LoL: Cloud9 Advances To Quarterfinals, FPX Knocked Out Of Worlds 2021
| Tags: League of Legends
| Author Brandon Sturak
It was a crazy day of games today, with even crazier results.
To the shock of viewers around the world, pre-tournament favorites FunPlus Phoenix have been eliminated from the 2021 World Championship. Meanwhile, against all odds, Cloud9 managed to clinch a spot in the Knockout Stage. They'll be joining DAMWON KIA, who secured first place in Group A with an undefeated Group Stage. It's a jubilant day for NA fans, while many Chinese fans will undoubtedly be very disappointed.
At the top of the day, the Group of Death was all but decided in the minds of fans and analysts. DAMWON would take first, while FunPlus Phoenix takes second. But that narrative soon changed. Though DAMWON fulfilled their end of the bargain, FPX struggled. In fact, it was arguably the worst performance they've put on all year. Despite previous victories, they were forced into tiebreakers after losing three games.
On the other hand, Cloud9, who went 0-3 in the first round-robin, finally showed up. Only dropping a match to DAMWON, they defeated both Rogue and FPX to force a three-way tiebreaker. Due to their average win time being the fastest, they avoided the first round, so Rogue and FPX played first. Thanks largely to an impressive performance from Steven “Hans Sama” Liv, Rogue took the upset win and sent the former World Champions home without even playing a best-of-five.
After that, Rogue had the task of taking on Cloud9, who looked on fire today. Sadly for them, they couldn't clutch it out in an almost hour-long game, so C9 will be advancing to the Worlds 2021 Knockout Stage. After their terrible start to the Group Stage, everyone counted C9 out. But here they are, defying all expectations and putting NA hopium on the rise!
Featured image by Lance Skundrich/Riot Games.