LoL Worlds 2019: Recap of Group D

Although many expected, others also hoped it would not happen. But with the closing of Group D, the group stage is over, hopes and dreams have been shattered, and others reigned supreme as the quarterfinals match-ups were drawn up. Here, we will go over the standings of Group D, as well as what that means moving forward.

1^st Seed: DAMWON Gaming (5-1)

To no one’s surprise, DAMWON Gaming came out of group D firing on all cylinders. Although they had a slightly bumpy first week, this second week saw them outshine their counterparts in multiple areas.

In their first game of week two, DAMWON Gaming saw a return face off against Team Liquid, the team that handed them the only loss of the group stage. However, this time they were prepared. Controlling not only the early game through excellent vision control and rotations, DAMWON capitalized on the slow scaling of Team Liquid’s composition, while also keeping their late game scaler Kayle alive and well-farmed.

From there, it was easy sailings as they blew past the rest of the competition, closing out cleanly against the likes of ahq e-Sports club and Invictus Gaming. DAMWON are set to face off against G2 Esports in the Quarterfinals.

2^nd Seed: Invictus Gaming (4-2)

After the three way tie during week one occurred, it was only time to see who would be coming out in second. For the LPL, Invictus Gaming were able to bring their best, going 2-1 on the day. After taking the first win off of AHQ, Invictus Gaming fell to DAMWON Gaming, forcing a 3-2 tiebreaker for the second seed against Team Liquid. With a clean game that finished in just under 24 minutes, Invictus were able to seal Team Liquid’s doors to a potential quarterfinals berth, and give the LPL their second team for the quarterfinals matchup. They will look to face GRIFFIN in the quarterfinals next week.

3^rd place: Team Liquid (3-3)

Team Liquid held the last hopes for North America. The number one seed from the region, both Clutch Gaming and Cloud9 had been eliminated prior to the fourth day. As such, Team Liquid, sitting at 2-1, had a fairly good shot at making it out of the group stage.

However, they faltered heavily. Only picking up a win against ahq, which was more than expected of them, they fell to both DAMWON Gaming and Invictus Gaming in fairly poor showings. With this, North America has officially been eliminated from Worlds 2019, and will have to look for a redemption chance next year.

4^th place: ahq e-Sports Club (0-6)

The third team to go 0-6 during the group stages, ahq e-Sports Club were not able to pull off the miracle comeback that they so wished. Indeed, they were not able to pull off a single win, joining Clutch Gaming and Hong Kong Attitude on the flights home. They will have a chance to redeem themselves next year and prove that Taiwan should be feared.