League of Legends: Worlds 2019 | Play-Ins Group C Preview

The 2019 League of Legends World Championship is drawing nearer by the day. This is the most important tournament of the year and every team is eager to prove themselves as the best team in the world. The groups have been drawn and now some teams must fight through the Play-In stage to make it to the Main Event. Today we're looking at Group C, consisting of Hong Kong Attitude, Lowkey Esports and MEGA.

Hong Kong Attitude

First up in Group C is Hong Kong Attitude (“HKA”). They're the third-seed representatives from the LMS and made quite a run to make it here. Their Spring Split wasn't great, as they ended in fifth place and missed playoffs. But their Summer Split showcased a remarkable growth from the squad.

They ended up finishing third in the split and made it to playoffs. Here, they made it to the Finals before losing to J Team. Next, they blasted their way past the Flash Wolves and G-Rex to secure their ticket to Worlds.

Interestingly, Hong Kong Attitude has the ability to play the early game and later stages of the game quite well. 3z and Crash (top and jungle respectively) favor early game focused champions. Their mid laner, M1ssion, sometimes plays assassins like Qiyana too. This gives them the ability to skirmish and pull off tower dives. With decent leads, HKA can end games decisively.

3z, in particular, is a solid player. He has an aggressive play style that complements his unique champion pool and will be a huge asset in Play-Ins.

But if HKA doesn't end the game quick enough, they usually have a backup plan. This is the late-game scaling carries that Unified and M1sson play. M1ssion is known for his picks like Corki that can output tremendous damage with items. Along with him, Unified has fantastic team fight positioning that makes him a reliable carry.

Third seed representatives from the LMS are infamous for underperforming. Because Flash Wolves didn't make it to Worlds this year, the team that knocked them out will have the responsibility to do them proud.

Lowkey Esports

Next is Vietnam's second seed, Lowkey Esports. In the Spring Split, they were called Friends Forever Gaming and though they made it to playoffs, they were defeated in the first round. After rebranding to Lowkey Esports in Summer, they improved and finished third in the split. They lost to GAM Esports and had to play in the Loser's Bracket. Here, Lowkey smashed Dashing Buffalo and Team Flash to claim their spot in the World Championship's Play-In stage.

The playstyle of this team shouldn't be surprising to anyone remotely familiar with the VCS. This is a team that wants to fight. It doesn't matter what else is going on; Lowkey will find an engage and fully commit to it. This can be brutal to play against, depending on the situation, but also highly exploitable. With this kind of mentality, it is easy to give over unnecessary kills.

Their drafts enable this playstyle. Their top, middle and jungle roles all tend to pick champions with early skirmish potential. Hani, the top laner, is known for picks like Camille, Renekton and Aatrox, while Lowkey's jungler DNK plays champions like Rek'Sai, Gragas and Sylas. There's always action in the top lane, though this is where most of Lowkey's volatility comes from.

If there is a standout player on this team, it would be DNK. As the jungler, he is responsible for much of what happens in the early game. But aside from this, DNK is able to make super clutch plays when it matters. He'll be the one to watch when Lowkey takes to Summoner's Rift in the Play-In stage.

Lowkey Esports is a fairly volatile team, but with the trademark Vietnamese aggression, they're more than capable of making waves at the most prestigious tournament of the year.

MEGA Esports

Finally, we come to MEGA. MEGA is representing Southeast Asia and the LST in this year's World Championship. They were also the representatives for the region at the Mid-Season Invitational after dominating the Spring LST tour. Their run at MSI was cut short and they didn't advance past the Play-In stage there. But upon returning to the LST Summer season, MEGA came online. They finished second in the standings with only a single best-of-three lost. They didn't lose a single game in playoffs and ended up securing the Worlds spot with ease.

Unlike the previous teams, MEGA is a squad that more focuses on macro and mid-late game team fighting. Their early games are relatively quiet compared to the others in Group C, but they are decent at capitalizing on mistakes. Crucially though, MEGA's bottom lane duo of DeuL and PoP are extremely lane dominant. They are able to take the first tower in the isolated 2v2 and snowball the lead with minimal jungle interference.

This suits MEGA well, as DeuL has had a fantastic season. He's been a primary carry for the team and his teammates are well-practiced in enabling him to succeed. In addition to DueL, MEGA's mid laner is a star in his own right. G4 has two Worlds appearances under his belt and a host of high-ranking tournament finishes. He's famous in the SEA region for his variety of mage champions he plays to near perfection. Between G4 and DeuL, there is a ton of carry threat on MEGA.

MEGA definitely has their work cut out for them in this year's Worlds Play-In stage. But if they can weather the storm of aggression other Play-In teams bring to the table, they can out macro and team fight the rest and make a name for themselves.

Group C Preview Video