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They did it! Edward Gaming are the new League of Legends world champions
Against the odds, Edward Gaming have taken the Summoner's Cup at the League of Legends World Championship 2021. Here's how they did it.
Edward Gaming have done it. Three years after their last appearance at the League of Legends World Championship (having only made it as far as the quarter-finals four times in previous Worlds runs), EDG have finally gone the distance and won their first ever Summoner's Cup.
It was a long road to victory, with an incredibly close final match against DWG KIA that lasted the full five games, but EDG have proven that they can take down even the strongest team in the world, with their incredible command of not only the champions at their disposal, but also the Summoner's Rift itself. Here's how the finals went down.
A strong start
While both teams had looked dominant throughout the competition, DWG arguably had the advantage. The team hadn't lost a single game until they reached the semi-finals and were the only team to make it out of the Group Stage without a single defeat. They were clearly the team to beat.
That's exactly what EDG did in the very first game of the final. Things started on even-footing – a well-executed gank in the bot lane by EDG for first blood countered by DWG picking up the first Herald, a mid-lane gank from DWG punished by EDG grabbing the first drake – but the battle shifted in EDG's favour around the second Herald.
In a stunning display of force, EDG collapsed in on DWG in the Herald pit, taking the objective and three kills in a huge impromptu team fight that couldn't have gone worse for DWG. From there, EDG refused to let up, taking every single dragon and the Baron, picking up two aces and ultimately destroying the Nexus after 35 minutes.
Edward Gaming's Tian 'Meiko' Ye proved solid in support
© Colin Young-Wolff/Riot Games
With this first win, EDG had immediately cemented themselves as serious contenders for the trophy. But DWG weren't about to let this defeat go unanswered. They stormed into an early lead in game two, this time with better drake control and a huge kill lead by the 20-minute mark. Not even an incredible Baron steal by Zhao 'Jiejie' Li-Jie could help EDG, as DWG maintained control of the map, picked up the second Baron with ease and rolled into EDG's base for a 32-minute win.
Difficult second act
DWG may have had the momentum in their favour, but the third game of the series didn't look to be going their way for a very long time. Indeed, for the first 27 minutes of the game, EDG seemed to have more control, leading in turrets and kills. DWG had a clever plan up their sleeves, however, with the team constantly picking up dragons and locking EDG out of any available drakes, even at the cost of their own lives.
It was unclear how this tactic would pay off until a huge team fight over an Infernal Drake at 28 minutes saw DWG utterly destroy EDG in a matter of seconds, having waited until they could guarantee that the fight would go in their favour. From there, DWG were unstoppable and it only took another seven minutes for them to take down EDG's Nexus and put the series 2–1 in their favour.
It was clear that EDG needed to rethink their approach and that drakes needed to take precedence. On the first count, Lee 'Scout' Ye-chan picked up Zoe for the first time in the knockout phase, a champion he'd proven skilful on earlier in the competition, but had yet to break out so far in the series. It immediately proved a smart pick – Scout scored first blood at the seven-minute mark with a brutal gank alongside Jiejie.
On the second count, EDG locked DWG out of every single dragon possible, with Jiejie once again proving his stealing prowess on the fourth drake of the game, where DWG looked likely to pick up their first dragon through an overwhelming show of force before he leapt into action.
Edward Gaming secured the Summoner's Cup in style
© Colin Young-Wolff/Riot Games
Sweet victory
And so, for the third time in EDG's knockout run it all came down to the final match. DWG immediately banned Jarvan IV and Ryze, a duo that EDG had found success with in game one. Scout, with his comfort pick of LeBlanc banned, picked Zoe once again. EDG didn't have many comforts to fall back on, but had proven adaptable in their last game, so it was still all to play for.
Initially, things didn't look hopeful. DWG, aware of the importance of drakes, took the first dragon at their earliest convenience, with Kim 'Canyon' Geon-bu and Cho 'BeryL' Geon-hee picking it up uncontested before the clock ticked past seven minutes. Shortly after, a team fight broke out around Herald, with EDG picking up first blood as DWG took the objective. It wasn't the start EDG were hoping for, but overall, everything was fairly even.
The balance finally started to tip in EDG's favour during an impromptu team fight in the mid-lane, when Li 'Flandre' Xuan-Jun, Tian 'Meiko' Ye and Jiejie dove in on star midlaner Heo 'ShowMaker' Su and deleted him before DWG had a chance to respond. The ensuing fight led to four kills and one death for EDG and an easy drake to continue snowballing their advantage.
From there, EDG looked near-unstoppable and Scout finally got to show off his true potential on Zoe, with some incredible skillshots tearing through DWG's defences to stop them from picking up any more objectives. They played the rest of the game slowly and precisely, only jumping into fights when needed and backing off when they weren't certain of victory. They may have missed out on the first Baron, but after 40 minutes of slowly picking DWG apart, EDG stormed their base and took the Nexus.
With that, Edward Gaming secured their first-ever Worlds trophy. It wasn't an easy road to victory, but EDG have proven their tenacity repeatedly throughout the competition, along with their ability to adapt in difficult situations. They can now return to the LPL as the team to watch and we'll surely see them back at Worlds next year to prove they can go the distance once more.
