2016 World Championship: Day 5 group stage guide

The matches for Day Five of the 2016 World Championship will feature Group A, where three teams are tied for the lead.

After an exciting opening week of matches featuring every Worlds team, we move to the group-centric phase. First up is Group A. We called this group the Group of ROX in our pre-tournament preview, but an upset by North America’s Counter Logic Gaming threw things on their head.

Of course, NA teams are no stranger to starting the group stage strong… before losing it all in the second week. Will that happen again to CLG? Let’s take a look at tonight’s matches to find out.

G2 Esports vs ROX Tigers: watch score 5/10 (7:00 PM ET)

ROX Tigers, already a favorite to win the group and even win the tournament, benefit from the easiest schedule of the night. First, they get to face G2 who look completely discombobulated. G2 top laner Ki “Expect” Dae-han might be able to stay even in lane with help from jungler Kim “Trick” Kang Yoon, but it’s hard to see how G2 win any other position, with Luka “Perkz” Perkovic doing this and Jesper “Zven” Svenningsen and Alfonso “Mithy” Aguirre Rodriguez underperforming as well.

More from League of Legends Esports

• EMENES retires following leave from Cloud9, cites military service
• EMENES Donezo Manifesto: Former Cloud9 Midlaner airs out grievances
• Team Heretics Perkz: European legend reportedly playing for TH
• C9 Jojopyun: LCS superstar to Cloud9 after “a huge series of events”
• EG Sheiden reportedly staying on Evil Geniuses as starting jungler

ROX also have the benefit of not playing a back-to-back (CLG has to). Getting the first easy game out of the way allows them to see both CLG (two times) and Albus NoX play before facing them. All in all, I expect ROX to easily exit this group in first place.

The alternate stream will feature a G2 fog of war stream. It will be interesting to see how much information they can fight for. A ROX fog of war stream would also have been great, just to see how a top tier team sets up plays.

Albus NoX Luna vs Counter Logic Gaming: watch score 9/10 (8:00 PM ET)

This game is huge. I think this is for second place in the group. It’s a clash of wildly different styles: CLG’s controlled early game borne out of research and game planning against ANX’s crazy pocket picks and volatile style.

Despite their earlier loss to Albus NoX, CLG is well set up for the rematch as scouting and coordinated play can take advantage of ANX’s weaknesses. And don’t forget: CLG was in total control of the first game before a series of teamfight throws. CLG should have just opted out of those fights and played more patiently around pushing lanes.

But you can never predict what will happen in a game featuring Kirill “Likkrit” Malofeev. The alternate stream will focus on midlane, but we’ll see more of Likkrit soon.

Counter Logic Gaming vs G2 Esports: watch score 7/10 (9:00 PM ET)

G2 look out of the tournament, but that doesn’t mean they can’t play spoiler. And there’s EU vs NA pride on the line in this match. And don’t forget: pre-tournament, a lot of people were higher on G2 than CLG, who struggled all of summer before turning on the jets. CLG is very, very good with preparation, but can they can also look very average when things don’t go according to plan. This could get interesting if their strategy coming in was to focus their scouting and scrimms on ROX and ANX.

The alternate stream is going to be good: Jake “Xmithie” Puchero vs Trick. Xmithie has been amazing this tournament and Trick is G2’s best player.

Albus NoX Luna vs ROX Tigers: watch score 7/10 (10:00 PM ET)

It’s hard to rate any match featuring Albus NoX below a six or seven, but this Day Five match is made even better by the alternate stream, which focuses on the two supports. ROX’s all-world support Kang “GorillA” Beom-hyeon goes up against the mercurial Likkrit. The first match between these two was surprisingly close (or not surprisingly, given how the rest of the matches went) through 10 or 15 minutes.

G2 Esports vs Albus NoX Luna: watch score 6/10 (11:00 PM ET)

G2 will likely be eliminated at this point, playing their last match for pride. Riot clearly received our call for Likkrit-focused streams. The alternate stream will again focus on the support matchup between Likkrit and Mithy. If G2 lose this game, do they get relegated in favor of ANX?

ROX Tigers vs Counter Logic Gaming: watch score 7/10 (12:00 AM ET)

This should be a good match. There’s a chance that CLG will need a victory to make it out of groups (if ANX beats them and goes 2-1). Or maybe CLG will have made it and want to prove themselves again against one of the world’s best. And in the craziness of Worlds 2016, there’s even a shot CLG could grab the top seed.

The alternate stream focuses on Peanut vs Xmithie in the jungle. Before Worlds, Immortals jungler Kim “Reignover” Yeu-jin really helped Xmithie be more aggressive in the early game. Choi “Huhi” Jae-hyun’ Aurelion Sol will catch ROX off guard again. This jungle matchup might decide the victor.

Who do you think wins Group A on Day Five?

Follow tonight’s action on Lolesports, Twitch, or Youtube. The alternate streams are on Lolesports.com and the Riot 2 Twitch channel. We will also be tweeting all the action from @BlogofLol.