With only a couple of hours left before the Group Stage 2017 World Championship begins, we are expecting to have a very competitive and fun set of matches leading up to the finals. Each Group Pool is packed with talented clubs who are jockeying for position to get the coveted Summoners’ Cup.
Every team and player has their own chapter to fulfill – from the defending champions to young upstarts trying to make a name for themselves and cement their team as the best not just in their region, but in the World. That said, here are some of thoughts and initial impressions going into this year’s Group Stage:
Group Stage 2017: Group A
Pool A of the Group Stage 2017 Worlds sees the reigning and defending champions SK Telecom T1 battling some serious competition in the form of LPL’s EDward Gaming, LMS’ ahq E-Sports Club and NA LCS’ Cloud 9. All eyes will be on SKT, as they seek to claim their fourth World Championship against hungry teams in their Group.
Match to Watch: SKT T1 vs Cloud 9
One of the matches in this Pool to watch is between SKT and Cloud 9. It has been well-documented that the Korean Teams have been consistently the best region heading into the Worlds. But this season, we’re seeing the emergence of NA LCS as a prime contender as the best region this year. The Group Stage 2017 Pools sees two of LCK teams battle with two NA LCS clubs, respectively, and it is a treat to watch NA and Korea’s representatives battle to determine just which region is the best.
This leads us to the match between SKT and Cloud 9. It is a must-see marquee match up as we’ll see Faker, arguably the best Mid Laner and League of Legends player, duke it with Cloud 9’s Jensen, one of the strongest and aggressive Mid Laners in North America. Given that one of Cloud 9’s tactics will be to funnel their kills to Jensen and allow him to take over the game, it will be interesting what SKT will do to address this – will Peanut set up shop and provide Faker with ganking support, or will Faker turn it up and show exactly why he is widely considered to be the best player in Competitive LoL? Suffice to say, this is a truly exciting game to look forward to.
Group Stage 2017: Group B
Given the participants in Pool B of the Group Stage 2017 Worlds, it can be argued that this is the most exciting and dynamic group to watch this year. LCK’s Lonzhou Gaming goes into the Worlds Group Stage as LCK’s top team, besting the defending champions. They are joined by NA LCS’s Immortals, who has had its fair share of Worlds experience. Next is GIGABYTE Marines, one of the teams who greatly impressed during this year’s MSI. Finally, Fnatic returns to the Worlds Stage, with sOAZ and Rekkles leading the charge.
Match to Watch: All of the Matches
All of the teams in this group have the potential to have match-of-the-day or even match-of-the-playoffs written all over them. The Korea-NA regional supremacy battle continues in this pool, where we’ll get a chance to see Longzhou Gaming battle Immortals in the first day of the Groups Stage.
There is also GIGABYTE Marines’ hyper-aggressive gameplay which will make for various highlights to look forward to, along with Fnatic’s wealth of experience playing through their captain, Rekkles, to best the other teams in this bracket.
Individually, two players come to mind who are must-see in Group B – Longzhou’s Khan and GIGABYTE Marines’ Levi. Khan is the premier Top Laner who has shown his mettle and tendency to carry games for Longzhou Gaming. His propensity when it comes to dueling and big plays make their matches exciting to watch.
Similarly, Levi from GIGABYTE Marines turned many heads during the MSI with his impeccable 300-CS game as a jungler. His mastery with his Jungle champions is something to look forward to, along with his team’s ultra-aggressive playstyle.
Group Stage 2017: Group C
Pool C of Group Stage 2017 sees EU LCS’ G2 ESports do battle with LCL’s Royal Never Give Up, LCK’s Samsung Galaxy and TCL’s 1907 Fenerbahce Espor.
The teams on this pool are packed with stories that are yet to be written as they wage war with one another in Summoner’s Rift. These clubs are set to showcase their mettle, with Samsung Galaxy having the most Worlds experience among the other groups; last season, they battled SKT in the Finals, though in a losing effort.
G2 also focuses their efforts in making a stronger showing, following a subpar Season 6 Worlds standing. Given that this year saw them take top honors during the EU LCS on their way to a getting a 1st Seed at the Groups Stage, they are hoping to use their momentum to make a deep run into the Playoffs, hopefully with consistent play from their Ace Mid Laner, Perkz.
Royal Never Give Up, although as a team has only managed to get to the Worlds Stage a handful of times, managed to get a somewhat good showing during the Group Stage last season. They managed to qualify to the quarterfinals, besting Splyce and Team Solo Mid, before ultimately losing to SKT.
Among all the teams in Group C, Fenerbahçe Espor is set to go through a gauntlet of battle-tested eSports clubs. They are the relatively new team who will match up against teams with Worlds experience, and they’ll need more of their team play they showed during the Play-Ins to have a chance of rising up the ranks.
Match to Watch: Samsung Galaxy vs G2 eSports
While LCK is often considered to be the best region when it comes to Competitive League of Legends, NA and EU LCS are chomping at the heels as worthy contenders for the best region this season. Specifically, G2’s Perkz often proclaims that EU LCS is the best region in LoL – now he and his team has the opportunity to back up their claim against last year’s runner up, Samsung Galaxy in this year’s Group Stage 2017 Pool C. Look for a good match up between Samsung’s Crown and G2’s Perkz in the Mid Lane, and G2’s Zven slowly take over games with his adaptive ADC playstyle against newcomer Ruler.
Group Stage 2017: Group D
Finally, Group D Wraps up the Group Stage 2017 World Championship pool. The teams in this group consist of LMS’ Flash Wolves, EU LCS’ Misfits Gaming, NA LCS’ Team Solo Mid, and LPL’s Team WE.
Match to Watch: Team Solo Mid vs Flash Wolves
LMS Flash Wolves is no stranger when it comes to competing at the Worlds Stage. This will be their third Worlds appearance, following their commendable performance during the LMS Splits. Furthermore, they are looking to bounce back from last year where they failed to get out of the Groups Stage.
Team Solo Mid is this year’s NA LCS champions, and is riding on their great showing during this season’s Spring and Summer Splits. Their noteworthy run is further bolstered with Bjergsen getting his fourth NA LCS MVP award. Apart from this, TSM’s inclusion to the Group Stage 2017 Pool also gives them the distinction of being the only team to have competed in every Worlds Championship since its inception. Suffice to say, they have a wealth of experience playing at the biggest stage of them all.
Bjergsen versus Maple in the Mid Lane is a good match up to see, as well as the battle in Bot Lane between Doublelift and Biofrost against SwordArt and Betty.
To sum up, the Group Stage 2017 Group Pools for this year’s Worlds looks to be promising. Expect to have tons of highlights and pulse-pounding games between highly talented teams in the following weeks, leading up to the Finals.
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