Team Liquid will face T1 in the semifinals on July 6.
It's the battle of the best Western teams for the second matchup of the League of Legends Esports World Cup with the top seed of the LCS, Team Liquid, clashing with LEC’s second seed, Fnatic on Friday (4 July).
Eventually, it was Team Liquid that emerged victorious after sweeping Fnatic, 2-0.
Both teams entered the competition with something to prove, having been ousted from the 2024 Mid-Season Invitational (MSI) Playoffs earlier than expected.
Fnatic, in particular, came seeking revenge against Team Liquid, who had knocked them out in the Lower Bracket at the MSI.
Now at the EWC, with a semifinal spot on the line, both teams gave it their all in this high-stakes elimination matchup. Here’s how the matches unfolded.
In the first game, Team Liquid prioritised damage during the drafting stage, opting for Ziggs mid for Eain “APA” Stearns and Zeri for Sean "Yeon" Sung in the bot lane and closing out their lineup with Rumble top, Viego jungle, and Rakan for support.
Meanwhile, Fnatic leaned toward tankier champions like Sejuani in the Jungle, and Alistar as Support with damage coming from Kai’sa in the bot lane and Varus top, with a mobile, late-game champ in Kassadin.
The North American team swiftly overpowered their opponents, taking three kills in the laning phase.
Fnatic tried to fight back, taking kills in the side lanes. However, Team Liquid prioritised map control, maintaining their lead by taking all of the map objectives.
After outplaying Fnatic in a 26-minute showdown, Team Liquid marched toward Fnatic's base and destroyed their Nexus to win the first game.
In the second game, Team Liquid went for a more classic draft, picking the Lucian-Nami duo in the bot lane, and relying on Taaliyah’s crowd control and peel in the mid lane, and once again taking Rumble top, with Xin Zhao in the Jungle.
Meanwhile, the European second seed went for Ornn top, Nocturne in the jungle, with Corki and Nautilus in the bot lane, and Hwei mid.
Both teams went aggressive in the early game, with Fnatic trying to find openings to take down Team Liquid in the bot lane. Both teams continued to be on even footing until the mid game, until Team Liquid found a way to outplay Fnatic in the top lane, gaining a 3,000-gold advantage.
Once again, the North American team continued to push the momentum to their favour, taking down Fnatic’s turrets and increasing their lead against Fnatic.
The European team, however, refused to back down, repeatedly finding cross-map plays, and denying the Baron from Team Liquid a couple of times, and catching up in terms of gold and kills.
However, after a team fight at the Baron and with the minion wave to their advantage, Team Liquid found an opportunity to wipe most of Fnatic and march down the mid lane to destroy the Nexus in 37 minutes to win the second game and the series.
Team Liquid are moving forward to the semifinals where they will be facing T1 on Saturday (6 July).
Meanwhile, Fnatic bowed out of the competition in 5th-8th place, with their EWC key crushed.
You can follow all the action on our LoL Esports World Cup tournament page.
Check out the League of Legends Esports World Cup Survival Guide here to know more about the competition. If you're curious to find out which teams to root for at the EWC, click here.
