Entering the 2016 League of Legends World Championships, many viewed Group C as the weakest of the groups, featuring teams that didn't inspire much confidence, especially outside of Chinese favorites EDward Gaming.
But a victory for Brazil's INTZ e-Sports during the first week of play shook things up, and the drama would continue in Week 2, as a surprise charge from an unlikely team led to an unexpected final table for the group.
Winner of the day: H2K
It's hardly controversial to say H2K won the day in Group C on Friday, as the European second seed went undefeated (including two wins against the heavily favored EDG) to go from 1-2 and part of the collective EU laughingstock of League of Legends to a perch atop the group and heading to the quarterfinals of Worlds.
The Europeans moved into the driver's seat in the group with their first victory against EDG in a 45-minute chess match. H2K pressed an early advantage with lots of harassment across lanes which kept the Chinese squad out of its comfort zone. It never trailed in gold, and slowly but surely earned a win thanks to impressive performances across the board. In the rematch for top seed, H2K followed a similar blueprint to an early gold and lane advantage which it would leverage on its way to a 4-0 day.
Konstantinos "FORG1VEN" Tzortziou, ADC for H2K, finished the group stage with a 9.4 Kill/Death/Assist ratio, second to only SKT's Bae "Bang" Jun-sik; no player at Worlds has a higher total creep score through six days than the Greek marksman.
Loser of the day: EDward Gaming
It's hard to definitively call a team a "loser" when it makes it out of the group stage, but Friday night's action is widely considered a letdown in expectations for the Chinese powerhouse. Entering Worlds on a massive winning streak following an undefeated summer split in the League Pro League, EDG were considered a threat to win it all by most analysts, especially after drawing into an "easy" group.
Then, an early loss to wildcard INTZ quickly called into question the team's status among the top teams. A disappointing 2-2 finish on Day 6, including a defeat in a must-win tiebreaker to secure the top seed in Group C, meant those questions didn't yet have answers.
Only two top laners at Worlds have died more often than EDG's Chen "Mouse" Yu-Hao, and his creep score per minute ranks second-to-last at his position at the event. While there is clearly plenty of talent on this team, there are exploitable weaknesses, as well. A potential quarterfinals matchup against ROX Tigers or Samsung Galaxy would spell trouble for EDward Gaming, and could lead to a much earlier exit than originally anticipated.
The Not-So-Wild Card: INTZ e-Sports
INTZ was riding high following an opening-night upset of EDG to kick off what has been a very unpredictable World Championship, but five straight defeats for the Brazilian representatives proved that the team just wasn't equipped to make a prolonged run at the tournament as fellow wildcard squad Albus Nox Luna has been able to do.
There's no shame in going home in the group stage as a wildcard, as Albus Nox Luna's success is unprecedented and couldn't have been predicted. INTZ's final five games in the group stage can simply provide a bit of perspective as to how well ANX has done so far in this tournament, because before the Russians shocked the world by advancing from Group A, INTZ's win over EDG was viewed as one of the biggest upsets in League of Legends Worlds history.