The group stage of Worlds 2022 Play-In is over and we are moving on to the knockout stage. DRX and Fnatic secured the main event spot for themselves, but Royal Never Give Up, Evil Geniuses, MAD Lions, Saigon Buffalo, LOUD and DetonatioN FocusMe have to play best-of-five series over the next two days to get one of the two remaining spots.
LLL and DFM worked hard until the last moment to get a better spot in their group, impressing everyone. The shock of the event was probably Beyond Gaming getting eliminated directly after they were defeated by Fnatic. In Group B, nothing unexpected happened. Minor region representatives Isurus and Istanbul Wildcats couldn’t get involved in the competition.
Worlds 2022 Play-In Group Stage
Group A was expected to have closer competition, but Fnatic’s roster, minus Hylissang, managed to get two wins on the first day to get an early advantage. Although Fnatic struggled against LOUD and dropped one, they managed to stay on top of the group and advance to the main event.
LOUD’s amazing form found them wins against DFM and Chiefs as well, while DetonatioN FocusMe defeated Chiefs, Beyond and Evil Geniuses to secure tiebreakers against Evil Geniuses and LOUD. Chiefs were the first team to be eliminated, having one of the worst tournaments for Oceania. This year, Oceania’s record at international events is 0-13.
Besides LOUD and The Chiefs, Beyond Gaming couldn't find wins and were eliminated although they looked incredibly strong. This was a chance for the Japanese and the Brazilian to defeat EG and dodge RNG, but Evil Geniuses came to their senses and won two tiebreakers in a row. The winner of DFM vs LLL will have to face MSI 2022 champions in a best-of-five now.
In Group B, we saw Istanbul Wildcats fail to get a win after playing well against both MAD Lions and Saigon Buffalo. Sadly, this killed their chances of main event on the very first day, and in the end, they became the first Turkish team to finish a play-in stage without a single win. Isurus also failed to compete with such a group, consisting of DRX, RNG, MAD and SGB, only defeating IW in the end.
While RNG was our favourite, DRX’s win on the first day secured them the first place, while RNG stayed in second. From the games, it was evident that these two teams were miles ahead of the remaining teams, including MAD and Saigon Buffalo.
MAD and SGB lost their games against DRX and RNG, took down ISG and IW. The tie between them was decided by MAD Lions’ victory over Saigon Buffalo on the third day of the play-ins. However, they will play a best-of-five, and I must say that Vietnamese look tough and could deliver an unbelievable performance to take down shaky MAD Lions.
Play-In Knockout Stage
The knockout stage will start with the following:
Monday, October 3
MAD Lions (1.17) vs Saigon Buffalo (4.50) - 20:00 CEST
While SGB’s performance as a Vietnamese team was better than we expected, MAD Lions showed their weaknesses against even Isurus and Wildcats, making me question their ability to take down SGB in a best of five. Considering that MAD Lions haven’t won a single best-of-five during 2022, and even though the team looks very strong on paper, they haven’t shown that since the LEC 2022 Summer Playoffs started.
Tuesday, October 4
LOUD (2.20) vs DetonatioN FocusMe (1.60) - 01:00 CEST
This one is a closer match; although LOUD defeated DFM in the group stage, we could easily tell both teams are on similar levels. It is hard to declare a winner here either but I expect that it will be a fun one. None of them has a chance against RNG in a best-of-five, so I hope this series will entertain the viewers with unexpected picks and a fun gameplay rather than serious map movements.
The final best-of-fives will be:
Tuesday, October 4
Evil Geniuses vs MAD/SGB - 20:00 CEST
Wednesday, October 5
Royal Never Give Up vs LLL/DFM - 01:00 CEST
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