We have reached the epicenter of Worlds 2022. At the World Championship, the group stage begins, where 16 of the best teams in the world will fight for the right to reach the playoffs and compete for the Summoner's Cup with the world title.
The stage will be opened by representatives of group A. We are talking about a “western” derby with a hype storyline.
Cloud9 and Fnatic will make their debut in Group A in a Bo1 match. Let's try to figure out which team will earn the first points and take the first step towards the minimum goal, namely, reaching the playoffs.
Form Cloud9
Cloud9 will play as a favorite in this match. Bookmakers estimate their chance of winning with odds around 1.75.
The figure for the Bo1 match is quite low, which makes one think of an equal duel. It seems that it will.
Since C9 is a “new” team for us and we didn’t meet them at Worlds 2022, I suggest recalling their path to the championship. Quite an important task, because it's not just that they went directly to the group stage.
Starting from afar, we can mention Cloud9's status as veterans of competitive LoL and frequent guests of the Worlds series tournaments. The best performance at the Worlds in the history of the club remains 2018, when C9 managed to get into the top 4 of the championship.
The last appearance of C9 at the Worlds was 2021, when the team made it to the playoffs and secured a place in the Top 8. Now the North American club will first try to repeat the result of last year, and then beat it.
Fulfilling the plan will not be easy if you are guided by the performance of C9 in the 2022 season. The team took the TOP-4 in the home league twice, and managed to break into the Worlds group stage thanks to an unexpected victory at LCS Summer 2022.
Cloud9 squad
- Fudge
- Blaber
- Jensen
- Berserker
- Zven
It is here that the familiar and well-known in the world of competitive League of Legends. Zven, Jensen, Blaber are experienced performers who know how to play and win.
By the way, the duo of Danes Zven and Jensen joined C9 before the start of LCS Summer 2022. I'm not hinting at anything, but they probably played a key role in the LCS championship that happened.
Heroes Cloud9
During the season, C9 played the following: Gwen in the top line with 4 matches and 100% wins, Viego, Wukong, Volibear, Gragas, Udyr in the woods (all have 2 matches, Viego has 0 wins and Udyr did not lose), Azir to the center (4 games and 50% win rate).
Zeri went to the bot line and played 6 matches and won 5 of them. Yuumi supported most of the time, winning 3 out of 4 matches.
Fnatic form
In the status of underdogs, Fnatic will approach this fight. The odds of a bookmaker's European club winning are estimated at odds around 2.
As mentioned above, the difference in performance is minimal, which gives hope for an equal game. Most likely, it will, and there are several reasons for this.
The first, the most banal, Fnatic is a representative of Europe, and this is a primordially strong region that has to be reckoned with. “Orange” is the third team from there, and therefore there should not be any underestimations in their direction.
The second, much more important and illustrative, is Fnatic's win at Worlds 2022. The Europeans have already been inspired by the atmosphere of the main event of the year, having shown a master class in Mexico City.
For those who have forgotten, Fnatic single-handedly topped Group A at the Play-In, thereby paving their way into the group stage. At Worlds 2022, they have only lost 1 map so far, and then I would write it off as a statistical error.
Fnatic Results at Worlds 2022
- Victory over Evil Geniuses with a score of 1-0
- 1-0 victory over Chiefs Esports Club
- Victory over DetonatioN Focus Me with a score of 1-0
- Lost to LOUD 0-1
- 1-0 victory over Beyond Gaming
The Brazilians bit off points from Fnatic, but that victory was not of key importance for LOUD.
Fnatic roster
- Wunder
- Razork
- Humanoid
- Upset
- Hylissang
Adding weight to the Fnatic roster is the fact that Upset and Hylissang played Play-In after COVID-19 and looked very cheerful. The moral component of the composition should be on top. In addition, the team played 2 series with a sub, one of them against EG and managed to win both, which speaks of Fnatic as a well-functioning mechanism.
Heroes Fnatic
Having played 5 matches within the Worlds, the team obviously fell into the meta of the tournament and uses the most effective champions, although not without their own initiatives.
In the top lane is the ubiquitous Aatrox, who appeared 2 times and has a win rate of 100%. In the woods, Graves (2 matches, 100% win rate), center line Viktor (2 matches, 100% win rate) and Akali (2 matches, 50% win rate).
Miss Fortune, Kalista, Kaisa, Caitlyn and Aphelios appeared in the bot once. All but Sheriff Piltover (Caitlyn) won their matches.
On Maokai supports (2 matches, 100% win rate).
History of personal confrontations
Previously, the teams in these lineups did not play with each other. The match will be the debut face-to-face meeting.
The outcome of the fight
As has been repeatedly mentioned, in this fight I expect an equal fight. Both clubs are serious representatives of the “Western” thought of the League of Legends, which means they should give a “heat”,
I will make my choice in favor of Fnatic, despite the fact that in the League of Legends, outsiders can rarely oppose the favorite. I base it on the fact that Fnatic has already played Worlds, having outplayed another representative of North America and should feel the meta better.
Outcome: Fnatic win.
