Although the tournament was predicted to face many difficulties due to earthquakes in Iceland, in the opening match of MSI 2021, DWG KIA (DK) and Cloud9 (C9) performed relatively smoothly without any major obstacles.
In the very first game, DK showed the demeanor of the reigning world champion by convincingly defeating North America’s top representative.
However, DK’s resilience was something C9 could not overcome, as the key members of DK performed exceptionally well. DK only lost a single turret and their lead in minion count wiped out the initial advantage that C9 had.
Despite an early lead in kills, C9 could not solve the Morgana jungle puzzle. Canyon’s quick monster-clearing ability allowed him to outlevel Blaber’s Kindred. With a significant advantage in both the jungle and top lane, DK easily controlled the match with exemplary teamfight situations.
On the other hand, despite losing to the top contender for the MSI 2021 championship, C9 is still highly regarded in Group C. Therefore, DetonatioN FM and Infinity Esports will need to work very hard if they want to compete for the top 2 spot with C9.
After the first match, DK temporarily took the lead in Group C with a 1-0 record, with many predicting that the reigning champions will not suffer any losses in this group.