LoL: Worlds 2020 | Group Stage Day One Recap

After finishing Play-Ins, the real Worlds event is underway.

After a wild Play-In Stage, the 2020 World Championship is now into the main event! Fans around the world wait every year to see the best of the best challenge each other and it all begins in the Group Stage. Teams were drawn into four groups (Group A, Group B, Group C and Group D) and now have to take at least the second spot to advance. But every journey begins with a first step. Without further ado, here's everything that happened during the first day of the Worlds 2020 Group Stage!

FlyQuest vs Top Esports

The Group Stage opened up with a pretty brutal display of skill from Top Esports (“TES”), who dominated FlyQuest (“FLY”). Their seemingly inevitable snowball started in the top lane, as 369 solo killed opposing top laner Solo. After that, Karsa ganked top to get 369 another kill and propel him further ahead. TES didn't give FLY a moment to breathe either, as at six minutes, they made plays in the bot and top sides of the map to kill IgNar and Santorin, respectively.

FLY attempted to claw back some gold by killing Knight in the mid lane, but they barely couldn't and lost two to TES instead. Shortly after this, Karsa went top once more to kill Solo himself then drop the Rift Herald for the First Tower bonus. During the next few minutes, TES was accumulating dragons and towers across the map, ballooning their lead more and more. At an early 23 minute mark, TES won a team fight two-for-zero and claimed the Ocean Soul.

Things looked very bad for FLY now. TES was in the driver's seat and they knew it, so they took a stab at Baron. FLY did contest, and to their credit to put up a decent fight there, but TES eventually edged them out and secured the buff. Their first siege netted them multiple towers and two Inhibitors, though FLY managed to get a couple of kills to stall them a bit. Unfortunately, it wasn't enough, as TES baited FLY to fight them at Elder. Here, they slaughtered three FLY champions before pushing the base and taking their first Nexus of the tournament.

Quick Stats:

• Time: 31:13
• Kills: 7-19
• Turrets: 1-11
• Gold: 48.5k-62.6k
• Dragons: 0-4
• Barons: 0-1

Unicorns of Love vs DRX

Game Two of the day featured another stomp, with DRX showing up huge against Unicorns of Love (“UOL”). This was a bloody game, with Pyosik having a massive impact everywhere. He got First Blood in a mid lane 2v2, before going bot to kill Santas at seven minutes. A minute later, he repeated the gank and killed Santas again while UOL secured Herald. The game truly cracked open at 12 minutes, when DRX perfectly played a bot lane fight to get four unanswered kills.

UOL did, however, make a good play in the top lane to get two kills and the First Tower bonus, but it wasn't quite enough. That's because DRX was constantly fighting them, picking off members left and right in the early parts of the mid game. Quite honestly, it was terrifying for UOL, as they weren't safe anywhere on the map alone. At 20 minutes, DRX finished off their series of picks with one onto Boss, instantly turning for the newly spawned Baron afterward and securing it with ease.

Along with the Baron buff, DRX picked up a Cloud Soul too. Feeling even more powerful now, DRX forced a team fight in the mid lane and cut down four UOL members swiftly. DRX used this opportunity to destroy two Inhibitors but couldn't quite end the game yet. It didn't take them much longer though, as after a final three-for-zero team fight victory at 29 minutes, DRX was able to claim UOL's Nexus as their first one of Worlds 2020.

Quick Stats:

• Time: 30:06
• Kills: 6-22
• Turrets: 1-10
• Gold: 47.5k-61.7k
• Dragons: 0-4
• Barons: 0-1

Rogue vs PSG Talon

To continue the trend of one-sided games, Rogue (“RGE”) utterly destroyed PSG Talon (“PSG”). They did it through very creative plays too, which is even more impressive. Their bottom lane duo ganked Tank in the mid lane at level one, killing him for First Blood. As if that wasn't tilting enough, the bottom lane roamed back up at level two to dive and killed Tank again! Hans Sama was the benefactor of these two kills, and he, along with Finn's Malphite, made it easy for RGE to win a fight at nine minutes three-for-zero in kills.

About three minutes later, RGE decided to turn their attention on Unified. First, Finn and Inspired dove and killed him in the bottom lane, then Inspired followed him top where RGE killed him again. A crucial fight broke out in the bottom lane at 18 minutes, and though it looked like PSG might have a chance for a moment, RGE killed three and put them back down.

Being so far ahead, RGE simply rushed Baron Nashor at 22 minutes and secured it essentially for free. PSG didn't really have any responses to RGE's plays, so after RGE picked off their top laner, they could only watch as their opponents smashed their first Inhibitor. Shortly after, RGE found another pick, this time onto Kaiwing, before taking the top Inhibitor. Finally, RGE sieged the final Inhibitor tower mid. Not wanting to wait around, RGE dove the tower and forced one last fight. They cut down four from PSG and knocked over PSG's Nexus to make a statement game in the group of death.

