LoL Worlds 2024: LNG and Gen.G Secure First Spots in Quarterfinals

Day 3 of the Swiss Stage at the League of Legends World Championship has wrapped up. The first two teams have now secured their spots in the quarterfinals: LNG Esports, the last undefeated team in the tournament, and Gen.G, which triumphed in a thrilling rematch of the LCK Summer Split final. Both teams will head to Paris, enjoying several days of rest as they prepare for the knockout stage. Meanwhile, Dplus KIA and Hanwha Life Esports, currently sitting at 2-1, will face off against tomorrow’s winning teams in another high-stakes best-of-three, fighting for their second chance to secure a spot in the quarterfinals.

We predicted it before the match began, and LNG has proven to be the strongest drafting team in the tournament. In game 1, Dplus KIA drafted a scaling composition with Smolder and Ziggs, placing Hwang "Kingen" Seong-hoon on Olaf. LNG, on the other hand, put Lee "Scout" Ye-chan on Sylas, a champion that can carry solo, replicating the strategy that had worked for them in the previous round. Chen "GALA" Wei was given a more aggressive ADC, Kai'Sa. As the game progressed, LNG secured almost every neutral objective, while DK struggled to prolong the game and reach their scaling power spikes. However, there was a significant gap in the top lane, and Olaf never became impactful. Although Dplus KIA managed to hold on long enough to reach Smolder's power spike, they were ultimately overwhelmed by LNG, which was too strong after securing Elder Dragon.

In the second game, LNG moved away from hyper carries and chose a composition with four melee champions, building a strong team-fighting setup with Camille and Galio. Kingen, on K'Sante, had a disastrous early game with a poor play on the bot side, giving LNG an early advantage. Despite some solid plays from Dplus KIA, LNG consistently won teamfights as their frontline became nearly unkillable. It seemed LNG had found a way to exploit the current meta, as DK could no longer deal meaningful damage, and Ziggs once again failed to make an impact for the second game in a row.

Overall, Dplus KIA looked unrecognizable, as their previous early aggressivity did not show during the series. Their top and jungle duo felt invisible throughout the two games and in the end, LNG proved stronger in the draft and showed superior mechanical sharpness. LNG has come a long way from their form in the LPL Summer playoffs, arriving at the tournament exceptionally well-prepared as the last remaining undefeated team.

One thing is for sure, this match between LCK's first and second seed was a very high level of League of Legends. Gen.G entered this best-of-three with a clear intention to seek revenge. As the World Championship meta is still in its early stages, Gen.G unveiled one of their previously secret strategies: throughout the three games of the series, their topside will consist solely of the same three champions — Aurora, Nocturne, and Ahri.

Game 1 will be lost, despite Gen.G executing a nearly flawless macro strategy, setting the tempo until a standout play by Delight on Rell, who engaged on four players in the mid lane, completely turned the game in their favor. They ultimately secured victory just five minutes later. Game 2 saw Gen.G bounce back in a quite close game. Last game was a complete demonstration where Nocturne and Aurora brought there full potential to us alongside an amazingly well-drafted Twitch for Kim "Peyz" Su-hwan. Gen.G showed they came prepared as they have been the only team to bring such a peculiar draft in the tournament so far.

Gen.G ultimately emerged victorious in the series, with HLE unable to crack their strategy. This is likely to influence the bans in their upcoming quarterfinal match. However, what stood out most in this encounter was the impressive level of play demonstrated by both teams. They proved that even the slightest mistake can be met with immediate punishment, sending a clear warning to their future opponents.

HLE and DK will have a few days to rest, as they won’t know their next opponent until after Round 3 concludes on Monday evening. They will face one of the winners from tomorrow’s matches, where we will see four best-of-one games featuring all the 1-1 teams, starting at 2 PM CET.