LoL: Worlds 2020 | Play-Ins Day Two Recap

| Tags: | Author
LoL: Worlds 2020 | Play-Ins Day Two Recap

More teams debuted and more action ensued on the second day of Play-Ins.


The 2020 Worlds Championship is officially underway and already delivering incredible games! The first day of games featured some interesting results and performances, and Day Two continued that trend. Again, teams from both Group A and Group B played and there were seven games, meaning there's a ton of action to go over. So here's how it all went down!

Rainbow7 vs V3 Esports

The Worlds 2020 logo appears on a screen above the drafts for Rainbow7 vs V3 Esports

V3 Esports (“V3”) kicked off their World's debut with a great game against Rainbow7 (“R7”). As shown above, V3 decided to draft heavily towards the early game and it paid off for them big time, as they totally controlled the pace of the game. At seven minutes, they were the ones who dove top, getting First Blood, though R7 did collapse and make the fight go two-for-two overall. From here, Bugi was very active, taking objectives like a Cloud Dragon and two Rift Heralds, to help his team get ahead.

Despite that, it still seemed fine for R7, as their scaling champions weren't being completely rolled. That changes, however, at 14 minutes, when the first team fight exploded. In it, V3 slaughtered three R7 members and lost only one of their own. Once ahead, V3 stayed ahead, accumulating more dragons and winning more team fights convincingly. At only 23 minutes, V3 established themselves in a dominant spot with a one-for-zero team fight victory and, more importantly, a third dragon.

Three minutes after that happened, yet another fight occurred.  R7 tried to engage, feeling the game slipping away from them, but V3 turned it on them. They killed four from R7 before taking Baron Nashor as well as the Infernal Soul shortly after. They didn't crack the base with this first Baron, but after finding a kill at 33 minutes, V3 took another easy Baron. Meanwhile, Paz's Renekton killed Leza's Twitch in a 1v2, demonstrating his utter dominance this game. After this, V3 picked off Aloned too. With both ADCs dead, R7 couldn't save their Nexus from V3's onslaught and dropped their second game of Play-Ins.

Quick Stats:

  • Time: 34:58
  • Kills: 6-16
  • Turrets: 3-9
  • Gold: 52.5k-65.6k
  • Dragons: 1-4
  • Barons: 0-2

INTZ vs SuperMassive

The SuperMassive LoL coach readies the team before game featuring the SUP and INTZ drafts below

SuperMassive's (“SUP”) entrance onto the World's stage was an exciting one for sure. Their game versus INTZ was decisive and showcased a massive top-jungle difference. It started off with KakAO ganking top to get First Blood for Armut in what's supposed to be a losing matchup. Shini did get a successful gank off mid, but it was quickly outdone. At nine minutes, INTZ secured the Rift Herald, but SUP collapsed and engaged with the Shen-Hecarim combo. The resulting fight went three-for-zero in favor of SUP, with Armut's Shen being 3/0 and Tay's Renekton being 0/2.

Things got even better for Armut and SUP too. INTZ tried to send all five members top to kill Armut, but thanks to a TP from Bolulu, Armut killed two and survived himself! From this point, it was easy to see how INTZ was playing scared. SUP swept up objective after objective as INTZ tried to bide their time and hoped to scale. To their credit, they did kill KakAO when he overextended in a tower dive, but Armut solo killed Tay at the same time to even things out.

Finally, at 27 minutes, INTZ decided to try and fight back. SUP was happy about that though as, in the first team fight, they went two-for-zero in kills, claiming the Cloud Soul afterward. SUP forced a fight only around a minute later too to pick up two more kills, turning for the Baron immediately after. They killed Shini, secured the Baron, and turned straight for mid. SUP didn't even need to return to base, as they engaged one last time to kill three desperate INTZ members. With such an advantage, it was simple for SUP to push into INTZ's base and finish off their Nexus.

Quick Stats:

  • Time: 31:43
  • Kills: 2-16
  • Turrets: 2-7
  • Gold: 48.5k-59.0k
  • Dragons: 1-4
  • Barons: 0-1

V3 Esports vs Unicorns of Love

Shin "Raina" Okubo waiting to start a Worlds match with the V3 and UOL drafts below

Continuing with the day's trend, Unicorns of Love (“UOL”) made a statement against V3. This was a crazy match to watch, as from minute one, it was non-stop action. In fact, at level one, the teams met in the UOL jungle and scrapped, where Boss got First Blood onto Raina. After this, V3 constantly lane swapped to try and abuse the Camille with the Caitlyn. This happened multiple times and skirmishes blew up around the map, where both teams found some kills.

