The three teams from the North American-based League of Legends Championship Series all lost their opening match at the World Championship’s group stage on Friday in New York.
In Group A, LCS Summer Split champion Cloud9, playing on blue, lost in 32 minutes to Fnatic.
LCS Summer Split runner-up 100 Thieves, competing in Group D, also took a 32-minute defeat on blue, falling to CTBC Flying Oyster.
LCS Summer Split third-place team Evil Geniuses, who advanced out of the Worlds’ play-in event, lost in 30 minutes on red to JD Gaming in Group B.
In other opening-day action, T1, playing on blue, defeated EDward Gaming in 23 minutes in Group A. DMG KIA, formerly DAMWON Gaming, playing on red, got past G2 Esports in 33 minutes in Group B, and Royal Never Give Up downed Gen.G in 30 minutes on red in Group D.
Group C gets underway on Saturday.
The 16 teams are dividing into four groups for the double-round-robin group stage, which runs through Oct. 16. All matches consist of a single map. The top two teams in each group advance to the knockout stage, with the third- and fourth-place sides in each group heading home.
The knockout stage is scheduled for Oct. 20-Nov. 5, with all matches best-of-five. The entire group stage and the quarterfinals are being held at New York’s Hulu Theater in Madison Square Garden. The semifinals are set for State Farm Arena in Atlanta, and the grand final will be contested at the Chase Center in San Francisco.
On Friday, Denmark’s Nicolaj “Jensen” Jensen led Cloud9 with a 2-1-2 kill-death-assist ratio, while Germany’s Elias “Upset” Lipp had an 8-0-5 K-D-A ratio for Fnatic.
T1’s Lee “Faker” Sang-hyeok posted a 7-1-7 K-D-A ratio while another South Korean, Lee “Scout” Ye-chan, wound up at 2-1-1 for EDward Gaming.
South Korea’s Seo “Kanavi” Jin-hyeok paced JD Gaming at 12-1-9, while Turkey’s Muhammed “Kaori” Senturk logged a 5-3-5 K-D-A ratio for Evil Geniuses.
South Korea’s Heo “ShowMaker” Su topped DAMWON Gaming at 8-0-4. Spain’s Victor “Flakked” Lirola produced a 5-3-2 K-D-A ratio for G2 Esports.
Taiwan’s Chao “Shunn” Ying-shun finished at 10-0-1 for CTBC Flying Oyster, while Germany’s Felix “Abbedagge” Braun logged a 3-2-1 K-D-A ratio for 100 Thieves.
China’s Chen “GALA” Wei had 6-1-3 K-D-A ratio for Royal Never Give Up. South Korea’s Jeong “Chovy” Ji-hoon produced a 2-2-1 K-D-A for Gen.G Esports.
Six matches are scheduled for Saturday:
–Group A: Fnatic vs. T1
–Group A: EDward Gaming vs. Cloud9
–Group B: Evil Geniuses vs. G2 Esports
–Group B: DAMWON Gaming vs. JD Gaming
–Group C: GAM Esports vs. Rogue
–Group C: DRX vs. Top Esports
League of Legends World Championship group-stage standings
Group A
T1. Fnatic, 1-0
T1. T1, 1-0
T3. Cloud9, 0-1
T3. EDward Gaming, 0-1
Group B
T1. DAMWON Gaming, 1-0
T1. JD Gaming, 1-0
T3. Evil Geniuses, 0-1
T3. G2 Esports, 0-1
Group C
T1. DRX, 0-0
T1. GAM Esports, 0-0
T1. Rogue, 0-0
T1. Top Esports, 0-0
Group D
T1. CTBC Flying Oyster, 1-0
T1. Royal Never Give Up, 1-0
T3. 100 Thieves, 0-1
T3. Gen.G Esports, 0-1
–Field Level Media