369 socks it to EG one more time as JDG lock up spot in Worlds 2022 quarterfinals

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Out of all the potential tournament favorites at the 2022 League of Legends World Championship, JD Gaming have looked like the strongest possible candidate to win the Summoner’s Cup.

And after finishing the first week of the group stage with a perfect 3-0 record, JDG got back to work today, winning their first game of the second round robin against Evil Geniuses in far-too-convincing fashion. With their win, JDG have locked in their place in the knockout stage of Worlds.

It took JDG just 25 minutes to dash EG’s hopes of a potential miracle run at Worlds. Although EG picked up their first win of the group stage earlier in the day against G2, JDG quickly reminded them that they’re still in last place in Group B—and just one potential game away from being knocked out of Worlds altogether.  

In their last meeting, EG kept things close with JDG, even holding a lead against the Chinese champions at the 18-minute mark before falling apart in the late game. Today, EG was able to go blow-for-blow with JDG in the early game, but their doom came to fruition a bit quicker today. EG fell behind the curve before the 15-minute mark, leaving things wide open for an easy game for JDG. 

A quick ace for JDG 14 minutes in allowed them to build on an early gold lead, and by 18 minutes—the timer at which JDG and EG were tied in last week’s meeting—the LPL’s first seed was up by 9,000 gold. Throughout the mid game, JDG top laner 369 consistently applied pressure in side lanes, forcing EG to react to his split-pushing, and often baiting the team into unfavorable teamfights. Beyond 369’s multiple solo kills on EG solo laners Impact and Jojopyun, he accounted for 31 percent of JDG’s total damage dealt to champions, according to Riot Games’ official stats.  

By the time their Nexus fell, the final deficit EG faced was just over 18,000 gold, making this one of the most lopsided games of the group stage so far.  

With this loss, EG have been all but eliminated from knockout stage contention at Worlds. For EG to even have a chance at moving into the quarterfinals, DWG KIA will have to lose all three of their scheduled games today, with JDG also beating G2 later in the day. EG are no longer in control of their own destiny and would have to rely on a three-way tie between themselves, DWG KIA, and G2 to have a slight chance at making it to the next round. 

EG will wrap up their run at the group stage against DWG KIA later today. By then, they could be eliminated from the tournament.