Worlds 2017 Group Stage day 3 recap

After three days of play in the 2017 League of Legends World Championship Group Stage, we finally have an idea of just how good each of the teams are and who is favored to get out of each group.

At the top of all four groups now sits an undefeated team with at least two wins, meanwhile the bottom of every group feature a winless team who will have a long uphill battle if they still want a chance to make it out of the Group Stage.

Perhaps the most surprising feature of the Group Stage’s third day was the struggles of Korean teams. In the day’s fourth match, between Royal Never Give Up and Samsung Galaxy, RNG absolutely dominated the game with one of the best performances we have seen so far at the World Championships. Meanwhile, defending World Champions SK telecom T1 found themselves precariously close to losing their match against ahq e-Sports Club, Group A’s biggest underdog coming into the tournament.

For a full breakdown of all the matches of Day three, check out our summary below.

TSM vs Team WE

Winner: TSM

Against Team WE, TSM looked like a completely different team than the one that played 50 plus minutes against Flash Wolves just a day ago. Instead of their slow, passive early game they put pressure on WE’s jungle in the early game, putting them in position to get an early lead that they never let go of closing out the game in just 34 minutes.

Flash Wolves vs Misfits

Winner: Misifts

Riot Games

This may have been a long game, clocking in at just over 46 minutes, but there was never a question about who the winner would be. Misfits dominated just about every facet of this game, never allowing Flash Wolves a way back into the match and taking down the Nexus without even giving up a kill.

G2 Esports vs 1907 Fenerbahçe Espor

Winner: G2 Esports

One EU LCS win leads to another as G2 look completely dominant over 1907 Fenerbahçe, who don’t seem quite able to measure up to their group mates. Perhaps most interesting in this game was the continued rise of Trundle in the top lane, and the first win for Lulu against Janna in the tournament so far.

Samsung Galaxy vs Royal Never Give Up

Winner: Royal Never Give Up

Riot Games

It’s rare to see Korean teams lose at Worlds, it’s far rarer that they get completely destroyed in the manner that RNG accomplished in this game. RNG finished off Samsung Galaxy’s Nexus in just 27 minutes without giving up a single kill in what might have been the most dominant game at Worlds 2017 so far.

SK telecom T1 vs ahq e-Sports

Winner: SK telecom T1

This game was much closer than it should have been. After SKT picked counters in every match up and every lane, it should have been a simple game for them to pick up. Instead, they lose the early game handily, barely managing to keep up in gold through their superior csing. Ultimately, SKT simply relied on their composition and the scaling of Cho’Gath to give them the opportunity to take advantage of a couple momentary mistakes from ahq that ended up costing them the game.

Cloud9 vs Edward Gaming

Winner: Cloud9

Cloud9’s victory may not have been too flashy, but it was impressive and controlled and went a long way to prove that they were indeed the second best team in Group A. This was the first time that EDG found themselves completely taken out of the early game and without any path back in as Cloud9 took control early and methodically cleared Barons, and towers without any unnecessary risk. With all three of their games played for the first week the one team left that Cloud9 hasn’t beaten soundly will be SK telecom T1.