The road to Worlds has officially begun, following Saturday's group draw at the League Championship Series Studios in Los Angeles.
Legends of the game, including Chen "MiSTakE" Hui Chung of Taiwan, Gao "WeiXiao" Xuecheng of China, Kang "Cpt Jack" Hyung-woo of South Korea and William "scarra" Li of North America, drew the pingpong balls to see where each team would end up in one of the four opening-round groups. Key matchups in the first round include NA's champion Team SoloMid going up against China's runner-up Royal Never Give Up in Group D and a clash of champions in Group A between ROX Tigers of South Korea versus Europe's G2 Esports.
So, with the groups in place and three weeks before the opening festivities begin in San Francisco, let's take our first early-but-not-too-early looks at the four groups of Worlds. We'll list all four teams in each group, as well as the pool and region they came from, and then our impressions of who did and didn't get lucky in the draw.
Group A
ROX Tigers (Pool 1, Korea)
G2 Esports (Pool 2, Europe)
Counter Logic Gaming (Pool 2, North America)
Albus Nox Luna (Pool 3, CIS)
Who 'won': G2 Esports
When G2 took a nice two-week quasi-break in Shanghai in May, it appeared as though it would come back to bite them later on in the year. G2 Esports fell face-first out of the group stages at the Mid-Season Invitational and lost Europe's Pool 1 seed going into the group draw. This could have spelled doom for G2, as it picked up another title in Europe's LCS this summer in an array of different group possibilities, but it didn't happen. Not only did G2 upgrade its bottom lane during its "vacation," with Origen's star bottom lane pairing of Jesper "Zven" Svenningsen and Alfonso "Mithy" Aguirre Rodriguez, but the team also was able to make changes it might not have been able to if the same starting five had gotten a top result at MSI.
Looking at the group, G2 should be heavy favorites to get off of the ground in the second-place position behind the ROX Tigers. Luna is an interesting team out of the CIS, and CLG is always better when counted out; however, in terms of a draw, G2 couldn't ask for much better.
Group B
Flash Wolves (Pool 1, Taiwan)
SK Telecom T1 (Pool 2, Korea)
I May (Pool 2, China)
Cloud9 (Pool 3, North America)
Who 'somewhat won': Flash Wolves, SKT T1, Cloud9
Although many observers are already pegging this group as smooth sailing for SK Telecom T1, I haven't forgotten how well the Flash Wolves handled T1 in the MSI group stages. As weird as it sounds, the Flash Wolves simply play better when forced to play a high-level Korean team like the Tigers or T1; the Taiwanese summer champions swept the Worlds runners-up Tigers in last year's Worlds group stage, and it was the only team to have a winning record against SKT at this year's MSI. Flash Wolves might be the only team in the competition that plays better against top Korean teams than ones from North America.
SKT T1 will feel comfortable in this group -- and with good reason -- but the lack of a stable jungler could hurt it in the fast-paced opening rounds if neither Kang "Blank" Sun-gu or Bae "bengi" Seong-woong are up to the task. While on paper a slam dunk for SKT T1, this could turn out to be a much more competitive group than expected.
For C9, as a Pool 3 seed, this is one of the best groups it could have been drawn into. I think the currently in-form C9 matches up well with the Wolves, and a single win versus SKT T1 in the group stages could be enough to get C9 through if it plays up to the level it's been showing in the North American Regionals. It's Jung "Impact" Eon-yeong's job to show Lee "Duke" Ho-seong how a world champion SKT T1 top laner truly plays.
Who 'lost': I May
This is not a good group for I May to be dropped into, with Shek "AmazingJ" Wai Ho needing to find success against the likes of Duke and Impact. I wouldn't write IM completely off after seeing its miracle run to the World Championships, but like last year's Cinderella -- which was, coincidentally enough, C9 -- the pristine carriage always turns into a pumpkin sooner rather than later.
Group C
EDward Gaming (Pool 1, China)
AHQ Esports Club (Pool 2, Taiwan)
H2k Gaming (Pool 2, Europe)
INTZ E-Sports (Pool 3, Brazil)
Who 'won': EDward Gaming and a lucky +1
This group is tailor-made for EDG to get out in first place with at most one loss to its name going into the quarterfinals. The team is in great shape coming out of a nearly flawless summer split, and it shouldn't feel too much pressure from any of the three teams below it. No Korean teams, a weakened AHQ that EDG historically dominates and a wild-card region club -- all in all, this was the best draw EDG could have asked for. The only setback is if it the Chinese champ becomes too complacent from a triumphant opening round and ripe for another first round bracket upset, like the past two years.
As for who comes in second, H2k is the team I have penciled in advancing with EDG, but every team in the group behind EDG should feel like it has a shot of making it out if the next three weeks of training go well. INTZ will look to be the first wild-card team to ever make the top eight, and AHQ wants to make it back to the top eight for a second straight season with the same starting five as 2015.
Group D
Team SoloMid (Pool 1, North America)
Royal Never Give Up (Pool 2, China)
Samsung Galaxy (Pool 2, Korea)
Splyce (Pool 3, Europe)
Who 'lost': Everyone
No team is going to be too thrilled to see its opponents in Group D. All four teams could have gotten a much easier draw to make the quarterfinals, and at least one team that expected to go far in this tournament won't be advancing.
TSM should still be favored as the top team to get out, but it won't be easy. RNG has a lot of weaknesses when it comes to map play, current form and team configuration, but when you have a star-studded lineup like Royal does, sometimes that doesn't matter. It's easy to say RNG will roll over -- and that might very well happen -- however, pound-for-pound, the two-time Worlds runner-up organization is the most talented team in this group. Given the way the format is set up for the first round, it only takes one splendid outplay by the likes of Jian "Uzi" Zi-Hao or Li "xiaohu" Yuan-Hao to get the snowball rolling.
Samsung sits as possibly the most intriguing team in the group. It is a team that on paper lacks star power but more than makes up for it when it comes to team play and being able to capitalize on openings in the early game. It wouldn't be too surprising to see Samsung go 6-0 and clear the group with flying colors or go a disappointing 2-4 and bow out in lackluster fashion.
In the depths of in Pool 3, Splyce looks up at the three giants above it and just shrugs. This is an organization that was playing in relegations last season in the European LCS. It's now at Worlds getting to play against an organization that has made the Summoner's Cup Finals twice (Royal), an org that has won the Summoner's Cup (Samsung) and an org that has been to every single Worlds (TSM). Sometimes, a team with nothing to lose versus three teams with higher aspirations is in the best predicament of all.