Image credit: LoL Esports
Updated on Oct. 15: The times at which the different matchups occur have changed.
The 2020 League of Legends World Championship quarterfinal matchups have been drawn on Oct. 11 after the conclusion of Group D’s games. The draws went such that the LEC’s Fnatic drew an LPL-heavy side, whereas fellow European squad G2 Esports’s road to the finals involves overcoming the LCK’s finest.
The matchups are as follows:
- Match (D): DAMWON Gaming vs. DRX (Oct. 15 at 3 a.m. PT / 6 a.m. ET / 12:00 CET)
- Match (B): Suning vs. JD Gaming (Oct. 16 at 3 a.m. PT / 6 a.m. ET / 12:00 CET)
- Match (A): TOP Esports vs. Fnatic (Oct. 17 at 3 a.m. PT / 6 a.m. ET / 12:00 CET)
- Match (C): Gen.G vs. G2 Esports (Oct. 18 at 3 a.m. PT / 6 a.m. ET / 12:00 CET)
The semifinals will be (A) vs. (B), then (C) vs. (D), as each team is on its own side of the bracket seeding. The playoff stage follows a single-elimination bracket format.
The Worlds quarterfinal drawings split the LEC teams into different brackets, each with their own quirks: G2 Esports’ current roster, who is on the LCK-sided bracket, hold a 9-4 record against LCK teams in best-of-five series. However, neither G2 nor Fnatic have a favorable record against the LPL, with both notoriously falling 0-3 in the Worlds finals: Fnatic to Invictus Gaming in 2018, and G2 vs. FunPlus Phoenix in 2019.
On the upper side of the bracket, the LPL’s top seed, TOP Esports drew Fnatic in a matchup that features minor elements of a rematch: TOP’s AD carry, Yu “JackeyLove” Wen-Bo, won the 2018 World Championship 3-0 as a member of Invictus Gaming over Fnatic, which currently holds three players of the same roster: Gabriël “Bwipo” Rau, Martin “Rekkles” Larsson and Zdravets “Hylissang” Iliev Galabov. On the other hand, Hung “Karsa” Hao-Hsuan tasted elimination at Fnatic’s hands during the 2019 Worlds group stage.
As for JD Gaming and Suning, this matchup will be their first meeting in a best-of-5 series. Indeed, the two teams only faced one another during the regular season, with the games going in JDG’s favor: 2-0 in the LPL summer split round robin phase, and 2-1 during the spring split’s group stage. The games took place during a different patch cycle, rendering this specific matchup unpredictable.
On the lower side of the bracket, G2 Esports dodged LPL teams and instead entered a gauntlet of sorts including LCK teams. Their quarterfinals matchup against Gen.G is rather volatile, as a high-octane G2 faces a mostly slow-paced Gen.G, although one that smashed Fnatic in the solo lanes in the final game of Group C.
However, the big quarterfinal headliner involves DAMWON Gaming and DRX, the #1 and #2 seeds of the LCK. The two teams have had tense contests in the past: DRX eliminated DAMWON in the 2020 spring playoffs 2-3, but DAMWON crushed them in the 2020 summer playoff finals 3-0. As both teams showed dominant laning phases in their groups, it would be interesting to see how they stand apart from each other in a contest.
