Worlds 2020: 3 Word Game and MVPs of MAD Lions vs. SuperMassive
By Josh Tyler
We break down the second knockout series of the Worlds 2020 play-ins, as SuperMassive upset the MAD Lions.
Yesterday, I predicted that the two major region teams, LGD Gaming and MAD Lions, would win their series today because of the advantage in their preparation and ability to adapt against weaker competition. Well, I was wrong about one of those predictions, as the MAD Lions, the LEC’s fourth-seed, have been upset by Papara SuperMassive of the TCL, who advance to face Unicorns of Love for a shot to advance to the Worlds 2020 group stage.
Obviously, this series came as a big shock to LEC fans, who saw their team become the first major region team to fail to advance out of the play-ins when not facing another major region (HKA of the LMS did not advance out of play-ins in 2017, but they were eliminated by Fnatic). Let’s look at how each game went down with our three-word recaps, and give our MVP of the series.
More from Blog of Legends
- Bee’koz Vel’koz Skin: Splash Art, Price, Release, How to Get
- King Beegar Skin: Splash Art, Price, Release, How to Get
- 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
3 Word Recaps
*The winning team is in bold
Game 1: SuperMassive vs. MAD Lions – Why Senna Wukong?
MAD Lions were clearly trying to play some mind games with the minor region’s representative by breaking out one of their unique picks with the Senna/Wukong bot lane. It didn’t work out, with the pairing going a combined 3/10/15.
Game 2: MAD Lions vs. SuperMassive – Humanoid pops off
A 7/2/2 game on Lucian helped to carry MAD Lions to an easy win in Game 2, seeming to put MAD Lions back on track.
Game 3: SuperMassive vs. MAD Lions – Watch out Eeep!
KaKao’s pocket pick of Lillia was a story throughout the series, but in Game 3 he might have had his best game on the dreamy deer. The 7/1/10 record was good enough, but the 16k damage on a melee jungler was third-highest in the game.
Game 4: MAD Lions vs. SuperMassive – Out of reach
SuperMassive made a fairly big blunder in their Game 4 draft, picking nothing but melee champions in top and mid (Sion/Lillia/Sett) along with a short-ranged ADC in Vayne. The range advantage allowed the backline of MAD Lions (Graves jungle, Cassiopeia mid, Ezreal bot) to safely poke and win teamfights even when behind.
Game 5: SuperMassive vs. MAD Lions – Ninja Tabis OP
It was as simple as that, with MAD Lions now making a draft error by picking three ADCs (Graves jungle, Corki mid, Senna ADC) plus Renekton top to give their team an entirely AD team. SuperMassive responded with Sett mid again and Malphite top and they were basically unkillable this game.
dark. Next. Ranking the Best Top Laners at Worlds 2020
MVP of the Series
Lee “KaKAO” Byung-kwon (Papara SuperMassive, Jungler)
It goes without saying, really, that KaKAO was the best player on the rift today. He went a combined 19/8/36 in the five-game series (an average scoreline of 3.8/1.6/7.2) with a 12/3/24 KDA in his three Lillia games. He completely neutralized a player in Shad0w that many believed was an up-and=coming star in the LEC, earning the MVP of the series.