It’s safe to say that 2020’s play-in stage was by far the best play-in stage we had ever seen. With the first-ever collapse of a major region team, the MAD Lions made unfortunate history, but in doing so, opened the door for someone new to see the stage. Several minor regions that didn’t qualify, still soared higher than anyone thought possible, taking wins off of at least one major region team. So heading into the group stage of this tournament, expectations for crazy upsets and plays are high. Can they be met? We’ll have to see, but I believe so. Here is a quick breakdown of each group, right in time for the games to start.

Group A

Upon first glance, this appears to be an easy group for G2, but the further you look, the worse it gets. Suning is constantly underestimated, as the LPL’s third seed in a year where it was the battle between the top two. But what many forget is how strong their season was, especially towards the beginning of summer. The jungle-top duo of SofM and Bin is arguably the best in the world, in the way they dive early, and leverage top-side advantage, so if they manage to punish Wunder, it could be game over. Team Liquid has also appeared as a threat, looking significantly better than many thought they would in the play-in stage. Impact continued to absorb pressure, and his worlds buff is in full effect. Similarly, Machi looks better, with PSG Talon’s surprising strength, and M1ssion’s insane mid lane stats. That being said, G2 should be the favorite to come out as number one, but the group will be heavily decided on top-side matchups, and as a result, could go almost anywhere.

G2 Esports

Top – Wunder

Jungle – Jankos

Mid – Caps

Bot – Perkz

Support – Mikyx

Suning

Top – Bin

Jungle – SofM

Mid – Angel

Bot – Huanfeng

Support – Swordart

Machi E-sports

Top – PK

Jungle – Gemini

Mid – M1ssion

Bot – Bruce

Support – Koala

Team Liquid

Top – Impact

Jungle – Broxah

Mid – Jensen

Bot – Tactical

Support – CoreJJ

Games to watch

G2 v. SN – Oct. 4th, 4AM CST

MCX v. TL – Oct. 5th, 3AM CST

G2 v. TL – Oct. 6th, 3AM CST

Group B

The first of the two “top-heavy” groups is group B. Damwon and JDG could be the two favorites to win it all entering the tournament, if not two of the top three. So it’s hard to see either Rogue or PSG making a huge splash. But I said similar things about a few play-in teams that proved me wrong. The battle of the giants is going to, once again, heavily rely on solo lanes. More than that, it’ll rely on how the junglers and supports can impact those solo lanes. With a lead, Showmaker and Nuguri can both solo-carry a game no problem, and the same can be said for Zoom and Yagao, so whichever team can win those matchups will most likely win the game. Rogue and PSG are really trying to play spoiler here, and could be the deciding factor in who gets the first or second seed, if they’re able to steal a game. But if Rogue can patch up their top-lane issue, their jungler and their bottom side could easily take over any of these teams, and could be a dark horse for this group.

Damwon Gaming

Top – Nuguri

Jungle – Canyon

Mid – Showmaker

Bot – Ghost

Support – BeryL

JD Gaming

Top – Zoom

Jungle – Kanavi

Mid – Yagao

Bot – LokeN

Support – LvMao

Rogue Esports Club

Top – Finn

Jungle – Inspired

Mid – Larssen

Bot – Hans Sama

Support – Vander

PSG Talon Esports

Top – Hanabi

Jungle – River

Mid – Tank

Bot – Unified

Support – Kaiwing

Games to watch

RGE v. PSG – Oct. 3rd, 5AM CST

DWG v. JDG – Oct. 3rd, 6AM CST

JDG v. RGE – Oct. 5th, 5AM CST

Group C

With so many of the other groups taking world-favorites, group C has several second-tier teams, very close in strength. An argument could be made for this group finishing in any order, with the only exception being LGD at first, unless they clean up their play from last week. The first two groups are very solo-lane focused, but this group has some of the most legendary bot laners of all time. DoubleLift, Rekkles, and Ruler will be battling it out to see who can reign supreme, and if Kramer can improve just a little bit, he could end in the conversation too. And with this group being so reliant on bottom lanes, don’t forget about the support matchups. I see Gen.G as the likely benefactor of this tight group, but no matter what, expect some tie-breakers.

Team Solo Mid

Top – BrokenBlade

Jungle – Spica

Mid – Bjergsen

Bot – DoubleLift

Support – Biofrost

Fnatic

Top – Bwipo

Jungle – Selfmade

Mid – Nemesis

Bot – Rekkles

Support – Hylissang

Gen.G

Top – Rascal

Jungle – Clid

Mid – Bdd

Bot – Ruler

Support – Life

LGD Gaming

Top – LangX

Jungle – Peanut

Mid – Xiye

Bot – Kramer

Support – Mark

TSM v. FNC – Oct. 3rd, 8AM CST

Gen.G v. TSM – Oct. 4th, 7AM CST

LGD v. FNC – Oct. 4th, 8AM CST

Group D

Top Esports is the greatest team from the greatest region, and thus is the expected winner of this group, if not the whole tournament. But fighting Knight for the title of best mid-laner in the world, is Chovy, and DRX. DRX have shown a lot of inconsistencies throughout 2020, but in doing so, have shown one of the highest peaks of any contender, so if on their game, they could take this group away from China’s best. Flyquest and UOL are, just like Rogue and PSG, supposed to be out of contention for the top two spots, but if DRX are not in form, either could snatch that second seed, making this group more interesting than expected. UOL’s chaos should not be underestimated, and neither should Flyquest’s experience, and North American talent. I wouldn’t bet on it, but there’s a strong chance either the LCL or the LCS will be very happy.

Top Esports

Top – 369

Jungle – Karsa

Mid – Knight

Bot – JackeyLove

Support – QiuQiu

DRX

Top – Doran

Jungle – Pyosik

Mid – Chovy

Bot – Deft

Support – Keria

Flyquest

Top – Solo

Jungle – Santorin

Mid – PowerOfEvil

Bot – WildTurtle

Support – Ignar

Unicorns of Love

Top – BOSS

Jungle – AHaHaCiK

Mid – Nomanz

Bot – Gadget

Support – SaNTaS

Games to watch

UOL v. DRX – Oct. 3rd, 4AM CST

FLY v. UOL – Oct. 5th, 7AM CST

TES v. DRX – Oct. 5th, 8AM CST

If you’ve made it this far, congratulations! But what are you doing here? Go watch some League of Legends!