LGD Gaming beats Fnatic to shake off ugly Worlds 2020 play-in stage

William Davis Published 04/10/2020

LGD Gaming took its first victory in the 2020 League of Legends World Championship group stage by beating Fnatic. 

Fnatic got off to a great start in the Worlds group stage by beating North American rivals Team SoloMid, but LGD seems to be a higher caliber. LGD had some shaky performances in the play-in stage, but managed to show its real strength by nearly defeating Gen.G. The close game against Gen.G seemed to ignite LGD, as the team came out swinging against Fnatic.   

LGD is known to play around the jungle and mid lane, but Fnatic countered that by putting all its focus on the top lane in the early game. The teamwork between top laner Gabriël  “Bwipo” Rau and jungler Oskar “Selfmade” Boderek was expectedly excellent, but the difference in the draft ended up hurting the duo. 

While Fnatic pressured the top lane, LGD waited for the right moment to strike back. LGD had a stronger scaling composition, but could not let Fnatic run away with a big gold lead. Luckily for LGD, the patience paid off and suddenly they were in the driver’s seat after a perfect fight. 

The difference in champion selection ended up biting Fnatic, as LGD outscaled them in a profound way. Fnatic didn’t manage to snowball in the early game enough and took its first loss as a result. LGD ties up Fnatic in group C, which is looking to be the closest one at Worlds 2020.  

LGD Gaming succeeding at Worlds 2020 with strong drafts

The drafts of LGD Gaming have been one of the biggest reasons for the team’s success. LGD started out the tournament in play-ins by disrespecting its opponents both individually and through the draft. LGD quickly learned that opponents can’t be underestimated at Worlds 2020, and has now turned things around. 

The team is now drafting  comfort picks and that strategy is starting to work. It didn’t quite pay off against Gen.G in the first round of groups, despite it being a close game that could have gone either way. 

Against Fnatic, the difference in team compositions finally paid off for LGD. It was a rough early game for LGD, but they kept playing towards their win conditions and it paid off. LGD changing its focus towards team fighting is paying off, and the team could be poised for big things in Worlds 2020.  

Peanut is the key to victory at Worlds for LGD Gaming

While the teamwork of LGD is finally starting to show, a lot of it is because of jungler Han “Peanut” Wang-ho. The Korean jungler had some rough games in the play-in stage but has now found his groove on Kindred. 

Peanut is known to be a carry jungler, which this meta is perfect for. Peanut playing with confidence is scary for any team and Kindred seems to be the perfect champion for him. Kindred can dish out a lot of damage by herself, while also being very valuable for winning teamfights and taking objectives. 

Peanut and the rest of LGD will take on TSM on October 6 in an important match that could set the team up to take over the group. 

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