Everyone’s beating everyone: Is Group A the most competitive group at Worlds 2022?

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Across any sport, a four-team scenario with a three-way tie usually, if not always, implies that one team is either way ahead of the pack or way below it. In the case of Group A at the 2022 League of Legends World Championship, three teams are tied for first place after the first round robin, while one sits at the bottom with a winless record. 

Last night, Group A became the first group at Worlds to conclude its first round robin, and a three-way tie between Fnatic, T1, and Edward Gaming emerged at the top of what could be the most competitive group at the event. Only Cloud9 have not won a game yet in Group A. 

Group A will play all six of its second round robin games (plus any tiebreakers) on Thursday, Oct. 13. Until then, here’s some brief analysis of each team’s performance in the first round robin, as well as their outlook moving forward. 

Fnatic (2-1)

Fnatic had a chance to complete a perfect round robin yesterday but were thwarted by Edward Gaming in their third game of the group stage. Although Fnatic had a strong start to the group stage, they’ll need to beat EDG or T1 twice in some combination to advance, whether it be in the form of two direct wins in the scheduled games or one in potential tiebreakers. 

T1 (2-1)

T1 looked like world beaters against EDG and C9, winning those two games by an average gold differential of 12,000 apiece, but were on the losing end of a stunning whooping by Fnatic on day two of groups. Should they repeat their performances against their competitors in the second round robin, T1 would finish with a 4-2 record, which may not be enough to get them out of this group outright without a tiebreaker. The biggest goal for T1 is figuring out which one of their performances was a fluke: the loss to the LEC squad or the win against the defending world champions.

Edward Gaming (2-1)

After getting thoroughly crushed by T1 on day one of the group stage, EDG have quickly turned things around by ripping off two straight wins. It took the defending world champions a minute to get their bearings straight, but in their last two contests, they’re starting to look a lot more like the team that won it all last season. A turnaround win against T1, who they lost to in the first round robin, would all but confirm EDG’s advancement, assuming they can repeat their complete dominance against the group’s two Western squads. 

Cloud9 (0-3)

C9 have looked downright miserable in this group stage, losing all three of their first games in an unconvincing, not-even-close fashion. In three games, they’ve amassed 13 kills, while their opponents have racked up 48. They’ve gotten just four towers across those games, while only securing two dragons.

Although Cloud9 sit in a 0-3 hole, they’re still mathematically able to get out of groups assuming they win at least two of their next three games (and get a bit of help along the way). But the LCS champions have given fans few reasons to believe they’ll win just one game, let alone two or three. 

The teams of Group A will return to the Worlds stage to play all of their second round robin games on Thursday, Oct. 13.