I guess I’ll just open this and say that for yet another year, the draw is lackluster. For me, the storylines are lackluster unless there are upsets. I personally loved the draw last year besides the fact that SSG and LZ were up against each other in the 1st round. We had to sit by and watch the tournament favorites get picked apart in one of the most dominant and unexpected 3–0’s we’ve seen in a World Championship. SSG quickly took over as the tournament favorites as their controlled early games were not able to be punished. And, CuVee, Ambition, and Ruler were too much to handle for the rest of the teams as SSG pretty much cruised to a World Championship. That storyline I just laid out is dull, but last year was exciting. SKT had to fight their way through 2 5 game sets in order to make the championship, in which Faker carried harder then ever before on the likes of champions like Galio. Getting into this year’s draw, it reminds me a lot of 2016. SKT and ROX were the tournament favorites and ended up meeting in the semifinals. On top of that, SKT squared off against RNG and ROX against EDG in the first round of the tournament. On the other side of the bracket, SSG had a snooze fest to the finals.

2016 World Championship Bracket Draw

While I don’t think the bracket strength is as polarized this year as it was in 2016, the hyped up KT vs. RNG final will be a semifinal matchup if both teams in. Instead of explaining myself quickly though, I’m going to breakdown the matchups.

KT Rolster vs. Invictus Gaming

Father vs. Son. Mentor vs. Mentee. Veteran vs. Rookie (heh). I’ve been calling C9 Afreeca Jr in North America. IG is KT Jr. Both KT and IG have success playing the same exact way: win all 3 lanes and run the game over from there. IG is blessed with incredible solo laners and a young ADC that can absolutely smash lane. KT has Smeb, who was the best player in the world going into S6 World’s. They have UCal, the youngest player in the tournament as well as one of the best mid laner in the tournament. They have Deft, who is one of the best ADC’s of all time. And they have Score and Mata, legendary veterans who are some of the best players at their position. They are the best at winning early and making the game look easy from there. I really don’t think IG can challenge them in any lane. Even Mid. Rookie is the best mid laner in this tournament, but people are seriously sleeping on UCal. UCal is to KT this year what PawN was to Samsung White back in 2014. PawN quietly went about his business and was the best at it. That entire season everyone was talking about how good Dade was in teamfights and how good Faker was on a bad SKT team. PawN was massive in SSW’s Season 4 World’s campaign, and I see a lot of similarities in UCal. He can play mages, he can play assassins, and he can play supportive mid laners just as well as anyone. He’s LCK’s Xiaohu, and he just might be better. As hyped as I am for the mid lane matchup, I’m more hyped for the top lane matchup. When Duke was on Najin, he was the one challenging Smeb and Marin for the best top laner in the world. He won worlds with SKT and Faker, and now he’s trying to do the same with IG. He’s the rock solid top laner that can help IG teamfight their way to victory. I think for this matchup though, IG will go with their hard carry specialist TheShy. He was absolutely trouncing people in the LPL in the Spring Split, and his performance on carry champions has looked good so far at World’s. I think IG runs him up against Smeb as he’s the laning specialist.

There are some fun matchups to watch in this series, but KT is going to win because of Score and Mata. Both players have had great starts to the tournament. Mata is one of the only supports I’ve seen make support Gragas look like a strong pick and a counter to Alistar. Score has been legendary already in this event, proving to everyone why LCK fans and spectators have been disappointed he’s missed out on past World Championships. He can play and win with any style. I don’t think Ning and Baolan can matchup in a best of 5 set, and I don’t see KT going mental boom. If anything, I’m worried about IG who is notorious for having mental boom’s in the LPL.

Oh, and when they met this year at Rift Rivals, KT topped IG in an easy 3–0 series.

KT 3–0 IG

RNG vs. G2

This Quarterfinal draw was the best the West could hope for, unless you’re G2. Lots of analysts believe that this will be a 3–0 for RNG. I actually believe that G2 has a decent chance to challenge RNG, and here’s why.

RNG is known as the best teamfighting team in the world. G2 got out of their group by not teamfighting. They found their success when they ran a lot of damage and had Wunder on the likes of Camille in the side lane. LetMe is a fantastic tank player, and Xiaohu can do it all in the mid lane. But, can RNG win without teamfighting? I think so, only based off the fact that RNG will break bot tower so quickly in the game. G2’s bot lane is good at going even in lane and doing a lot of damage in teamfights. I personally believe that Wadid has been one of the best performers at support so far this tournament, especially compared to his level this past summer split. G2 has hope as Perkz and Wunder have been destroying solo laners, and Xiaohu and LetMe have struggled a bit. That being said, if G2 faces Shen + Galio solo laners and Uzi on Vayne, Sivir, or Kai’Sa…I just think the game is over. If RNG breaks bot tower early and starts taking G2’s towers before they can get their 1–3–1 online, RNG will make this series look pretty easy. I give G2 one game where Jankos gets off to a good start and they’re able to avoid teamfights and execute. This matchup isn’t as intriguing to me despite the different styles simply because RNG is so much better. I’m going to give G2 a game and I think this series might be closer than most think as G2 is very good at executing their strategy.

