League Of Legends Worlds Groups Day 8: Results, Recaps, And Recommendations
The League of Legends World Championship kicked off with the Play-in stage of the tournament on Friday, September 25, and after a thrilling play-ins stage, the Groups began on October 3.
The best League teams from all around the world will be facing off against each other for the prestigious World Championship, immortalising themselves in League of Legends history.
With a scaling prize pool depending on the number of championship skins being bought (of which 25% go directly towards the teams), the overall amount will likely surpass $5,000,000 (~£4,000,000). In total 22 teams from eleven regions will be competing at the World Championship.
The main event began on October 3, putting the remaining 16 teams in four separate groups. The first three competitors in each group have already been determined, with the play-in tournament victors slotting in as the fourth seed in each respective group.
The first set of Groups matches have already taken place, so catch up with everything you missed, including features and analysis, on our Worlds Coverage Hub.
Check out the everything you need from Groups Day 8 below, including all the info on schedules, teams, game recaps, and more!
GROUPS DAY 8 (SUNDAY OCTOBER 11) - SCHEDULE
Click the links to jump to the recaps and results for that game!
9am BST/ 4am EST - FlyQuest VS DRX
10am BST / 5am EST - Unicorns of Love VS Top Esports
11am BST / 6am EST - DRX VS Unicorns of Love
12pm BST / 7am EST - Top Esports VS FlyQuest
1pm BST / 8am EST - Unicorns of Love VS FlyQuest
2pm BST / 9am EST - DRX VS Top Esports
FlyQuest VS DRX (REWATCH RECOMMENDATION: 3 / 5 - Top lane win game)
A masterclass by DRX on how to play through top lane as Choi “Doran” Hyeon-joon picked for the lane with his Jayce. Couple that with the help of Hong “Pyosik” Chang-hyeon and Jeong “Chovy” Ji-hoon splitting the map helping Doran snowball his lane — constantly punishing Colin "Solo" Earnest. It was an absolute slaughter as DRX constantly extended their gold lead with smart and calculated play, utilizing their composition’s strengths of Pantheon engage and Galio follow-up. The Korean representatives found advantages without having to commit to fights, using massive advantage they gained from Doran in the top lane as well as their other roles.
FLY tried for picks with their Thresh but could never finish it off, allowing for DRX to keep adding to their insurmountable lead. The North American representatives looked good in the final fight of the game as they found nearly found a pick but their woes of not being able to finish it off continued. DRX with some fancy sleeps from Lilia and a Galio ultimate, managed to turn it all around, giving themselves Baron — eventually ending the game.
Unicorns of Love VS Top Esports (REWATCH RECOMMENDATION: 3 / 5 - 369, damn TES you're fine)
Top Esports showed why they are one of, if not the tournament favourites, as they completely dominated Unicorns of Love. It all started by TES getting three kills across the map, a kill in the top lane with a gank from Hung “Karsa” Hao-Hsuan while TES’ bot lane killed UOL’s for First Blood. That wasn’t all though, Zhuo “knight” Ding prevented a Lev “Nomanz” Yakshin Teleported in the top lane as well — solidifying the top lane gank for TES.
A couple of minutes later, in the bot lane, UOL went for a pick onto an overstepping Liang “yuyanjia” Jia-Yuan but TES expertly turned it around as they had knight and Karsa come obliterate four members of UOL. This play showed how strong TES really were in this game, as UOL stood zero chance. After this play, the rest was history. TES was unrelenting, constantly engaging onto UOL across the map with play after play after play. The UOL magic tried to find picks but they always amounted to nothing as TES was just too strong and too ahead. TES nearly averaged a kill per minute, this is how dominant the Chinese representatives were.
With this TES defeat over UOL, both UOL and FLY are out of Worlds Quarterfinals contention. TES and DRX are guaranteed top two in the group and a Quarterfinals birth.
DRX VS Unicorns of Love (REWATCH RECOMMENDATION: 2.5 / 5 - Pyosik one-shot a Ziggs before he could finish his TP)
UOL began their bounce-back game well but DRX decided against it. UOL got themselves three quick kills to start the game, punishing Pyosik’s invade of Kirill “AHaHaCiK” Skvortsov’s jungle. But DRX quickly turned it around as even though UOL were holding well on their own in the bot lane, a Gadget face check spiralled into DRX getting themselves three kills. Past this play, UOL had all their players roam mid to get a guaranteed Rift Herald charge onto the mid lane tier one tower but DRX were able to burst it down before the charge happened. After the denial, Doran came in with a flank and DRX got themselves a kill.
