Gen.G and EDward Gaming (EDG) went down to the wire in their Worlds semifinals matchup, matching our predictions. In a thrilling five-game series, EDG found the heroic plays to clinch the victory over Gen.G. For the first time ever in their organization's history—since 2014—the LPL giants have earned a spot in the Worlds finals. They now have a Herculean task ahead of them to take down defending champions Damwon Gaming (DWG).
Worlds semifinals: EDG 3-2 Gen.G
EDG cull out win through drake control
To start off the series, Park “Viper” Do-hyeon got ahead early on Lucian, unleashing his Culling to delete Park “Ruler” Jae-hyuk's Miss Fortune in lane. EDG started strong with a fed AD Carry and two Rift Heralds. Meanwhile, Gen.G tried to keep the game close by edging out small teamfight wins despite surrendering drakes.
At the top side jungle later on, Gwak “Bdd” Bo-seong provided the crowd control, unleashing Seraphine's ult to stun Viper. Ruler's Bullet Time deleted the Lucian immediately. The LCK side secured baron, but the power play proved to be a loss instead. Returning to the dragon pit, Viper flashed away and stayed alive to dish out the damage, allowing EDG to claim the mountain soul and the teamfight win.
After securing the baron 35 minutes into the match, EDG postured for the Elder Dragon. But Flandre was already knocking at the base and Rascal couldn't hold off the Jax. The LPL team masterfully executed the backdoor, preventing Gen.G players from recalling. Lee “Scout” Ye-chan's Orianna teleported to help destroy the nexus, ending a deathless game at 5/0/4.
Gen.G bank on solo picks and smite secures
Gen.G's Kim “Rascal” Kwang-hee picked a strong champion in Renekton, but Flandre responded by pushing him off the first wave. Zhao “Jiejie” Li-Jie and Scout also came to support the Graves. Rascal sliced and diced and flashed away, but surprisingly returned to try and catch the wave at his turret. EDG's jungle-mid duo still hovered around, though, leading to an easy first blood.
Despite being set behind early, Rascal got his revenge by grabbing a solo kill, waiting in the brush to pounce on Graves. The Korean team was unrelenting—keeping the momentum up during their mid-game power spike. Kim “Clid” Tae-min's Lee Sin kicked his counterpart Jiejie to his doom. On the bot side of the map, Ruler and Bdd teamed up on Jhin and Azir to take out Scout's Ryze.
At the 28-minute mark, Jarvan attempted an engage on Bdd, but the Azir flashed to safety after getting knocked up. While EDG's jungler found himself in the midst of Gen.G players, Lulu's Wild Growth saved him. But Jhin's Curtain Call chunked out Viper's Jinx, followed up Kim “Life” Jeong-min's Rakan ult. Gen.G took down four and destroyed the nexus turrets.
When EDG respawned, they rushed the baron as their opponents recalled. But Clid smartly stayed around, landing the Sonic Wave onto the nash—and of course, he doesn't miss the smite. Baron in hand, Ruler and Bdd went deathless that game as the nexus finally exploded. From start to finish, Clid urged proactive plays everywhere on the map, ending 4/1/6 on Lee Sin.
Rascal stuns EDG's scaling comp
Nine minutes into the game, EDG had started off the Rift Herald, but Jiejie's Jarvan flagged and dragged forward. But Lee Sin promptly kicked the opposing jungler into his team, taking him off the map. Clid landed smite to steal again, while Rascal's Renekton stunned Flandre's Gwen to allow Zoe and Miss Fortune to free fire.
Trying to snowball the lead, Gen.G's mid and bot again combined to take down Jiejie, grabbing the first outer turret. After trading top outer for dragon a few moments later, Korea's representatives then teleported to bot. Through another Renekton stun and Lee Sin kick, they won the early skirmish and went up 5k gold over EDG.
