Worlds 2021 has become a roller coaster of upsets, tiebreakers, and one-sided stomps. The last quarterfinal yet to play out features North America’s last hope, Cloud9, against one of the LCK’s many remaining representatives, Gen.G. It’s time to see if Cloud9 can carry the LCS’ dreams on its shoulders or if Korean dominance returns with 3 LCK teams in the semifinals.
Gen.G was the first seed scraping out of Group D’s historic four-way tie, the first in Worlds history, besting MAD Lions in the last match of the group stage. While the first seed is an accomplishment in itself, such a close group following domestic playoff struggles mean that Gen.G seems the most beatable of the remaining LCK rosters.
This match could be the first step on a miracle run for Cloud9. In order for C9 to upset the Korean favorite, it will need to come out of the game swinging and build leads in the early game. Gen.G showed difficulty closing games in the tiebreakers against MAD Lions, stalling out a 4,000+ gold lead for ages without growing it further. Though Gen.G still won the game, it’s that sort of hesitation that Cloud9 will need to take advantage of in order to come out as victors in this tight match.
C9 or Gen.G win could lead to Fandex gains
Testing your esports knowledge and predictive ability on Fandex has been one of the most fun ways for fans to participate in Worlds a little bit. Cloud9 is the highest-priced stock on the fan market, sitting at $26.91. Meanwhile, Gen.G is sitting at $16.58 after the four-team tiebreaker in Group C. Should Gen.G take home the match, the price should see a dramatic increase as Cloud9 drops out of the tournament
Gen.G’s shaky performance in groups means there’s still some room for movement should the Group D first seed rally to a convincing performance against Cloud9. C9, despite being valued highly, could move up even more should North America move on to semifinals. Beating one of the top Korean teams and advancing to face EDG in the semifinals would see Cloud9’s value continue to creep upwards, though it doesn’t have as much space for upwards mobility as some other teams’ stocks.
Cloud9 Roster
Top – Ibrahim “Fudge” Allami
Jungle – Robert “Blaber” Huang
Mid – Luka “Perkz” Perkovic
Bottom – Jesper “Zven” Svenningsen
Support – Phillipe “Vulcan” Leflamme
Gen.G Roster
Top – Kim “Rascal” Kwang-hee
Jungle – Kim “Clid” Tae-min
Mid – Gwak “Bdd” Bo-seong
Bot – Park “Ruler” Jae-hyuk
Support – Kim “Life” Jeong-min
Gen.G expected to continue Korean dominance
Looking at the odds, there’s a clear advantage in Gen.G’s favor, Cloud9’s winless start to the group stage and the overall perceived strength of the LCK has Gen.G as a significant favorite. Cloud9 stand the best chance of any underdog in the quarterfinals of upsetting its first seed opponents, but still hold long odds at 3.25. Gen.G offers 1.29 odds on the other hand as the expected winner.
The odds in this article are taken at the time of writing.
