The final participant for the 2021 League of Legends World Championship Finals was decided on Sunday as China’s last hope, EDward Gaming, continued their franchise-best run with a nail-biting 3-2 series win over Korea’s Gen.G Esports.
This series saw a pair of talented but flawed teams scrap for a chance to take on DWG KIA in the Worlds Finals. EDward Gaming’s run at this year’s tournament is the best international showing in franchise history, marking the first time EDG has advanced past the quarterfinals.
EDG started the series with a scrappy 37-minute win as both teams felt each other out with teamfighting compositions. While Gen.G mid lane ace, Gwak “Bdd” Bo-seong took Seraphine and played well. Unfortunately for Gen.G, who relies heavily on Bdd to carry them, Bdd couldn’t do much on a supportive mage in the mid lane. EDG took advantage of a strong top half of the map to pick up the first game of the series.
Gen.G was quick to respond in Game 2, dominating EDG in 30 minutes. Gen.G jungler Kim “Clid” Tae-min’s Lee Sin was everywhere in the early game, rolling through the jungle and ganking efficiently to put all of Gen.G’s lanes ahead. Gen.G only surrendered three deaths as EDG floundered from behind, leading to Gen.G tying the series up in 30 minutes.
Gen.G went on to take Game 3 in 40 minutes in a much closer match. Clid’s Lee Sin was once again instrumental to the win, not only for his early game proactivity but for his Smites as well. Clid did a great job stealing objectives from EDG jungler Zhao “Jiejie” Li-Jie, helping Gen.G overcome a sloppy early game. While EDG’s bottom half of the map got ahead early, one crucial mistake from bot lane carry Park “Viper” Do-hyeon’s Lucian sealed the deal for Gen.G’s win.
Down 1-2, EDward Gaming bounced back in impressive fashion in Game 4. Led by mid laner Lee “Scout” Ye-chan, who put on a masterclass as Zoe, EDward Gaming dominated the early-mid game after Clid took Viego, a weaker early-game champion, allowing JieJie’s potent Jarvan IV to set Scout up. Once Scout got some items under his belt, he was a menace, landing devastating Paddlestars and Sleepy Trouble Bubbles en route to a perfect 12-0-7 KDA (Kills-Deaths-Assists) for 90 percent kill participation in a 31-minute stomp.
In the series finale, JieJie came alive as Jarvan IV, setting up several early kills for his team as EDward Gaming jumped ahead. Longtime EDG stalwart, support Tian “Meiko” Ye had played enchanter supports like Lulu and Nami for most of the Knockout Stage, but he broke out a comfort champion in Leona for this tiebreaker. With Meiko roaming constantly and engaging for his team, EDG ran roughshod over Gen.G, who simply couldn’t withstand the early pressure. EDward Gaming punched their ticket to the franchise’s first Worlds Finals appearance with a 32-minute win.
In the 2021 Worlds Main Event, 16 teams are competing in four groups based on seeding, contesting a double round-robin of best-of-one matches in the Group Stage. The top two teams from each group advance to the Knockout Stage, which consists of a single-elimination bracket.
Teams will be randomly drawn for the Knockout Stage so that first-place teams will oppose second-place teams, and no two teams from the same group will be placed in the same half of the bracket.
Matches in the Knockout Stage will be best-of-five all the way through the Nov. 6 grand final. The championship team will receive 22 percent of the total prize pool, which would equate to $489,500 based on the minimum guaranteed payout of $2,225,000.
The Finals take place on Saturday, Nov. 6:
DWG KIA vs EDward Gaming
–Noah Waltzer, Field Level Media
