First day of Worlds Play-In recap: Upset Pentakill

Fnatic and Upset cruise to a 2-0 start after his Kalista pentakill, while DRX surprises RNG

After much anticipation, the 2022 League of Legends World Championship is underway. We got to wait a bit more due to the technical pauses, but at last, the results from the first day are in the books. Upset ruined many pickems by scoring a pentakill on the first day of competition, DRX upset RNG, and the MAD Lions took care of business.

Fnatic off to a strong start

Much has been made of Fnatic’s struggles heading into Worlds but what better way to brush off the doubters? No scrimmages in Europe, practicing on bad equipment in North America, and their bot lane getting Covid two days before the first game alongside the yearly dose of Fnatic drama. None of this seemed to bother them, with FNC handling the LCS third seed, Evil Geniuses, their first loss. Substitute support Rúben “Rhuckz” Barbosa, who filled in for Zdravets “Hylissang” Galabov today, had an amazing showing in both games. A tournament high 22 KD/A is as impressive as his synergy with Elias “Upset”  Lipp despite them practicing together zero times. Speaking of the man, Covid and a 20-hour flight didn’t stop him from scoring the first pentakill at Worlds this year. Fnatic’s entire organization is coming down with Covid symptoms at the worst possible time, but as long as Hylissang arrives today, they can play from their hotel rooms.

MAD and RNG on a collision course

The MAD Lions kicked off the competition with a win against the LAT representatives from Argentina, Team Isurus, and took care of business against the Istanbul Wildcats later on. Despite no having clean showings against two teams from minor regions, two wins are two wins. The MAD Lions have been facing criticism after making Worlds without winning a single series in the LEC playoffs. Now it’s their time to prove themselves. Their next match is the current MSI winner and the LPL fourth seed, Royal Never Give Up.

The Chinese team didn’t look too hot today in their loss against DRX, Korea’s fourth seed. Questionable Nilah and Vi picks make the entire community question RNG’s meta read heading into Worlds. If their first game was just them trying stuff out, they will need to step up against the MAD Lions. Going 0-2 in Group B would make their road to the Group stage a lot harder than it needs to be. With so many storylines going on, we cant wait for day two. Will Deft carry DRX to the group stage, are the MAD Lions actually a good team, can Evil Geniuses bounce back without Danny or will RNG stomp everyone the rest of the way?

Header: Riot Games