In a 3-0 series, Gen.G eliminated the last remaining western team at Worlds, Cloud9. With this victory, the LCK team achieved its highest placement since its rebranding and will play the LPL's EDward Gaming in the semifinal.
The last Worlds quarterfinal brought together LCK’s Gen.G and the LCS third seed Cloud9. Both teams had a rocky road to the play-offs. Gen.G clutched the first place in the incredibly even group D after a four-way tie forced them to play Team Liquid and MAD Lions in the tiebreaker. Cloud9, meanwhile, fought their way through the play-ins, before getting the better of Rogue to take the second place after DWG KIA in group A.
Despite their lower seed, Cloud9 was the only NA representative to make it past the groups and a win here would give NA bragging rights, especially as the last LEC team was recently defeated by DAMWON. Of course, Gen.G had plenty of reasons to win - especially given their reputation for choking in Best of Five series at international events.
A Clean Sweep for Gen.G
The first game started great for the Korean team, who amassed an early lead. Cloud9 had their moments in the mid-game, eventually getting an ace and a Baron. However, Gen.G methodically pushed back and controlled the later objectives to push C9 back and take the game.
The next game started even worse for the NA representatives, who had to endure a crushing gold deficit from the early game. Just 15 minutes in, Gen.G were 5K up in gold and 6-0 in kills. An ace 22 minutes in gave the LCK team the Baron and they ended the game before it expired.
With their back against the wall, the LCS representatives had a much better start in the third game, keeping a kill and gold lead for much of the game. However, Gen.G’s early dragon focus and some clutch plays from Gwak "Bdd" Bo-seong’s Zoe and Kim "Clid" Tae-min on Lee Sin ended up catching Cloud9’s ADC, leading to several big fights for Gen.G that turned the game around and completed the sweep.
With that, Gen.G takes the last semifinal spot. They will face off against LPL’s last hope EDward Gaming. Meanwhile,the other semifinal brings together the Korean powerhouses of T1 and DWG KIA.
The #Worlds2021 Knockout Stage bracket after Quarterfinals! pic.twitter.com/XT3ExOb02K
— LoL Esports (@lolesports) October 25, 2021
Read More:
- 2021 World Championship: Scores, Schedule & More
- Worlds: DAMWON KIA Remain Undefeated with 3-0 against MAD Lions
- Worlds: EDward Gaming Win All-LPL Quarterfinal
Worlds continues on Saturday, October 30th with a match between T1 and DWG KIA. For more LoL news and analysis, follow us on Facebook and Twitter.