But it should be noted UOL was certainly getting the better end of kill trades. Gadget ended up laning by himself, while Santas and Boss laned together. This was great, as they kept on engaging on the V3 duo to kill them and get a ton of gold on the Camille. The real deciding point of this match was at 15 minutes when UOL took Herald. Though they got the objective, V3 fought them afterward and pulled off a great fight, showing they were still in the game. However, V3 chased Nomanz's signature Kassadin, who was on very low HP, but was baited in Boss' Camille. UOL picked up three more kills as a result of this chase.

After this, it was pretty doomed for V3. The UOL side laners were simply too powerful and V3 couldn't contest in team fights either. This became even more evident at 22 minutes. Here, UOL Ace'd V3 and claimed the Baron buff. UOL began their siege and a bloodbath ensued. Nomanz dove into the V3 base to brutally murder V3's champions while V3's Inhibitors dropped. Eventually, UOL focused up and bore down on V3's base. To no one's surprise, they forced one last fight to Ace V3 once again and win their first game of Worlds 2020.

Quick Stats:

  • Time: 28:28
  • Kills: 10-30
  • Turrets: 2-11
  • Gold: 47.9k-60.2k
  • Dragons: 0-4
  • Barons: 0-1

LGD Gaming vs Rainbow7

The LGD coach preps his team for a Worlds 2020 game versus Rainbow7 with their game draft below

Both teams appeared to be struggling coming into this game, but R7 bounced back with an impressive win over LGD. LGD did start off on the right foot though. as they sent three top to get First Blood onto Acce, but did trade a kill in response. At nine minutes, LGD dove and killed Leza bot, then won a skirmish in the mid lane with two-for-one kills. For the next few minutes, things looked pretty close as objectives went down for both teams, but LGD did still have a gold lead.

The noteworthy thing to point out is that R7's stronger team fighting capabilities began to shine, especially around dragons. They were able to push LGD out of the river a couple of times and stacked dragons as a result. At the third dragon, LGD tried to fight back at the objective, but R7 was happy to take the fight. R7 killed four from LGD and lost only two of their own and secured the third dragon right after. Now on Soul point, LGD was in a sticky situation.

And it all came to a head at 30 minutes. Here, the last Ocean Dragon spawned and R7 had their eyes on it. But Josedeodo thought he saw an opportunity to kill Kramer's Twitch, so he chased him into his jungle. Unfortunately for him, LGD swatted him away and killed him before the big objective fight. It seemed crazy at first, but even without their jungler, R7 focused the objective and actually secured it, killing a few LGD champions afterward to boot.

With this, R7 also took a Baron, which soon led to the middle Inhibitor falling. R7 decided to wait for Elder though to ensure swift victory. At this fight, R7 managed to pop Kramer's Twitch and take the Elder, with a second Baron a minute later too. Under this much pressure, it was impossible for LGD to stop R7 from dismantling their base, and ultimately, their Nexus.

Quick Stats:

  • Time: 39:44
  • Kills: 13-20
  • Turrets: 4-8
  • Gold: 69.1k-74.4k
  • Dragons: 1-5
  • Barons: 0-2

Unicorns of Love vs PSG Talon

The Unicorns of Love sit ready to hop into their Worlds match versus PSG Talon with the team drafts beneath them

The fifth game of the day pitted UOL and PSG together, who seem to be the two favorites for Group B now. But with a win here and two clever drafts so far, UOL made a strong case for themselves. AHaHaCiK kicked it all off with an early visit top lane, where he dove and killed Hanabi. The proceeding few minutes were quiet until PSG decided to start Rift Herald. UOL showed up to contest it and their draft advantages shone through as they stole away the objective and won the fight three-for-two.

Funnily enough, just from this single fight, UOL gained a massive amount of control. They used the Herald to secure the First Tower bonus, then went about growing their lead. PSG did make moves to keep the gold relatively even, such as picking off Nomanz and killing him, but UOL was always gearing up for the 5v5 fights. And they got one they needed at 23 minutes. Here, UOL killed two from PSG before taking their second dragon and even a Baron too.

