The first team has bitten the dust in the 2022 League of Legends World Championship. LCO champions Chiefs Esports Club are no longer in contention for a Group Stage spot after losing their fourth game in a row in the Play-In Stage.
The Chiefs played two games on the third day of Worlds 2022. In their first game of the day, the Australians took on LCS third seed Evil Geniuses. Chiefs Esports Club threw a curveball at their North American opponents with a Vladimir in the top lane for Kim “Topoon” Ji-hoon, but it didn’t matter much. Although the first ten minutes were quiet, the game quickly spun out of control after that. Evil Geniuses relentlessly hunted down their opponents.
A few hours later, Beyond Gaming took entered the Rift against the Chiefs. Similar to the game against Evil Geniuses, Chiefs Esports Club kept the game stable for ten minutes, but then quickly lost control. Every time they found a kill they either struggled to convert it into a lead, or they directly ran into Beyond Gaming to nullify the advantage they had just gotten. Beyond Gaming played the game in a far more controlled manner and tightened its grip on the game as it progressed. At twenty minutes, Beyond Gaming was so far ahead that there was simply no way for the Chiefs to climb back, and five minutes later the game came to a close.
With an 0-4 score, it is impossible for Chiefs Esports Club to reach a top four position in Group A of the Play-In Stage, meaning Worlds 2022 ends for them in this phase.
One more game for honor
Although the Chiefs are eliminated from Worlds 2022, they can still play spoiler for other teams. On the final day of the Play-In Stage’s group phase, the LCO team plays against LOUD. LOUD still has a good shot at making it to the top four. They surprised the world with a victory against Fnatic in the first game of Day 3. If the Chiefs beat LOUD, they might get the honor of dragging the Brazilian team down with them, depending on how the other games fare.
The Worlds 2022 Play-In Stage eliminates four competitors in its first phase. The two teams that finish their group in first place advance directly to the main event’s Group Stage. The six teams that end in place two to four are seeded into a single elimination bracket where they’ll place best-of-five series for the final two tickets to the Group Stage. For more information, read our Play-In Stage guide.
