League of Legends Worlds 2020 Play-In Stage Started Wild
Finally we are watching the long-awaited League of Legends Worlds 2020 matches and they surely do not disappoint with their intense tempo. While it is just two days into the play-in stage, we had lots of surprising performances from contender teams.
During day one, INTZ was unfortunate to have quite high hopes for the kick off scores but they got two losses to put them behind their rivals. Legacy Esports and MAD Lions were a tough match for them, or it was the pressure they could not control. Talking about MAD Lions, the young stars of Europe, they managed to get past the INTZ obstacle but Team Liquid was definitely a powerful opponent for them. Tactical from Team Liquid managed to pull off a great Twitch game against MAD Lions. On the other hand, we saw two solid performances from PSG Talon against Rainbow7 and LGD Gaming. They were able to grab a 2–0 right off the bat and made a statement for all the remaining teams to face them.
Day two had some serious expectations, and there we had them indeed. Surprise of the day came from TCL representatives, none other than SuperMassive Esports as we know them. They absolutely ran over INTZ and MAD Lions very decisively and showed everyone that they are quite experienced already. KaKAO and Armut were exceptionally effective during these matches as they disoriented enemy team heavily at every turn. With the 2–0 in their pocket, they will tomorrow face Team Liquid for the leadership of their group in a match full of adrenaline. While they have a serious background compared to other play-in stage participants, Team Liquid is not a name to discuss for sure. Another expected good result came from Unicorns of Love in the second day. They grab two wins against PSG Talon and V3 Esports. While the win against PSG Talon was impressive, V3 sadly threw it with an unfortunate Galio chase against Kassadin which will remain as a unique moment for years to come. V3 Esports and Rainbow7 close the day with 1–1, while LGD Gaming, PSG Talon and Legacy Esports had to agree for 0–1 each.
In the meanwhile, Riot Games does not slow down on the preseason balancement efforts. They announced that midlaners who roam excessively will be punished and they are looking for ways to do it without breaking the game. Initial changes include an attack speed boost of the cannon minions when hitting towers, and a temporary gold reward reduction in first 14 minutes meaning parallel with tower plates. This is still not a permanent one, so we may see different approaches in future.
