Fnatic was so close to a berth in the 2023 LoL Worlds quarter finals, but a single champion pick of Alistar caused them to lose the series against Weibo Gaming.
The 2023 League of Legends World Championship did not go as planned for the LEC representatives. Team BDS and MAD Lions were kicked out in the first and second round, leaving all of Europe's hopes on the shoulders of Fnatic and G2 – classic, eh?
Unfortunately, both LEC representatives had to meet LPL teams in the final round of the Swiss Stage. While both games went to 3 games, neither European representative made it to the quarter-finals.
| 💡When Was The Last Time No EMEA Team Made The Worlds Knockout Round?
The 2014 World Championship, also held in South Korea, was the last time no LEC/EULCS team has made it out of the group/swiss stage. This marks a first in 9-years. |
LoL Worlds 2023: Fnatic Alistar Pick Lost Them The Series
It's game 3 of one of the most important games of the year for Fnatic. They are on blue side with Aphelios locked in for the bot lane. Weibo Gaming uses their fourth pick to lock in Caitlyn, only their support left open for their final choice.
Fnatic's support and 2022 LEC Summer champion Adrian "Trymbi" Trybus shuffles through multiple champion choices he thinks will work well into the long range of Caitlyn.
Pyke. Blitzcrank. Lulu. A moment of hesitation and locked in is Alistar. Trymbi sighs, runs a tired hand over his face and the opponents quickly lock in Lux for the perfect Caitlyn-Lux duo in the bot lane.
This was the moment when most believe the game was already lost, with many fans noticing how Fnatic's support player did not want to lock in Alistar, but due to the pick being one of the highest priority champions in the game it seems like the coaching staff had insisted on it.
Caitlyn-Lux is probably one of the longest ranged duos in the game with insane poke and zoning potential, meaning they can play very safely from far away and a melee champion like Alistar would never have a chance of getting close to engage upon them.
Crisp at the post-match interview:
— LPL Fanclub (@LPLfanclub) October 29, 2023
"When FNC locked Alistar, it was at that moment, that we knew we were going to win for sure."#LPL #LEC #FNCWIN #WBGWIN #Worlds2023 pic.twitter.com/MAAJOS0XBa
It seems that even Weibo Gaming knew that the game was in the bag when Alistar was picked instead of something with longer range. "When FNC locked Alistar, it was at that moment, that we knew we were going to win for sure" Liu "Crisp" Qing-Song revealed in a post-game interview.
Alistar has been picked a total of 20 times during the main event of Worlds 2023 thus far, but the champion has a mere 30% win rate. He's the second most picked support, but there are other champions that have much better records at the tournament, so the Alistar prio is a bit baffling.
Fnatic will have to go back to the drawing board for their 2024 season, while Weibo Gaming is going to be facing off against NRG on November 2, 2023.
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