Fnatic have kept its Worlds 2023 dream alive after they eliminated Cloud9 in a reverse-sweep to win the series.
The fourth round of the Swiss Stage was back in action after a two-day break, and it started with a banger as Fnatic eliminated Cloud9 from Worlds 2023. Its comeback wins in game two and three solidified Fnatic's run for another day at least, with one more best-of-three to go through tomorrow.
As for C9, this makes it their 10th appearance at the League of Legends World Championship and a fourth time it failed to make it to the Knockout Stage. Speaking of which, C9 have only ever made it as far as the quarter-finals of the Knockout Stage, only to get eliminated. Its closest run to the grand final was in 2018, where they lost a best-of-five against – you guessed it - Fnatic.
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FnaticAnd while both teams' rosters have shuffled around massively since then, one could sense that Fnatic had something up its sleeves heading into the do-or-die series. The first match almost broke the ‘longest match time’ at Worlds 2023 as it went to 40 minutes. It wasn't clean nor was it clinical, but C9 managed to get the job done after some great performances from the entire team in the first game. Ibrahim “Fudge” Allami's Rumble was the main damage dealer of the team as he bagged 10 kills alongside 11 assists with just two deaths; a masterful showcase from him in the top lane.
Robert “Blaber” Huang was another standout in the jungle as he got a game-high 20 assists with Jarvan IV. Only Jesper “Zven” Svenningsen came the closest with 16 on Nautilus. Even Min-soo “EMENES” Jang got involved in plenty of the action with a debut for Yone in the Swiss Stage. The niche pick was also what got him eight kills and five assists, with just two deaths. While Fnatic managed to turn things around with an Iván “Razork” Martín Díaz Baron steal, it still wasn't enough to bring his team back before C9 ended it with a 12k gold lead to boot.
Fnatic did manage to turn the tides in the second game and started it off with a four-versus-three skirmish in the top-side river to give them the first blood. From there, Fnatic slowly transitioned into a more active an aggressive playstyle instead of confining themselves to how C9 played the game. Razork had another great performance, this time with Jarvan IV as contributed with five kills and 14 assists, the most of either team. Only Adrian “Trymbi” Trybus came the closest as his Rakan got 13 assists. And while Marek “Humanoid” Brázda's Syndra had seven kills and assists alongside four deaths, it was the team's AD carry Hyeon-taek “Noah” Oh that proved to be the difference with his Zeri. He was unstoppable with five kills of his own as well as zero deaths and six assists to seal the second game.
The LEC second seed managed to claw themselves back from a game that they looked destined to lose after C9 had taken the early advantage. And with that win, it set up a final showdown between the two teams in the third and final game. And once again, it was C9 who took the early advantage that also included two rift heralds for greater pushing power. But despite all that, Fnatic still managed to come out on top in the end with some great team-fighting synergy. It also helped that Noah went insane once again, this time on Aphelios as he got 12 kills, eight assists, and just one death the entire game.
That win will give Fnatic some breathing room ahead of another do-or-die series tomorrow to determine if they will make it to the Knockout Stage of Worlds 2023. As for C9, it's back to the drawing board once more as the off-season is looming ahead of a new season next year.
