LoL Worlds 2019: Recap of Group A

With the second day of the second round robin completed, we saw the completion of Group A, where souls were crushed well before the day was ended. Two extremely powerful opponents have moved on to the quarterfinals, and many will hope not to face them. This is the recap of Group A, the most predictable group of the four.

1^st place: GRIFFIN – 6-1

After having a slight dip in the first week, falling to G2 Esports and not having a perfect game, GRIFFIN were out to prove a point during the second week’s games. Making up for their previous fault, they went 3-0 in the second portion, solidifying that they are, again, from the strongest region currently competitive in League of Legends. Cleaning through their competitors, they faced G2 Esports in a tiebreaker, the second tiebreaker of the tournament, as well as the second tie for a first place seed, and came out on top, taking G2 2-1 overall.

2^nd place: G2 Esports – 5-2

Although they seemed to hold onto a firm first place lead, G2 Esports had a slight hiccup against the surging GRIFFIN during the second week of play. After taking down both Cloud9 and Hong Kong Attitude, securing themselves a playoffs berth. After GRIFFIN took down Hong Kong Attitude, it was understandable that G2 were out to have a bit of fun for their next matches, playing around a bit with Cloud9, and then faltering to GRIFFIN twice back-to-back. Because of this, they have fallen to second, which is not exactly what the analysts and bettors would hope for, but it means they are still in the running for the title.

3^rd place: Cloud9

With Clutch Gaming sitting at 0-3 in what is considered the hardest group of Worlds, it all rested on the shoulders of Team Liquid and Cloud9 to give the North American region hope for a potential team to make it to the quarterfinals stage. However, their dreams relied too much on an underdog victory from Hong Kong Attitude against the titans of GRIFFIN. This forced Cloud9 out of playoffs contention, which saw them throw caution to the wind against their last opponent Hong Kong Attitude. They played both of their substitutes, Deftly and Blaber, which gave Deftly a 100% winrate at Worlds in his career. Their win did secure them a somewhat positive note on their way out, but it is still a sombre note for any North American fans moving into the last two days of groups.

4^th place: Hong Kong Attitude

Although they came to fight, and were very close in many of their matches, Hong Kong Attitude were not able to convert on any of their leads, or fight back against the mounting pressure. The first team to go 0-6 in groups, Hong Kong Attitude did show some glimmers of hope, having favorable early game trades and kills in week one. Week two saw the teams completely reading their patterns, and capitalizing on substantial individual weaknesses. Only time will tell if HKA will be able to rise up and bare their fangs at the next international event.