Come mid-game DRX ran amok, terrorizing all of the map and anywhere that UOL was in. UOL throwing themselves at the Korean representatives with desperation plays but they were left at that, desperation. With their complete control over Summoner’s Rift, DRX got themselves a second drake after killing a few members of UOL. Right after the dragon, they transitioned to Baron in which it got stolen by Ahahacik, just prolonging the inevitable.
DRX had a significant gold lead for 15 minutes and were playing too loose, this led to UOL taking the second Baron after a pick onto Pyosik. Even then, the gap between DRX and UOL was too wide, having them eventually end the game.
Top Esports VS FlyQuest (REWATCH RECOMMENDATION: 3 / 5 - NA may suck but at least FQ beat TES)
The FlyQuest who did so well in the League of Legends Championship Series finally showed up at Worlds after they had a clean upset over Top Esports. This was quintessential FLY, Solo absorbing the camping from the enemy team well, their bot lane getting ahead and Tristan “PowerOfEvil” Schrage’s Azir plays. It all started with an invade into TES’ raptors as Lucas” Santorin” Larsen was playing the Lilia, this led to a first blood for Jason “WildTurtle” Tran. FLY’s bottom lane were able to transition that First Blood into another kill giving themselves an early lead. The North American representatives off of the backs of that play, PowerOfEvil’s solid play and Solo holding his own were able to build up a solid early game lead.
That early game lead was crucial as TES were consistently trying for plays to get themselves back into the game, only sometimes working. This lead was what allowed them to finish a clean game after getting Baron and ending with a final hook onto Karsa as FLY pushed for the win. The hook allowed them to secure their push an finish the upset.
FLY finally set themselves up for success giving Solo a winning matchup, PowerOfEvil Azir and put Lee "IgNar" Dong-geun on a playmaking support.
Unicorns of Love VS FlyQuest (REWATCH RECOMMENDATION: 2.5 / 5 - Go go Gadget Twitch wasn't enough)
FLY ended their Worlds 2020 run at 3-3 after taking the momentum from their previous match versus TES into their against UOL. FLY invaded UOL’s raptors due to them having Lilia, and UOL did a late contest which ended up not working in their favour. This play led to Nomanz being low in health in the mid lane versus PowerOfEvil’s Vayne — PowerOfEvil ended up killing him for First Blood. After this play, FLY blew the game wide open even with the hiccup of a Gadget Twitch getting fed.
This was light work for the North American representatives, once again showcasing the playstyle that allowed them to be so successful in their home region. P.S., PowerOfEvil got insanely fed on the Vayne.
DRX VS Top Esports (REWATCH RECOMMENDATION: 4 / 5 - A beautiful early-game chess match between both of the teams)
A chess match of a last game of Worlds’ Group stage between Top Esports and DRX. Both teams were bidding for power in the early game, with DRX helping Pyosik get his Kindred marks while TES were trying to delay and/or prevent them. This arms race lasted until around the 24-minute mark. The game finally blew open as both teams after many close calls from each side decided to fight it in the mid lane. At 24:04 the latest First Blood in Worlds history finally happened after a tide-turning Shockwave from knight under DRX’s mid-tier one tower allowed for them to get three kills and a Baron.
Past this, the arms race was finally over and TES had control of the game. All that was left was for them to finish the game in TES fashion or in a normal fashion. DRX fought back though, as at the 34-minute mark they cleverly used fog of war by their raptors to get an engage onto TES, making it a 2 for 1 — getting some Baron buffs off of TES’ players after their second Baron take. This game’s action past the 24-minute lull continued as at the 37-minute mark there was a fight for TES’ Mountain Soul. DRX thought they were clever going for a pick onto 369 but they couldn’t quite finish him off, allowing for TES to get the Soul.
Once TES had Soul, they were able to slowly close out the map — securing the first seed in their group.
Images via Riot Games