Worlds Day 2 Recap
After one of the craziest opening days in League of Legends World Championship history, Day 2 carried much calmer notes. There was no Brazilian victory, and the other wildcard team didn’t even have a chance to upset. Pretty much all of the outcomes were expected, but each of them carries a different meaning for the victor.
Top seeds recover
Team SoloMid and Edward Gaming managed to capture their first wins of the tournament, after both dropping matches yesterday. Though perhaps TSM’s loss against Royal Never Give Up was trivial, no one expected EDG to be losing to INTZ from the Wildcard teams. Day 2 gave both of these teams a chance to reclaim much needed traction and possibly creating internal stability before heading further into the group stage.
TSM’s match was truly a display of dominance, especially from Soren “Bjergsen” Bjerg, whose Syndra really controlled the tempo of the match from start to finish. Though all of his teammates put up fairly strong scores, it was his constant pressure that enabled the rest of TSM to carefully close out a game that they could have completely stomped at any moment. Their calculated approach, while praised by some, may also be a marker of danger. With the highly volatile RNG in their group, indecision will sometimes be the worst decision of all.
Former finalists looking strong
From the looks of it, SK Telecom T1 and Royal Never Give Up could be on a crash course for a second finals match-up. Both of these teams looked absolutely unstoppable in their matches today, albeit facing the respective 3rd seeds from North America and Europe. Superstars over-performing at Worlds continues to be a trend this year; Faker is inspiring fear in every other midlaner, while Uzi likely has every single player on all teams trembling in their boots. His relentless aggression, combined with mechanics that have reflected no rust whatsoever predicts another 2nd place finish for Royal once again.
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A dark horse “Cinderella Story” continues
Everyone is sleeping on I May, despite their spectacular performance through the LPL qualifier. They bring a dynamic group of team fighting players to the table. Top laner Shek “AmazingJ” Wai Ho has been here before, previously with EDG before being relegated to the sister team. Yet I May might just have more potential. Indubitably, their early game control is, aptly put, garbage. But until someone can figure out how to completely break the mid-lane wave clear they consistently bring to the table (Varus today), their ability to stall will mitigate their sandbagged start.
