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Although we’d have loved to be wrong about last week’s prediction that the League Of Legends Worlds Play-In Round would be chalk, pretty much everything went according to plan.
Let’s recap the results and final tables from the first Play-In Stage.
Group A Results
| Team WE | 1 | Lyon Gaming | 0 |
| Gambit CIS | 0 | Lyon Gaming | 1 |
| Gambit CIS | 0 | Team WE | 1 |
| Lyon Gaming | 0 | Team WE | 1 |
| Lyon Gaming | 1 | Gambit CIS | 0 |
| Team WE | 1 | Gambit CIS | 0 |
Final Table (team shown in italics is eliminated)
| Pos | Team Name | Record |
| 1 | Team WE | 4-0 |
| 2 | Lyon Gaming | 2-2 |
| 3 | Gambit CIS | 0-4 |
Group A was always likely to be uneven. Team WE are arguably the strongest of any of the teams competing in the playoffs. They recently defeated current champions SK Telecom T1 in the Rift Rivals event a few months back, so it was no surprise WE made short work of both Lyon Gaming and Gambit CIS.
This group was a race for the runner-up spot, and it was Lyon Gaming that emerged. They defeated Gambit CIS in both their matches to earn a deserved No. 2 spot in Round Two.
Group B Results
| Cloud9 | 1 | Team oNe | 0 |
| Dire Wolves | 0 | Cloud9 | 1 |
| Dire Wolves | 1 | Team oNe | 0 |
| Team oNe | 0 | Cloud9 | 1 |
| Cloud9 | 1 | Dire Wolves | 0 |
| Team oNe | 1 | Dire Wolves | 0 |
| Dire Wolves | 0 | Team oNe | 1* |
* Tiebreaker to decide second seed
Final Table (team shown in italics is eliminated)
| Pos | Team Name | Record |
| 1 | Cloud9 | 4-0 |
| 2 | Team oNe eSports | 2-3 |
| 3 | LG Dire Wolves | 1-4 |
Group B was also something of a breeze for the most-established team, Cloud9, who won all four of their games in confident fashion. They now avoid a matchup against another top seed, which could be key to making the group stages.
There was, however, more excitement in this group. Two well-matched teams in Dire Wolves and Team oNe went toe to toe in three epic games. In the first, Dire Wolves took the win. Then, in the final standard group game, Team oNe avoided elimination by posting an impressive win. That result left both teams with a 1-3 record and ensured a tiebreaker match.
In that tiebreaker, Team oNe repeated their victory to finish with a 2-3 record and earn that No. 2 spot from Group B.
Group C Results
| Young Generation | 0 | Kaos Latin Gamers | 1 |
| Fnatic | 1 | Kaos Latin Gamers | 0 |
| Young Generation | 0 | Fnatic | 1 |
| Kaos Latin Gamers | 0 | Young Generation | 1 |
| Kaos Latin Gamers | 0 | Fnatic | 1 |
| Fnatic | 0 | Young Generation | 1 |
Final Table (team shown in italics is eliminated)
| Pos | Team Name | Record |
| 1 | Fnatic | 3-1 |
| 2 | Young Generation | 2-2 |
| 3 | Kaos Latin Gamers | 1-3 |
Another top team playing in the Play-In. In Group C, Fnatic claimed the expected top spot by winning their opening three games with little drama.
As in Group B, the real excitement came between the two teams challenging for the runner-up spot. Kaos Latin Gamers got off to a good start, winning their opening game against Young Generation, only for the latter to bounce back to win the second game.
That set up a crucial final game between Fnatic and Young Generation. The underdogs provided the first big shock of the tournament when they defeated Fnatic in a hugely exciting matchup to finish 2-2 in the group and claim that No. 2 spot without the need for a tiebreaker.
Group D Results
| Rampage | 0 | HK Attitude | 1 |
| HK Attitude | 0 | Fenerbahce | 1 |
| Rampage | 0 | Fenerbahce | 1 |
| HK Attitude | 1 | Rampage | 0 |
| Fenerbahce | 1 | Rampage | 0 |
| Fenerbahce | 0 | HK Attitude | 1 |
| Fenerbahce | 1 | HK Attitude | 0 |
* Tiebreaker to decide top seed
Final Table (team shown in italics is eliminated)
| Pos | Team Name | Record |
| 1 | Fenerbahce | 4-1 |
| 2 | HK Attitude | 3-2 |
| 3 | Rampage | 0-4 |
Group D seemed to be heading for a similar conclusion to Group A. Then, all of sudden, things got turned on their head in the final group game. Fenerbahce had run through their three games, and HK Attitude had beaten Rampage twice (eliminating them).
Fenerbahce faced HK Attitude knowing a win would give them a massive boost as a top seed in Round 2. A win for HK Attitude would give them a chance to take the group to a tiebreaker, and that inspired HK to record a 1-0 win over the Turkish team.
In the tiebreaker, it seemed HK had the advantage, but Fenerbahce roared back to claim the win.
Round Two Latest
The following eight teams are poised for the next round of the Play-In Stage.
- No. 1 seeds: Team WE, Cloud9, Fnatic, Fenerbahce
- No. 2 seeds: Lyon Gaming, Team oNe Esports, Young Generation, HK Attitude
The next round begins Sept. 28 over a best-of-five format, and here are the matchups:
- Team WE vs. Young Generation
- Cloud9 vs. Lyon Gaming
- Fenerbahce vs. Team oNe Esports
- Fnatic vs. Hong Kong Attitude
It promises to be an intriguing Round Two, with Team WE and Cloud9 — arguably the strongest two teams — likely to progress comfortably. But things could be interesting on Sept. 29 when either Fenerbahce or Team oNe Esports will get the chance of a lifetime to compete in the Group Stage.
