The LCS Players Association met with Riot officials this off-season to work out a way to increase professional level practice. Pros can now stream their matches on the Tournament Realm - the same server used for official LCS matches based in LA.
Europe did it! After the FNC and SPY elimination, there was a nervousness stirring that the Worlds hosts would not send any representatives to the Semifinals. But G2 showed up on the day to take out DWG!
The three time World Champions, SKT, press forward to the Semifinals, after taking down the European third seed. They dropped a game, but secure the series after an incredible few games from Khan and Teddy.
Let's check in on champion presence and make some predictions for the Knockout Stage. Bans! This has been the most diverse Worlds so far, but Knockouts always change though. Who will they focus on?
It's no secret that Pantheon is a problem. He has been banned in all but one single Play-In Stage game, and was, of course, immediately first picked and won the game. But this has been problematic before, and it needs to be fixed.
At international events, there are always exciting narratives. There are also always stories writers want to write, but can't. Here are the stories we never told - the stories we wanted to tell, but couldn't.
I've complained about it countless times, how does one choose a single MVP out of all the best players in the World? It's easy! Just choose Faker! Read why Faker deserves the title this time and who was on his heels.
The Worlds 2019 Group Stage has finally come to a close, and with it, NA's time at Worlds. The bracket has been set, and the teams will go on to prepare for their respective Bo5s in hopes of claiming the title. There is one final Group Stage MVP to be awarded, and today it goes to ShowMaker!
The last match of Groups spelled either the death of NA or the death of the previous World Champions. And the reaper just happened to show up on North American soil, as IG dominated in the final match, and sends TL back home.
The last day of Group Stage launches DWG into the first seed for Group D, where they join SKT and GRF who finished first in their respective groups earlier on the week. All three teams finished 5-1! Is this another year of LCK Worlds victory.
Starting the day in a three way tie with TL and IG at 2-1, DWG won their first two games and become the first to advance out of Group D. Sitting at 4-1, they only have AHQ left, and defeating them will guarantee first seed.
Ahhh the beloved Group of Death. So much story in this group. The winningest Worlds team in history, the most storied LPL team, and the season one Worlds winners, and the LCS Cowboys! Who could possibly get MVP here?
With SKT qualifying right out of the gate, FNC and RNG were going to have to fight for the last spot! And after an exciting game, the home crowd favorites, FNC, take the win and advance to Madrid!
After a near hour of game-play (and a lot of Infinity Edges), Clutch's Nexus fell. While it was an incredibly difficult road they needed to travel to make it to Madrid, it would've been a beautiful one if they did. Alas, they join their fellow NA reps, Cloud9, on the trip back to LA instead.
SKT came in to the second Round Robin with a 3-0 record, needing only to beat either RNG or FNC to secure a place in the Knockout Stage. As fate would have it, they beat RNG in their first game!
Tarzan: The King of the Jungle. He was first on some people's player tier list, he wasn't even on others'. But for us - for today - he is MVP. Why Tarzan over the rest of GRF? Check it out:
Group A still has a bunch of games left to play, but already the qualifiers have been separated from the eliminated. GRF started off the day with a win over C9, and G2 followed them up, both qualifying for the Knockouts!
What started with a hopeful rebound for Cloud9 ended rather quickly as they lost their first game to Griffin, requiring G2 to go 0-3 AND lose in their tiebreaker for C9 to make it through.
The third official Group of Death is over. Why Group of Death, you ask? Simply because of all the INTeresting play! Splyc and FPX make it out at the end, with Vizicsacsi earning MVP!
Well one thing is for sure, Group B has been... entertaining. What looked like FPX domination almost ended with an FPX emilination! But in their final matches, they went 2-0 to qualify for the Knockout Stage as the first seed!