Worlds Groups & Knockout Stage
Worlds Group Stage Recap!
This year’s group stage seemed to fit the expected script, and despite a general lack of drama on who would make it out of each group, it certainly produced some memorable games (GAM vs TOP anyone??) and provided the gameplay for great fantasy League of Legends fun. I was fortunate enough to be able to attend days 5, 6, and 7 in New York City, and seeing that GAM vs TOP base race, or the 1v9 Aatrox performance by JDG’s 369 vs DWG in their tiebreaker game are memories that I’ll not soon forget. While it did not turn out the way I or any other NA fans wanted, it was a great pair of weekends and I had a blast watching the games. And don’t forget: NA > EU(5-3 at this year’s Worlds!)
Fantasy Recap
1. RNG Gala 69.7
2. RNG Breathe 67.6
3. JDG Kanavi 66.3
4. DWG Canyon 66
5. DWG Nuguri 65.5
6. T1 Gumayusi 65.5
7. DWG deokdam 65.4
8. JDG Hope 64.6
9. DWG Showmaker 64.4
10. RGE Comp 63.3
We saw huge performances in the group stage from RNG, as they not only finished with a great record at 5-1, but they also had trouble closing out some games (especially vs 100T), leading to longer gametimes, more kills, and higher scores. DWG also finished incredibly well,placing 4 players in the top 10. Supreme objective control from DWG as well as dominant methodical games lead to great scores. We also saw the dominance of bot laners in the group stage, taking 5 of the top 10 spots. Among the top 8 scorers at each position, bot laners averaged a 63.2 points , narrowly beating out top laners at 61.1 points. Jungle and mid followed up at an average of 57.8 and 56.5 respectively, with supports rounding out the scoring with an average of 50.6. This matches with the positional rankings of the play-in stages –great information to take into account when creating your knockout stage lineup.
Top Lane
1. RNG Breathe 67.6
2. DWG Nuguri 65.5
3. JDG 369 62.7
4. GENG Doran 61.7
5. T1 Zeus 61.7
6. DRX Kingen 60
7. EDG Flandre 59.6
8. RGE Odoamne 58.8
9. TOP Wayward 53.1
10. 100 Ssumday 48.3
Just like the play-in stage, RNG Breathe found himself at the top of the positional rankings. Prior to the tiebreaker game, he had only played 3 champs in groups and playins combined: Aatrox, Fiora, and Jax, all exactly the type of champion you want your top laner toplay. That combined with high farm numbers with extended game times caused himto be a great pick, especially at his relatively low price. Nuguri and 369 went toe to toe in Group B, and while Nuguri got the better of him to force the tiebreaker (the 369 Kennen pick did NOT work at 1/7/3), 369 crushed the tiebreaker game with an insane 1v9 Aatrox performance, leading his team to a huge comeback and a Group B win (with a MASSIVE fantasy score…. that didn’t count >:() I am surprised to see T1Zeus that low following an incredible week 2 from him – he’s a player I thinkcould perform very well in the next stage.
Jungle
1. JDG Kanavi 66.3
2. DWG Canyon 66
3. GENG Peanut 62.5
4. RNG Wei 61.3
5. EDG Jiejie 55.9
6. DRX Pyosik 55.6
7. T1 Oner 51.9
8. TOP Tian 50.8
9. RGE Malrang 49.8
10. EG Inspired 38.4
JDG Kanavi leads the scoring charts in the jungle, behind an array of carry jungle picks including Nidalee, Graves, andViego, and highlighted by a 12/1/9 carry Viego performance. DWG Canyon slots in right behind him, with an 11/0/3 Graves performance in a win vs JDG (which forced a tiebreaker!) leading the way. GenG Peanut and RNG Wei rounded out the top performers in Group D. The next tier of junglers included EDG Jiejie, DRXPyosik, T1 Oner, TOP Tian, and RGE Malrang. Malrang had an incredible first week of games, followed by a big let down in week 2. Tian from TOP esports wasone of the most highly anticipated players, who truly let down those who picked him. One name you won’t notice on this list is C9 Blaber, who single handedly ruined my chances of winning the competition with his 13th placefinish at 30.4 points.