Despite the lead, the LPL side held on to scale, with the teams trading towers. By the 27-minute mark, Gen.G postured around the baron, but Viper dashed in on Lucian and culled Life to death. Scout's Viktor, who had hit his two-item power spike, also chased down the Renekton and took down the mid inner turret.
Around 32 minutes in, Gen.G claimed the baron but Viktor had another monstrous fight. Even with Bdd landing Zoe bubbles and Qs to take Jiejie to 10 percent health, Scout dealt out massive damage to make it a three-for-two fight in EDG's favor. Even with Scout's heroics, though, Rascal snatched the game right back for the LCK squad.
The top laner found the flank in the bot side river, taking down Viktor as the LPL side claimed the dragon soul. With Renekton stun into Miss Fortune ult, Gen.G found the kills onto EDG's mid and top laners. Even as Jarvan ulted the wave to try and delay the push, Gen.G marched into the base. Rascal came up with huge stuns again, while Bdd and Ruler kited on low health to hold off the respawning members and auto down the nexus.
Scout's Zoe skillshots push EDG to game five
Pushed to the brink of elimination, Scout got off to an early lead and put the team on his back. He snatched Zoe away from Bdd, going up 3-0 just 10 minutes into the match with help from Jiejie's Jarvan ganks. The LPL mid laner then transitioned his lead into roams into the bot lane to grab the first turret at the 15-minute mark.
Unlike the previous games in the semifinals, where EDG largely had objective control, Gen.G this time began stacking up drakes. No less thanks to Clid being phenomenal with every smite. That said, the LPL squad still had momentum as they continued to kill off their opponents. Scout fished for bubbles, Flandre dove in with Kennen's Slicing Maelstrom, with Viper dishing out serious damage on Lucian.
After Kennen got caught out around the 26-minute-mark, Flandre made up for it by waiting in the brush and chunking out Clid to keep the ocean soul away from Gen.G. Scout from the side continued to land skillshot after skillshot, allowing EDG to clean up the fight and secure the baron. Charging into the base, the LPL side found the ace off Zoe and Viper's damage. Scout capped off an absolutely dominant showing with a 12/0/7 KDA to tie up the series and force a do-or-die match.
EDG ride momentum to halt Gen.G's Worlds run
Revitalized by the game four victory, EDG again rely on Scout, whose Ryze combined with Jiejie's Jarvan to claim first blood again over Bdd's Orianna. LPL's representatives continued to push their advantage, bringing everyone down bot to jump out to a 5-1 kill lead just 15 minutes into the game.
As EDG looked to take the dragon past 20 minutes, Gen.G's Rakan flanked around to knock up Viper. But the LPL ADC stayed alive and flashed away, crucially allowing his team to re-engage. Scout meanwhile played a dangerous game on Ryze, popping his Zhonyas and survived on a blinking health bar.
Securing the baron, EDG had the game firmly in their grasp. And they would not let go. They continued to chase down Gen.G, racking up a 10k gold lead by the 30-minute mark. Another baron take, and the LPL side had all they needed to finally close out the game and emerge the victors, taking out four Gen.G players again for good measure.
Jiejie went 2/0/16 on Jarvan, contributing to each and every kill. Meanwhile, Scout and Viper shone yet again, going 5/1/7 and 5/1/10 on Ryze and Jhin, respectively. Former World Champion Ruler and rising mid lane star Bdd couldn't influence the game in the end. As EDG claimed the emphatic victory, Gen.G bowed out of yet another Worlds tournament, missing the finals for the fourth year in a row—their last appearance going all the way back to when the org was still Samsung Galaxy.
Seven grueling years is what it took for EDG to make it to the Worlds finals, despite being dominant for so long in their region. 2021 could just be their year, finding individual outplays to pull themselves over the line. LPL's last hope now have the chance to dethrone the reigning titleholders when they face off against LCK titans DWG. It all boils down to one last best-of-five series to crown the 2021 League of Legends World Champions.
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