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Day 5 was possibly the most historically significant day throughout the history of the World Championship. It was filled with major upsets and crazy developments. The biggest one being that for the first time since 2013, a South Korean team has been knocked out of the Group Stage. After a horrible groups performance according to South Korean standards, reigning champions Gen.G have been eliminated from the tournament with a 1-5 record. This means that we will have a new World Champion. Gen.G was also the first winning team to return to Worlds with the same roster. Sadly however, they won't be able to repeat their success. Although they picked up one win against Cloud9 early on, during Day 5 they went 0-3 and showed little signs of life. In the end, the current fast paced playstyle that seems to be dominating the League of Legends landscape was a bit too fast for a slower paced team like Gen.G. Not to mention their players haven't exactly been performing amazingly either. A bittersweet ending for Gen.G but a very historical one for League of Legends as a whole.



A Cinderella story also unfolded as Cloud9 went 3-1 throughout the day and secured their spot in the semifinals. The Western teams as a whole were largely amazing and deserve a lot of credit. Both Team Vitality and Cloud9 defeated Gen.G and Royal Never Give Up, setting up a tiebreak match between each other. In that match it was Cloud9 coming out on top with a creative and chaotic team composition which included Zilean and Singed for the solo lanes. This day was by far the most successful one for Western teams at Worlds, at least during the Group Stages. And although Vitality are not advancing, they played their hearts out and showcased why they are a team to watch next year.



To cap off the day we had a tiebreaker between RNG and C9 to decide who would advance as the 1st seed from the group. Although RNG handicapped themselves to some extent by picking a composition that gets outscaled and has troubles in a 5v5, they managed to make it work somehow. Cloud9 was winning and grew a small lead heading into the mid game. Around Baron however, it was Ming that managed to create the perfect engage for RNG. Off of one decisively won teamfight, RNG pushed for the win and secured the 1st place in the group. Mlxg also made his return to the line-up and although his performances weren't stellar, the team was able to go 2-0 with him throughout the day.