On October 5th (Vietnam time), the 2021 World Championship officially kicked off with the play-in stage. Among these, Group A drew the most attention with the presence of two representatives from China (LNG Esports) and Korea (Hanwha Life Esports). At the end of the first day of competition, LNG has one foot in the group stage with two convincing victories. However, on the opposite side, HLE, led by Chovy, failed to show dominance, especially in their second match against a Latin American team, Infinity Esports.
A common thread in both of HLE’s first matches is that Chovy performed far below his capabilities compared to his outstanding Summer performance in the LCK. In the matchup against LNG, Chovy opted for a strong mid-lane champion, Tryndamere. However, despite superior farming and early items, Chovy couldn’t make much of an impact as he lacked damage, often engaging earlier than his teammates, while his backline had no one to follow up with additional damage.
Besides being outplayed in draft, facing a strong opponent, and having teammates make errors, it was inevitable for HLE to lose when Chovy had an off day. Throughout the match against LNG, Chovy could only perform at an average level, and fans didn’t see the bright moments like when he carried HLE through tough times to reach the LCK regional qualifiers.
Moving on to the match against INF, Chovy and his teammates displayed a lackluster and lifeless performance. Although they secured a victory due to a significant skill gap, at times, the Brazilian representatives even appeared to be superior. The greatest disappointment came from Chovy.
Holding a key combat champion, Azir, throughout the match, Chovy failed to deliver a single stunning “Emperor’s Divide”. Moreover, he made a positional error during a push in the mid lane, leading to being caught by Ackerman’s Amumu and getting taken down. Fortunately for Chovy and HLE, those deaths did not allow INF to secure any major objectives; otherwise, HLE would have faced even greater difficulties.
It is undeniable that Chovy has always shown why he is called the “golden spine” of LCK and HLE, but it is also true that the former Griffin prodigy can feel fatigued. Tough opponents, teammates making basic mistakes… all of these can put pressure on Chovy, especially in a stage like the World Championship, even though this isn’t his first time participating in the biggest tournament in the League of Legends scene.
The journey for HLE and Chovy is still long, and the player still has the opportunity to regain his form. However, in a place like the World Championship, every mistake comes at the cost of a whole season’s effort. Chovy must quickly return to form so that at least HLE fans can still believe they will achieve something surprising in Iceland this year.