The final day of the group stage for the First Stand, the first League of Legends championship of the year, took place on Friday, with only one team being eliminated and the remaining teams advancing to the playoffs. Among the participants, two teams – Hanwha Life Esports (HLE) and CTBC Flying Oyster (CFO) – had already secured their spots, while Top Esports (TES), Team Liquid (TL), and Karmine Corp (KC) were neck and neck, with their fates hanging in the balance. The European team didn’t compete on Friday, leaving their qualification hanging in the balance, dependent on the results of other matches.
TES Suffers Defeat Against CFO in First Stand
The first match was between TES and CFO, with the Chinese region’s dominance in international competitions suggesting that CTBC would likely emerge victorious. However, this wasn’t the case, as the Pacific representatives defeated the team led by Bai “369” Jiahao with a score of 2-0.
A Crushing Defeat for Team Liquid
Team Liquid was under pressure to win the series against the LCK champion, Hanwha Life Esports, to secure a spot in the next phase. The first game ended in favor of HLE, although the North American team had a strong start but failed to capitalize on their advantage. In the second game, TL managed to secure a win, bringing hope for a possible qualification, but ultimately, HLE won the best-of-three series 2-1, eliminating the representatives of the League of The Americas.
“We Were Always One Step Behind” – TL Yeon
After the match, players Jeong “Impact” Eon-young and Sean “Yeon” Sung represented Team Liquid in the press conference. Yeon commented on the first game, stating that they scaled well during the match but were unable to engage in a good team fight and were always one step behind, which led to their defeat.
“We couldn’t engage in a team fight faster and were always one step behind.” – Yeon, Team Liquid’s Attack Damage Carry
The playoffs will begin tomorrow, with the grand final taking place the following day. A total of $1 million is up for grabs, with $300,000 reserved for the champion.