Consolation prize: NA get best of EU at League of Legends Worlds 2022

NEW YORK -- North American teams have once again disappointed at this year’s edition of the League of Legends World Championship. During Week 1 of the group stage, NA teams went a combined 0-9. However, if there’s one consolation for NA teams, it’s that they will leave the tournament having beaten European teams more times than not.

During the group stage, EG and G2 went 1-1 against each other and Cloud9 and Fnatic also went 1-1 in their matchups. During the play-in stage, EG went 0-1 vs. Fnatic, but they beat MAD Lions 3-0 in a best-of-five to reach the group stage.

Sign up for the next Nerd Street tournament!

It’s possible an NA team faces an EU team in the Worlds knockout stage, however, that’s a remote possibility with only Rogue and 100 Thieves still alive in the tournament. Evil Geniuses’ victory over G2 Esports on Friday was likely the last NA vs. EU matchup at Worlds, and it gave North American teams a 5-3 edge over their rivals at the tournament.

EG’s victory over G2 on Friday also was their first over the European team this year. EG lost four times to G2 during the Mid-Season Invitational as well as their first match during Week 1 of the Worlds group stage. EG’s victory over G2 came in emphatic fashion. Evil Geniuses set the tone early in the game with Muhammed Hasan "Kaori" Şentürk getting the first two kills of the game over Raphaël "Targamas" Crabbé and Victor "Flakked" Lirola Tortosa. EG was up 7-0 in kills with Kaori and Kacper "Inspired" Słoma leading the way. Kaori finished the game with a kill/death/assist line of 9/0/3 on Lucian, and Inspired ended at 3/0/9.

Photo credit: Riot Games

For Inspired, who played in Europe before coming to North America in 2022, it was his first victory in matches against G2’s longtime jungler Marcin "Jankos" Jankowski. Inspired’s teams had previously been 0-17 when facing Jankos.

EG’s victory over G2 came the day after Cloud9 beat Fnatic to give North American teams a 2-0 record over European teams during Week 2 of the group stage. Although NA’s two wins over EU in the group stage gave fans of the region something to be proud of, it mostly dashed the hopes of EU fans looking to see their teams reach the knockout stage of Worlds.

Read more: Trymbi hopes Rogue’s success at Worlds will translate to more fan support

EU fans can still place their faith in Rogue who are 3-0 and have a good shot to advance to the Worlds quarterfinals. As for NA, 100 Thieves are 0-3 so far and look unlikely to advance.

Lead photo credit: Riot Games