LoL Worlds Swiss draw luck continues for LCS, LEC teams after stage’s second day

Another day at the League of Legends World Championship is done, and teams have their next opponents. And frankly, there’s a case to be made that through the first two days of the Swiss stage, the Western LoL leagues are making out like bandits. 

After surviving today’s onslaught of regional battles, each of the LCS and LEC squads are in a decent-enough position to keep their tournament hopes alive, while others are poised to make a serious run at the next round. 

The West is continuing to see just how beneficial the Swiss format can be. If teams are struggling, they’ll struggle together, and if Western teams struggle, they’ll be more likely to face off against minor region longshots or fellow major-region slumpers in the back-end of the Swiss bracket. 

In tournaments past, the West’s hopes were crushed once fans realized that their group draws were highly skewed against them. Once the hierarchy of a group was established in the past, it became difficult for teams who were struggling to climb the mountain during the second week of the group stage. Now, as the Swiss stage presents its continuously evolving format, teams with losing or middling records have a better chance of getting a fair shake, especially considering all of the big dogs of the bracket are going to be on the upper side of the Swiss bracket. 

Of course, there’s still a bit of luck involved in the process. G2, for example, could’ve gotten extremely unlucky by drawing odds-on tournament favorites JD Gaming earlier today, but a matchup with Gen.G bodes much better for the only undefeated Western squad. 

No Western team has been luckier with their draws than MAD Lions, though. The third seed out of the LEC came into the tournament playing a step below their season average in terms of quality (missing the LEC’s season final was certainly a misstep), but being able to dodge juggernauts out of the LPL and LCK has been a huge boon for MAD. While they still might not have as much juice as other Western teams like C9 and G2, the fact that they’ve strictly drawn LCS and LEC teams so far (C9, BDS, NRG) is something that works in their favor.

It’s possible, if not extremely likely, that if MAD had been given matches with Korean and Chinese teams on the first three days, we’d probably be getting ready to wave goodbye to them. Instead, they’ve got a slight chance to qualify for the knockouts while potentially dodging Eastern squads altogether. 

C9, Fnatic, and NRG are still in best-of-one mode, while Team Liquid became the first Western team to be on the brink of elimination. Back-to-back losses against T1 and NRG—the former of which being the more competitive game—have put Liquid against the wall. They’ll face GAM Esports in their win-or-go-home best-of-three, which is honestly the best-case scenario for them. GAM currently look like one of, if not, the weakest team at Worlds, while the other two winless squads, Dplus KIA and Team BDS, would’ve posed much steeper on-paper challenges for Liquid.  

Western LoL squads’ records after day two of Worlds Swiss stage

Among all of these squads, it feels fair to put the label of “unluckiest” on Team BDS. After drawing a potential future world champion in JD Gaming on day one, they’re matched up against a former World Championship-winning squad in Dplus KIA on day three. Facing off against Canyon, ShowMaker, and Deft in a must-win scenario is a fate I wouldn’t wish on any LoL team.

Fnatic has also gotten the short end of the Swiss stick through three days. Sitting with a 1-1 record is a comfortable-but-tense position to be in. Although they handled their business against GAM Esports earlier today, bookended best-of-ones against two of China’s hottest teams in LNG and Bilibili could be the death of Fnatic. 

Just as it’s always been for Western teams at Worlds, avoiding the LCK and LPL is borderline impossible. However, the guaranteed prospect of even footing makes stealing a game against one of the East’s top squads that much more doable. 

Worlds will pick up again tomorrow, Oct. 21, when JDG and LNG run back their LPL finals match with a spot in the knockouts on the line. Following them, G2 and Gen.G will look to secure the next spot in the top eight. NA gets back to work on Sunday, Oct. 22, when C9 takes on T1.