Quick Stats:

• Time: 28:37
• Kills: 16-0
• Turrets: 11-1
• Gold: 55.8k-41.5k
• Dragons: 3-1
• Barons: 1-0

Damwon Gaming vs JD Gaming

Just when we thought we'd get a relatively close, match, Damwon Gaming (“DWG”) asserted complete dominance over JD Gaming (“JDG”) and the entirety of Group B with an immaculate Worlds debut. It started at level one where, funnily enough, JDG invaded DWG's jungle. But DWG was more prepared and had their top laner Nuguri there, so JDG was in a 4v5 and practically gifted First Blood to Ghost. Then, at four minutes, a skirmish broke out bot. Though it went two-for-two, Ghost ended up with a terrifying 3/0 KDA.

Unfortunately for JDG, Ghost wasn't their only problem though. The entire DWG squad was constantly on the prowl, searching for kills around the map. In addition to getting a couple of kills, DWG also slew two dragons, a Herald and secured the First Tower bonus by 15 minutes. After the 15-minute mark, DWG kept up the tempo, with their solo laners diving and killing Zoom while Canyon solo killed Yagao top.

The game was quickly slipping farther and farther away from JDG. This was especially true after DWG obliterated them five-for-one in a team fight in the top river, which led to an obvious DWG Baron. Another fight occurred about a minute later, this time in the bot river, resulting in five more kills and a mid Inhibitor. Next up on the menu for DWG was a nice Mountain Soul before moving into the JDG base to force one final fight. All five JDG members fell here and could only watch with grey screens as DWG demolished their Nexus.

Quick Stats:

• Time: 24:30
• Kills: 25-7
• Turrets: 10-0
• Gold: 53.8k-38.2k
• Dragons: 4-0
• Barons: 1-0

Gen.G vs LGD Gaming

The first day of Groups was filled with one-sided affairs, but this match between Gen.G (“GEN”) and LGD was an insanely close one. It was a story of back and forths, with GEN usually being in the lead but LGD making stops at crucial points. GEN was very active early, diving and killing Kramer for First Blood under his bot tower, while also winning a nine-minute skirmish. In addition, GEN found a couple of picks and the First Tower bonus.

LGD did find some plays of their own during this time though too, mostly off the back of Xiye, which meant they weren't all that far behind. There was a lot of rotations in the mid game, all leading up to a wild Baron play. For almost three minutes, GEN and LGD fought around the Baron pit, with members dying, respawning then returning into the fight. Funnily enough though, neither team got the objective.

Moving into the late game, GEN eventually got tired of waiting. They rushed the Baron at 36 minutes, securing it but losing four members and an Inhibitor for it. This gave LGD a foothold that they used to stall out GEN's Infernal Soul for a while. The game had to come to an end eventually though, and a fateful team fight at 44 minutes sealed LGD's fate. Here, GEN secured the Infernal Soul then killed two. Seeing their opportunity, they immediately ran it down mid and smashed the Nexus in the midst of a desperate LGD defense.

Quick Stats:

• Time: 45:23
• Kills: 21-17
• Turrets: 7-6
• Gold: 83.1k-74.5k
• Dragons: 4-3
• Barons: 2-0

TSM vs Fnatic

To wrap up Day One of Groups, Fnatic (“FNC”) took a critical win over TSM. Like a few other games today, it started at level one, as FNC invaded TSM's red side to kill Biofrost for First Blood. Knowing Biofrost's Flash was on cooldown from that, Selfmade ganked bot to get him killed again. The match looked even better for FNC when Bwipo solo killed Broken Blade in a 1v2 against him and Spica.

But TSM soon started to make moves too. Bjergsen roamed top to help Broken Blade get a revenge kill on Bwipo. Plus, Broken Blade made a 1v2 play of his own to kill Selfmade, though he did end up dying for it. Once in the mid game, the kills slowed down while the teams focused on chipping away at towers. Besides for a one-for-zero TSM team fight win at 24 minutes, the teams were careful not to overstep. TSM might've been a bit too careful though, as at 26 minutes, FNC rushed the Baron and secured it, losing only their support afterward.

During FNC's siege, Selfmade shot a hole right through TSM's defense by Flashing and brutally killing Doublelift's Senna. In the following minutes, TSM lost a few towers and a middle Inhibitor. Not able to end the game, FNC decided to wait for Baron from here. At 32 minutes, they found a kill onto Broken Blade, then claimed a second Baron. FNC then chased TSM down, using Bwipo's and Nemesis' Teleports to flank and obliterate TSM. They Ace'd the NA representatives before closing in and taking their Nexus.

Quick Stats:

• Time: 34:07
• Kills: 5-12
• Turrets: 6-8
• Gold: 55.2k-64.1k
• Dragons: 3-2
• Barons: 0-2