Day 6 of the 2021 League of Legends World Championship group stage saw the League of Legends Pro League’s third seed and Mid-Season Invitational 2021 champions Royal Never Give Up finally salvage a bit of pride for China. But even then, it looked too close for comfort. North American fans took the day off to order cocktails with Cloud9 shaped straws while European fans cheered their hearts out for Fnatic and the Pacific Championship Series fans felt an all too familiar sting of sadness. Whichever team or region fans cheered for, it was an eventful day. Here are some of the best moments.
Player of the Day: HLE Chovy
LET'S GO CHOBLANC! #Worlds2021 pic.twitter.com/SGCtAGav7b
— LCK (@LCK) October 17, 2021
Yes, this is getting old. Yes, we’re giving mid laner Jeong “Chovy” Ji-hoon from Hanwha Life Esports the Player of the Day again. But then again, how can we not? This man does what mortals like us, lingering in the despot slums of Iron and Bronze ranks, can only hope to achieve.
Chovy was excellent in all four games today, even in the tiebreaker loss against RNG where he gapped Yuan “Cryin” Cheng-Wei in terms of Creep Score. In the game against Fnatic in particular, his LeBlanc was immaculate. He even bought a Mejai’s Soulstealer and got it to 25 stacks before his lone death struck, ending the game with a 10/1/8 scoreline.
Most memorable moment: Everyone was Cryin from this (except LEC fans)
HUGE TEAM FIGHT FOR @FNATIC! #Worlds2021 pic.twitter.com/rh1zzMpGZ9
— LoL Esports (@lolesports) October 17, 2021
Most people would certainly have been shouting at their screens saying “Cryin what was that???” but not in the Faker sort of way. In RNG’s back and forth match against Fnatic well… fans can see for themselves in the moment highlighted above. LPL fans were left ‘cryin.’
But for the Fnatic fans, this was a massive win for them regardless of their exit at Worlds 2021. They made sure no EU team has ever gone 0-6 in a group stage at Worlds but also most importantly, defeated their historical rival organization in RNG. This win was also huge for substitute bot laner Louis “Bean” Schmitz, who played in place of Elias “Upset” Lipp, from the Amazon EU Masters to winning a match at Worlds.
Best Quote(s): EU rallies behind Fnatic and says damn the odds
SORRY HOTEL GUESTS pic.twitter.com/QUUQQQVumk
— Eefje Depoortere (@sjokz) October 17, 2021
GOOD LUCK TODAY @YamatoMebdi @FNATIC!!!! 🇪🇺💪🏻🔥 pic.twitter.com/io5OcTalX1
— James MacCormack (@MacCLol) October 17, 2021
— Caedrel (@Caedrel) October 17, 2021
Fnatic 0-3? Still no sign of Upset? RNG, HLE and PSG Talon looking like Mount Everest for EU’s second seed to overcome? No problem. Whether the LEC fans were high on hopium, copium, aluminum, or some other form of ingestible mood enhancer (note: please don’t try ingesting aluminum); fans and personalities alike roared on their support for Fnatic no matter how bleak the situation. The perceived result was not what was most important, and to quote the great Ted Lasso, “Believe.” And EU did.
Best clip on Day 6 of Worlds 2021: PSG Talon and Fnatic’s fiesta
KAIWING WITH THE MADLIFE HOOK! #Worlds2021 pic.twitter.com/1xjKyRWv28
— LoL Esports (@lolesports) October 17, 2021
Sure, the game with PSG Talon and Fnatic technically didn’t matter and it was an absolute fiesta, but were fans not entertained? Both teams still gave it their all and somehow still made it an entertaining spectacle to close the curtains on their Worlds campaign. There were other moments in this game like how PSG chased down Yasin “Nisqy” Dinçer to get an Ace despite an open Nexus, but support Ling “Kaiwing” Kai Wing’s Nautilus hook here was just superb, as per David “Phreak” Turley’s enthusiastic exclamation. PSG proceeded to get the Baron after this and continued the fiesta!
What’s next at Worlds 2021?
Tomorrow is the final day of groups. Six teams have already been confirmed for knockouts with only two more remaining, and they hail from Group D. Group D will arguably be the most volatile group with two teams at 2-1 and the other two at 1-2. Anything could happen. Will LNG Esports avenge the LPL’s poor record in the second-round robin? Will Gen.G continue the South Korean dominance? Or will MAD Lions and Team Liquid rise up to the occasion and usurp the hegemony? We shall find out tomorrow.
