On October 7, a seismic event occurred in Group B of the Play-in stage of Worlds 2021, as Cloud9 – a team that had been undefeated in their previous 3 matches – unexpectedly fell to Unicorns of Love – the team sitting at the bottom of Group B who had not even tasted victory in their last 3 games.
The shocking result in the match between the top and bottom teams of Group B led to a complete turnaround in the standings. C9, which seemed almost guaranteed to advance to the main stage, now faced the risk of losing their spot to DetonatioN FocusMe – the representative from Japan.
Ultimately, the worst-case scenario occurred for the North American representative, as they had to enter a tie-breaker series and subsequently lost to DFM in this match.
This means that it was not C9, but rather DFM that claimed the top position in Group B, securing their place in the main event of Worlds 2021. This marks the first time in history that a representative from Japan’s League of Legends scene – LJL – has qualified for the official group stage of a Worlds event, and needless to say, the gaming community in the land of the rising sun is ecstatic about this achievement.
However, it must be noted that DFM played exceptionally well, but their opportunity only opened up when C9 unexpectedly faltered. The fact that the North American number 3 seed “shot themselves in the foot” by missing out on direct qualification to the group stage has turned Perkz and his teammates into targets of ridicule and criticism from the global League of Legends community, especially as the former G2 Esports player had continuously bragged about how he would dominate all opponents at Worlds.
Of course, C9 still has a chance to reach the group stage as they will enter the upcoming knockout matches. However, with such an “unpredictably stable” performance, even if they manage to get into the group stage, it is hard for fans to place their trust that they will achieve anything significant in this year’s tournament.