The first quarterfinals match of Worlds 2024 ended in a 3-1 in favor of Weibo Gaming. LNG Esports has been eliminated from the tournament following their perfect 3-0 Swiss Stage record. It seems like tradition at this point, but teams that earn a flawless record in the Group/Swiss Stage at Worlds always seem to stumble come playoffs.
LNG and WBG have a lot of recent matches in the LPL that we could gauge the potential victor of this one. Weibo took the Summer Playoffs matchup 3-2 to send LNG out in fourth place, but then LNG swept Weibo in the Regional Finals to take third seed and shove Weibo to fourth.
Recency Bias? Out the Window
In terms of form at Worlds, LNG and WBG both advanced to Playoffs with wins over Team Liquid and Dplus KIA. The former took down LPL first seed Bilibili Gaming for their third win, while the latter got theirs off Fnatic. Weibo seemed to be struggling a bit in Swiss, taking all five matches to advance.
It can’t be forgotten though that a best-of-five Worlds Playoffs match on the biggest stage League of Legends has to offer is a whole different beast.
Remember also that WBG made Worlds Finals last year with three of the same players and the same coaching staff.
Weibo Gaming Superior on the Day
Game one remained close throughout the early game, then seemed to become LNG favored. However, the zone control from WBG’s superior team composition allowed them to take Baron and flip the momentum. One good fight win was all they needed to go up 1-0 in the series.
In game two, LNG looked to be getting back on track. Tang “Zika” Hua-Y’s Jax took over the game, making plenty of space on the map for LNG to take what they wanted. It was a bit labored, but LNG had their equalizer after the 43 minute victory.
From here on out, the series was all Weibo. Li “Xiaohu” Yuan-Hao’s Orianna was the star of the show in game three, going 8-0-8 as LNG’s dive composition couldn’t hit home.
ABSOLUTE CINEMA ENDING pic.twitter.com/LNG2WvhHcG
— LoL Esports (@lolesports) October 17, 2024
Desperate to remain in the series, LNG drafted a nearly full melee brawl composition that relied on jumping on a target and bursting them. What LNG didn’t expect? Jax, Aurora, Ezreal, Rakan. Weibo was able to evade almost every move LNG made largely thanks to their champions and cruised to an easy 30 minute win. Wang “Light” Guang-Yu in particular got to show off some smooth moves on Ezreal.
Weibo Gaming now moves on to the Worlds 2024 Semifinals where they will face the winner of Hanwha Life Esports and Bilibili Gaming. It’s a tough match on paper no matter who comes out on top, but Weibo was in a similar situation last year.
Now they’re just three game wins away from being back-to-back Worlds Finalists.
