Day 3 of the 2020 League of Legends group stage delivered few surprises but a lot of memorable moments, including unorthodox picks and a couple of thriller match-ups.
"G2 is playing with their food." That was a popular sentiment among fans and analysts when G2 Esports went on to play Machi Esports for the interim first place in Group A. A 13-kill fiesta by the minute 10 set up an upbeat rhythm to the game, with Machi doing their best to stay equal with G2, mostly thanks to a great Graves play from Huang "Gemini" Chu-Xuan and a very durable Mordekaiser from Hsieh "PK" Yu-Ting on top.
By minute 24, however, the game had completely slipped away from Machi as G2 sat on a comfortable 6k gold lead. Several inted teamfights from G2's side gave temporary hope to PCS fans but it was nothing more than the aforementioned "toying with the food". Near the 40-minute mark, Machi's nexus fell with G2 8k gold ahead.
The match between DAMWONG Gaming and PSG Talon was closer than people expected, at least a first. The PCS team stayed within 2K gold of DWG for the first 15 minutes, and gave its best to not let the mechanically gifted LCK champion to snowball ahead.
Machi's fragile hope withered away at minute 20, when Jang "Nuguri" Ha-gwon demonstrated why he's arguably the best top laner in the world. A patient engage from his Kennen led to an ace on Machi and a Baron for DWG and from there, it was only a matter of time before Machi collapsed.
The match-up between Top Esports and DRX was expected by every League of Legends fan, and the clash between the two tournament favorites did not disappoint. From Zhuo "Knight" Ding locking Nocturne mid, Choi "Doran" Hyeon-joon choosing Quinn for the top lane, and Yu "JackeyLove" Wen-Bo beasting on Senna, this game was everything an LoL enthusiast could ask for.
The game is perhaps best explained with yet another edition of "just LPL gold graphs", with TES getting Baron, then getting aced to give away a 4K gold advantage to DRX, to then win the next team fight and win the game.
The win keeps Top Esports undefeated at 2-0, looking to extend it to 3-0 as they play Unicorns of Love tomorrow, Oct. 6.
Worlds 2020 group stage has been yet another year of North American teams struggling to put a win on the scoreboard, but FlyQuest finally got one in the net as they defeated Unicorns of Live in a rather close game. Averaging one kill per minute, the hectic match was defined by Tristan "PowerOfEvil" Schrage's Syndra 1v9'ing, taking part in 12 of the team's 16 total kills.
FLY still has a long way to if they want to make playoffs — which remains unlikely with TES and DRX in their group — but the LCS runner-ups can at least boast that they succeded where Team Liquid (0-2) and TSM (0-2) have both failed so far.
Worlds 2020 group stage standings after day 3:
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Esports editor and journalist of 10+ years. Lives on black tea and corgi love.
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