On October 8 and 9 (Vietnam time), the matches of the Group Stage of the World Championship (Worlds) 2022 took place. The results that followed brought numerous surprises to the audience. Particularly, the matchups between the two regions LCK and LPL attracted the most attention from the League of Legends (LoL) community.
On their opening day at Worlds 2022, Gen.G Esports (Gen.G) and T1 faced off against Royal Never Give Up (RNG) and EDward Gaming (EDG), respectively. Although EDG was only the 3rd seed from LPL, they are the defending champions of Worlds 2021. Only RNG raised many doubts as the team had a rather tough Play-In Stage, even losing to DRX in their opening match of the Play-In Stage. Meanwhile, Gen.G and T1 are currently the two strongest teams in the LCK.
However, the final results were beyond imagination. T1 only took nearly 23 minutes to annihilate EDG. Meanwhile, despite being considered the top contender for the championship, Gen.G lost to RNG. In this defeat, Gen.G set new “milestones” for the LCK region, specifically within the context of the Worlds.
Accordingly, Gen.G has become the first 1st seed team from the LCK to lose on their opening day of a Worlds event. This is indeed a very unfortunate milestone for the LCK region. Particularly, the pain is even greater as Gen.G is a team that carries high expectations from the Korean audience, while RNG has left many doubts with their performances from both experts and fans alike.
Nevertheless, this is just the first match for Gen.G at Worlds 2022. Furthermore, RNG has repeatedly proven their incredible resilience in international tournaments. Therefore, things are not too dangerous for the LCK champions yet. However, Gen.G must certainly learn from this experience and perform better in their upcoming matches. Not only to prove they are still the top contender for the championship but also to repay the trust of their fans.