These are the teams eliminated from Worlds 2020

William Davis Published 11/10/2020

The 2020 League of Legends World Championship group stage has concluded and eight teams didn’t manage to qualify for the playoffs stage.

Some teams were expected not to advance from the group stage, while others didn’t live up to fans’ and experts’ expectations. It’s worth taking a look at some of the biggest teams that have left the tournament and what they could have done differently.

Team Liquid eliminated in groups for third Worlds in a row

Team Liquid had a great showing in the play-in stage, where they managed to top group A and qualify directly to the main event. The veteran-packed roster got placed in group A yet again alongside G2 Esports, Suning, and Machi Esports.

The group was considered a “group of life,” as there was hope Liquid could pull off an upset and advance to the playoffs stage for the first time ever. Sadly, Liquid didn’t show up in the first round robin which ended up hurting them. Liquid’s first loss in the group stage against Machi, a game that was considered a must win, ended up hurting them badly.

They woke up in the second half of the group stage, beating both Suning and Machi on the same day but it wasn’t enough to move forward.

For the third year in a row, Liquid is knocked out of the group stage with a 3-3 record. With a bit more decisiveness Liquid could potentially have taken a spot in the quarterfinals. Support Jo “CoreJJ” Yong-in has performed at a world-class level but needed his team to step up even further.

Liquid will have to go back to North America and improve on some of its early game mistakes and teamwork throughout 2021, then it might just have what it takes to finally get out of groups.

Team SoloMid was a massive letdown in Worlds 2020

As always, all eyes were on Team SoloMid as they entered Worlds as the LCS’s first seed. The popular organization qualified for Worlds for the first time since 2017, so it was a long-awaited return for both players and fans.

TSM had to go up against very experienced and skilled lineups. Always a heavily talked-about team, the players were under a lot of pressure to perform. Too much pressure, it seems.

Top laner Sergen “Broken Blade” Çelik and jungler Mingyi “Spica” Lu played their first Worlds but managed to do fairly well considering their lack of stage experience. The veterans of the team didn’t manage to live up to expectations at all, giving TSM a weak basis to play from.

The lack of individual skill and communication resulted in one defeat after the other, giving TSM close to no chance of advancing into the second round robin. TSM had to play flawlessly throughout their last three games but didn’t manage to get a single win. It all ended with a very poor 0-6 record, which has never happened in Worlds history to a first seed from a major region

This is the first time a Pool 1 seed and the #1 seed from a major region went 0-6.

The only other time it was close was 2017 Pool 1 Flash Wolves who went 1-5, picking up a single win against…

TSM.
— Mark Zimmerman (@TheeMarkZ) October 10, 2020

TSM can’t take much away from this tournament except that they have to improve drastically to ever stand a chance on the Worlds stage.

LGD Gaming is the first LPL team to leave Worlds 2020

After two years of Worlds dominance, the LPL was allowed to have four teams participating at Worlds 2020. The fourth seed was secured by LGD Gaming, after beating former world champions Invictus Gaming in the LPL Regional Finals.

LGD started its journey in the play-in stage, where the talented roster was a clear favorite. LGD didn’t really look the part, as they started out by losing three games in the play-ins group stage. LGD had one foot out of the tournament but managed to find the confidence needed to qualify for the main event, after a tiebreaker and two best-of-five series.

LGD got placed in group C, where scary teams such as Fnatic and Gen.G were waiting. LGD put up a fight against all the teams and did manage to beat TSM twice and Fnatic once. Three wins weren’t enough to advance from the group though, so LGD will be heading home as the first LPL team eliminated from Worlds 2020.

The overall performance from LGD at the main event was strong and they can go home feeling good, despite not making it to the quarterfinals. With a few extra successful plays, LGD could have beaten Gen.G in both of their games and potentially been in their shoes right now.

Machi Esports, Rogue, PSG Talon, and others out of Worlds 2020

Besides the teams above, several others also didn’t manage to deliver. The PCS failed to go further with its two teams Machi Esports and PSG Talon, but they did manage to show that the region is not to be underestimated.

Unicorns of Love also played its last match at Worlds 2020 after impressing in the play-in stage. Lastly, both Rogue and FlyQuest did not manage to get through their hard groups. It was expected but still a blow to the two western squads.

Here is a list of the five other teams that are now out of Worlds contention.