We take a look back at the 2021 World Championship and what teams and regions impressed us and which didn't.
With the 2021 World Championship coming to an end, we thought it would be fun to go over some of the highlights of the whole event. Which players stood out, which regions impressed and how did fans experience this bubble event in turbulent times?
We will go over the biggest disappointments, as well as the biggest surprises throughout the event. Hey, if you disagree with anything you can always shoot our social media team some angry messages over on Twitter. They love it. Trust us.
So, let’s begin with our informal review of the tournament this year.
LCK iS a OnE tEaM rEgIoN
Yes, it had to be written like that. Coming into the tournament so many viewers, fans and experts predicted the LCK to fail. Did they? No. The four representatives of the LCK proved that the Korean region is back.
Each Korean team made it out of their group and three moved onto the semi finals even. Gen.G surprised many with their mid and jungle synergy, most believe them to be the weakest link of the LCK. But boy, did they blow NA’s hopes away, eh?
T1 also showed off a great performance, especially in their dominant victory over Hanwha Life, as well as their group stage games. Could you believe the team only played together for 5 months with that roster?
DAMWON KIA dominated the tournament from start to… almost finish. They gave it their all and faltered at the last second, but no one would say that DAMWON didn’t have what it takes to be a World Champion. The team played great, didn’t lose a game until their semi finals and just showed off their skill.
The LPL Group Stage Disaster.
After the first week of the group stage EU and NA fans had already lost hope. It seemed like the knockout rounds would be nothing more than a Rift Rivals tournament in Reykjavik, but the second week of the Group phase turned out much different.
FunPlus Phoenix, the 2019 World Champions and one of the favorites to win it all again in 2021, completely imploded in the second week and the fourth seeded LPL team, LNG also wasn’t able to beat the MAD Lions to make it to the knockout stage.
- EDG doesn't look shaky anymore after winning the 2021 World Championship!
EDG faltered and RNG also looked shaky at times. The LPL fanbase was in tatters, worried for their team. Then, of course, EDG and RNG had to be put together into the same Quarterfinals. The group stage disaster was complete.
NA and Europe Hopes Died
It seems that without G2, Europe just doesn’t have a shot. The MAD Lions tried to exact revenge on DAMWON KIA for their games at the 2021 Mid-Season Invitational, but their feeble attempts at playing League of Legends were merely scoffed at by DAMWON KIA who easily took the games 3-0.
Cloud9, who most thought had the easied quarter final and the best hopes to move onto the semi finals, were run over by Clid and BDD. Perkz didn’t have a chance, even with surprise picks like Yasuo.
So what do we take from all of this? G2, please make worlds again next year. The LCK and the LPL are the best regions in the world and will continue to be with the nail-biting win of EDG over DAMWON KIA.