Well, North American fans, it looks like Cloud9 are your last hope at the 2021 League of Legends World Championship once again. Team Liquid are headed back home after losing to Gen.G today in the first tiebreaker of Group D in a brutal 36-minute stomp.
This match came together after MAD Lions took down LNG Esports to force a four-way tie between the teams in the group. Liquid were looking to become the second NA squad to make the knockout stage at Worlds 2021, while Gen.G wanted to follow the three other LCK representatives into the next round.
Unfortunately for Liquid, Gen.G’s star mid laner Bdd was locked in and ready to make a statement against his opponents. Placed on Zoe, the 22-year-old destroyed Liquid through incredible bubble placements and oppressive poke with her long-ranged Paddle Stars. He finished the match with three kills, five assists, and only a single death as he held Liquid at bay.
Liquid couldn’t find any ways to force a teamfight against Gen.G’s kite-heavy composition with Miss Fortune’s E, Yuumi’s general poke and ultimate, and Graves’ Smoke Screen. Because of this, they could also exert their absolute control over objectives like dragons and Baron, which made the gold lead insurmountable.
This early exit is also the fourth time in a row that Liquid have gone 3-3 in the Worlds group stage, only to miss the knockout stage of the tournament. They’ve always struggled to maintain consistency with their play in the best-of-ones and it’s come back to bite them every time. Now, the roster and coaching staff will have to return home and plan for the upcoming offseason.
Gen.G, meanwhile, will prepare for their quarterfinals match, where they’ll try to change their fortunes compared to last year. Luckily, they won’t need to worry about meeting a European team like G2 Esports.
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