Mid
1. DWG Showmaker 64.4
2. GENG Chovy 63.2
3. RNG Xaiohu 60.9
4. DRX Zeka 59.7
5. TOP Knight 57.9
6. EDG Scout 55.6
7. JDG Yagao 54.3
8. T1 Faker 50
9. FNC Humanoid 40
10. GAM Kati 34.4
Showmaker led the way among the mid laners,with an impressive 64.4 points through the group stage. DWG had an incredible second week of the stage, and Showmaker was a huge reason why. Just behind him was my prediction for the highest scoring mid, Chovy from GenG. Chovy was very consistent, averaging almost 11 cs/min. However, he wasn’t a part of many skirmishes, finishing their dominating win over EG with a ridiculous score of1/0/2. Knight from TOP esports was a surprising 6th place finisher, despite his team not making it out of groups. DRX Zeka continued his incredible performances from the play-in stage. The most expensive mid, the GOAT Faker,finished a disappointing 8th. His team played mostly through Gumayusi and Zeus, and I would expect that to continue as we move on.
Bot
1. RNG Gala 69.7
2. T1 Gumayusi 65.5
3. DWG deokdam 65.4
4. JDG Hope 64.6
5. RGE Comp 63.3
6. EDG Viper 62.5
7. DRX Deft 59.8
8. TOP Jackeylove 59.6
9. GenG Ruler 58.6
10. FNC Upset 47.7
The highest scoring role of the tournamentwas led once again by GALA, with a group stage high point total of 69.7. A few monstrous performances, including a 9/0/5 Kaisa game and a 12/1/8 Lucian game, propelled him to this top spot. T1’s dominant play included amazing performances from Gumayusi. RGE Comp in the 5th spot is one of the biggest surprises of the tournament. At a relatively cheap price, he was one of the steals in the tournament, with his supurb play leading Rogue to a 3-0 first week and a quarterfinals appearance. Further down, Jackeylove and Ruler were two of the biggest disappointments in the tournament. Despite their huge costs,they did not perform will at all. Jackeylove was derailed by the team performing much worse than expected, while Ruler was mostly derailed by his Senna pick in their first match, which resulted in a score of 1.2. While Iexpect Ruler to bounce back well, Jackeylove will not get that chance.
Support
1. DWG Kellin 58.3
2. RNG Ming 53.9
3. GENG Lehends 53.8
4. T1 Keria 52
5. JDG Missing 52
6. EDG Meiko 51.3
7. DRX Beryl 48.3
8. TOP Mark 43.9
9. RGE Trymbi 42.3
10. FNC Hylissang 28.2
Support was the lowest scoring position overall, but the gap between the best and worst scorers made it a worthwhile investment to spend up at the position. The gap between 1st and 2nd was the largest of any position, with DWG Kellin leading the way behind a 1/1/16 Lulu game and a 3/1/14 Renata game. GenG Lehends got the highly sought-after Senna pairing, which was so strong that he scored 5.8 pointsdespite the crushing loss. The rest of the top supports went according to script without too many surprises. Notably missing from this list was the highly owned Zven, who lived up to his low price scoring only 18.7 points (and ruining my winning chances.)
Top 3 Knockout Stage Lineup Tips
3. Predict your winners, then pick your fantasy squad from that
This goes without saying, but the most important factor in this stage is how far the teams from the players you select advance in the tournament. In other words, you must select players that advance far in the knockout stage to give yourself a chance to score well. Therefore, my tip is to fill out a bracket beforehand, and then do your best to create a fantasy squad from the teams that you have inthe finals. Try not to have more than 3 players on either side of the bracket, or any 2 players that face off against each other in the first round.
2. Remember which positions are the most important
The highest scoring positions in this fantasy tournament, in order, are Bot, Top, Jungle, Mid, then Support. Therefore, when creating your squad, you’ll likely want to pick the Bot and Top laners from the team you have projected to win the championship, as well as the Jungle and Mid from the team you’ve predicted to be runner up. Of course you can’t always achieve this due to pricing or other reasons, but this is a good place to start when creating your knockout stagesquad.
1. Know your place in the tournament,and select your fantasy squad accordingly
Finally, the most important tip for this stage is to know where you stand in the overallrankings, and then select your squad accordingly. The lineup for 1danne1 in first place should look much different than my lineup in 11th place. For 1danne1 (or anyone along the very top of the leaderboard), your task is simple – just pick what you think is the best possible lineup. For someone further back though, this is not the best strategy. For example, I believe thatGenG and JDG will meet in the final. But since those are the favorites, it is very likely that the players in front of me in the standings will have a similar squad. If our lineups match, then I will have no chance of passing them up. Therefore, I will need to design a lineup with some likely lesser owned players, and then hope for some upsets. That’s the only way a player slightly further back in the rankings will have a chance to win the 10k. (Lets go Rogue,world champions!!)
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