Worlds 2022 Play-in Day 4: DRX & Fnatic Gear up Groups, EG Has a Long Day

At the start of Day 4 of the Play-in stage of Worlds 2022, Group A had the possibility of a five-way tie between all the teams but fans’ hopes of seeing that translate into broadcast soon withered. At end of the day, the two teams that emerged on top of Group A and Group B qualified for the main event of the international tournament, and fans were still treated to two tie-breakers from Group A. A total of four teams have already been eliminated from Worlds 2022 and the knockout stage, scheduled for the next two days, will deal more heartbreaks to teams.

The following were the results of Day 4 of Worlds 2022 Play-in:

Group A: DFM gives EG a run for its money

The first two games from Group A were fairly straightforward with Fnatic (FNC) and LOUD picking up wins against Beyond Gaming (BYG) and Chiefs Esports Club (CHF) respectively. While BYG went toe-to-toe against the European squad, it faltered in terms of macro play. FNC Marek "Humanoid" Brázda on the Akali was invincible and played a huge role in the team’s win. Following this, Fnatic locked in its Worlds 2022 Group Stage ticket.

Meanwhile, the LOUD vs Chiefs matchup was closer than what was expected. Towards the end of the game, CHF defended its base and fought back relentlessly to close down the gold gap. However, a resilient LOUD won a crucial team fight and closed out the game.

The most exciting win from Group A was DFM’s against EG. Despite being equal in terms of gold lead at the fifteen-minute mark, DFM constantly found engages. A few minutes later, DFM had three towers under its belt and EG was stacking up dragons, giving DFM a 2K gold lead. The Japanese squad picked up Baron Nashor but EG aced the team, ending the Baron buff. At 40 minutes, DFM returned the favor after EG picked up the second dragon of the match, and ended the game.

Group B: DRX and RNG unmatched

The results from the Group B matches were not very surprising. Isurus (ISG) picked up its first win at Worlds 2022 by defeating Istanbul Wildcats (IW). Throughout the match, ISG had the upper hand and slowly picked up a gold lead. The team was able to end the match in under 32 minutes.

Going into the DRX vs MAD Lions (MAD) matchup, DRX was favored to win given its win streak and form at Worlds 2022. To everyone’s surprise, MAD’s early game was immaculate as it picked up kills, towers, and dragons. The European squad secured the first Baron Nashor at 23 minutes and extended its gold lead to around 6K. MAD Lions rolled through the match and got the Ocean Dragon soul and the second Baron too, but lost multiple members in the aftermath. MAD İrfan “Armut” Berk Tükek could not defend against five DRX members pushing into the base and the game was over in 34 minutes, despite MAD being in the lead for the majority of it.  DRX is the Group B team that has punched its ticket to Worlds 2022 Groups in New York.

The Vietnamese squad of Saigon Buffalo (SGB) fought against RNG with all its might but it was not enough to take down the Chinese team. SGB closely tailed RNG in terms of in-game advantages and also had more kills than RNG at the half-hour mark. But after RNG picked up the Baron, it was hard to defend and RNG closed out the match in 33 minutes.

Following this, the two tie-breakers from Group A were played out. Evil Geniuses got its revenge on DFM in the first one and quickly followed it up with another win against LOUD. Following Day 4’s results, EG and RNG have advanced to the Qualification round of the Play-in whereas MAD Lions, DFM, LOUD, and SGB will have to battle it out in the Elimination round.

Stay updated with the tournament by heading on to Worlds 2022 Play-in: Teams, Groups, Schedule & More.