Worlds 2019 Group Stages are getting ready to start and with that The Game Haus will be taking a look at each team within each group to make sure that all fans are as informed as possible. For those who may not know how this stage works, all teams in the group will play each other twice in a Round Robin format. The games are best of one. The top two teams move on to a best of five series and continue playing until one team is left standing. Now, here is a look at Group C (the group of Death) where SK Telecom T1, Fnatic, Royal Never Give Up and Clutch Gaming will be battling it out.
Seed: LCK 1st
2019 Accomplishments: 1st Place in the Spring and Summer Split, MSI Semi-Finalist
Likely Starting Lineup:
Top: Kim “Khan” Dong-ha
Jungle: Kim “Clid” Tae-min
Mid: Lee “Faker” Sang-hyeok
Bot: Park “Teddy” Jin-seong
Supp: Lee “Effort” Sang-ho
They are back and with a vengeance. Every team at Worlds should be frightened of SKT. Not only because of Faker but every player on this team is truly a superstar. Effort has come in and played incredibly well with this group of veterans. Clid, Khan and Teddy have all established themselves as some of the best players in the world at their respective positions as well. There is only one thought on the mind of the most storied team in League’s history, a fourth championship.
Seed: LEC 2nd
2019 Accomplishments: 3rd place in the Spring and 2nd in the Summer, 1st in the Regional Finals
Likely Starting Lineup:
Top: Gabriël “Bwipo” Rau
Jungle:
Mads “Broxah” Brock-Pedersen
Mid: Tim “Nemesis” Lipovšek
Bot: Martin “Rekkles” Larsson
Supp: Zdravets “Hylissang” Iliev Galabov
There is an argument to be made that Fnatic are a top-five team at Worlds this year. Well, they get a chance to prove that in Group C as it may be the hardest group of death in Worlds history. After some worries in the Spring, this team has been contending with G2 all year long and truly come into this Worlds in their best form. Nemesis has done his best to fill in the ginormous shoes that Caps left while Bwipo looks much more composed than last year, most of the time. Broxah’s best champion Lee Sin is in the meta and Rekkles and Hylissang will continue to control the bot lane. This team can make it out of groups, but they will have to be at their best.
Seed: LPL 2nd
2019 Accomplishments: 3rd in the Summer Split Regular Season and 2nd during the Summer Split Playoffs
Likely Starting Lineup:
Top: Xie “Langx” Zhen-Ying
Jungle: Hung “Karsa” Hao-Hsuan
Mid: Li “Xiaohu” Yuan-Hao
Bot: Jian “Uzi” Zi-Hao
Supp: Shi “Ming” Sen-Ming
2018 seemed like the year for the LPL and RNG. RNG had looked unstoppable almost all year. Then, at the end, the LPL did win, but it was not RNG who were at the top. Instead, Invictus Gaming were Worlds 2018 Champions. This year RNG are back and determined to win it all. They will do what they normally do and put as many resources into their world-class bot laner, Uzi, as possible. Luckily he still has a great supporting staff with Xiaohu and Karsa still being near the top at their respective positions. In this group of death, Uzi and crew will need to be in top form, or their run may fall short again.
Clutch GamingSeed: LCS 3rd
2019 Accomplishments: 1st in the LCS Regional Finals
Likely Starting Lineup:
Top: Heo “Huni” Seung-hoon
Jungle: Nam “Lira” Tae-yoo
Mid: Tanner “Damonte” Damonte
Bot: Sun “Cody” “Cody Sun” Li-Yu
Supp: Philippe “Vulcan” Laflamme
Clutch may be the perfect team from the LCS for this group. The reason? Because they don’t care what anyone thinks. They are going to play their way and could not care less who they are up against. Most LCS teams would lose just from being afraid. Clutch are a different animal, they play on momentum and if any of the other three teams lose to them, even once early on, then this group could get even more interesting. Look for Cody Sun and Huni to try and carry Clutch. Also as long as Lira does not consistently get out-jungled then they have the potential to play spoiler as they have done all summer long.
Who do you have making it out of Group C? Let us know in the comments and on Twitter!
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