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T1, EDG and DRX aim for the top as the second half of Worlds 2022 begins
T1, Edward Gaming and DRX are all tied up at the halfway point of 2022’s League of Legends World Championship Group Stage – can G2 Esports and Cloud9 catch up?
The 2022 League of Legends World Championship has finally begun. As the cumulation of months of intense gameplay from teams all over the world, this year the Group Stage is as high-stakes as ever, with the finest teams coming together to battle it out for a place on the final stage.
The Group Stage whittles down 16 teams to eight. The winners go through to the next stages, while the bottom teams are eliminated. At the halfway stage, it's still all to play for, so now we take a look at Edward Gaming, G2 Esports, DRX, T1, and Cloud9's performance so far.
Day one
The first match of the first day involved Cloud9 and Fnatic in Group A, and the classic NA vs EU rivalry didn't disappoint. Although C9 ultimately lost to Fnatic, the game itself was a great example of both teams going for the logical approach, with First Blood falling to C9 in the bot lane, then a series of technical challenges and farming across the map. While Robert 'Blaber' Huang led the way with assists for C9, Fnatic clearly had the upper hand and concluded the game at 32 minutes.
G2 were next up to face old rivals, DWG Kia. G2 struggled when an early game Ace and a huge gold lead loomed overhead, but they fought hard and managed to drag the game over 30 minutes, defending with every ounce of strength they could muster and picking up kills from all over the map. Victor 'Flakked' Tortosa pulled in five kills, but Heo 'ShowMaker' Su lived up to his name and stole the show – and the game – from G2.
Can Cloud9 fly the flag for NA on home soil?
© Colin Young-Wolff/Riot Games
T1 and Edward Gaming faced each other later in the day, with a place at the top of Group A up for grabs. Reigning champions EDG came in with confidence and strength, but T1 exuded focus and were able to find a weakness in EDG's aggressive pushes and slide through to their back line. EDG fought back, picking up a Baron and some mid-game objectives, but T1 were victorious, with Lee ‘Gumayusi’ Min-hyeong incredibly going deathless.
Day two
DRX made their Groups debut against Rogue on the second day, in which Rogue took the win after a strong 36 minutes from both teams. DRX may not have cinched the victory here, but they certainly showed they know how to play.
A win for G2 came in the second game of the day – against Evil Geniuses in a seemingly easy sweep to victory. It's fair to say that G2 dominated in this match, transitioning from early-game aggression to late-game tactics – Flakked even went deathless, while Marcin 'Jankos' Jankowski picked up 13 assists. The team were composed and confident, a real treat for any G2 fans in the audience who saw their team back on top form.
Playing in Group A were Fnatic and T1, and for a long time it looked like T1 had the upper hand. They played well on day one and came back raring to go, but Fnatic seemed to be more than prepared for a battle with the international titans of T1. They swooped in and – after a brief pause and rewind for technical difficulties – managed to compound several successful teamfights with a 10k gold difference. T1 struggled at this hurdle but will no doubt come back, raring to go.
It was time for EDG vs Cloud9, and fans of the reigning champions were treated to a textbook play. After a few tight clashes, C9 claimed the first Drake but struggled to break through EDG's strong defensive line. C9 began to shrink away from EDG a couple of kills later, with EDG and Baron using the buff to obliterate their opponents. EDG ended the game with 15 kills to C9’s four, showcasing their domination.
T1 are aiming to keep their legend alive throughout Worlds 2022
© Colin Young-Wolff / Riot Games
Day three
Day three saw another display of strength for EDG, who were up against Fnatic. As the underdogs coming into the Group Stage, Fnatic were not doing badly, and seemed keen to move in with an offensive strategy. Unfortunately for them, EDG were more than prepared for this tactic, and picked up a whole stack of kills early on. Fnatic fought back, acing EDG in a 5v5 teamfight, but EDG managed to turn it around, claiming Baron, locking down area control and winning at 36 minutes in with a 10-kill lead.
Cloud9 vs T1 went in T1's favour pretty quickly, with the team banking a gold lead and several kills in the first few minutes. C9 retaliated and tried to push back into the running. But T1 had set their path out ahead of them and weren't turning back. The game went to T1, but it was an exciting watch for fans for a multitude of reasons. It was Lee 'Faker' Sang-hyeok's 100th Worlds game, an incredible feat for the South Korean player, and Gumayusi pulled off a beautiful quadrakill in the last few minutes.
DRX took on Top Esports next in Group C, a match which ended on an even 30 minutes after half an hour of frenzied play. There was near-constant fighting in the botlane and a back-and-forward series of kills all across the map for both teams. TES decided to hang back, and farm resources, but DRX saw this as an opportunity to move in for the final strike, landing a quadrakill from Hong 'Pyosik' Chang-hyeon. In the end, it was DRX who walked away with the victory.
G2’s strength lies in their confidence, which doesn't appear to be shaken
© Colin Young-Wolff/Riot Games
Day four
G2 were first up on stage, facing JD Gaming. Fans were given a brutal awakening with this first match of the day, as G2 took First Blood and were quickly countered by JDG. Both teams began checking off objectives across the map, picking off rival players whenever they could and attempting to give the casters a sore throat. Whenever JDG found some control, G2 were there to push them back again, which seemed to be working until the last few minutes. JDG managed to take out all but G2's support, and quickly punched in a victory before G2 could fight back yet again.
DRX ended day four on a high by defeating GAM Esports, seemingly able to read ahead into every play the team tried and counter them immediately. As the gold lead started piling up and the kills started coming in for DRX, they were soon an unstoppable force, bringing close fights right up to GAM and pushing them further and further back. The game took just 23 minutes to complete, as DRX came away with a well-deserved win.
The best is yet to come in the second half of the Group Stage, so it's still all to play for. We'll keep watching as they battle it out for a place in the Knockouts.
