Esports World Cup Day 1 Recap: LYON And Movistar KOI Out, LCK And LPL Deliver
As soon as the Mid-Season Invitational (MSI) concluded in Daejeon, the Esports World Cup (EWC) got underway in Paris on Wednesday, July 15. All 16 teams have now played at least one best-of-one in front of a French crowd that turned out in force for the event.
The opening day delivered several surprises, particularly in its closing matches, with four teams already eliminated from the tournament. Team Secret Whales fell to Karmine Corp, while FURIA were knocked out by Dplus KIA. The biggest upsets, however, came elsewhere, as GAM Esports stunned Movistar KOI and Brazil’s MIBR.LOS held off their North American neighbors LYON to secure a memorable victory.
LCK and LPL Stay Unbeaten Against the Rest in the Esports World Cup
If there is one thing that has been confirmed during this EWC debut, it is the dominance of the two Korean and Chinese powerhouses. Gen.G opened the tournament with a win over Karmine Corp, while T1 overcame a resilient GAM after a hard-fought battle, and Bilibili Gaming took down Movistar KOI.
The only LCK vs LPL matchup of the day saw AG.AL, the parent organization of Anyone’s Legend, face off against DK, with the Chinese side coming out on top. Meanwhile, Hanwha Life Esports and JD Gaming secured victories against the Americas, defeating MIBR and LYON respectively. The remaining matches saw Sentinels take down Team Secret Whales, while G2 Esports continued their strong run with a win over FURIA.
Major Clashes Ahead
Some huge matches are coming up in the next day of competition. In Group A, G2 and AG.AL will face off in a qualifying best-of-one, with the loser dropping down to face DK in the most complicated Lower Bracket of the Group Stage later the same day. In Group B, Gen.G will enter as heavy favorites against Sentinels, with the winner expected to send them into a decisive matchup against KC.
Group C will undoubtedly feature the biggest clash of the stage, as T1 and Bilibili Gaming are set to deliver an exciting matchup that the STC Arena crowd will surely enjoy. The loser, however, will have to go through GAM, a team that has already proven it can be dangerous. Finally, Group D will see HLE take on JDG in what could be a tricky matchup, with the loser having to face MIBR.
Tomorrow will see four more teams eliminated from the tournament, while eight others will secure their spots in the quarterfinals, bringing the group stage to an end after just two days of competition. The level of play already seems to be a continuation of the recently concluded MSI, where HLE were crowned champions. However, with the current matches being played in a best-of-one format, drafts and champion priorities are naturally quite different from what we usually see in best-of-three and best-of-five series, which will come later during the knockout stage.
