Gaming
The dust has settled and the Worlds 2021 quarter-finals are at a close – here’s how T1, Edward Gaming and Cloud9 fared as we find out who’s moving to the next stage.
T1, Edward Gaming and Cloud9 have represented their respective regions with some incredible results this year at Worlds. The three teams have made fans proud on each occasion, rising to the challenge of the world stage and delivering some extremely memorable games all the way to the quarter-finals.
Now that Edward Gaming and T1 have made it to the semi-finals, we thought it was high time we take a look back at their Worlds performances so far. Here’s how they made it.
T1
Starting out in Group B along with Edward Gaming, 100 Thieves and DetonatioN FocusMe (DFM), T1 started as they meant to go on – their first match gave them a victory in just under 20 minutes. With an outstanding 22 kills to two, and a 20k gold lead, T1 immediately established themselves as fierce competition. They then continued to go undefeated in all but one game (against Edward Gaming), racking up some impressive stats as they went. Their style moulded to fit the competition, at times sailing to an easy victory, at others battling to the last second. On the final day of the Group Stage, T1 quickly dismantled the competition and swept to a 5-1 Group Stage victory record.
Their quarter-finals performance seemed equally effortless in the best-of-five against Hanwha Life Esports (HLE), who they knocked out of the competition in a quick-fire round of three speedy wins.
In the first game, HLE were beaten to First Blood by a three-man gank in the top lane, as T1 came in strong and asserted their dominance with a quick 1k gold lead. A few team fights were instigated by HLE, who saw their chances increased by working together, but T1 went all out in the first 5v5 and got three kills to HLE's one. From this point on, the gold lead continued to rise to over 8k, and T1 secured the first Baron and several drakes. HLE's ensuing panic cleared the base for T1, who stormed in and claimed their first victory at the 33 minute mark in a relatively textbook play.
The second match took a while to get going, but T1 soon claimed First Blood and began building their gold lead – which rose to 5k by 18 minutes of play. They then began taking out drakes and Barons left and right, leaving HLE looking lost and storming to a straightforward 30 minute victory.
In what proved to be the final game, T1 continued to dominate, despite HLE's increased efforts to stay in the competition. By the end of the match, T1 had 18 kills to one, and a gold lead of 16k. They had also secured two Barons, sending HLE scattering across the map and securing the victory for T1. It was a swift game, ending at almost exactly 30 minutes, and HLE were forced to wave goodbye to Worlds. T1, on the other hand, will now progress to the semi-finals with increased confidence in their ability to dominate straight out of the gate. Will Lee ‘Faker’ Sang-hyeok be able to further add to his legend?
Edward Gaming
Edward Gaming were also in Group B, and contested the top spot with T1, becoming the only team at Worlds to upset them this year. The team played exceptionally well throughout, despite a bit of last-minute trouble when Edward Gaming were beaten by T1 and 100 Thieves, the two teams getting their revenge for earlier losses. This left Edward Gaming with a respectable 4-2 win record in the Group Stage, and set them as ones to watch in the quarter-finals.
Edward Gaming were pitted against Royal Never Give Up (RNG) in the quarter-finals in one of the closest pairings of the stage. With a recent title each – RNG having won the Mid-Season Invitational 2021, and EDG the reigning LPL champions – there was no telling which way these matches would go. Both teams had also gone 4-2 in the group stages, meaning they were ready for a close fight. The pair got off to a slow start, with seven minutes gone and no kills, but Edward Gaming soon claimed First Blood. Unfortunately, this motivated RNG to dominate in the latter-half of the game, bringing in the first victory in the best-of-five showdown.
However, in a thrilling turnaround Edward Gaming levelled the playing field in game two, crushing the competition with an 11k gold lead and 23 kills to 13. The teams battled on for 27 minutes, but the damage was done and Edward Gaming clinched the win, meaning it was all to play for in the final game. This heighten the tension considerably, in a game that initially went to RNG. Edward Gaming played an incredible mid game, however, catching a gold lead and evening out the kills. RNG gambled on a 50/50 Baron but Jiejie snatched it away and led Edward Gaming into a fight that left RNG's base exposed, leaving Edward Gaming with a 2-1 lead. RNG then came back, levelling the score yet again, meaning a nail-biting fifth game was next.
In the final match Edward Gaming did not mess around. They took First Blood and an early gold lead, dominating the game at almost all times. After multiple kills, Barons and dragons, Edward Gaming laid the final blow and sealed their 3-2 victory, sending them through to face T1 in the semi-finals.
Cloud9
Squaring up to some of the strongest League of Legends teams in the world in Group A, Cloud9 pulled the victory from under Rogue in a tie-breaker match and were ready for the quarter-finals. The pressure was already piled high, with Cloud9 acting as the last hope for the West at Worlds – and they seemed ready to put up a fight.
After some unusual picks, the first game began with several kills being traded by both sides. This one-for-one continued for a while, but Gen.G took two Barons in a row and used those buffs to their advantage. The second game went much the same way, with Cloud9 putting up an admirable fight right to the very end, but ultimately taking another loss. Cloud9 picked up the aggression for their final do-or-die game, really making Gen.G work for every move. They even had the edge for a short while, leading in terms of buffs and objectives, but were overwhelmed at the final showdown.
Cloud9 will now be heading home, knowing they worked hard, played inventively, and did themselves proud in getting this far.
