Cloud9 beat Rogue in an epic 54-minute Worlds 2021 Group A tie-breaker match to advance to the quarter finals this evening.
Cloud9 secured the infernal drake at the 47-minute mark thanks to a quick pick from Perkz, before taking the baron. From there they pushed siege after relentless siege before winning a teamfight in the bottom river to take the victory, in what was an extremely close game.
The teams faced one another in the final Group A tie-breaker match, after finding themselves with two wins and four losses each in the group stage, along with China’s FunPlus Phoenix (FPX).
Rogue beat FPX in the first tie-breaker stage before facing Cloud9 in the next match on the Worlds stage in Iceland.
This was more than a tie-breaker match – it represented that eternal rivalry between Europe and North America. And we went into the best-of-one with NA in arguably better form than EU so far.
It was also an unusual circumstance, with European player Perkz – former G2 mid-laner – playing for Cloud9 after he moved to the NA organisation late last year. Facing against his fellow EU players, Perkz picked LeBlanc in the match, which he had an 80% competitive win-rate with overall, as pointed out by British caster Medic.
Last year’s World champions, Korea’s Damwon Gaming, topped the groups in emphatic fashion, with six wins out of six.
This means Damwon and Cloud9 are the first teams to progress to the Worlds 2021 quarter final playoffs.
More Worlds 2021 matches take place tomorrow. In terms of the other European LEC teams, Fnatic (no wins, three losses) play their final three matches on Sunday and Mad Lions (one win, two losses) on Monday. Fnatic are also hosting free Worlds 2021 viewing parties in London and Paris this weekend.
Last month, Cloud9 contracted Icelandic esports org Dusty as their exclusive 2021 Worlds partner, with Dusty providing training facilities, logistics support, promotional opportunities and other services as Cloud9 prepared for Worlds.
The teams in the final tie-breaker match were:
- Cloud9: Fudge (top), Blaber (jungle), Perkz (mid), Zven (ADC), Vulcan (support)
- Rogue: Odoamne (top), Inspired (jungle), Larssen (mid), Hans sama (ADC), Trymbi (support)
Other League of Legends Worlds 2021 news & content:
- Fnatic Rising UK LoL scene bot-laner Bean called up to Worlds at last minute as Upset is forced to return home
- Interview with Larssen from Rogue: ‘We will make EU proud at Worlds’
- Worlds 2021 betting scandal: BYG player suspended for leaking inside information, Twitter reacts
- Alphari confident Team Liquid can qualify for Worlds quarter finals
Dom is an award-winning writer and finalist of the Esports Journalist of the Year 2023 award. He graduated from Bournemouth University with a 2:1 degree in Multi-Media Journalism in 2007.
As a long-time gamer having first picked up the NES controller in the late ’80s, he has written for a range of publications including GamesTM, Nintendo Official Magazine, industry publication MCV and others. He worked as head of content for the British Esports Federation up until February 2021, when he stepped back to work full-time on Esports News UK and offer esports consultancy and freelance services. Note: Dom still produces the British Esports newsletter on a freelance basis, so our coverage of British Esports is always kept simple – usually just covering the occasional press release – because of this conflict of interest.