LoL Worlds 2024: Weibo Gaming and Team Liquid stay alive

Round 4 of the Worlds 2024 Swiss stage ended this Friday, as only three places remain to qualify for playoffs. Weibo Gaming (WBG) and Team Liquid (TL) eliminated Fnatic (FNC) and GAM Esports (GAM). Now in 2-2, the two teams have a last chance to earn one of the spots with one final best-of-3 on Sunday to determine whether they fly to Paris or back home.

WBG kept their Worlds 2024 dream alive with a hard-fought 2-1 victory over Fnatic in a best-of-three series that showcased the flaws of both teams. While the match was riddled with mistakes, WBG's victory allowed Li "Xiaohu" Yuan-Hao to improve his record for the most games won by a Chinese player at Worlds, reaching an impressive 87 wins. Meanwhile, Fnatic, added another chapter to their recent history of disappointment, marking their fourth consecutive year failing to pass beyond the group or Swiss stages. Since the departure of legendary AD carry Martin "Rekkles" Larsson, Fnatic has not managed a single positive result at Worlds, a stark contrast to the organization’s storied history.

Game 1 showed this pretty quickly as it took only 3 minutes and 25 seconds for WBG to take control of the series, thanks to a double kill by Xiaohu's Lucian, supported by Lee "Tarzan" Seung-yong's Nidalee. However, 15 minutes later, they overextended on the bot lane, giving Óscar "Oscarinin" Muñoz's Jax the chance to shine. Fnatic seized the moment, securing 4 kills and closing the gold gap. It followed an extended midgame, with both teams engaging in messy teamfights, where players on both sides found themselves out of position and getting picked off. Fortunately for the Europeans, their composition scaled better, and Iván "Razork" Martín's Skarner became increasingly unkillable, allowing Oh "Noah" Hyeon-taek's Varus to fully unleash his DPS. Yoon "Jun" Se-jun also stood out on Rell, landing clutch crowd control to buy time in key fights, including the final fight that sealed the victory.

One of the series' defining moments was WBG’s decision to pivot to a more balanced and stable composition in Game 2, particularly opting for Skarner in the jungle and Jax in the top lane for Chen "Breathe" Chen. In contrast to their volatile early-game focus in Game 1, WBG's new draft allowed them to better handle mid-to-late game situations, and it was Breathe’s Jax who enabled a game-winning play at the 23-minute mark. Wang "Light" Guang-Yu's quadrakill in that fight sealed Fnatic’s fate, and the European team never recovered from the blow.

Fnatic’s draft choices, particularly in Game 3, reflected a desperate attempt to swing the series back in their favor. Humanoid’s Swain and Noah’s Ziggs were meant to provide lane control and teamfight utility, but these picks never fully came online. Humanoid, who had been largely invisible throughout the series, continued to struggle in lane and couldn't exert the kind of pressure expected from such a key champion. Despite Razork's best efforts on Vi and a valiant showing from Jun, Fnatic’s composition lacked the cohesion needed to handle WBG’s map control and macro play.

End of season for the black and orange ending another year without a trophy or glory. Despite their win, if WBG is to make a deep run like last year, they will need to clean up their inconsistencies and shore up their weaknesses.

The VCS champion relied on his main forces to dominate Team Liquid in game one. Even though the LCS second seed identified Đỗ "Levi" Duy Khánh's threat by banning three champions in the jungle, the fearless Vietnamese duo in the topside destroyed the early game. While Trần "Kiaya" Duy Sang and his jungler have been the main carries of their team throughout their Worlds' run, they proved once again why, by being ahead of more than 2K gold upon their direct opponents at 22 minutes. Sean "Yeon" Sung and Jo "CoreJJ" Yong-in created the spark for Team Liquid with a clutch teamfight in the botlane, but GAM crushed their hopes around Nashor, a few minutes later.

Team Liquid answered quickly in game two, by burning Hứa "EasyLove" Thành An's flash and taking two kills with a good trap at level 1. To top it all off for GAM, both sololaners were close to solokill their opponents... but Team Liquid escaped both times on the brink of death, and ended up baiting for their jungler. There is not much more to say as TL just snowballed easily with their lead, notably thanks to their six Void Grubs.

Eain "APA" Stearns wanted revenge for last year's elimination, and he made it clear with a solo kill on Emo early on. Overall, teams did not back down during this decisive game, trying to create plays around the map and fight for objectives. TL ended on top of that chaotic early game, as Phạm "Elio" Thạch Nhân Băng's Poppy and Levi's Wukong struggled to find their place in the game. Jeong "Impact" Eon-young and CoreJJ especially stepped it up for this decider, with the toplaner, on his comfort pick — K'Santé — controlling and even outlaning Kiaya's Jax. On the other side of the map, the support put a lot of rhythm all over the map by being very aggressive early on, as he even found a duo kill with his AD Carry. Team Liquid woke up after game 1, and secured their revenge for Worlds 2023.

The draw for the last round of the Swiss Stage has been completed and matches will kick off on Sunday at 2:00 PM CET starting with DK - Weibo Gaming, followed by G2 - BLG, and finally FLY - TL. Three of those six teams will advance to Worlds 2024's quarter-finals.