in all of the finals in the LCS for this season, and have players that have proven themselves internationally. If they manage to get over some of their issues in North America, they may finally make it through after getting a 3-3 scoreline in groups for three years in a row.  We have seen LNG in play-ins, but it looks like they weren’t properly challenged there. We will have a better grasp as to the level of this team once they play some games in the group stage. 

 

(Header image via @lolesports)