League of Legends Worlds 2019: naming the best region after Worlds

Vietnam

Teams representing: GAM Esports and Lowkey Esports

Number of teams making group stage: 1

Number of teams advancing out of group stage: 0

Pre-Worlds rating and final placing :

Lowkey rated 21st, placed 17th
GAM rated 12th, placed 13th.

Head to head record by  region:

1-1 Southeast Asia/LST
2-2 LMS
1-3 Korea/LCK
0-2 China/LPL
0-2 Europe/LEC

Overall: 4-10, 29% winning percentage.

Vietnam did exceed expectations slightly with Lowkey finishing higher than they were rated, however GAM went 1-5 in a weak Group B and looked bad against major region competition. Lowkey took wins off the LMS, SEA and LCK, but was ultimately undone by Damwon Gaming during th play-in bracket stage. Vietnam still has lots of work to do towards being the best region if they can’t even have two teams make groups, or their top seed get out of groups.

Latin America

Teams representing: Isurus Gaming

Number of teams making group stage: 0

Number of teams advancing out of group stage: 0

Pre-Worlds rating and final placing:

Isurus rated 19th, placed 19th.

Head to head record by region:

2-0 LJL/Japan
0-2 Europe/LEC
1-3 LMS

Overall: 3-5, 38% winning percentage.

Latin America performed as expected at the World Championship with Isurus Gaming finishing 19th. They had a decent record overall, but third seeds from the LMS and LEC cost them a spot in the group stage. They just have to be able to beat teams from the three-team regions if they want to take the next step toward being competitive in the higher rounds of Worlds.

Turkey

Teams representing Royal Youth

Number  of teams making group stage: 0

Number of teams advancing out of group stage: 0

Pre-Worlds rating and final placing:

Royal Youth rated 23rd, placed 18th.

Head to head record by region:

0-3 North America/LCS
0-2 Korea/LCK
2-1 CBLOL/Brazil

Overall: 2-6, 25% winning percentage.

Royal Youth competed well for what they were rated. That in mind they didn’t play really well in this tournament.

Clutch Gaming made them look bad in the play-in knockout round by scoring the only three game sweep in the round. Turkey isn’t the worst region, but thy don’t seem to be making any improvements toward being able to make it to groups, or even more at Worlds.

Russia/CIS

Teams representing: Unicorns of Love

Number of teams in group stage: 0

Number of teams advancing out of group stage: 0

Pre-Worlds rating and final placing:

Unicorns of Love rated 16th placed 20th

Head to head record by region :

2-1 North America/LCS
1-2 Oceania/OPL
2-3 Europe/LEC

Overall: 5-6, 45% win rate

The CIS team Unicorns of Love showed some promise and some disappointment.  They did take two out of three games from Clutch Gaming while also taking Splyce to a game five in the play-ins knockout stage. Yet they went 1-2 against Mammoth of the OPL, which is one of the weaker regions in 2019.

I feel they might have had a missed opportunity to go further in 2019,but should come close or even make groups if they can improve in 2020. I would say the CIS is probably the emerging region to watch out for.

Japan

Teams Representing: DetonatioN FocusMe

Number of teams in group stage: 0

Number of teams advancing out of group stage : 0

Pre-Worlds rating and final placing:

DetonatioN FocusMe rated 18th, placed 21st

Head to head record by region:

1-1 Europe/LEC
0-2 Latin America/LLA

Overall:1-3, 25% winning percentage.

Japan took a step back in 2019, after making group knockouts in 2018. They did beat Splyce, who made it to the quarterfinals, but that was it in terms of highlights. Japan still is a region to overlook and doesn’t look like that will change in 2020.

Brazil

Teams representing: Flamengo eSports

Number  of teams making group stage: 0

Number of teams advancing out of group stage: 0

Pre-Worlds rating and final placing:

Flamengo rated 20th, placed 24th

Had to Head record by region:

0-2 Korea/LCK
1-2 Turkey/TCL

Overall:1-3, 25% win rate.

Brazil finished in last place this year after dropping a tiebreaker for second in the group with Royal Youth of Turkey. They split two group games with Royal Youth prior to the force the tiebreaker of 1-3 teams.

I can feel this team is a major disappointment after how well they played and dominated in their home region. Yet I’m also not surprised they failed to make knockouts coming out of a weak region.

Oceania

Teams representing: Mammoth

Number of teams making group stage: 0

Number  of teams advancing  out of group stage: 0

Pre-Worlds rating and final placing:

Mammoth rated 24th, placed 22nd

Head to head record by region:

0-2 North America/LCS
2-1 Russia/CIS

Overall: 2-3, 40% winning percentage.

Mammoth actually played pretty well for coming in as the lowest rated team in the field on our list. They took two games from Unicorns of Love before a tiebreaker match with UOL sent them home. Maybe with a little bit of luck, or an easier group they could have advanced to knockouts, but for now finishing better than expected is something to build on for next year.

Southeast Asia

Teams representing: Mega

Number of teams making group stage: 0

Number of teams advancing out of group stage: 0

Pre-Worlds rating and final placing:

Mega rated 22nd, placed 23rd

Head to head record by region:

0-2 LMS
1-1 Vietnam/VCS

Overall:1-3, 25% winning percentage.

In the post on why Mega could win it all I called the LST/SEA barely  a professional region. Honestly Mega lived up to that description with their Worlds performance.  They didn’t go winless, or finish last, which is a win I guess.

Yet you also lost both games to the LMS and one to Vietnam.  With the LMS and LST combining next split I can see the best of the LST struggling against the LMS teams they will have to face. This might be the last chance they have at Worlds for a while so they should savor it. I would say that despite finishing a position better than Brazil, this is my pick for the worst  region at 2019 Worlds.