From hope to nope: How Fnatic slipped out of Group A contention in stunning fashion at Worlds 2022

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The second round of the 2022 League of Legends World Championship group stage began on Oct. 13, with Group A playing its closing games to decide which teams would advance to the knockout stage. Since T1 almost guaranteed themselves a spot in the knock-out stage thanks to their spotless record of 3-0 during the first group stage round robin, the second spot was left up for grabs. Technically, all three remaining teams—EDward Gaming, Fnatic, and Cloud9—could have still made the knockout stage. As we all know by now, only T1 and EDG secured their spot in the knockout stage.

But what exactly went wrong for Fnatic, the light and hope of Europe, as they bravely entered Summoner’s Rift?

Fnatic found themselves in a difficult predicament from the moment they dropped the ball against C9 with a convincing loss. Although this loss decreased Fnatic’s odds of making the knockout stage, a loss against T1 obliterated almost every chance of them coming back in contention. The final game of the day against EDG sealed the deal for Fnatic and sent the European team packing. 

The biggest breaking point for Fnatic was definitely the loss against C9 they desperately needed even to begin to compete with EDG. Once they lost to C9, their seemingly promising future became an almost impossible task that only got more challenging as they lost yet another convincing match to T1.

While Fnatic are out of the tournament, Europe’s hopes aren’t over just yet. G2 Esports and Rogue are still very much in contention for the playoffs. With G2’s 1-2 record in Group B, it won’t be easy to overcome JD Gaming and DWG KIA today, but they still have a chance. Rogue, on the other hand, are top of Group C and have yet to lose a match. If they can continue their momentum on Saturday, they’ll surely advance to the next stage of the competition.