NRG has been eliminated from Worlds 2023 after losing against Weibo Gaming in the quarter-finals.
North America’s last hope could not make it past the first round of the Knockout Stage. After a surprising victory over G2 Esports, NRG secured a spot in the quarterfinals, where it was set to face Weibo Gaming. These teams met earlier in round one of the Swiss Stage, where Weibo came out on top. In the rematch, there was nothing NRG could do.
The series ended with a clean 3-0 result in Weibo’s favor. Despite the score, the teams looked equally matched for the best part of the series. This is one of the best performances by an LCS team at Worlds in recent years.
There were two key factors to Weibo’s victory: vision control and team fighting. From the early stages of the match, Weibo kept track of jungler Juan “Contractz” Garcia through well-placed wards. NRG didn’t match the vision control and, in most cases, went into the plays blind. When it came to the team fights, NRG overcommitted.
These two key weaknesses highlight the differences between the regions. In the LPL, it is normal for teams to invest heavily in vision and keep track of each other efficiently. In the team fights, LPL teams tend to go all in, even to the detriment of their own advantages. In the LCS, vision seems to be optional and set up going into team fights less than optimal.
After DRX’s victory in 2022, underdogs are heavily favored, and Weibo might be positioning itself in that role.
Weibo is unpredictable and inconsistent, walking the fine line between genius and absolutely mad. In the Summoner’s Rift, Weibo is its own worst enemy, being at times the only thing between them and a victory. Can they win Worlds? It isn’t out of the possibilities.
In the semifinals, Weibo will face the winner between Gen.G and Bilibili Gaming.
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