As day 1 of the Worlds 2023 Swiss Stage has concluded, here is a quick recap.
Worlds is the biggest annual event in League of Legends. In it, the best teams from all over the world compete against each other for the trophy.
This year’s Worlds is taking place in South Korea. There are 22 teams from different regions competing in this event. Moreover, Worlds 2023 has received some major changes, including to the format. This time, there will be more Best of 3s, a Swiss-style stage, and more.
Till now, we have seen many teams play in the play-ins. All of these matches were very enjoyable to watch as we have seen new meta rise up.
As today was the first day of the Swiss Stage, here is a quick recap of all the matches.
Read more: LoL Worlds 2023 Swiss Stage Round 2 Draw.
Worlds 2023 Swiss Stage: Day 1
T1 VS Team Liquid Honda
The first match of the day was between Korea’s T1 and NA’s Team Liquid. Both of the teams had a very typical meta-pick. T1 picked Jayce, Sejuani, Orianna, Ashe, and Renata Glasc, while TL went for K’Sante, Lee Sin, Sejuani, Aphelios, and Rell.
From the first moment in lanes, T1 was extremely aggressive, which granted them the first blood within 3 minutes. But thanks to the World Champion jungler Pyosik’s help, TL managed to get some of the lead back in the early game. Moreover, with the early teleport from TL APA, they managed to get two more kills in the top lane, which made TL extremely strong in the early game.
Even though TL had the kill advantage, T1 managed to stabilize and gain a gold advantage even though they were not ahead in terms of kills. And with that, T1 managed to win the entire match, thus moving towards the 1-0 bracket.
Cloud9 VS MAD Lions
NA vs EU is a rivalry as old as time, and in League of Legends, it is no different. This time, for NA, we got Cloud9; for EU, we have MAD Lions.
Regarding the draft, Cloud9 picked Jax, Taliyah, K’Sante, Xayah, and Alistar. Meanwhile, MAD drafted Gwen, Jarvan IV, Syndra, Ezreal, and Rakan. Unfortunately, we couldn’t see a Xayah and Rakan duo.
Even though the start of the match was very slow, MAD managed to get the first blood at 5 minutes, thanks to Eloyaya and Chasy.
Afterward, the game went back to being slow. However, thanks to Cloud9’s map control and objective priority, they managed to win against MAD Lion.
Gen.G VS GAM Esports
Up next, we saw the match between Korea’s Gen.G and Vietnam’s GAM Esports. Even before the match, Gen.G was the fan favorite and overall one of the best teams in the world. Even so, the game was very interesting.
For the draft, Gen.G picked K’Sante, Vi, Ahri, Kai’Sa, and Alistar. GAM Esports meanwhile picked Jax, Lee Sin, Neeko, Xayah, and Sett. And Sett was support in this case.
While GAM put up a good fight, it was clear that Gen.G would be victorious in this match.
Team BDS VS JD Gaming
In the play-ins, Team BDS was a clear favorite among fans, mainly due to their top laner Adam and his picks. However, JDG, on the other hand, is the best team in League of Legends. Additionally, JDG also won MSI 2023.
Firstly, about the draft, just to counter Adam, JDG’s first ban was Darius. Regardless, BDS’s draft was Garen, Vi, Cassiopia, Xayah, and Rakan. On the other hand, JDG’s picks are Ornn, Jarvan IV, Ahri, Kai’Sa, and Alistar.
In the early game, the match was in a stalemate. Even though Adam managed to get the first blood with the help of Sheo, both teams were even. Even with the objectives, both teams had equal numbers of them.
However, because of JDG’s winning bot side, Team BDS couldn’t make any noticeable impact in the late game. Due to this, JDG won the match.
G2 Esports VS Dplus Kia
Here’s another EU VS Korea match. On the EU side, we have G2 Esports. On the other hand, for Korea, we have Dplus Kia. Moreover, G2 is currently the best team in EMEA.
In terms of the draft, G2 picked Renekton, Maokai, Orianna, Draven, and Renata Glasc. Meanwhile, Dplus drafted Jayce, Rell, Azir, Varus, and Alistar.
From the beginning, Hans Sama managed to get the first blood with his Draven. And with that, G2 managed to snowball the game to the victory.
Weibo Gaming VS NRG
NRG is one of the newest teams coming to Worlds. And for the first game in Worlds, they were up against Weibo Gaming, one of the strongest teams in LPL.
For Weibo’s drafts, they picked Rumble, Poppy, Azir, Kai’Sa, and Leona. Moreover, NRG picked Ornn, Taliyah, Jayce, Kalista, and Alistar.
Even though NRG tried their hardest, Weibo easily swept the match. Thus, Weibo Gaming won against NRG.
LNG Esports VS Fanatic
After WBG VS NRG, we saw China’s LNG vs EU’s Fanatic. Regarding Drafts, LNG picked Jax, Jarvan, Azir, Xayah, and Rakan, while FNC picked Renekton, Taliyah, Jayce, Ezreal, and Rell. These drafts are typical, as we have seen them picked up multiple times.
For the match, While LNG is LPL’s 3rd seed, they are still not close to being the worst team competing in Worlds 2023. And they proved it by completely dominating the match against FNC. And that’s how LNC got the easy victory.
Bilibili Gaming VS kt Rolster
BLG was the runners-up team in the MSI 2023. And for the first game in Worlds 2023, they faced off against LCK’s 3rd seed, kt Rolster. In the match, BLG picked K’Sante, Maokai, Jayce, Xayah, and Rell, while KT picked Aatrox, Zac, Taliyah, Kai’Sa, and Rakan.
Even though early on the game was even, after BLG got some objectives, they managed to win the game easily.
