Gen.G’s “Narrow Escape” at the 2024 World Championship
Before the Quarterfinals of the 2024 World Championship began, Gen.G was seen as an extremely lucky team as they only had to compete against the LCS representative, FlyQuest. With a convincing 3-0 record in the previous Swiss round, many predicted that Gen.G would easily dispatch the LCS representative to advance to the Semifinals. However, the reality of the match turned out to be very different from expectations as FlyQuest performed exceptionally well, taking the lead against the LCK representative twice in this game. The lesser-known names from FlyQuest, such as Massu and Inspired, delivered a stellar Bo5 performance, leaving Gen.G sweating.
Nevertheless, the caliber of Gen.G cannot be denied as they managed to adapt to FlyQuest’s unique draft strategy and secured victory. Additionally, stars like Canyon and Chovy stepped up at crucial moments, helping Gen.G narrowly overcome this opponent. Without those standout performances, Gen.G might have faced a painful defeat at this year’s World Championship.
Gen.G Coach Criticizes Riot Games’ Swiss Format
For a highly anticipated team like Gen.G, the “narrow escape” against the LCS representative was something few expected. Moreover, this loss exposed some weaknesses in Gen.G, particularly in the bot lane where Peyz and Lehends often made unnecessary risky plays. One such instance directly led to Gen.G’s defeat in game 3 when they failed to control Massu with Kai’Sa. Explaining the issue, Gen.G’s coach, Helper, claimed that the Swiss format implemented by Riot Games caused them problems.
“Qualifying for the Quarterfinals with a 3-0 record in the Swiss round has actually had negative effects on us. This result doesn’t hold much significance, and the Swiss format that Riot Games applied has made us somewhat weaker than before. After losing game 1, both the players and coaching staff felt immense pressure as the opponent played very differently from the Swiss stage. Our team fighting coordination in the early games was much weaker than before. The draft process was also very different compared to our practice games,” Coach Helper shared.
In fact, Helper’s comments are grounded in reality, as just a few days prior, another team with a 3-0 result, LNG, was completely defeated by WBG. Gen.G itself had a 3-0 result in the 2023 World Championship’s Swiss round but was eliminated in the Quarterfinals by BLG. It is likely that playing fewer matches than other teams negatively impacted Gen.G’s preparation and meta research, which nearly cost them dearly against FlyQuest.
Fairly speaking, Gen.G’s hard-fought victory serves as a positive signal for the team. It helps Gen.G recognize weaknesses in their playstyle to improve in the future. This is crucial as Gen.G will face their long-standing rival, T1, in the upcoming Semifinals. Hopefully, with valuable lessons learned from this recent match, Chovy and his teammates will become stronger to continue their quest for the 2024 World Championship title.