Griffin took down G2 Esports and is advancing to the 2019 League of Legends World Championship Knockout Stage as Group A’s number one seed.
Group A had a dramatic ending with Griffin and G2 playing a tiebreaker to determine the final standings. Through the first half of the group stage, G2 completely dominated the competition. The Mid-Season Invitational champion rolled over every team in Group A and was on track to become the first European team ever to end the stage with a 6-0 record.
Instead, the team fell short of the top spot and could be in line for some stiff competition in the playoffs.
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Griffin denied G2 its perfect record and on top of that, took the number one seed.
Despite a rocky start at Worlds and some behind-the-scenes drama, Griffin regrouped and closed the first stage of the tournament with an outstanding performance. Unlike other teams that rely on one player to carry the team, every single member of Griffin had a highlight moment on the final day of Group A.
That said, Lee “Tarzan” Seung-yong was the team’s clear MVP. The jungler out-performed his rivals and consistently managed to move between lanes and protect his teammates, without losing map advantages.
Those strong rotations allowed the rest of his team to shine in each game.
Griffin is advancing to the Knockout Stage and looks like a serious contender to take the title. The big question is how the team will be able to perform in best-of-five series, something they have struggled with.
While Griffin had a generally great day, G2’s stumbles highlighted some of their weaknesses. The team depends on Marcin “Jankos” Jankowski to take over the game and will struggle if he can’t get ahead of the enemy jungler.
Tarzan read Jankos like a magazine and stopped him from having an impact in the game. This started a domino effect that ultimately saw G2 look far less formidable than its reputation would suggest.
Griffin’s chances to advance in the competition have increased drastically. As the number one seed, they will avoid FunPlus Phoenix and whoever comes out on top of Group C and D. This means that Griffin is likely to avoid SK Telecom T1, the team that took them down in the LCK finals two times in a row.
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