The Swiss Round of the LoL Worlds 2023 is history, the quarterfinals are set. Despite some good starting positions, the knockout round will take place without a European representative
The only German representative at the Worlds, G2, started the preliminary round of the LoL World Championship with a bang. The organization from Berlin had beaten two Asian representatives at the start and thus still had the best chances of advancing after the defeat against Gen.G in the third game. However, it did not work out in the second half of the Swiss Round, which was played over the weekend. Instead, the LEC dominator gave the good starting position out of hand.
G2 desolate against NRG – Fnatic concedes reverse sweep
Especially the duel with NRG should hurt G2, because they were not successful in the 0:2 after matches. The North Americans, however, had a great day and led the opponent in phases. With 23:3 kills, the LCS representative dismantled G2 in the first duel after a good 30 minutes, before the second comparison of similar length and clarity ensured the advancement of NRG.
The fact that this makes the organization the only one in the playoffs not from Asia was due to another G2 loss to Bili Bili Gaming and a reverse sweep by Weibo Gaming against Fnatic. It had taken the British team less than half an hour to take the lead in the first round of the best-of-3, but then lost the decisive battle on Baron in the second match, conceding five kills in the process. The Chinese were thus back and seized the momentum in the decisive third game. Early on, Weibo took the lead and never let it be taken away.
Chaotic spectacle around C9
A quarterfinal appearance of Fnatic would have been a medium surprise after the previous round against Cloud 9. Although the Europeans had won the spectacular duel 2-1, they were anything but confident. Instead, both opponents proved why they did not deserve to reach the knockout round. Both sides had some serious lapses, which almost culminated in C9 taking a 10k gold lead in the first game.
Weibo, meanwhile, had ensured that MAD Lions had no chance of advancing. The third European team, which still had hopes of making the play-offs, started well in the first duel. Against the expectedly superior opponent, however, the surprise failed to materialize. Weibo won 2-1 and thus saved itself for the deciding match against Fnatic and finally for the quarter finals.
Korean-Chinese top match in quarterfinals
In this one, the team will now face G2 defeater NRG and can therefore have legitimate hopes of advancing. After all, the Chinese organization beat its North American opponent in the preliminary round. T1 and LNG will face each other in a real clash. Both teams allowed themselves one defeat in the Swiss Round and are likely to be on a par. However, the roles will be more clearly defined in the remaining two games. Gn.G and JD Gaming, both of which entered the quarterfinals without a blemish, will face Bili Bili and KT Rolster.
The quarterfinals will be played from Thursday European time. The semifinals and the final will then take place on November 11, 12 and 19.
