The World Championship in League of Legends is in full swing. The finals of the group stage of the LoL Worlds 2020 are approaching. The nominally best team from the USA, Team Solo Mid, with stars Bjergsen and Doublelift is completely sinking. The favorites from Asia are on the rise. The European favorites G2 Esports are having a slip-up.
These are the losers of the LoL Worlds 2020 so far: The “Team Solo Mid” is actually the strongest team in the USA in terms of ambition and fans, but in recent years things have not gone well. This was supposed to change in 2020.
With the mid laner Bjergsen, they have had the biggest star in Western LoL under contract for years. With the bot laner Doublelift, TSM has added another big name. This was enough to win the US league somehow and to fly to the World Championship as “Number 1 Seed”.
The USA is in a crisis in LoL
But at the Worlds, TSM is now struggling to gain a foothold. They lost all of their first 3 games and stand at 0-3 in last place. Group C was already considered the “Group of Death” with Fnatic, Gen G and LGD Gaming – and TSM is literally being torn apart here.
The number 1 from the USA lost against the number 4 from China, LGD Gaming, against the number 3 from Korea, Gen G, and against the number 2 from Europe, Fnatic.
The mockery on reddit is great (via reddit), because TSM fans often come across as quite arrogant and are now getting slammed. Analysts often praise the team and fans dream up chances. But the reality is different, as we’ve noticed in the past few days.
Overall, things look pretty bad for the USA. Team Liquid and FlyQuest also stand with 1-2 before elimination.
For years, the USA has been regarded as a “problem region” in LoL. This trend is continuing forcefully in 2020. South Korea struggled at the Worlds 2018 and the US team Cloud 9 surprised with strong results, making it to the semifinals. But that was likely an exception and did not mark a trend.
In 2020, South Korea is once again very strong. There likely won’t be a place for the USA in the quarterfinals. This is bitter for the many fans of US teams, who cheer for their stars in the national league for a year, only to face the harsh awakening in the fall: the USA simply can’t keep up with teams from Asia and Europe.
Here TSM catches the Fnatic supporter in mischief in the alcove, one of the rare successes:
These are the winners of the LoL Worlds 2020 so far: Before the start of the World Championship, there were two favorites for who would most likely win the Worlds.
- The Chinese team Top Esports with mid lane star Knight and his brilliant jungle partner Karsa
- and the Koreans from DAMWON Gaming with the mid laner Showmaker
The stars of the teams are both still young and inexperienced on the international level. But after the first few games, both teams are undefeated and are fully living up to their favorite roles.
Fans are already imagining a dream final between these two top teams in the brightest colors.
LoL at the top level: Top Esports against DragonX was probably the best game of the Worlds so far:
The LoL Worlds 2020 are going according to plan in that regard: The other teams from China and Korea have each lost one game, but at the moment it seems that all 6 teams from China and Korea will qualify for the quarterfinals.
Dragon X will probably make it too: The Korean team is likely the only one at the Worlds 2020, where the coach is the star.
Europe’s hope wavers against supposedly weak opponents
What’s up with Europe? It looks rather mediocre. Europe had 4 teams in the running. One, the MAD Lions, was already eliminated in the preliminary round.
Rogue probably won’t make it; they would have to beat the Chinese team JD Gaming or somehow defeat DAMWON Gaming, which probably won’t happen.
For Fnatic, everything is still open in the “Group of Death” C. They stand at 2-1. It’s going to be really exciting. TSM is considered a sure loser there. But who emerges from the trio of Fnatic, Gen G, and LGD Gaming is currently open.
The co-favorites G2 Esports continue their strange and unstable season. They were in the “weakest group” of the LoL Worlds, but cannot dominate it confidently, standing at 2-1 and still on the brink.
They managed to beat the strong Chinese team Suning, but somehow lost to Team Liquid from the USA in the duel of the “Danish mid laners”, Caps vs. Jensen.
This was the only really big surprise of the Worlds so far.
G2 Esports was in top form against Suning thanks to support Mikyx:
G2 Esports is still the favorite to win group A, but we have to wait and see how it goes against the top stars of the tournament. The team seems to have a tendency in 2020 to lose easy games and win the hard ones. This can be compensated in the regular season, but such a habit is deadly in the knockout rounds.
At the moment it looks like 6 teams from Asia and 2 from Europe will qualify for the quarterfinals. There likely won’t be a place for the USA anymore.
Before the World Championship, we wondered who would win the championship and presented the favorites of the bookmakers and experts. So far, it seems that everyone is right with their assessment. Teams with a strong mid lane-jungle combo dominate. But now the LoL Worlds 2020 are just getting started:
Who will win the LoL Worlds 2020 and become the new superstar? A 20-year-old
