The League of Legends World Championship has begun and the first stage of the tournament is unfolding even at this very moment. The first day of the Play-In has concluded and there are six more to come.
Day 1 Recap
The first day of the Play-In stage featured matches strictly from Group C and D and we already have clear favorites for those respective groups.
Cloud9 vs KaBuM! e-Sports
The first matchup of the day was between Cloud9 and KaBuM! e-Sports. The game heavily favored Cloud9 for its whole duration. The US team was dominant in all respects, including player and tower kills, CS farmed, as well as Baron and Dragon kills. This naturally, resulted in a massive gold advantage for Cloud9 who brought the game to a close just after the 30-minute mark.
First game at Worlds? No problem! It was @Licorice on Aatrox that dominated the early game & helped secure @Cloud9 a 1-0 start to their Play-In Group Stage at #Worlds2018 pic.twitter.com/2i3PYBtIF1
— LoLEsports Stats (@LoLEsportsStats) October 1, 2018
Gambit vs G-Rex
Group D’s opening match took place just after and it saw Gambit go up against G-Rex. In a surprising turn of events, the Taiwanese underdog exceeded all expectations and came down hard on the veteran organization. Gambit hardly had time to breathe and only got their first kills at around the 18-minute mark in a team fight, which they lost along with a tower. Up until that point, the game was relatively balanced, however, after that happened G-Rex capitalized on the opportunity and things only went worse for Gambit. Seven towers and a Baron kill later secured the game for the Taiwanese team.
🦖 THE G-REX HAS ARRIVED 🦖
G-Rex win their first game at #Worlds2018 against @GambitEsports! #GRXWIN pic.twitter.com/cvzwfFxTD8
— LoL Esports (@lolesports) October 1, 2018
DetonatioN FocusMe vs KaBuM! e-Sports
The third match of the day saw an amazing come back from DetonatioN FocusMe who played against KaBuM! e-Sports. Initially, the game started quite passively, with the exception of a small fight in the bottom lane early on. The first tower only fell 13 minutes in, which was then followed up by the complete annihilation of the DetonatioN team. That seemed to be a turning point in the match and things looked grim for DetonatioN.
.@yutapongo STEALS THE BARON FOR @team_detonation! #Worlds2018 pic.twitter.com/m6Nxu5gUh2
— LoL Esports (@lolesports) October 1, 2018
However, the Japanese team refused to give in a slowly but surely came back from the loss. After the 21-minute mark the gold gap started to close and after picking off several of KaBuM’s players, the pendulum swung in DetonatioN’s favor. Not one to give up the advantage, the Japanese went aggressively after their opponent, taking down multiple towers, a Baron and taking a half-dozen player kills along the way. Ultimately, the game concluded just shy of the 30-minute mark in favor of DetonatioN.
Kaos Latin Gamers vs G-Rex
The following up match in Group D saw Kaos Latin Gamers make their debut in the Play-In against G-Rex. The Hong Kong team, fresh off the victory against Gambit, made quick work of the South Americans. G-Rex were brutally efficient and played the shortest game in the tournament, so far. It concluded with a 12k gold lead, 9 towers and 1 Baron kill for G-Rex. Furthermore, G-Rex also scored 16 champion kills against Kaos Latin Gamers, while only suffering 2 deaths of their own. This pushed G-Rex as the leader in Group D with a record of 2-0.
Take a closer look at G-Rex's massive knock-up combo from their day one Play-In Stage Victory against Kaos Latin Gamers! #Worlds2018 pic.twitter.com/d76l92eLQQ
— LoL Esports (@lolesports) October 2, 2018
Cloud9 vs DotonatioN FocusMe
The penultimate game of the day between Cloud9 and DetonatioN FocusMe was also the most contested match we have seen so far in the tournament. The first 10 minutes or so were uneventful and it mostly consisted of Cloud9 slowly gaining the gold advantage. However, 12 minutes in, DFM managed to take down three of Cloud9’s players and proceed to push very aggressively. Over the next five minutes, DFM brought down four towers and picked up several champion kills, which resulted in a significant gold advantage. They even managed to destroy 2 inhibitors and a Baron kill while Cloud9 were trying to stabilize.
Comeback incoming? @Cloud9 find the fight they were looking for and pick up 4 kills! #Worlds2018 pic.twitter.com/hQ4hH5k4tu
— LoL Esports (@lolesports) October 1, 2018
Though this advantage lasted for a good portion of the game, it would come to an end just before the 30-minute mark when Cloud9 killed four enemies and the Baron. With the gold gap brought to a close, Cloud9 were able to press the attack. The decisive moment came at the end of the game, where the NA team was able to destroy DFM, despite the latter having the Baron buff. The game ended after 43 minutes of play and a total of 32 champion kills. As a result, Cloud9 is the leader in Group C with a record of 2-0.
Gambit vs Kaos Latin Gamers
The final game of Group D and the first day was between Gambit and Kaos Latin Gamers, who fought for second place in the group. The advantage was clearly in Gambit’s corner and viewers bore witness to KLG being put on the slow burner. There were no great encounters or comebacks, only a slow war of attrition that clearly favored Gambit. KLG’s defeat was sealed 27 minutes in, when Gambit took down the Baron and proceeded to wipe the floor with the South American team. Directly after, they headed for the Nexus and brought the game to a close.
Results
With yesterday’s games, the situation in Group C and D is looking quite clear. The results are as follows:
Group C:
- Cloud9: 2 – 0
- DetonatioN FocusMe: 1 – 1
- KaBuM! e-Sports: 0 – 2
Group D:
- G-Rex: 2 – 0
- Gambit Esports: 1 – 1
- Kaos Latin Gamers: 0 – 2
The Play-In Stage continues today with the initial games from Group A and B.
