G2 was made out to be the team that would carry the West at Worlds 2023, with their scrim results being made out to put them in the running to win it all. However, with both Fnatic and G2 getting knocked out by LPL teams, NRG, the NA underdog team, is the West’s only hope.
With Fnatic and G2 playing for their tournament lives in the same day, a lot was riding on the last day of games in the Worlds 2023 Swiss Stage for LEC fans. It was Europe’s last hope.
However, neither team managed to pull out a win against their LPL opponents. Fnatic made it look pretty close against Weibo, the LPL’s fourth seed team, but they ultimately fell short despite taking a game off of their opponent. G2 suffered a similar fate.
As a result, the underdog NA team is the West’s last hope. NRG is still alive in the tournament, with every other Western representative out of the running.
NRG keeps the West’s hope alive at Worlds 2023
The strength of schedule argument is a strong one when it comes to NRG. They didn’t have to fight any Eastern teams on their path to qualifying for the Quarterfinals, making it a big question as to whether or not they can actually make a deep run at Worlds 2023.
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However, considering NRG beat G2, it’s hard to argue that they deserve their spot considering G2 made it difficult for BLG before getting knocked out.
Though NA had a rough start with the other three teams from the region falling short, NRG really brought their A-game against G2 and took them down to secure a Quarterfinals spot. This, combined with no LEC teams making it, has given NRG the opportunity to flip the script.
After their 1-2 loss against @WeiboGamingLoL, @FNATIC have dropped out of the #Worlds2023 Swiss Stage. pic.twitter.com/GILQJalqaq
— LoL Esports (@lolesports) October 29, 2023
It isn’t as if NRG making the cut instantly fixes NA’s problem of having some subpar international showings, but this is the first year in a long, long time that NA will have a stronger finish than Europe.
With four LPL teams and three LCK teams in the Quarterfinals with them, NRG will have their work cut out for them no matter who they face. It remains to be seen if they can recapture the magic they channeled to take down G2 and give themselves a real chance at making history.