Worlds 2017: Play-In Group Stage Awards

The 2017 League of Legends World Championships began in Wuhan, China over the weekend, pitting the Pool 3 seeds of each major region (minus South Korea) against wildcard challengers from across the globe. Some favorites, like Team WE and Cloud 9, played their part, demolishing all comers in a show of strength. Others looked less than dominant (I’m looking at you, Fnatic).

As for the emerging regions, performances ran the gamut from pleasantly surprising (Lyon Gaming, 1907 Fernerbahçe Espor, Young Generation) to puzzlingly godawful (Gambit, Rampage…well mostly Rampage). With Hong Kong Attitude’s second place finish in Group D, one major region squad will be sent home before the main event, opening the door for at least one wildcard to advance. I can already hear Team SoloMid fans rejoicing; Team WE isn't a lock for their group anymore!

Below are some arbitrary awards I cobbled together after four sleepless night of watching professional League of Legends. 'Tis the season.

Top 5 Games

5. Young Generation vs. Fnatic (Game 2)

Vietnam’s Young Generation upset of Fnatic registered as the first surprise result of Worlds 2017. After starting group play 0-2, Young Generation swept the final day, earning them the second seed out of Group C and avoiding a risky playoff with Kaos Latin Gamers. Watch the bot lane early; Rekkles rarely gets bullied in lane but that’s exactly what BigKoro’s Varus did. Bot lane control plus a steady hand from substitute top laner NhocTy helped Young Generation complete the upset they had threatened the day before.

4. 1907 Fernerbahçe Espor vs. Hong Kong Attitude (Game 1)

The most exciting series of Play-In Groups, Turkey’s 1907 Fernerbahçe Espor drew first blood against Group D’s Pool 1 seed Hong Kong Attitude. Fernerbahçe produced their contender credentials in a comeback victory highlighted by not one, but two Baron steals from South Korean imports Frozen and Crash. Crash and Thaldrin provided the frontline beef for Padden’s 10-1-6 Tristana to take over the game…when he wasn’t jumping into four HKA members during team fights. The opening chapter to this three-part thriller is not to be missed.

3. Team WE vs. Lyon Gaming (Game 2)

The Group A rematch between China’s Team WE and Lyon Gaming from Latin America North had more fireworks than their opening bout, but the result stayed the same. Oddie’s Kha’Zix dictated the early game against Condi’s Ezreal, but a crucial macro outplay by WE in the mid game secured an early Baron, canceling out Lyon’s early tempo advantage. Zero’s Taric counter-engages kept Genthix’s Rakan from ravaging the backline, and superb team fight positioning from WE prevented a Lyon comeback.

2. 1907 Fernerbahçe Espor vs. Hong Kong Attitude (Game 3)

Nothing short of a playoff good separate these two teams. Luckily for us neutrals, they saved their best game for last. Hong Kong Attitude led by as much as 5.3k at the 30-minute mark, but once again their late game team fighting and objective control let them down. Padden was absolutely stomped in lane, but few marksmen scale harder than the Yordle Gunner. Fernerbahçe earned their first-place finish in Group D thanks to Padden’s six-slotted damage, but aggressive AP carry picks by Frozen and Crash were crucial in turning mid game team fights and, of course, stealing a decisive Baron. Could this series have ended any other way?

1. Team WE vs. Lyon Gaming (Game 1)

The first game of the 2017 Worlds Play-In Group Stage turned out to be its best, with plucky underdog Lyon Gaming standing toe-to-toe with top seed Team WE for most of the match. Smart money paid Lyon little attention before the Groups kicked off, but the LLN titans caught everyone’s eye after this performance. Lyon entered with a plan to play through bot lane and executed it well, with AD Carry WhiteLotus finishing 8-1-7 and with 100% kill participation. WhiteLotus and Seiya got the better of their heralded Chinese counterparts, going deathless until the final fight, but WE’s immaculate macro play always kept the game within reach. When it came time for the big objective secures, WE’s Baron-into-Elder sequence proved that while Lyon were close, the gulf between major and minor regions is not easily closed.

All-Play-In Team (Groups)

Top Lane: Bùi "NhocTy" Thế Vinh, Young Generation

Young Generation were dead in the water after a winless first day, but the top lane substitution of NhocTy for Ren was a turning point. Suddenly, BigKoro had more space to farm bot lane, and teams couldn’t constantly pressure Young Generation top. Compositions aside, in two starts NhocTy has displayed the form that earned Young Generation a spot at Worlds in the first place. It was his play that keyed a reverse sweep of Ascension Gaming in the GPL qualifier. NhocTy’s miraculous escape under turret against Kaos Latin Gamers and first blood against Fnatic are just two examples of why Young Generation now look to make Team WE sweat.

Jungle: Xiang "Condi" Ren-Jie, Team WE

The glue that keeps Team WE competitive, Condi made sure his team’s victory was never in doubt. When Xiye and Mystic seemed to be losing lane, there was Condi strolling in for just the right gank. The Son of Baron dominated Gambit’s Diamondprox with several well-placed Gragas casks, and stood his ground in the Ezreal/Kha’Zix skill matchup with Lyon’s Oddie. He stifled Gambit in particular across two games; that the later was a glorified showmatch didn’t stop his Graves from finishing 11-1-9. From vision to lane pressure, so much of what Condi does across the map is crucial to WE’s patient style. He’s got the versatility to carry on tanks and fighters, and rarely surrenders an objective for free. WE will go as far as he takes them.

Mid Lane: Nicolaj "Jensen" Jensen, Cloud9

North America’s Blue Beast in the Mid Lane flexed on some Group B fools, finishing 19-4-26 (8.8 KDA) across all four games. His 5-1-7 LeBlanc helped send Team oNe’s Brucer to the bench, and his 7-3-8 Syndra against Phantiks Vladimir made a mockery of the counterpick. Jensen reveled the product of his Korean bootcamp practice earlier than I expected with Ryze and Galio selections, two champions he had not played all Summer Split. Jensen remains one of the best mid laners in the world, and with all of Cloud9 on his shoulders, he’ll need to continue playing like it.

AD Carry: Matías "WhiteLotus" Musso, Lyon Gaming

If Fernerbahçe’s Padden didn’t have a penchant for bad laning phases and jumping into bad positions during team fights, this award would have been his. Instead, I’ll recognize Lyon Gaming’s WhiteLotus, who died once across his first three games and leads all ADCs in KDA (9.5). His CSM (10.2), DMG (35%) and average DPM (700) all rank among the best for ADCs thus far, and the Pentakill against Gambit turned heads. Better still is his positioning and in team fights, allowing Seiya to opt for more utility mids than AP carries. Lyon’s strategy clearly revolves around snowballing WhiteLotus; if he gets caught too many times, they’ll lose (see: Game 2 vs. Team WE). We’ve already seen teams exit the tournament when their stars don’t show up; credit WhiteLotus for exceeding expectations.

Support: Yoon "Zero" Kyung-sup, Team WE

Part of the reason Lyon Gaming’s bot lane couldn’t snowball the same way they did against Team WE in their first meeting was the introduction of Zero. In a meta that has made supports glorified Ardent Censer carriers, few have stood out as playmakers (with the exception of Kaiwing’s Blitzcrank in a loss). Zero’s Taric was magnificent in its denial of Rakan’s engage, triggering Cosmic Radiance whenever the Genthix dashed forward. Most of Zero’s inclusion on this list stems from that fantastic game against Lyon (0-0-14, 100% KP), but we’ve seen this level of play from him before at this year’s MSI. I expect more of Zero over Ben as the tournament progresses.