League of Legends Worlds 2019: Day 7 recap – Fnatic do the impossible
Another day of Worlds 2019, another day of high quality League of Legends. Two more teams secured their spot in the knockout stage today, but how did the games play out?
Three down, one to go. The third of four Worlds groups was decided on Day 7 as SK Telecom T1 and Fnatic clutched up and secured their places in the knockout stages. Which means it’s time to say goodbye to Clutch Gaming and RNG, as they disappointingly bow out of the competition.
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Before the games began, many fans had their money on SKT and RNG cruising to the knockout stages, but Fnatic’s start to the day flipped the script and set up an extremely hype final game between themselves and Royal Never Give Up. Thanks to comfort picks and perfect shotcalling, Fnatic came out on top and joined the final eight teams of the 2019 World Championship, alongside their two European compatriots .
So, what can we take from today’s games? Which teams and players impressed and which disappointed in the final day of Group C?
Stock Up
Fnatic
This one goes without saying. Many wrote Fnatic off heading into today’s games following their collapse in the first week of the group stage, but they clutched up and showed the world what they’re made of. A comprehensive victory over SK Telecom T1 was the perfect start to what would be a historic day for Fnatic, as they followed it up with a tight win against Clutch Gaming, then finally an incredible result over RNG to secure their spot in the quarter-finals.
Today Fnatic made history by reaching the knockout stages of Worlds for the third consecutive year, and giving European teams a 100% group succession rate for the first time ever. Their extremely clean victory against Royal Never Give Up will have their momentum brimming heading into the first round of knockout games next week and could have fans confident in the team possibly topping their 2018 World Championship runners-up performance.
SK Telecom T1
In the hype and excitement surrounding Fnatic’s miracle run, it’s easy to forget how unstoppable SKT have been throughout the group stage. If not for their loss against Fnatic today, the LCK Summer champions would have finished the group stage with a perfect record and near-perfect performances in every game.
It could be argued that following G2’s failure to clinch a first seed from Group A, SKT are now favourites to lift the World Championship trophy in Paris. Faker, Khan, and Clid are in fine form and have guided their team to terrific performances and clean wins against some of the best teams at the tournament already. Depending on their route to the final, SKT could once again be the team to beat in 2019 as they look to lift their fourth Worlds trophy.
Stock Down
Clutch Gaming in Base Races
The second game of the day between Fnatic and Clutch Gaming was one of the most exciting and bloodiest of Worlds 2019 so far and it was all set up for one final teamfight to decide the outcome of the match. But, Clutch opted for an ill-advised base race in the 48th minute of the game that would have had players scratching their heads in solo queue, never mind at the highest level of professional play.
Clutch’s chances of reaching the knockout stage were slim at the start of the day, but Damonte and Lira’s decision to trade an Inhibitor for a Nexus in their first game of Week 2 confirmed their demise. Nonetheless, casters and analysts were impressed by the North American team’s ability to play from behind and intelligently pick off enemy members against some of the strongest line-ups in the world.
The future for this Clutch Gaming roster is bright, but perhaps the World Championship was a step too far for them this year, after they exit groups with an 0-6 record, becoming the first NA team ever to leave Worlds without a win.
Knockout Team Diversity
Following today’s results, six out of six of the knockouts competitors hail from three major regions – the LCK, LEC, and LPL. If DAMWON Gaming and Invictus Gaming can maintain their strong starts to Group D, they’ll make it eight out of eight.
Despite twelve regions joining the fray between the play-in stages and main event, to have only three be represented in the knockout stages would be less than ideal for variety and diversity at the highest level of League of Legends. There’s no doubt that the teams that have qualified for the quarter-finals were the strongest from their groups, but it would leave eight regions without a team to cheer for if ahq and Team Liquid were to fail to qualify tomorrow.
Fortunately, there’s still time, and with TL sitting on a 2-1 record from the first week of games, it might be too early to discount any other region from reaching the pinnacle of the competition.
Next. Worlds 2019 Day 6 Recap. dark