The League of Legends World Championship competition is currently picking up steam. JD Gaming, Gen.G, T1, and DRX, the last three of which are LCK representatives, are the four teams who remain following the nail-biting quarterfinals last weekend, guaranteeing Korea at least one place in the championship match. Rogue Esports, Royal Never Give Up, DWG KIA, and Edward Gaming, the other teams in the quarterfinals, weren’t able to overcome their opponents. LoL Worlds
The last two LoL Worlds tournaments haven’t been great for European teams; MAD Lions were eliminated 0-3 in the quarterfinals last year, and G2 couldn’t get past the semifinals. This year, Rogue was the only European team to make it past the Group Stage, but was subsequently defeated by JD Gaming in the quarterfinals.
The LoL Worlds, which got underway on September 29, is getting close to its critical moments. The major competition for the modality, which has previously been to Mexico City and New York, is currently in Atlanta, where the semifinal matches will be held. On November 5th, the grand final match will thereafter take place in San Francisco.
According to bookmakers like Bet365 – of which e-sports fans can take advantage of the Bet365 bonus code to place bets on the League of Legends World Championship – among the teams that reached the semifinals, Gen.G are the odds-on favorites to lift the Summoner’s Cup at the end of the tournament. However, JD Gaming and T1 also have favorable odds to win the competition.
Let’s check how the League of Legends World Championship quarterfinals unfolded last weekend:
Despite valiant effort from DWG, title favorites Gen.G prevailed
It was expected that Gen.G would defeat DWG KIA in a sweep after two very one-sided matches. But DWG demonstrated why they have progressed this far in the LoL Worlds 2022 by refusing to lose without a fight. The LCK Summer champion was expected to easily defeat its fourth seed, but Korea once again demonstrated why they are the region with the best depth overall.
DWG was in a difficult situation with a 2-0 advantage and needed to win to keep their dreams of making the semifinals alive. They seized a decisive victory in less than 26 minutes, which stunned Gen. G. The following one was over in 24 minutes, and DWG was now firmly back in the game after leveling the score at 2-2.
Luckily, Gen.G finally maintained their composure for the last one. In contrast to the previous two games, the series finale lasted a long 45 minutes, and the competition was fierce. But great performances at the closing moments of the match gave Gen.G the win.
Top challengers JD Gaming defeat Rogue Esports quickly
Unfortunately, Rogue Esports was doomed to suffer the same outcome this year. They were fortunate enough to be placed in arguably the easiest group of the four, which helped them position themselves as the top seeds to compete in the quarterfinals.
Top contenders JD, on the other hand, have gone undefeated this season with the exception of one lost match against DWG in the early group rounds. They are a close-knit, elite team that is on a roll. They’re eager to experience victory on the international stage after winning the LPL championship for the second time in their history back in July.
Three lopsided and convincing victories were the outcome, as Rogue was easily eliminated from the match. The duration of the first two games was roughly 29 minutes, while the last game took 33. It was an impressive display of domination from a team that is now regarded as one of the top two in the world of League of Legends.
T1 defeat Royal Never Give Up in convincing manner
The match between T1 and Royal Never Give Up was the following match on the LoL Worlds schedule. The LCK runners-up ultimately won the match 3-0, although RNG put up a far stronger fight than Rogue.
For the first ten minutes of game one, things were quite evenly matched, but T1’s string of kills, together with their acquisition of a rift herald and a dragon, gave them a lead that RNG was unable to fully overcome. In the second match, T1 was able to grab the Elder Drake and the second Baron of the match, which set them up to win an exciting, completely unexpected 42-minute match and take the lead 2-0.
The third game was expected to be a slugfest with RNG fighting to remain alive given how the prior two games had gone, but surprisingly, RNG failed to put up a good fight. They simply collapsed and let T1 proceed to the semifinals.
DRX knock out reigning champions ED Gaming
The final quarterfinal featured DRX and Edward Gaming, which was possibly the most satisfying and exciting of all. Both teams finished the group stage with identical 4-2 records, despite neither team being at the peak of their game this season in their respective regional leagues. On paper, the two appeared to match up very well.
In fact, the matchup was so even that both teams seemed like they could pull off the victory at any given moment. At 0-2, things seemed bad for DRX as defending Worlds champions Edward Gaming easily won the first two games.
Even at the 30-minute mark in game three, there was no evident advantage for any squad. However, after 35 minutes, DRX took the lead by eliminating four turrets, two inhibitors, and a dragon. Zeka put up a display during games four and five. The renowned mid laner tallied 16 kills between the two of them, laying the groundwork for his team’s historic triumph.
