The five biggest moments of the 2020 World Championship

William Davis Published 10/11/2020

The 2020 World Championship ended on October 31 with DAMWON Gaming raising the Summoner’s Cup in front of the Shanghai audience. With this victory, the LCK put a stop to Chinese supremacy and reclaimed the throne.

The tournament was full of incredible plays and games, and it’s hard to pick the best of the best, but here are the biggest moments from Worlds 2020.

TOP Esports reverse sweeps Fnatic

TOP Esports and Fnatic met in a quarterfinals series for the history books. TES reached the knockout stage as the number one seed from group D where it dominated the competition. Fnatic secured a humble second seed in group C where the competition was significantly easier.

At this point, TES was still considered the favorite to take it all. Throughout the group stage, TES pulled off some crazy plays and comebacks, solidifying the belief that TES was in fact the best team from the LPL. Fnatic stumbled at times, but that was nothing out of the ordinary for a squad that’s been described as a coin flip.

In the quarterfinals, Fnatic started the series with two victories and it looked like a done deal. Then came game three. TES neutralized the top lane and managed to snowball that advantage out of control. Fnatic didn’t know what was happening until it was too late, and TES claimed the victory. As the series progressed, Fnatic got antsier and antsier.

TES knew that one victory would be enough to throw Fnatic out of balance and take advantage of it. Fnatic couldn’t bounce back, and 25 minutes into game 5, TES completed the first reverse sweep in World Championship history.

TSM’s depressive Worlds run

Team SoloMid made it to this list for all the wrong reasons. The North American champion had the worst run a first-seeded team has ever had in LoL history. In the group stage, TSM finished winless in a group that most considered to be the easiest one in the tournament.

According to the TSM players, it was doomed from the start. While the team had a decent performance in scrims, that small success didn’t translate into the main stage. After week one and three defeats, the win rate for TSM went down to 10% in scrims and remained 0% on stage.

TSM finished with an embarrassing record of 0-6. This is definitively not the kind of record TSM wanted to break at Worlds.

Suning makes it to the end

Always underrated and rarely appreciated, Suning head into Worlds as the lowest-rated team in the LPL. For most analysts, Suning was an okay team with nothing too outstanding about it. Of course, Suning would end up shutting all the haters up and completed a run that was nothing short of miraculous.

Suning was predicted to lose in every series in the knockout stage. The resilient lions grew more powerful with every prediction against them and managed to reach the finals. On the road to finals, Suning took out two strong LPL contenders. Teams that Suning hadn’t defeated in 2020, and in JD Gaming’s case, since 2018.

In the finals, Suning got the biggest cheer from the live audience as it prepared to take on the final boss. After game two of the series, Suning ran out of luck and would end up losing. Suning might not have gotten the trophy, but its five players won everyone’s hearts and admiration.

Bin gets a pentakill

Worlds was full of stars, but one player stood out for doing the most for his team, and that was Suning top laner Chen “Bin” Ze-Bin. Because of his outstanding plays and game-winning flanks, Bin deserves its own honorary mention.

Bin and jungler Lê “SofM” Quang Duy were game-changers for Suning. Bin in particular had some iconic plays throughout the tournament, including a flank against G2 Esports that turned the series around. Bin caught the G2 players in a retreat and massacred them in the tri-bush using Gangplank’s barrels.

Bin’s highlight reel also included the only pentakill in Worlds. It happened in game two of finals against DAMWON. Bin showed why an LPL Fiora is a pick to respect and fear. Suning, powered up with the dragon soul and with an opening into the enemy’s based on mid, started the fight. Bin sliced and dashed through the opponents, taking down the DAMWON players one by one. That play was enough to give Suning its only win in finals at Worlds.

DAMWON takes the Summoner’s Cup back to the LCK

Last but definitely not least is the 2020 World Champion, DAMWON Gaming. Ahead of the event, people expected DAMWON to perform well, but no one anticipated the level of genius this team pulled off.

The group stage was just a formality for DAMWON, as with every game the squad looked better and better. In the knockout stage, DAMWON had to face fellow LCK squad DRX, the team DAMWON defeated with a 3-0 a couple of weeks prior. DRX didn’t stand a chance and was handed another 3-0 loss by DAMWON.

In the semifinals, things got interesting because DAMWON would finally get a chance to face long-time nemesis G2. This rivalry seemed to be one-sided with DAMWON being out for blood and G2 just wanting to have a good time.

DAMWON made its intentions clear from the start, as it wanted to get revenge and to give G2 a taste of its own medicine. DAMWON headed into the semifinals with a killer mindset and succeeded at taking the win. The players even stole G2’s celebration in front of them. In the finals, DAMWON took down Suning and claimed the first Worlds title for the LCK since 2017.

William Davis

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