RNG 3–1 G2.

Afreeca Freecs vs. Cloud9

I believe this is one of the two more intriguing matchups we are going to see in the Quarterfinals. This is based off the fact that I think both teams are similar in having a significant advantage when headed into a Best of 5. Afreeca has a reputation of being one of the most well prepared teams when headed into a best of series. That, on top of the fact that they have a sub jungler in Mowgli that they’re very willing to use, and always love to have their own twist on the meta with pocket picks makes them a dangerous team in a long series. If you’re an NA fan, you may think that I just described C9. You’re not wrong. Since C9 started playing well, I have called them Afreeca Jr. Steady bot lane, carry top lane, flexible mid laner, and 2 junglers with slightly different styles that are both solid. That on top of the fact that both teams have their own style picks for the meta makes them very similar. So, do I just give the nod to the Korean team? For this one, I have to do more thinking then that. We’ve seen a lot of C9 and there’s been a few ways they’ve had success.

Licorice wins lane and spreads that lead to other lanes Jensen is on Zilean or an Assassin Sneaky is even with the enemy ADC at the 25 minute mark and C9 is built to teamfight

Does that recipe work against Afreeca? It might. Jensen vs. Kuro is a matchup that could go either way. Often times, Kuro takes a backseat and will early pick a supportive mid laner to let Kiin or Kramer be the center of attention. Other games Afreeca will last pick a mid laner like Yasuo or LeBlanc, both of whom Kuro is extremely proficient on, and let him take over the game. Jensen has the ability to do the same thing for C9. I see this matchup being even, and dependent on the style the rest of the team wants to run. Unfortunately for C9, Licorice won’t be their saving grace in the top lane. Licorice has emerged as a star this tournament, showing great proficiency in Aatrox and Urgot, as well as winning both sides of that matchup. And, having pocket picks like Hecarim that teams have to be aware of in champ select. That being said, he’s up against Kiin. This man is a monster and he started to show it towards the end of the group stage. Kiin was a big part of the reason why Afreeca went 3–0 on Group A’s marathon day, and that matchup will be exciting to watch as both top laners have also showed they work very well with their junglers. Now enters Svenskaren and Spirit, the junglers likely to play the majority of the series. I think this is where the Freecs have a big advantage over C9. Sven has showed that he’s a solid, international jungle talent and has been for a long time. Spirit is one of the best in the world, and I’m looking for him to prove it against C9. Lee Sin has the potential to be a contested pick, however I expect both teams to have a very high priority on Nocturne which would mean we probably won’t see any Lee Sin. Nocturne vs. Olaf is a matchup I expect to see often during this series. I give Spirit a big nod in this matchup.

For the bottom lane, I see this as being pretty even. The LCK teams have been leaning more towards Varus with Tahm Kench, even Ruler busted out Ashe for Gen.G when Varus was off the table. Sneaky has shown that he can perform on Kai’Sa, honestly looking like one of the most solid and consistent performers on that champion. Zeyzal and Tusin are both big playmakers on their own teams, and will need champions to help them do that. There’s a lot of overlap in their own pool, supports should be highly contested. I also expect red side to be highly contested between both teams as they very much value counterpicks in the solo lanes.

I’ve done a lot of talking, time for a prediction. Afreeca 3–2 C9.

Fnatic vs. Edward Gaming

Fnatic’s biggest game of the tournament was winning the tiebreaker against Invictus Gaming. Having a 1st seed and being on this side of the bracket makes their hopes for finals much more realistic. That said, Edward Gaming is not a free win for Fnatic. Scout is a very talented player that will challenge Caps. iBoy and Meiko are one of the best bottom lanes in the LPL and can go toe to toe with the Fnatic duo. And, sOAZ and Bwipo will be challenged by Ray who is very proficient on carries. The real difference for Fnatic will be Broxah. Everyone is hyping up his Lee Sin, which is warranted (I mean did you see what he did on that champion?!?!). But, Broxah has been performing no matter what champion is in his hands. He looked like an absolute stud in Group D. He is the key to Fnatic making this game look breezy. EDG can challenge in nearly every other lane, but in the jungle they’re severely outmatched. This is why I believe Fnatic takes this series. The consistency from their players is much greater than EDG, although EDG might have higher peaks. I’m going to take Fnatic, who has shown consistency across multiple styles. sOAZ and Bwipo have both been fantastic in their own right, although I believe Fnatic should start the consistent sOAZ and play through mid or bot in order to nullify iBoy or Scout. Also, if Ray decides to play a split pusher, I believe sOAZ has better control of the map and uses smarter TP’s which allows Fnatic to better punish any 4–1 comp they might face. Fnatic has looked fantastic so far this tournament, and I don’t have any reason but to believe this is going to continue.

Fnatic 3–1 EDG. I give Scout and Ray one game where they pop off.

Matthew “Cubbyx” Samuelson is a former collegiate analyst and co-founder of the Miami University (OH) Varsity Esports Program and is a caster for their League of Legends matches. He’s covered Esports previously for allmid.gg & quibbl.me. He’s a Thresh god (for a hard stuck low-diamond player).