League of Legends Worlds 2022 Knockout Stage: Quarter Finals Predictions, Results, and Analysis

League of Legends World Championship is currently undergo and the knockout stage starts today on Thursday, October 20th. In this blog we will predict the outcome of each matchup, starting in the quarter finals. 4 quarter finals matches will match up 8 teams in best of 5 matches to determine the final 4 teams. The best of 5s will continue until there are 2 teams remaining who will vie for the world championship. This article will be updated as the matches complete and provide analysis for them.

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Knockouts Matchups

With the ending of the group stage, the top 2 from each group advance to knockouts and the top teams of each group face a second place team of a different group. The Knockout bracket first round is as follows:

Round 1: Quarter Finals

Schedule: The quarter finals matchup schedule is as follows

Match 1: Rogue (RGE) vs. JDG Intel Esports Club (JDG)

Predictions: The first matchup of knockouts consists of the 1st place team from Group B (JDG) and the 2nd place team from Group C (RGE). JDG had a dominant showing in their group, only dropping one game to DWG KIA, while Rogue had a tougher road, ending groups with a record of 4W-3L. The favorite going into this matchup has to be JDG as they come from a more competitive region (LPL-China) and showed their prowess in group stage including decimating the number two LEC(EU) seed G2. Rogue came into worlds as the number one seed by sweeping (3-0) G2 in LEC finals. Rogue definitely performed at a higher caliber than their other EU counterparts in groups but it is hard to argue that they will easily topple JDG. The biggest factor that can be any teams saving grace in knockouts is that unlike groups best of 1, knockouts is a best of 5 format, allowing teams to adapt to the teams they are facing and coordinate picks and bans among other factors. Given what we have seen of both teams so far, our predictions for this matchup are as follows: JDG beats Rogue 3-1 in the first quarter finals round. (Prediction)

Analysis: The results of the matchup were fairly predictable as JDG did prove their dominance even more and picked up a clean 3-0 sweep of Rogue. Rogue was simply outclassed and it was clear to tell for those watching. While watching the games, if one looks at JDG and focuses on how they look going into fights and their macro game* it is obvious how much more put together and in sync their team was compared to Rogue. My predictions were slightly off as I predicted that Rogue would pick up at least one game but to be honest this was a bit of foolish optimism. There were a few points in the games that Rogue put up a bit of a fight but after little fight wins etc. their weaknesses would shine through yet again as they would almost always be behind in the gold count and macro game. This matchup marks the end of the road for EU in Worlds 2022 and leaves all teams remaining being from Korea and China (LCK and LPL).

*Map-wide decision making: keeping track of ability timers, map awareness, rotational play, objective focus (dragon/baron/towers), teleport plays, jungle pathing, etc.

Match 2: Royal Never Give Up (RNG) vs. T1

Predictions: If we are being honest, the easiest matchup prediction for quarter finals is out of the way and this is where it starts to get more difficult seeing as we are now left with the 2 strongest performing regions: LCK and LPL. The second quarter finals matchup consists of the 1st place team from Group A (T1) and the 2nd place team from Group D (RNG). With similar records of 5W-1L for T1 and 5W-2L for RNG due to tie-breaker, it is more difficult to gauge exactly who will win this series. From what we have seen of both teams so far it should be a competitive match and it is likely to see it stretch out to the full 5 games. My prediction for this matchup is not even close to as confident as my prediction for the first matchup but it is as follows: Royal Never Give Up beats T1 3-2 in the second quarter finals round. (Prediction)

Analysis: The results of this matchup were far from what was predicted as T1 swept RNG 3-0. There were points throughout the matchup where RNG had the upper hand but every game ended up going the way of T1. I normally side with LPL against LCK teams as I find their play generally superior but I was proven wrong and T1 showed up to play and didn't drop a single game to RNG. This result now finalizes the first Semifinals match to be between T1 and JDG. Next weekend marks the Worlds Semifinals while there are still 2 matchups to go as Quarter Finals plays out this weekend.

Match 3: DWG KIA (DWK) vs. Gen.G (GEN)

Predictions: As predictions go for quarter finals so far, we are not doing the best with a 1 for 2 rate so far and no accuracy on scores for the best of 5s. This next match however is one that has been seen before as 2 LCK teams stack up against one another. Gen.G was one of the favorites going into Worlds and they came into knockouts as the number 1 team in their group as DWG KIA was the 3rd seed for LCK and finished their group in second place. In the LCK summer split, GEN didn't drop a single game to DWK but also never ended up playing them in summer playoffs. The matchup definitely leans towards Gen.G and that is where my prediction will also be headed. With a more confident prediction than Match 2 but slightly less than Match 1 my prediction is as follows: Gen.G beats DWG KIA 3-1 in the third quarter finals round. (Prediction)

Analysis: Match 3 of quarterfinals was the first set of best of 5 at Worlds to go to the full 5 games. Gen.G began the series dominant and quickly picked up 2 wins against DWG KIA. It was looking like the series might be another 3-0 for the books until DWK came back and was able to win the next 2 games. The closest matchup so far was then finalized with GEN being able to bring the series back and win 3-2. The biggest takeaway from this matchup is that DWK were in great form and definitely showed their skills as they were 1 game away from taking out the LCK 1st seed.

Match 4: Edward Gaming Hycan (EDG) vs. DRX

Predictions: The final matchup of the Worlds quarter finals sees DRX, the first place team of group C, and Edward Gaming Hycan (EDG), the second place team of Group A, face off for another LPL versus LCK bout. This is another tough matchup to predict but from the performances seen in Group stage we do have a prediction set for this matchup. This will be the first series prediction that is set to go to the full 5 matches as both teams performed well in groups but were not among the most dominant performances we saw. Both teams had group records of 4W-2L with DRX ending at 5W-2L due to a tie breaker. My prediction is somewhat up in the air and is more of a hopeful bet that we will get 2 LPL teams and 2 LCK teams in the semis as opposed to 3 LCK teams. My prediction is as follows: Edward Gaming Hycan beats DRX 3-2 in the final quarter finals series. (Prediction)

Analysis: This matchup turned out to be one of the most enjoyable quarter finals series to watch. The first 2 games went to EDG but not by easy wins at all. A single inhibitor respawning at the perfect time lost DRX the second game. After these first 2 games DRX turned up the heat and were able to reverse sweep EDG. This confirms my final prediction of quarter finals as being incorrect but close to what could have transpired. The 2 semi-final matches are now confirmed: JDG (LPL) vs. T1 (LCK) and GEN (LCK) vs. DRX (LCK).

Look forward to our post for the semi-finals and finals

upcoming later this week!

This Post is Finalized as Quarter Finals of Worlds 2022 Has Ended (finalized 10/24)