Fnatic successfully starts the League of Legends World Championship with a win against Cloud9. G2 is handled by the ex-winner Damwon, the North American teams catch a black day.

"The play-ins were the first real training for us. Now it's about the real thing," said Fnatic toplaner Martin "Wunder" Hansen. "First or third does not matter. We could be the best or the worst European team. You never know what team you're going to get after such a long break.»

The initially balanced duel between EU and NA was later confidently decided by Fnatic with good team fights against the LCS winner Cloud9. It remained the only victory for Europe at the beginning of the group stage: G2 Esports lost to the Korean team Damwon early in the match, LEC champion Rogue enters the tournament only on the second day.

It looks even worse for NA. In addition to Cloud9, 100 Thieves and Evil Geniuses also lost their first games, with the opponents CTBC Flying Oyster and JD Gaming coming into the tournament as champions from Southeast Asia and China.