This first Baron did massive damage to PSG's base but they managed to repel UOL as their opponents overstayed in their base. Unfortunately for PSG however, when they tried to defend their top lane Inhibitor they lost both Nexus towers and all three Inhibitors in the end. Because of this, UOL's game plan was simple. At 32 minutes, they rushed Baron, which they did secure, then immediately turned for the PSG Nexus. It turned out to be a risky play with a scrappy fight, but ultimately, UOL smashed the Nexus and claimed the win.

Quick Stats:

  • Time: 33:47
  • Kills: 13-13
  • Turrets: 11-3
  • Gold: 61.7k-55.3k
  • Dragons: 2-2
  • Barons: 2-0

SuperMassive vs MAD Lions

The SuperMassive coaches prepare their team for their game against MAD Lions with the two teams' drafts below

MAD Lions (“MAD”) suffered their second defeat of Play-Ins up against SuperMassive (“SUP”). It was relatively slow compared to some of the day's other games. The first plays came out at eight minutes, where KakKO ganked top to get First Blood for Armut, while Shad0w ganked and killed Bolulu mid in response. SUP was much better with their map movements though, as they secured the Rift Herald, got two kills in a skirmish in the bottom river and used the aforementioned Herald top for the First Tower bonus.

Despite being down, MAD wasn't out yet. They did keep trying to make plays but SUP was seemingly always ready for them. Up until 19 minutes, MAD was at least still trading with SUP, signaling hope for them. But that hope was crushed at 21 minutes, when SUP convincingly won a team fight with three kills for none, with a Baron buff being secured right after. MAD began to look desperate after this, which SUP capitalized on by forcing another snap fight to kill four MAD members again.

After that fight, SUP knocked down the remaining mid lane towers and Inhibitor. They didn't settle for that though, as in the next few minutes, SUP rotated bot to take that Inhibitor, then went top. It was here, and at 28 minutes, when SUP pounded the final nail in MAD's coffin. A slow fight broke out in the MAD jungle, but feeling the pressure, Shad0w flew into SUP's team. A team fight ensued where four MAD champions fell. Now with no one to defend their base, SUP made short work on MAD's Nexus.

Quick Stats:

  • Time: 28:58
  • Kills: 18-5
  • Turrets: 10-2
  • Gold: 55.4k-44.9k
  • Dragons: 2-1
  • Barons: 1-0

Team Liquid vs Legacy Esports

TL's CoreJJ looks calm and composed before his game against Legacy, with the team's drafts below

The last game of the day was a perfect example of textbook League of Legends, as Team Liquid (“TL”) took on Legacy Esports (“LGC”). The entire game essentially revolved around TL's jungler Broxah, who was very proactive. He started it all off by ganking and killing Tally mid. Next, he and his two solo laners collapsed on LGC after they took Herald, where they killed one right off the bat then dove to kill a second champion at the tail end of the play. Finally, he also visited top and killed Topoon.

With Broxah being 4/0, the jungle difference was clear. He didn't just get kills though, he pushed the tempo by taking dragon and assisting in securing the First Tower bonus. The entire TL squad worked like clockwork, moving around the map and using pressure to knock down towers. By 21 minutes, they managed to take down all of the ones outside of LGC's base even. Things got worse for LGC when they fought around a dragon, as TL eviscerated four LGC members before taking the dragon, then the Baron.

It was dire for LGC now. TL wasted no time pushing in the top and mid lanes, quickly destroying both Inhibitors in those lanes with little to no issue. Interestingly enough, TL never even bothered to go for the last, bottom Inhibitor, and instead kept the siege up on LGC's Nexus towers. It took a little while due to Ziggs' waveclear, but that was fine. Eventually, Babip decided to make one last, desperate engage. It didn't quite work and after losing four members, LGC lost their Nexus.

Quick Stats:

  • Time: 28:29
  • Kills: 16-1
  • Turrets: 11-0
  • Gold: 55.6k-39.8k
  • Dragons: 3-0
  • Barons: 1-0
Avatar of Brandon Sturak
Brandon Sturak
Brandon is a writer and editor for ESTNN with a passion for esports. He writes about League of Legends and esports generally, providing analysis and commentary on both. He is a founding member of Niagara University Esports, while being the previous mid laner and Head Coach for the NU Esports LoL team as well. Twitter @GhandiLoL