LCS champion Cloud9 is no longer in the run for the 2022 League of Legends World Championship title. After a loss against LPL third seed EDward Gaming in the Group Stage, the North American squad dropped to an 1-4 score, mathematically eliminating them from making it to the Knockout Stage.
Though their odds of making it out of the Group Stage were extremely low, Cloud9 kicked off the second round confidently. In the rematch against Fnatic, the LCS champion ruthlessly punished the mistakes of their European opponents. After a few teamplay fumbles involving Iván “Razork” Martín, Cloud9 took over. They preyed on Zdravets “Hylissang” Galabov, who repeatedly was caught out of position, and snowballed the game. Highlighted by an outstanding Orianna game from Nicolaj “Jensen” Jensen, Cloud9 brushed Fnatic from the map in 27 minutes.
But the joy quickly turned sour against EDG. In the bot lane, Tian “Meiko” Ye endlessly harassed Cloud9 with his signature Thresh. It resulted in a quick kill for bot laner Park “Viper” Do-hyeon, after which EDG gave Cloud9 the treatment that the North American squad gave Fnatic in the previous game. Cloud9 had no say in the game at all. By fourteen minutes, EDG had accumulated a 5k gold lead and Cloud9 had not gotten a single objective or kill yet. Cloud9 tried to make some plays to climb back into the game, but EDG’s lead was far too big to overcome.
Two more chances for the LCS
Cloud9 struggled from the very start of Worlds 2022. The team offered little pushback against Fnatic in their initial match on Oct. 7 and stood equally as little of a chance against their other opponents in Group A. Reigning world champion EDward Gaming and LCK silver medalist T1 also won their initial games against Cloud9, seemingly needing little effort.
Worlds 2022 isn’t over for Cloud9 just yet though. The squad has a shot at saving some face later on the day, as they take on T1 one last time. Depending on how the other games go, Cloud9 can still affect the outcome of Group A drastically. EDG and T1 are in a close race, trailed by Fnatic, to determine which two teams advance to the Knockout Stage. A loss against Cloud9 could hurt the chances of T1 of grabbing that coveted ticket to the next round.
Although North America’s first seed has fallen, there are two other LCS teams still in the race for Worlds 2022. Admittedly, their chances of advancing to the Knockout Stage aren’t great either. In Group D, LCS second seed 100 Thieves sits at an 0-3 score after the first half of the Group Stage. They will play their return games on Sunday, Oct. 16. In Group B, Evil Geniuses, the third seed of the LCS, also lost its three initial games. For them, Oct. 14 is the day of redemption, as they take on JD Gaming, G2 Esports, and DWG KIA one more time.
