Worlds 2022 Groups: Fnatic Faces First Defeat, NA’s Woes Continue

The third day of the Group Stage at Worlds 2022 was fairly straightforward with teams picking up expected wins. As things stand currently, Group A is action-packed and will go down to the wire as there is a three-way tie between T1, Fnatic (FNC), and EDward Gaming (EDG). Notably, the Korean teams also bounced back from their defeats on Day 2. Teams will soon be finishing their first round robin of this stage and look to continue their winning streaks onto the second.

Following were the results of the Worlds 2022 Group Stage matches from Day 3:

• Rogue won against GAM Esports

• GEN.G won against 100 Thieves

• EDward Gaming (EDG) bested Fnatic

• T1 won against Cloud9 (C9)

• Royal Never Give Up (RNG) picked up a win against CTBC Flying Oyster (CFO)

• DRX won against Top Esports (TES)

Worlds 2022 Group A is exciting

Fnatic was served its first defeat at the Group Stage of Worlds 2022 by defending champion EDward Gaming (EDG). The match had a chaotic start with EDG’s attack damage carry (ADC) Park "Viper" Do-hyeon picking up a double kill on Sivir as early as 1:52 minutes. EDG’s offensive style paid off as the team picked up a gold lead but it was aced by Fnatic at 18 minutes. Once EDG secured Baron Nashor, it became difficult for the European squad to defend its base. However, once it wore off, Fnatic fought around the dragon, secured it, and survived for a few more minutes, before its nexus fell.

In the other Group A matchup, T1 picked up an easy win against Cloud9. At 17 minutes, T1’s ADC Lee "Gumayusi" Min-hyeong picked up a quadra kill on Kai’Sa, and the gold difference ballooned to 7K. Soon after this, T1 secured Baron and aced the North American squad at around 22 minutes. Towards the end of the game, Gumayusi picked up another quadra kill and chased down Ibrahim "Fudge" Allami for the pentakill but the minions pouring into C9’s base took down the nexus.

Rogue tops Group C table

Rogue picked up its second straight win at Worlds 2022 by defeating GAM Esports. Rogue was always one step ahead of GAM. Rogue’s jungler Kim "Malrang" Geun-seong had perfectly timed ganks that catapulted the team’s lead. However, the Vietnamese squad seemed to fight back and gain back some of the map control. For a solid few minutes, GAM dictated the pace of the game as Rogue fell back into its pattern of throwing. GAM’s jungler Đỗ "Levi" Duy Khánhalso stole Baron Nashor to make things worse. However, Rogue secured the Hextech soul, the second Baron, and closed out the game with an ace.

Meanwhile, DRX bounced back from yesterday’s defeat by taking down Top Esports. At 20 minutes, DRX picked up a 5K gold lead because of the number of towers it had taken down. A pivotal team fight victory at the 27-minute mark enabled DRX to push through the mid-lane and soon turn to Baron Nashor. On TES’ base, DRX Hong "Pyosik" Chang-hyeon picked up a quadra kill on Graves, aced the Chinese squad, and closed out the game in 30 minutes.

In the Group D matchups, GEN.G picked up a win against 100 Thieves in a back-and-forth game. 100 Thieves looked strong in the mid-game but struggled to close it out and play to its strengths. The 100 Thieves nexus fell as GEN.G marched down the base with the Mountain soul and Baron-empowered minions.

China’s Royal Never Give Up’s (RNG) win against CFO was not surprising but CFO did not go down without a fight. Unfortunately, all the objectives on the map belonged to RNG which closed out the game in under 30 minutes with over 15K gold.

Day 4 of Worlds 2022 will continue on 10th October. Stay updated with the tournament by heading on to Worlds 2022 Group Stage: Teams, Groups, Schedule & More.