The League of Legends Pro League (LPL)’s #1 seed, TOP Esports, has qualified to the quarterfinals from Group D ahead of the League of Champions Korea (LCK)’s #2 seed, DRX. The Chinese team earned the group’s top spot in the final game, where they overcame DRX after 38 minutes of action.
Although TOP Esports (5-1) entered Day 8 undefeated, their defeat against FlyQuest (3-3) forced them into a winner takes first place match against DRX. There, in response to their opponents’ teamfight-centric composition, they unleashed a strong team fight damage composition of their own.
TOP made the difference as they were constantly tasked with reacting to DRX’s team fight engagements, their composition being purpose-built for that effect. Despite holding the keys to victory (Ornn, Kindred, Galio, Caitlyn and Bard), DRX's constant initiations left them vulnerable to Bai “369” Jia-Hao’s Vladimir, Hung “Karsa” Hao-Hsuan’s Graves, and Zhuo “Knight” Ding’s Orianna; with Liang “yuyanjia” Jia-Yuan’s Lulu providing ample cover for Yu “JackeyLove” Wen-bo’s Ashe.
Although TOP ended their group stage on a positive note, they failed to secure a 6-0 record – which would have allowed them to be the sole undefeated team at the 2020 World Championship.
Indeed, an emboldened FlyQuest, fresh off their elimination after their loss to DRX in their first game, played a fundamentally sound game using teamfight power against a siege-oriented composition. Lee “IgNar” Dong-geun’s Blitzcrank (3/0/10 KDA) was instrumental in hampering their scaling efforts.
Although FlyQuest left the tournament, they did so in a similar way to G2 Esports in 2017. Back then, G2 finished third place with the same record behind eventual semifinalists Royal Never Give Up and 2017 champions Samsung Galaxy, exposing weaknesses on RNG’s side. On FlyQuest’s case, they did the same ahead of TOP Esports’ matchup against Fnatic in the quarterfinals.
