Cloud9 and Pentanet.GG dropped out in the second round, as MSI 2021 progresses to the knockouts. As the event draws closer to its finale, the four teams that remain are DWG KIA, Royal Never Give Up, PSG Talon and MAD Lions. With records of 3-7 and 1-9 respectively, Cloud9 and Pentanet.gg are out of this tournament.
“The Knockout Stage of #MSI2021 has been decided! FRI, May 21: @RNGRoyal vs @PSG_Talon. Sat, May 22: @DWGKIA vs @MADLions_LoLEN. #DKWIN #LCKWIN #LCK #WeMakeLegends,” the LCK Global account tweeted.
The Knockout Stage of #MSI2021 has been decided!
📅 FRI, May 21 : @RNGRoyal vs @PSG_Talon
📅 SAT, May 22 : @DWGKIA vs @MADLions_LoLEN #DKWIN #LCKWIN #LCK #WeMakeLegends pic.twitter.com/aF8RKzzucp— LCK (@LCK) May 18, 2021
The two eliminated teams
Cloud9 did better than their record showed in this tournament, but couldn’t win the games they needed to progress to the MSI 2021 knockouts. With some of their losses coming off of one mistake, the team has clear issues they can improve on for the next tournament. One of the bright spots on this roster is Australian top laner Ibrahim “Fudge” Allami, who steadily improved in every game throughout their 3-7 run. Plus, Cloud9 was one of the few teams to beat both of the top two teams in the group stages, showing how they can step up to the best. However, the other games weren’t as clean and many small mistakes led to losses and eventual elimination. This means that the North American team is gone from the MSI 2021 tournament.
Pentanet.GG was fortunate to get to round two of this tournament, as the only team who progressed with a losing record in round one. The Australian team fought their hardest against the best team in the tournament, but could only win once. Funnily enough, that one win was against Cloud9, the other team that was eliminated. Their best player, especially in the Cloud9 game, was mid laner Jesse “Chazz” Mahoney. His play on Viktor helped carry the team to victory in their only win of round two. And with their departure, the Oceanic region leaves MSI 2021.
The four remaining teams
This means the four teams that are left are the of the remaining four regions. For Korea, we have DAMWON Gaming, who finished top seed in round two. Their record of 8-2 was at the top, but amongst tough competition. Their great record was only two losses away from third place. They kept their great form from round one into round two, only losing to the second place RNG twice.
RNG was the only Chinese team left in this competition and was also strong in round two. They finished at the second seed with a 7-3 record, beating the top seed DWG KIA twice. RNG has shown the talent and power needed to defeat the top seeds, but also made some key mistakes in losses to Cloud9, MAD Lions and PSG Talon.
The third seed is PSG Talon, with a positive record of 6-4. PSG has looked like a talented third-place team, as two of their four losses were to the top seed DWG KIA. In the fourth and final seed is MAD Lions, the lone European team in the tournament. With an even 5-5 record, MAD Lions have proven to be a hard team to face. They proved this in round one, finishing top of Group B above PSG Talon. However, they’re now in the lower seed and need to beat tough teams to win the tournament.
The semi-finals are soon
MAD Lions will face DWG KIA, and PSG Talon will face RNG. These semi-final matches will be interesting for many reasons. MAD Lions could climb back from a relatively poor round two to surprise the top seed, or DWG KIA could defeat them as they did twice recently. PSG Talon and RNG went 1-1 in their recent matches, so either team can reasonably win. Make sure to tune in Saturday, May 22 to see who progresses to the MSI 2021 finals.
