This past weekend featured the Worlds Championships 2018 Quarterfinal matches. Many gaming fans thought KT Rolster and Royal Never Give Up would fight their way through to the Semifinals since they are the top League of Legends teams at the moment. However, contenders like the Chinese Invictus Gaming, Europeans favourites, Fnatic and G2 Esports, as well as the underdogs Cloud 9, have made quite a surprising presence reaching the Semifinals.
The Worlds Championship 2018 is very different from the past few years, an event that was dominated by Korean teams. This year is perhaps one of the best League of Legends Championship yet, where you can expect the unexpected. Every team is in it to win, investing their time to practice the whole year round to hopefully win and breaking personal team records.
Invictus Gaming Remain Undefeated
China’s second seed, Invictus Gaming gained enough LPL Regional Championship points to make it to Worlds. They achieved a great accomplishment reaching the Quarterfinals, facing KT Rolster. IG took the first two games with ease, while their opponents showed off their aggressiveness through coordinated battles.
KT Rolster fought back in the third and fourth games that were most intense matches. As expected the LOL fans thought that the Korean team would take the fifth game, however, the Invictus’ star player Yu ‘Jackeylove’ WE-Bo took on an aggressive playstyle that carried his team to win the match 2-3.
G2 Esports Beat RNG Proceeding to Semifinals
The European team G2 Esports acquired their spot winning the EU LCS Regional Finals. Becoming a strong dota 2 team, G2 eliminated Royal Never Give Up in the Quarterfinals, an unforgettable moment in Worlds.
RNG was the LOL favourites were expected to win Worlds, but G2 Esports managed to stop them in their tracks to steal away the opportunity of progressing to the Semifinals.
The first game swiftly turned in favour of RNG, but G2 would not go down without a fight. They played unpredictably better than the rest of the year, catching Royal Never Give Up distracted and could not predict their opponent’s moves. G2 Esports dominated the second, fourth and fifth LOL games to win the match over the Korean team. The unexpected win made history in League of Legends Worlds competition thanks to their top laner, Martin “Wunder” Hansen and Luka “Perkz” Perković who stood out to help his squad win.
A Glorious Moment for Cloud9
The quarterfinals saw C9 outplay Afreeca Freecs with a spectacular 3-0 record. After seven years, the North American Team Cloud 9 has finally qualified for the Worlds Championship Semifinals.
Cloud 9 was more than prepared to face off top teams. For the most part of the LOL game, the squad avoided the top lane with a focus on mid and bottom lanes, a tactic that they implemented in all three games. On top of this, Cloud 9 dominated early with their aggressive plays due to Afreeca Freecs losing lanes and had a significant advantage in acquiring gold and completing objectives. In the critical tournament, the star player worth a mention is Zachary ‘Sneaky’ Scuderi, their AD carry with his hero Lucian he took advantage of the laning phase by fighting back without getting caught.
2018 marks a few firsts in the prestigious League of Legends competition. Cloud 9 managed to eliminate Korea from Worlds, the region that reigns in League of Legends globally. This result led to another historical record for Korean teams, the first year that Korea will miss the Semifinals.
The League of Legends Fanatics
Fnatic team representing Europe region have moved on to the Worlds Championship Semifinals, after overcoming the Chinese players of Edward Gaming.
The pressure mounted in the Quarterfinals, at the beginning of the match, Fnatic was caught off guard by the opponent’s aggressive ready to fight playstyle. Getting the feel of how the first game went, FNC quickly learnt a few things that helped them pick up their pace to strategise and counter better against the opposing team.
Fnatic gained an advantage over Edward Gaming thanks to Rasmus ‘Caps’ Winther in the second game. Two other players also stepped up to help their squad win, in the third match was AD Carry Martin ‘Rekkles’ Larsson while in the fourth game was top laner Gabriël ‘Bwipo’ Rau. In each round, Fnatic played their best tactics and gameplay to win a majority of three games. Teamwork and smart moves were the key for FNC proceeding to the Semifinals where they will face Cloud 9.
The Worlds Championship 2018 Semifinals will take place on the 27th October which will see the Europeans of G2 Esports battle it out against Invictus Gaming, the unconquered team. The next Semifinal will be held 28th October with the North Americans of Cloud 9 vs Fnatic League of Legends players. Will Western teams reign at the Worlds Championship 2018? You have yet to find out when the Semifinals take place next weekend.
