The current world champions, the most titled player on the planet and contenders from the “West” – what to expect from Group A at Worlds 2022

A few days remain before the start of the Worlds 2022 main event. The group stage is ahead, where 16 teams, gathered in New York, will begin their journey to the Summoners Cup and the world title.

In the first part of the series of materials, we talked about the applicants from group C. Today on the League of Legends esports schedule, we have an A quartet waiting for us.

Quartet A can be safely called the "group of death" the list of participants for this has. The current world champions, the team with the most titled player in the history of the competitive League of Legends, as well as representatives of the “Western” League gathered here.

It is inexcusable to miss such a company without paying attention to each of those present. This is what we will do in the course of the text.

Cloud9

Where they play: North America, LCS

How did you go to Worlds 2022: 1st place in LCS

Lineup for Worlds 2022: Fudge, Blaber, Jensen, Berserker, Zven

We will open Group A with consideration of the best team in North America. This season it was Cloud9.

“Clouds” at the last LCS summer split managed to get over literally during the tournament: a mediocre group stage with a final statistics of 11-8 led them to the first round of the playoffs, from where Cloud9 made their championship run. They beat virtually every top North American team including Counter Logic Gaming, Evil Geniuses and 100Thieves twice.

It would be foolish to focus on the result of the split so pointwise, however, in the case of Cloud9, this is one of the few factors that give an idea of the best team in America before the start of the Worlds 2022 group stage. In addition, it strongly resonates with C9's previous merits in the season - before victories at LCS Summer 2022, C9 took 4th place at LCS Spring 2022 and entered the TOP-4 at LCS Lock-In 2022.

In trying to understand the apparent performance upgrade, one need only look at the personnel reshuffling at C9. Before the summer split, the team returned Zven and Jensen to the main roster, and also moved Fudge to the TOP. Headliners in their places contributed to the success of the team in the home league.

In general, C9 can be noted not only in the perspective of the American League. The club has been participating in the world championships since 2013, having missed only the tournament in 2020 since then, which puts C9 on a par with the oldest tags in the world. The best result in the Worlds series remains TOP-4 at Worlds 2018.

The only time C9 didn't make it out of the Worlds group was the 2019 tournament. The second time will be the 2022 championship. The competition in Group A is very solid, and so far C9 have nothing to oppose to their title counterparts, which we will talk about below.

Verdict: Not out of Group A.

Edward Gaming

Where they play: China, LPL

How it went to Worlds 2022: 1st place in the LPL Regional Finals.

Line-up for Worlds 2022: Flandre, Jiejie, Scout, Viper, Meiko

EDward Gaming is the main team of the tournament. This status guarantees them last year's championship.

Whatever form EDward Gaming is in, they will be closely preparing for them and watching their every move. That's the nature of a championship.

When preparing for EDward Gaming, you need to take into account not only the 2022 season, but also the entire period from Worlds 2021. Of course, the champion roster has not changed, and perhaps this is the main weakness of EDG.

Obviously, the star roster wants to once again raise the Summoner's Cup over their heads, but so far they are far from it. At the very least, the performance of EDward Gaming speaks of the unpreparedness of the team to repeat the triumph of the past Worlds.

After the victory in Reykjavik, EDward Gaming sank heavily in terms of performance. At the end of 2021, the team took the TOP-12 at NEST 21 without leaving the group and finished the year in the TOP-8 at Demacia Cup 2021.

In the new year, with the next competitive season, the performance did not improve: at LPL Spring EDward Gaming took TOP-8, and then finished 3rd at LPL Summer 2022. The performance is far from being a champion, you must agree.

EDward Gaming arrived at Worlds 2022 in the last carriage, having won the LPL Regional Finals 2022. Now the EGD champion roster is waiting for the main test.

The only time EDward Gaming didn't make it out of a group at Worlds 2021 was 2017. Given the performance over the last gaming year, they are close to repeating the anti-record, but still I want to believe that after the LPL Regional Finals the team will gain and we will see the defending champions in an attempt to defend the title at the Worlds 2022 playoffs.

Verdict: 2nd place in the group/3rd place in the group and relegation.

Fnatic

Where they play: Europe, LEC

How did you get to Worlds 2022: 1st place at Worlds 2022 Play-In Group A

Roster for Worlds 2022: Wunder, Razork, Humanoid, Upset, Hylissang

Fnatic can be called the opening of the tournament. All thanks to the confident performance in the qualifying stage of the Worlds 2022 Play-In.

After spending a tough season in Europe (TOP-3 LEC Summer 2022), the team got into the Play-In, where they were forced to earn a place in the group stage in a competitive fight. They managed to do this, despite the hardships that haunted them.

Before the start of the event, the duo in the bot passed a positive test for COVID-19, endangering the entire team. As a result, the situation was resolved successfully, and Fnatic managed to reach Mexico in full force, although they resorted to substitutions at least twice during the Play-In.

Having won the Play-In with a score of 4-1, the team advanced to the group stage from the first place, passing the Play-In Round 2. The Europeans showed that they did not come to admire the sights of Mexico and America, but to fight for the title with a serious attitude.

You believe in this attitude, because the past matches do not give much reason to doubt. It seems that this year Fnatic has a chance to return to the cohort of the best of the best and overcome the disastrous performance at Worlds 2021, where the team took the TOP-16 without passing through the group stage.

Prior to this season and last year's failure, Fnatic had only been relegated from groups once. Now the “orange” have all the means and opportunities to prevent this, and if they are not in the death group, I would boldly call them a playoff participant in absentia, but in group A, questions remain.

Verdict: 3rd place in Group A/advance to the playoffs from the second place.

T1

Where they play: South Korea, LCK

How did you get to Worlds 2022: LCK Championship Points

Worlds 2022 T1 squad: Zeus, Oner, Faker, Gumayusi, Keira

Last on the list, but not least - T1. The “great and terrible” Koreans will play at their 6th World Championship under the T1 tag.

The T1 team is a marker of quality and stability. You always expect outstanding results from a team of the level of a South Korean organization, and therefore getting out of the group stage is a minimum goal for them.

At the past Worlds 2021, T1 stopped at TOP-4, losing to DAMWON Gaming in the competition. This year they will take revenge and try to surpass their result. Firewood is thrown into the fire by the results of T1 during the season.

At LCK Spring 2022, the team took 1st place, after which they went to MSI 2021. Having reached the final of the “off-season”, the club actually added another prestigious title to its asset, but at the last moment it was taken away from under its nose by RNG.

In the LCK final draw this summer, T1 got slapped in the grand final. They failed to show absolutely nothing, flying off from Gen.G Esports with a score of 0-3.

Understanding the tone of voice of the club, you realize that there is nothing worse than the inglorious finale in the game plan for T1. Worlds 2022 is an opportunity to “redeem” your mistakes during the season, and the group stage should be only an intermediate result on the way to the goal.

Under the leadership of, without exaggeration, the legendary Faker, T1 will go for another trophy, which for the Korean mid player can become the 4th in the piggy bank. The path will be thorny, but the fact that it will not end at the group stage is a fact.

Verdict: out of group A in first place.

You can see Group A in action on October 7 at 23:00 CET. Cloud9 and Fnatic will open the world championship, and then watch the super match between T1 and EDward Gaming.

The 2022 World Championship runs from September 29 to November 5 in Mexico and the United States. The Play-In stage will take place from September 29 to October 4 at the Arena Esports Stadium in Mexico City, and the group stage will take place from October 7-10 and October 13-16 at the Hulu Theater at Madison Square Garden. As part of the championship, 24 teams from all over the world are fighting for a total prize pool of $2,225,000.

Photo: Liquipedia.