Evil Geniuses won both of their Group A tiebreaker matches on Sunday to secure a spot in the Round 2 finals of the League of Legends World Championship Play-In event in Mexico City.
Evil Geniuses defeated DetonatioN FocusMe in 29 minutes on blue before capturing a 28-minute victory on red against LOUD. Turkey’s Muhammed “Kaori” Senturk posted an 11-3-4 kills-deaths-assists ratio to lead EG in the match against DetonatioN FM.
LOUD bested Chiefs Esports Club in 29 minutes on blue and DetonatioN FocusMe also won on blue in 40 minutes against EG before they went into the tiebreakers. After they both fell to the Geniuses, LOUD and DFM will now meet in the Round 2 semifinals on Monday to determine who plays Royal Never Give Up in the finals.
Royal Never Give Up was victorious on Sunday, edging the Saigon Buffalo in 33 minutes on blue in Group B action. China’s Chen “GALA” Wei led RNGU with a 4-1-3 K-D-A.
In other Group B action, DRX (5-0) remained undefeated with a 34-minute win over MAD Lions on blue, and Isurus pulled off a victory on red in 31 minutes against the istanbul Wildcats.
Fnatic also maintained its hold on first place in Group A, taking down Beyond Gaming in 33 minutes on red.
The event’s 12 teams are divided into two groups for an opening round that consists of a single round robin. After five best-of-one matches per club, the top team in each group will move straight into the Worlds’ group stage, while the second-, third- and fourth-place team in each group will head to a second Play-In phase.
Round 2 of Play-In action, scheduled for Monday and Tuesday, will feature best-of-five matches. The third- and fourth-place team in each group will square off for the right to face the second-place team from the other group. The winners of each of the last two matches head to the Worlds’ group stage, while all other teams will head home.
Thirteen teams are already through to the group stage: JD Gaming, Top Esports, EDward Gaming, Gen.G Esports, T1, DAMWON Gaming, Rogue, G2 Esports, Cloud9, 100 Thieves, CTBC Flying Oyster, GAM Esports and DRX.
Two Round 2 semifinals matches are scheduled for Monday:
LOUD vs. DetonatioN FocusMe
MAD Lions vs. Saigon Buffalo
League of Legends World Championship Play-In opening-round group standings:
Group A
1. Fnatic, 4-1
2. Evil Geniuses, 3-2
3. LOUD, 2-2
4. DetonatioN FocusMe, 3-2
5. Beyond Gaming, 3-2
6. Chiefs Esports Club, 0-5
Group B
1. DRX, 5-0
2. Royal Never Give Up, 4-1
3. MAD Lions, 3-2
4. Saigon Buffalo, 2-3
5. Isurus, 1-4
6. Istanbul Wildcats, 0-5
–Field Level Media
