DetonatioN FocusMe, 100 Thieves eliminated from Worlds 2021

DetonatioN FocusMe and 100 Thieves have been eliminated from the 2021 League of Legends World Championship after losing to Edward Gaming and T1 respectively on Saturday.

DFM made history by qualifying for the group stage from play-ins; in comparison to their 4-1 record during play-ins, they were knocked out before they could earn a single win. 100 Thieves had a respectable 1-2 start to the Group, but with EDG and T1 leading the pack by such a wide margin, the odds were stacked against them from the start.

Bittersweet results for DFM

Every single member of DFM stepped up this tournament to bring the team to the main event, but once there the team, could feel how much stronger the opponents were. DetonatioN FocusMe veteran Shunsuke “Evi” Murase being in Group B with the likes of League of Legends Pro League first seed Edward Gaming, League of Legends Champions Korea third seed T1 and League Championship Series first seed 100 Thieves is no easy task.

“I feel the difference, big time,” Evi said. “The level is very high compared to the play-ins.”

DFM started the day with an 0-3 record; even winning every single one of their matches wouldn’t have guaranteed their escape from the group. The possibility of a tiebreaker existed if they finished 2-1 on the day, but a 0-2 start to the day would’ve instantly eliminated them as they would’ve ended either 1-2 or 0-3.

Despite results, the Japanese squad’s best game in the group stage was against EDG in the first round-robin. They pushed the LPL first seed in the early game and bot laner Yuta “Yutapon” Sugiura held an impressive 3/1/1 KDA (kills/deaths/assists) scoreline on Jhin throughout the game.

DetonatioN FocusMe’s stat lines may not be impressive across the board, but individual performances out of DFM’s members were impressive considering the disparities within their group. Zoe and LeBlanc were Lee “Aria” Ga-eul’s best champions throughout Worlds 2021 in terms of his ability to create early openings for DFM in tough matchups. He notably held his own against some of the best mid laners at the tournament in Lee “Faker” Sang-hyeok, Lee “Scout” Ye-chan and Felix “Abbedagge” Braun throughout Groups.

It’s an anticlimactic way to go out, but DFM’s run will likely be remembered not for their record in groups but for being the first team from the LJL to reach the main event.

No miracles for NA today

After Cloud9’s miracle run on Friday to bounce back from a 0-3 start and qualify for the quarterfinals, North American fans may have been ready to place their faith in 100 Thieves on Saturday. Unfortunately, with EDG and T1 owning the group early on, chances were slim in the second round-robin for 100.

Going into the day, jungler Can “Closer” Çelik ranked second-lowest in KDA out of all junglers with a 1.4 and ranked last in kill participation at 53.6% according to Oracle’s Elixir. Closer being unable to get off the ground and help lanes (which is hard to do when they are losing early) was a huge detriment to the mid-jungle-centric 100 Thieves’ gameplan in Groups.

EDG and T1 will advance from Group B and seeding will be determined later in the day.