The Biggest Winners and Losers from the Worlds Play-in Round

We all have witnessed that teams Cloud9, Fnatic and Team WE made it through the Worlds play-in stage, but we also wonder what about other teams. The World Championship this year followed that last year’s’ competition held in North America. This year’s competition is held in four different locations in China offering an opportunity to bring the title home for twenty-four teams. There are three teams from South Korea, North America, Hong Kong, China and Europe. There is also one team coming from Latin American, Brazil and one team from that Wildcard area with the highest finish rank at the mid-season.

When it comes to the Worlds play-in stage we have witnessed those twelve teams in the first round divided into four groups of three randomly sorted teams. Two leading team advanced to the competition’s next stage. In the second round, we witnessed eight teams randomly paired where winners qualified for the next group stage. The prize pool for this competition is $2,250,000 in addition to fan contribution that will be spread among teams. So, now we can for sure name winners and losers when it comes to the play-in round that finished.

The Rise of International Teams

We know those sixteen teams that will participate in the World’s group stage. When it comes to some changes inserted into this year’s Worlds, it was definitely adding this new play-in stage. It was mainly due to this recent rise when it comes to the international teams, so more of them are included in the competition increasing the excitement and competition. It is fair to say, that the mission is amazingly well accomplished since we saw amazing performances and exciting matches from those international teams who would never have made it to the competition in that previous format. A team that really surprised us is Young Generation, and we are not used to seeing them in these major competitions.

On the other hand, the results are same just like with that previous format since two international teams are included in the group stage since they were able to prove themselves in the play-in stage. Therefore, we know all sixteen teams participating in the group stage. It should be noted that the four winning teams from the stage were randomly inserted, so they were some more challenging groups with more competitive teams. Just like many of us expected, teams including Fnatic, Team WE, and Cloud9 really dominated the play-in stage. They really did since each of these teams really made it easily and quickly towards the group stage without too many challenges while revealing almost nothing about their overall Worlds tactics.

Team WE, Cloud9 and Fnatic Dominate

Even though teams including Fnatic, Cloud9, and Team We really dominate at this year’s competition, it doesn’t mean that other international teams let the audience down. On several occasions these teams have shown an amazing strength and skill while competing against some major teams, so they definitely have so much to offer in the further competition. Just remember that amazing Young Generation’s performance and the team’s win over favorite Fnatic at the end of the round. It was among the best moments for wildcard teams.

When it comes to the group B, teams including Gigabyte Marines, Immortals, and Longzhu Gaming definitely have proved themselves as the winners. When it comes to the losers, we have to mention Flash Wolves and Jteam that did absolutely nothing when it comes to their performance at this year’s Worlds. No, we are looking forward to seeing these winning teams in the further competition. It will be exciting as well as very challenging for teams like Fnatic, Cloud9 and Team WE which are favorites to battle their way to the top since the competition is getting stronger and stronger with every new match on their way.