LoL Worlds 2024: paiN Gaming and PSG Talon just made history

This Sunday, Worlds 2024 - the most prestigious yearly tournament of League of Legends - Play-Ins gave a its verdict with the two last teams to qualify for the Swiss Stage: paiN Gaming and PSG Talon. This marks the historical loss of 100 Thieves, meaning North America will only have two representative in swiss stage. On the other hand, this win over Movistar R7 is the second time ever a CBLOL team makes it out of Play-In since INTZ in 2016. This marks the end of a very peculiar scenario where unexpected teams come out Play-In, and even if they qualify as underdogs Swiss Stage, they still sent a strong signal to not be underestimated to their future opponents as PNG thrive through chaos and PSG Talon exterminated NA's third seed.

After 8 years of waiting, paiN brings back the CBLOL to the swiss stage. Both teams put everything on the line but ultimately, this is paiN Gaming which find the very final team fight after an intense game 3 that lasted over 45 minutes. This was nothing but a constant back and forth game where R7 lost the Baron, then won a team fight, lost another Baron to win the next team fight, this time to win the Baron... and ultimately lost the last team fight to PNG.

They just delivered heartbreak to the LLA, a region that has never made it past the Play-In stage in its history. Today may have been their closest shot at reaching the main event, with several chances to close out the final game. This marks the end of their incredible run at Worlds, after securing a historic series win against the LCS' third seed. It was a remarkable way to demonstrate their potential ahead of next year’s regional merger, when the LLA, LCS, and CBLOL will unite to form the new Americas league.

PaiN Gaming has now qualified for the main event, entering as clear underdogs. However, they carry CBLOL’s strong history of surprising international favorites: INTZ’s upset over EDG in the 2016 group stage, and LOUD’s victory against Fnatic in 2022. Who knows where paiN Gaming’s unpredictable journey might take them this time? They’re one of the few teams with nothing to lose, making them all the more dangerous.

100 Thieves just lost their final chance to keep their Worlds run alive. PSG Talon advances to the main event for the third time in their history (2020, 2021) and defied all predictions by taking down the thieves in two extremely clean games.

PSG Talon completely dominated them. Only Rayan "Sniper" Shoura in the top lane managed to maintain his level of play across both games. We were expecting a close match, but PSG humiliated 100T right from the first game. In just 26 minutes, the americans only managed to take one tower and secure a single kill. There was a gap at every level. The Gnar pick was pixel-perfect, and Huang "Maple" Yi-Tang's Orianna executed flawless flanks. PSG forced some respect with this clean first game, delivering a masterclass and making a bold statement from the very start. The thieves were stunned and really needed a wake up call for game 2.

But there were no illusions in game 2 either—the two teams weren't even playing the same League of Legends. No follow-ups, no playmaking, a clear gap in the bot lane, and Lillia unable to find her footing. It was a heavy defeat for a team mostly made up of rookies experiencing their first international event. This also marks the first time in history that a region has lost a team in both Play-Ins at Worlds and at MSI (both times with a 2-0 scoreline). Both times, PSG Talon has been the NA killer. This year will already go down as one of the worst performances for NA and a major region on the international stage.

Now that the draw is over, we know that PNG will face G2 Esports at 9:00 PM CET, while PSG Talon will face Hanwha Life Esports at 7:00 PM CET.