G2 and Rogue had their eyes set on the Worlds draw this afternoon, and it’s safe to say that fate hasn’t been kind to either of the two European teams. It must be said that the level of these Worlds 2022 is very high.
After their loss to Rogue in the final of the LEC Summer Split, the G2 players could have hoped for a better awakening this Monday than the draw for Worlds 2022. The team of Caps and Jankos who started as arch favorites in this European split , before said brutal defeat inflicted this Sunday by Rogue (0-3), finds himself in the most complex group of the group stages of Worlds 2022. The ninjas will face the reigning champion of LPL (China), JD Gaming, and to Damwon Gaming, the Korean champions and reigning finalists of the 2020 and 2021 Worlds. On the Rogue side, we tend to keep smiling, their team having certainly inherited the vice-champion of China Top Esport, big favorites of these Worlds, but also the Vietnamese of GAM Esport, a more catchable team.
As for the Americans, there is still a lot of work to be done if we want to get out of the group stages. The eternal Cloud 9 will face none other than SKT T1, the team of Faker who dominated the first split of the season in Korea, and Edward Gaming, literal reigning world champion. For 100 Thieves it’s also a mini-cold shower, since Dan Gilbert’s team will have to face the reigning Korean champions, Gen G. play offs. The four pools of the group stages of the Worlds will be completed by the four best teams from the play-ins stages, also drawn at random in the morning.
We will find the European stars of Fnatic and MAD Lions. The former were relatively spoiled by a favorable draw, a pool in the company of Evil Geniuses (NA), Beyond Gaming (Taiwan) or LOUD (Brazil), and can largely hope to join the group phase of the Worlds. For the MAD Lions, it will be a different story, since our Europeans will have to surpass the Koreans of DRX and the Chinese of Royal Never Give Up. Remember that the best two of each group of six will be able to join the group stages of the main competition.