The Worlds 2021 group draw has concluded, giving some interesting results including a Group A featuring DWG KIA and FPX.
The groups for Worlds 2021 have been decided. In a half-hour draw show Wednesday morning, Marcin "Jankos" Jankowski pulled each team out of a bowl to determine their placement. We have some great matches coming our way, including an early DWG KIA-FunPlus Phoenix heavyweight showdown.
How did it work?
All teams that qualified for Worlds were sorted into pools. This was primarily based on the region's results over the last several years. The pools were as follows:
Play-in Pool 1: LNG Esports, Hanwha Life Esports, Cloud9, Beyond Gaming.
Play-in Pool 2: Unicorns of Love, Infinity Esports, Galatasaray Esports, RED Canids, DetonatioN FocusMe, PEACE.
Pool 1: Edward Gaming, DWG KIA, MAD Lions, PSG Talon.
Pool 2: FunPlus Phoenix, Gen.G, Fnatic, 100 Thieves.
Pool 3: Royal Never Give Up, T1, Rogue, Team Liquid.
First, play-in groups were chosen. Two groups were made, with two Pool 1 seeds and three Pool 2 seeds. For the main group stage, one team from each pool was chosen, with the restriction that teams from the same region could not be placed in the same group.
Worlds 2021 Group Draw results
Play-ins Group A: Hanwha Life Esports, LNG Esports, Infinity Esports, PEACE, RED Canids.
Play-ins Group B: Beyond Gaming, Cloud9, Unicorns of Love, Galatasaray Esports, DetonatioN FocusMe.
Group A: DWG KIA, FunPlus Phoenix, Rogue.
Group B: EDward Gaming, 100 Thieves, T1.
Group C: PSG Talon, Fnatic, Royal Never Give Up.
Group D: MAD Lions, Gen.G, Team Liquid.
Deadly Group A headlines the main stage
Beginning with Play-ins, we already have some interesting results. HLE and LNG should be massive favourites to advance from Group A. However, we already saw what damage OCE can do at MSI, and PEACE will look to continue that. New Brazilian squad RED Canids are also a huge wild card. In Group B, things might be a little closer. Watch in particular for Chiu "Doggo" Tzu-chuan's Beyond Gaming to surpass expectations.
The big highlight of the group draw is clearly main stage Group A. This has the reigning World Champions DWG KIA facing off against the LPL's #2 seed FunPlus Phoenix, themselves former World Champions. It's a dynamite pair, one that Rogue - who have been a top 2 team in Europe for most of the year - will struggle to break through. If the teams that advance from Play-ins are the ones that are highest seeded, this will also be Cloud9's group. That's an incredibly tough ask for North America's third seed.
Other highlights include a volatile but exciting Group B, featuring North American champions 100 Thieves. Group C contains three evenly-matched rosters, including MSI champions Royal Never Give Up. Hanwha Life Esports will also join this group if they progress from the Play-in stage. Lastly, Group D looks strong with MAD Lions and Gen.G. This will also be LNG Esports' group if they make it out of Play-ins.
Worlds 2021 begins on October 5 with the Play-in stage. Stay tuned to Esports.gg for the latest League of Legends news and updates.