Worlds 2020: The Winners and Losers of the Group Draw

The Worlds 2020 group draw took place today and some teams will be very happy, while others might wonder why they even got on the plane to China.

It’s officially Worlds 2020 season! The teams have (almost all) arrived in Shanghai and begun grinding through solo queue on the Chinese Super Server. Today, the group draw concluded as the 10 teams participating in the play-in round and 12 teams already seeded into the group stage were drawn into their respective groups, as seen below.

With the groups set for play-ins and the main event, some teams are already cheering about getting a favorable group draw while others are lamenting being in the dreaded “Group of Death.” But who were the biggest winners and losers from today’s group draw?

Winners

G2 Esports

Unquestionably the biggest winner of the group draw today was G2, who got into the fabled “Group of Life” at the Worlds 2020 Main Event. They managed to avoid all the LCK teams (and could potentially avoid the LCS third seed TL out of the play-in teams) to wind up in a group with Machi Esports from the PCS and the LPL’s third seed Suning. The expectation should be that G2 will advance from the group stage for the third-straight year.

Unicorns of Love

Out of all the wildcard teams, none may be a bigger dark horse (pun intended) than UoL out of the LCL. They have three of the top-ten wildcard players and now have drawn into a group with only the LPL’s LGD as a real opponent. In all likelihood, LGD will win play-in Group B, but UoL has a strong chance to make it into the group stage as well.

Fans

We get not one, but two NA versus EU battles (TL vs MAD Lions in the play-in and Fnatic vs TSM in Group C). We have matchups like Chovy vs Knight, Rekkles vs Doublelift, Canyon vs Kanavi, and SofM vs Jankos across the group stage. Two groups with LCK vs LPL and only one group out of all the six drawn today that really looks cut-and-dry (Group A from the main event). This tournament is looking to be crazy fun.

Losers

Rogue

Not only is the TSM/Rogue dream dead, but Rogue got drawn into a borderline Group of Death at Worlds 2020 in Group B. They’ll probably add TL to that group, sure, or a wildcard team if they’re lucky like UoL, but going against JD Gaming and Damwon is going to be nearly impossible unless Rogue recapture some of that magic from their mid-season run.

FlyQuest

Speaking of the Group of Death, the group draw put NA’s #2 seed into the confirmed Group of Death with Top Esports and DRX. This group is also the only possible landing spot for the MAD Lions should they make it out of the play-in round (which is very likely). If FlyQuest didn’t finish last in that group, consider it a minor miracle.

NA Fans

While fans overall are getting some great matchups, fans of the LCS teams are understandably on edge. As we covered, the second-best team FlyQuest is basically doomed in their group while TSM is in a tough group themselves (they will also get LGD out of play-ins should the LPL’s fourth-seed make it out) where they are paired with the other major team with a massive and annoying fanbase.

In the play-ins, TL was lucky to avoid LGD, but they’re still facing some stiff competition in MAD Lions (who should be favored to win the play-in group), Legacy Esports, and Papara SuperMassive. If TL stumbles and ends up being the first western team eliminated in the play-ins, the rest of the world is not going to let NA fans live that down.