As the 2021 World Championship Group draw is almost upon us all (me included), excitement is starting to build up. There are many different ways in which the draw can go, so I decided to play around with the groups, making a couple of potential group projections ahead of time.
In many projections, I assumed that Hanwha Life Esports, Beyond Gaming, Cloud9, and LNG Esports would advance from the play-in stage. And to my shock, those projections looked terrible for my beloved European region. Not that Carzzy didn't warn us all before.
there are 2 types of #worlds2021 players pic.twitter.com/yvkmHH0izj
— LoL Esports (@lolesports) September 19, 2021
THE LEC'S NIGHTMARE
Unless some of the play-in favorites drop out, EU will get at least one affordable group. One team will have to be sacrificed for the other two LEC seeds to benefit. Indeed, each LEC team will likely face an opponent from both the LPL and the LCK, as both regions have four seeds in the tournament and have good chances to place all of them in the group stage.
Even in this configuration, one EU team still has a good shot. There is no scenario where all EU teams have a dire group draw.
EUROPE'S DREAM
It might look bad at first glance, but I have good news: here is the best scenario that I name "We try to make EU live," assuming that HLE, BYG, C9 and LNG make it past the Play-in stage:
THE KINDA-DREAM SCENARIO
Unfortunately, EU won't be able to get a ''free group'' for every single team unless LNG and HLE drop out of the play-in stage, which is unlikely. One team will have to pay for the others' good fortune. In this case, Rogue will have to sacrifice themselves for the greater good:
- Fnatic draws PSG Talon
- MAD Lions draw 100 Thieves
- Fnatic & MAD will contend against #3rd and #4th seed of either LCK or LPL.
- Rogue will have to pray to the League of Legends gods
ROGUE'S DREAM
Enough talking about the Rogue sacrifice. Let's talk about their best group scenario, which involves drawing NA's first seed, as well as having LCK and LPL's fourth seed drop out in the play-in stage.
LCS TO THE AIRPORT, ANY % SPEEDRUN?
So it wasn't enough that the LCS lost their Pool 1 seed, was it? Well, NA fans, I have heard your pleas for a 0-18 speedrun. While I don't think it will be a 0-18, I can still present to you the one scenario where it could be. Here is the worst projected draw for the LCS:
You may be wondering: where is C9? The fastest way to the airport for a play-in team is through the Play-in stage.
Be sure to check the 2021 League of Legends World Championship group draw on the Riot Games stream on Sept. 22 at 14:00 CET. I know I will.
Source: LoL Esports
