Welcome to the 2017 Worlds Play-in
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The 2017 League of Legends World Championship Play-in has wrapped up the group stage, with the top eight teams rising from the ranks. Four slots in the main event is still up for grabs as we stand on the eve of the qualifier matches between the top eight teams. Before we are treated to more world class LoL action, let’s lake a quick look back on the some of the highlights of the Play-in Group Stage.
Trouble on the Homefront
Despite the clean 4-0 group stage record, Team WE had a slow start in Play-ins, almost losing their opening game against Lyon Gaming. The remaining three games from WE followed similar themes with their opener. The LPL 3rd seed were undoubtedly the most hyped up team in Play-in, primarily due to their home court advantage. Only time will tell if team WE lives up to the hype.
One significant game with Team WE was their final game against Gambit Esports. The CIS representatives went for an entertaining cheese composition knowing full well that it would be their final game at Worlds 2017. Regardless of their Yasuo mid, Gambit dropped their 2nd game against WE as they bow out of the tournament. Team WE and Lyon Gaming qualify for the next stage of Play-in.
Breakout
Several members of Cloud9 were very vocal about their thoughts regarding their placement in the Play-in stage. Most of the NA players felt that they did not deserve to go through a qualifier for the main event. The entire team showed up to play at Worlds as they consistently dominated their opponents over their 2-day group stage run. Cloud9 even closed out a perfect 14-0 22 minute game against Team oNe Esports.
Team oNe Esports managed to bounce back from their absolute defeat, by forcing a tie breaker against Australia’s Dire Wolves. Once all the dust had settled, Cloud9 and Team oNe Esports advance to the main event qualifier.
1907 Fenerbahçe Rising
1907 Fenerbahçe Espor was a virtual ghost of a team heading into the Play-in as most of the fans and analysts focused on the teams from the major regions. However, Fenerbahce were grouped with the least hyped major region team, Hong Kong Attitude. The most recognized player from FB so far is their AD Carry Padden who secured a beautiful Pentakill in their first day at Groups. The representatives from Turkey tied up with HKA after two days of play to force a tie breaker for their group’s seeding. FB managed to finally close out the group stage on HKA to secure the first seed in their group.
xPeke’d
The SEA representative team Young Generation from Vietnam were having an unfortunate start at the Play-in, falling down a 0-2 hole in their first day. They managed to come back in a huge way in the final day of the Play-in group stage. YG managed to take down Fnatic in their final game, going so far as to re-enact xPeke’s famous Kassadin back door. Naul came out big with his Kass mid-lane pick to secure a 2-2 record for the 2nd slot in their group. Fnatic finished first with a 3-1 victory.
The knockout qualifiers of the Play-in will continue after the players take a single day of rest. For any one of these 8 strong teams, one best-of-five series stands between them and a spot at the main event of the 2017 League of Legends World Championship.
