Round 3 of the Swiss stage at the
League of Legends World Championship has continued with the eight 1-1 teams continuing their fight. This fourth day of competition brought some intense matchups, with the losing teams now backed into a corner — there's no room for error.
Fnatic,
Weibo Gaming,
PSG Talon, and
BiliBili Gaming find themselves in do-or-die situations, anxiously awaiting the next draw to see who they’ll face in their fight for survival. Meanwhile,
Top Esports,
T1,
FlyQuest, and
G2 Esports can breathe a little easier, as they have the advantage of two chances in the upcoming best-of-three series to secure their spots in the quarterfinals.
T1 has awakened, FLY and G2 as leaders of the West
First, there is not much to say about Fnatic's performance. They drafted a scaling composition centered around Smolder and Jhin. In the early minutes, Iván "Razork" Martín did what he could to give his team an advantage. However, they started overextending and constantly looking for pick-offs, which often failed. Without forcing any plays, TES steadily took the lead and closed the game quickly in just 25 minutes. There’s reason for concern for Fnatic, who have had a shaky start to the tournament. They now find themselves in a tough spot, while TES is just one step away from securing a spot in the quarterfinals in the next round.
On the other hand, T1 reassures. Their match against BLG lived up to all expectations. Key carries included Chen "Bin" Ze-Bin on Jax and Zhuo "knight" Ding on Ahri, going up against Lee "Faker" Sang-hyeok's Sylas and Choi "Zeus" Woo-je's Gnar. T1 executed nearly flawless macro play, while BLG initiated fights that kept both teams on equal footing. The turning point came at the first Baron Nashor, where Mun "Oner" Hyeon-jun, playing Vi, found the perfect engage on Zhao "Elk" Jia-Hao's Kalista, who was left with no way to respond. The team fights in this game were extremely well-executed on both sides, but T1’s decision-making seemed superior. With this win, they push BLG to the edge.
Now out of the Corki/Lucian meta on midlane, T1 seems to have find the momentum once more. To be confirmed in the next round. Credit: Colin Young-Wolff/Riot Games
PSG Talon had reasons to believe in a win today. The match started rough for the Americans from FlyQuest, as they were put on the back foot. Despite the scare, they managed to secure two chances in a best-of-three to qualify for the quarterfinals as Bwipo carried them through tough times almost being 1v5 most of the time, and gained so much time for his teammates. PSG Talon has no reason to be ashamed, though — they might even regret not being able to close out the game after gaining a lead before the Baron Nashor fight at the 25-minute mark.
G2 drafted creatively, mixing champions like Orianna, Nocturne, and Galio to engage and set up plays effectively. Meanwhile, WBG focused more on setup and front-to-back teamfights, drafting a double ADC composition with Tristana and Jhin. The result was a dominant early game for the Europeans, who outplayed WBG with superior macro, taking control of the game from the 15-minute mark onward. Despite some moments where WBG defended well, G2 never lost any teamfights thanks to a very clutch Galio on the toplane counter picked by Sergen "BrokenBlade" Çelik against Rumble. The greatest hope of the West reassures and finds itself in the same spot as last year. It is now up to G2 to write a better ending.
All of these teams will await tomorrow’s draw, which will follow the two elimination best-of-three series between Team Liquid and paiN Gaming, as well as Mad Lions KOI and GAM, starting at 2 PM CET.
