The 2018 League of Legends World Championship group stage kicked off today with NA’s favored roster, Team Liquid, taking on the LCK’s top seed, KT Rolster.
This portion of Worlds is regarded by Riot as the main event of the tournament, and many fans don’t seem to qualify a team as world-class unless they make it this far. That means that there’s a lot of pressure on rosters from the major regions to make it through the play-in stage to arrive here. Fortunately for them, they all succeeded this year, making the group stage very competitive.
The best teams, those that didn’t have to bother with the play-in stage at all, are the most noteworthy. There’s RNG, the LPL’s crown jewel and this year’s MSI champions, as well as Gen.G, last year’s Worlds victors. With the group stage officially under way, they’ll have to once again race to the knockout stage for a shot at the Summoner’s Cup.
As these teams compete to advance to playoffs, we’ll update this page with standings, as well as the results of each game.
Standings
Group A
- Flash Wolves: 1-0
- G2 Esports: 1-0
- Phong V ũ Buffalo: 0-1
- Afreeca Freecs: 0-1
Group B
- Team Vitality: 1-0
- RNG: 1-0
- Gen.G: 0-1
- Cloud9: 0-1
Group C
- EDG: 1-0
- KT Rolster: 1-0
- Team Liquid: 0-1
- MAD Team: 0-1
Group D
- Fnatic: 0-0
- 100 Thieves: 0-0
- Invictus: 0-0
- G-Rex: 0-0
Day one
Gen.G vs. Team Vitality
This was hands-down one of the most exciting games in Worlds history. Vitality are considered massive underdogs at this event, coming in regarded as the worst European team in attendance. And yet, they were able to take down Gen.G, last year’s world champions. Seeing is believing, so we won’t give away how it ends. Just watch the clip above.
RNG vs. Cloud9
No one really expected Cloud9 would be able to take on RNG, so there wasn’t much disappointment for NA’s golden boys when they fell so drastically. C9’s top lane gained a pretty hefty lead individually, but they let RNG take total control of the bot lane and get the carry super fed. When the bot lane gets ahead on RNG, you’re not going to be able to kill them, because the rest of the team will dive in front of everything you throw. And if you can’t kill Jian “Uzi” Zi-Hao, you lose the game. And, predictably, that’s exactly what happened.
G2 Esports vs. Afreeca Freecs
The first big upset of the day came when the EU LCS’ third seed G2 took down the LCK’s second seed Afreeca Freecs. The early stages of the game were sort of close, but Afreeca’s fate was sealed when they allowed the Heimerdinger through picks and bans. Whether it was a power move or just a really terrible lapse in judgment, it stomped all over them. G2 looked better in this game than they’ve looked all year.
Buffalo vs. Flash Wolves
As much as fans were hoping Buffalo would be just as spontaneous and hilariously entertaining as GIGABYTE were at last year’s Worlds, Buffalo just didn’t play with the same flair. They picked a mostly typical comp, and they weren’t nearly as aggressive. For the most part, Flash Wolves walked all over them and controlled the map for a majority of the game. If Buffalo want to be taken seriously, they’ll have to shake off those nerves and play with more confidence.
EDG vs. MAD Team
The game between EDG and MAD was one of the bloodiest of the tournament so far, and definitely the bloodiest of the group stage so far. The kills didn’t climb too high, but the fighting just never stopped. For a while, it was hard to tell who was actually coming away from all the skirmishes with a lead, but EDG’s prowess and discipline allowed them to prep waves and towers before the action started. Through that, the rapid-fire fights allowed them to whittle away at MAD’s base to win the game.
KT Rolster vs. Team Liquid
Liquid kicked off the group stage with a loss, and losses in the group stage for NA’s first seed aren’t rare by any means. Unlike past NA first seeds, however, Liquid played very aggressive and with confidence. KT Rolster routed them with vision traps in the jungle and river, but as Liquid works out some nerves and jitters, that may not remain much of an issue for them.
