The 2022 League of Legends World Championship Play-In Stage has reached its halfway point. Once again, twelve teams stepped into the ring to fight for their lives in search of League of Legends glory. Here is our recap of Worlds 2022 Day 2.
Fnatic 1-0 DetonatioN FocusMe
DetonatioN FocusMe kicked off Worlds Day 2 strongly. In the first half, the Japanese squad freely farmed kills on an uncoordinated Fnatic. DFM, however, didn’t convert their advantages in any way. The opposite happened: while DFM got the kills, Fnatic kept the gold level even by more effective laning. Roughly twenty minutes into the game, the tides turned. Led by another stellar performance from mid laner Marek “Humanoid” Brázda, Fnatic pushed DFM out of the game to secure their third win in the Play-In Stage.
Evil Geniuses 1-0 LOUD
EG and LOUD felt festive and decided to turn their game into a circus. LOUD had control over the first ten minutes of the game and played strongly through the top side of the map. Joseph “Jojopyun” Pyun had other plans for the game though and brought EG back with solid play on his signature champion Akali. Unfortunately, the stability didn’t last long. Both Evil Geniuses and LOUD responded awkwardly to each other’s plays. Neither team knew how to create a lasting advantage despite acing each other. EG finally secured a win when LOUD fumbled a few times in a row trying to kill Kacper “Inspired” Słoma’s unkillable Maokai, which the LCS team turned into favorable fights for themselves.
Saigon Buffalo 1-0 Isurus
On Day 1, Saigon Buffalo stayed true to their MSI 2022 legacy by playing a hyper aggressive style. On Day 2, they found their equal in Isurus. Both teams flew at their opponent’s throats from the get-go and in the first fifteen minutes, fifteen kills were made on the Rift. It was Saigon Buffalo who drew the long straw though. They converted their kills into lane advantages, giving their carries more CS and turret plates. Keeping a consistent gold lead, SGB found small advantages that kept stacking until Isurus couldn’t overcome them anymore. Saigon Buffalo closed out the game with a pentakill for Nguyễn “Shogun” Văn Huy, who ended the game with a 16/2/6 score.
Detonation FocusMe 1-0 Chiefs Esports Club
Both DetonatioN FocusMe and Chiefs Esports Club were desperate for the win. DFM already stared at an 0-2 score headding into the series and while the Chiefs had only lost one game until then, losing against DFM would not bode well for potential tiebreakers. DetonatioN FocusMe was clearly the better team in the game. While they started slowly, any play that Chiefs tried to make was either nullified or turned around into a bigger advantage for DFM. After 24 minutes DFM was caught out by their Australian opponent who briefly saw a window of opportunity, but bot laner Yuta “Yutapon” Sugiura closed that window with his Kai’Sa.
Evil Geniuses 1-0 Beyond Gaming
In their second game of the day, Evil Geniuses put their foot down. The team had been suffocated against Fnatic and stumbled to a victory against LOUD, but EG came out guns blazing against Beyond Gaming. Jojopyun had gotten his hands on Sylas and tore through his opponents in the early game. After nine minutes, the young American was already sitting at a comfortable 5/1/0 score. There was nothing Beyond Gaming could do. EG slowed down in the mid game but closed out the game without losing control.
DRX 1-0 Saigon Buffalo
If EG vs Beyond Gaming was one-sided, it’s hard to find a fitting description for DRX vs Saigon Buffalo. Saigon Buffalo put themselves with their backs against the wall in the draft phase already. The VCS’ second seed went for a composition that had to get ahead instantly, or the team would drastically fall behind quickly. DRX understood this well and didn’t take any risks in the early game. Once that had passed, the South Koreans shifted gears and kicked their opponents around the map.
MAD Lions 0-1 Royal Never Give Up
The stomp train kept rolling when RNG faced off against MAD Lions. Jungler Yan “Wei” Yang-Wei quickly acquired three kills, sending his team on a fast path to success. Wei’s Graves hit MAD Lions like a truck. Halfway into the game, the LEC representatives could barely walk into their lane without losing half their health. Although İrfan “Armut” Tükek made an admirable effort to pull his team back into the game, RNG’s coordination was simply superior. The Chinese team brushed off their opponents.
İstanbul Wildcats 0-1 DRX
By now it’ll sound boring and unimaginative, but Day 2 was closed out by another stomp. İstanbul Wildcats found a few early kills, but it only seemed to make DRX angry. Mid laner Kim “Zeka” Geon-woo once again had gotten his hands on Akali and went on another killing spree. After twelve minutes, the South Korean already sat at a whopping 5/0/4 score. DRX did not finish the game cleanly. They started to play loosely and, to İstanbul Wildcats credit, the Turkish squad tried their best to climb back in the game. But when DRX had enough, they slammed down the hammer and sealed the Wildcats’ proverbial coffin.
Standings
| Group A | Group B |
| Fnatic (3-0) | DRX (3-0) |
| Evil Geniuses (2-1) | MAD Lions (2-1) |
| Beyond Gaming (1-1) | Saigon Buffalo (2-1) |
| DetonatioN Focusme (1-2) | RNG (1-1) |
| LOUD (1-2) | Isurus (0-2) |
| Chiefs Esports Club (0-2) | İstanbul Wildcats (0-3) |
Missed Worlds 2022 Day 1? Here is our recap. For the full schedule of the Worlds 2022 Play-In Stage, click here. You can watch the games live on the official LoL Esports site.
