PH League Personalities Predict Worlds Quarters

The Summoner’s Cup looms in the distance. The Quarterfinals is here. From Fnatic and Splyce’s 3-0 turnaround in Week 2, the Koreans in a state of resurgence at the top of the standings, and reigning champions G2 Esports and Invictus Gaming showing that gods do bleed, we’re going to be in for one hell of a Knockout Stage starting on the 26th.

For our predictions, we’ve called on prominent personalities in the Philippine League of Legends scene to help us out. Here are their takes on who gets to move on to the semifinals:

Fnatic (LEC) vs. FunPlus Phoenix (LPL)

Fnatic go 3-0 in Week 2 of Group Stage. (Photo: LoL Esports)

After the second week of groups, it looks like Fnatic finally found their stride. Not only did they finish week 2 undefeated, they did it by cleanly taking down titans like SKT and RNG. Fnatic should beat FPX if they stick to the things that made them great in week 2: Hylissang roaming more with Broxah, and Rekkles sticking to playing ADCs.

     – Peter Tingson, Freelance Analyst, on #FNCWIN

FunPlus Phoenix post-match. (Photo: LoL Esports)

So to contrary belief I think FPX will win the series decisively. While Fnatic was  to place over RNG and make it out of groups over them, FPX came out of the LPL as the undisputed best team in the region only dropping a single game to RNG in the finals during the whole split. FPX is also stylistically a much different team and isn’t as reliant on their bot lane to win the game like Splyce, instead creating pressure via Tian and Doinb. FPX felt very complacent in groups but I feel like they’re going to hit the expectations people had prior to the group stage in the quarterfinals

     – David “Neep” Viray, Former Pro Support/Garena Caster, on #FPXWIN

SK Telecom T1 (LCK) vs. Splyce (LEC)

SK Telecom T1 on the Worlds stage. (Photo: LoL Esports)

Everyone is expecting the multi-time world champions to breeze through Splyce, including me… at first. But after I completely bet against Splyce in the group stage, they went 3-0 in Week 2, defying all expectations. Don’t get me wrong, I still think SKT is making it to semis but I don’t think it’ll be the clean sweep many are imagining. It’s going to be a hard fought 3-1 victory for Faker and friends.

     – Marco De Leon, Corporate Communication Office of Tier One Entertainment, on #SKTWIN

There’s no question that Splyce is entering this matchup against SKT as the underdogs, and I’m pretty sure your Worlds 2019 pick’ems has the Korean powerhouse written all over it. However, I wouldn’t want to count Splyce out. Given the chance Vizicsacsi and his boys might pull out a miracle run. If there’s anything we could learn from League’s history, is that even SKT, housing the god of League of Legends do bleed at times. Maybe it’s about time for Vizicsacsi to ask an old teammate from Misfits on how to slay gods. Otherwise, I think this will be an SKT sweep.

     – Theo “Uomi” Ignacio, Manager of Teletigers Esports Club, on #SKTWIN

Invictus Gaming (LPL) vs. GRIFFIN (LCK)

Invictus Gaming post-match. (Photo: LoL Esports)

TheShy and Rookie have been styling on the competition in Worlds. In iG’s deciding match against Team Liquid, Rookie’s Qiyana single-handedly put down North America’s hopes of getting out of groups. After subbing in veteran jungler Ning in Week 2, iG has started to look up and onwards with their 2018 Worlds wings. After ironing out a few early-game chinks here and there, iG are well on their way back to their dominant form last year. The defending champions simply aren’t going to let their crown be swiped away by a few griffins.

     – Simon Garnace, Associate Editor, on #IGWIN

Griffin beats G2 Esports in the Group Stage. (Photo: LoL Esports)

The second round robin of Group A showed an angry Griffin versus G2, after they suffered their only loss to the European squad in Week 1. Griffin clapped G2 with excellent early game plays that Jankos and Caps couldn’t recover from. If Griffin is able to secure a huge gold lead before 15 minutes through Tarzan with the help of Chovy and Lehends, they can set the pace for their victory against the reigning world champions. People may think there’s a mismatch between Sword and TheShy, but as long TheShy is contained, Griffin may finally break their curse and win a best-of-five. 

     – Kenneth Alog, Head Coach of LG Esports, on #GRFWIN

G2 Perkz post-match. (Photo: LoL Esports)

Damwon Gaming (LCK) vs. G2 Esports (LEC)

Actually, the G2 vs DWG match is almost personal to me. I met DWG last year in Korea when they haven’t even competed in the LCK yet. I watched G2 win it live in Taiwan for MSI. Damwon is a rookie team, but they’ve made it this far in Worlds. Everyone loves underdogs. Damwon’s win will probably ignite the younger player base of all regions – that a fresh from Challenger series team can make it all the way to the Summoner’s Cup.

But for me, I’m primarily rooting for G2 to win because of Perkz. Perkz changed roles in the middle of his career from Mid to ADC.Thanks to their mentality, they changed EU teams to just be more inventive. Rekkles couldn’t even play anything outside ADC a few patches back. Now, he runs Garen at bot. G2 will definitely need to bring their creativity back against Damwon. Although G2 has the Claps/Craps meme surrounding their play, their peak is way higher than that of Damwon’s consistent performances. G2’s win in MSI refreshed LoL esports so their victories here in Worlds will just extend its lifespan.

     – Ariane Lim, Head of Esports AcadArena, on #G2WIN

Catch all the active live on watch.lolesports.com. The Quarterfinals kicks off on October 26, 6:00 PM with Invictus Gaming and Griffin to be followed by FunPlus Phoenix and Fnatic.

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