The League of Legends 2019 World Championship knock-out stage is well underway, with the quarter-finals commencing this weekend in Madrid, Spain. The first game of the play-offs saw Group A first seed Griffin take on Group D second seed Invictus Gaming. In four games, the first semi-finalist had been found.
Games one and two set the scene for the match-up, placing Invictus Gaming on a level above their opponent. Invictus AD Carry Yu “JackeyLove” Wen-Bo put up a formidable performance, reaching twelve kills in the first game. Together with Kang “TheShy” Seun-kok in the top lane, Invictus were able to claim their first win over Griffin in forty-three minutes. The second game offered no luck to Griffin, as they would lose their footing after taking an early lead. An incredible fight in front of the Baron would all but secure the win for Invictus, as the defending champions took down the Nexus ten minutes later. With that victory, Invictus needed only one more win to advance to the semi-finals.
Now down 0-2, LCK second seed Griffin weren’t ready to bow out of the tournament. Looking to redeem themselves from game two's shortcomings, the team made the decision to draft AD Carry Park “Viper” Do-hyeon onto Xayah once again. After getting nine kills in game two, 19-year-old Viper continued to showcase his talent. Invictus's fate was sealed with Viper's devastating pentakill just before the thirty minute mark. At thirty-six minutes, Griffin took their first win of the series.
Reigning world champions Invictus Gaming came into game four ready and willing to end Griffin’s Worlds run. Kang “TheShy” Seun-kok and co. crushed their opponents as they raced to a 3k gold lead before the fifteen minute mark. The top laner put up a suffocating performance on Kayle, securing eight kills before the game’s end. Invictus took fifteen kills to Griffin’s three, and ended the match with an 11k gold lead. The Chinese-Korean side needed only twenty-five minutes to close out the game, and claim the first semi-final spot.
The remaining two quarter-final matches will continue tomorrow, October 27th. The semi-finals are slated to begin on November 2nd. Invictus Gaming will face off against the winner of FunPlus Phoenix and Fnatic on November 3rd.