The first major highlight at the 2020 World Championship of League of Legends was here. In the quarterfinals, the European top team Fnatic faced the tournament favorites Top Esports. The favorites from China won, but it was much closer than expected. Fnatic was even leading 2-0 before losing 2-3. But despite the performance, Rekkles from Fnatic is inconsolable. That’s just how LoL is, cruel.
This was the match: Fnatic were clear outsiders against Top Esports at the start. The Chinese team is currently one of the two outstanding teams of the LoL Worlds 2020, together with DAMWON Gaming:
- The midlaner Knight (20) is considered the new super talent in LoL, having impressed at Worlds so far
- His jungler Karsa (24) is regarded as world class, perhaps the best jungler currently
- Botlaner JackeyLove (19) was world champion in 2018 and knows how it’s done. He is the type of “player from whom highlight reels circulate”
Fnatic, on the other hand, is considered a team that plays well against weak opponents and crushes them with a “snowball” by excelling in a strong early game and building small advantages until they overwhelm the opponent. But if that doesn’t work, Fnatic often has problems.
On paper, this was a clear matter for Top Esports. However, the series turned out completely differently.
The decisive team fight from Game 1:
In Game 1, Fnatic surprised their opponents by giving top laner Bwipo the champion Singed, who was able to turn the match decisively and earned 8 assists for his team. Singed actually plays hardly any role in the meta of LoL and is a quirky, unusual champ. The Chinese apparently couldn’t handle that.
In Game 2, the bot lane of Top Esports completely collapsed under the pressure from Rekkles (Ashe), Hylissang (Braum), and jungler Selfmade (Kindred). Fnatic was able to clearly win the game.
The support from Top Esports played Tahm Kench in Game 2 and didn’t manage to get a fin on the ground during the match. Of the 17 deaths of his team, 7 were on the account of the big fish.
The match went exactly as Fnatic wants to play: the bot lane was dominant, the early game worked. The snowball started rolling.
For a moment, it seemed like LoL history was turning completely and Europe suddenly dominated Asia. That would have been a huge surprise, but unfortunately, the series continued after Match 2.
Games 3 and 4 were the hour of jungler Karsa, who proved his class:
- He got 9 assists on Lee Sin in Game 3 while JackeyLove collected the kills on Ezreal.
- In Game 4, Karsa then dominated himself. He played Nidalee and achieved impressive 10 kills. Now Fnatic seemed to be running out of ideas.
For those hoping for an epic comeback, the end was disappointing. Match 5 was a clear affair. Top Esports won after just 25 minutes. Nemesis and Rekkles left Fnatic without a single kill. The 3 stars of Top Esports, Karsa, Knight, and JackeyLove did not die a single time in Game 5.
There was little tension. A harsh end for a start that gave fans of European LoL so much hope.
Too often, viewers saw such scenes:
Thus, Top Esports executed a “reverse sweep”; after being down 2-0, they still won 3-2. Each victory was ultimately easier than the previous one. While Game 3 lasted 30 minutes, Match 5 was already over after 25 minutes: a clear topic.
“Things said just before a disaster”. She is now to blame for everything. She has cursed it:
New record for LoL Worlds 2020
So many were watching: The match was a major highlight of the LoL Worlds 2020. At its peak, 2.4 million people were watching. On average, the match had 970,000 viewers.
The previous record of the LoL Worlds 2020 came during the group stage, when Gen G faced LGD, two teams from Asia.
“In the end, no one will really remember today”
This is what the losers say: Botlaner Rekkles seems inconsolable. Compliments are made to him for playing so well, but he said at the press conference:
“No one will really remember today. I don’t think it’s okay to lose just because of how we lost today.”
Rekkles
Some people from Fnatic played against Top Esports probably better than ever in their career, yet it was not enough against a star-studded team from China.
The LoL Worlds 2020 could soon be over for Europe and North America. The US teams have all been eliminated in the group stage. 2 teams from Europe made it as group runners-up to the quarterfinals. For Fnatic, the dream is already over, G2 Esports is currently playing against Gen G.
The LoL Worlds 2020 threaten to be very bitter for Europe and the USA
