At the end of the play-in stage at Worlds, 1907 Fenerbahce ended up being the only minor region team to survive; they arguably had a favourable bracket, first getting Hong Kong Attitude and Rampage in the group stage, then winning the group and drawing Team oNe in the bracket stage.

They say you make your own luck, and Fenerbahce have certainly done so here, amidst having to accommodate a new jungler in Crash just days before the event was due to begin. While still considered among the best teams, Fenerbahce never took their wins for granted. 

Meanwhile, Team WE, Cloud 9 and Fnatic also booked their spots in the group stage with convincing performances, showing that talk about NA and EU probably being more akin to minor regions is largely fallacious. Cloud 9 were far ahead of everyone they faced, while Fnatic had some struggles in their group but came back superbly to defeat Hong Kong Attitude. WE had a few scares as well, but remained calm as they always have, and their passage was secured safely.

HKA, along with the rest of the LMS, should be sweating over the state of their league right now, as it has seemingly remained stagnant for several seasons. With the Flash Wolves possibly retiring after this year, and ahq continuing to struggle yet remaining second-best, a shake-up similar to what NA has had seems to be a necessity. Earlier, Wayi Spider threatened to leave the LMS in a H2k-esque letter. Lack of funding is an issue endemic to minor region teams, and LMS is threatening to drop into that bracket despite its good showings internationally.

To say that Fenerbahce will be outclassed may be an understatement; Group C, also including G2 Esports, Samsung Galaxy and Royal Never Give Up, is not a group anyone would have wanted to enter. Both Groups B and D look like better propositions in theory, and chances for Fenerbahce are slim to say the least. 

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Therein lies the trouble of being a minor region team (which I have written about at length here): the Worlds format gives just six games in a Best of 1 scenario to impress, and if you’re out, you’re out. Better luck next time, back to your minor league you go.

Kelsey Moser commented that teams raised in a Best of 3 format in their domestic league will face a disadvantage in a Best of 1 format. Theoretically, a Best of 1 format favours weaker teams, who may (or have to) come up with cheesy strategies to steal games away from stronger opposition. But this does not help those teams in the long run. The lack of competitive games against top teams might even make such a strategy counter-productive, sabotaging these weaker teams’ ability to shore up their macro and sharpen their decision-making.

While Frozen has an unusual champion pool, favouring the likes of Aurelion Sol and Ekko, Fenerbahce’s overall playstyle holds its own against any major region. Their opponents on the other hand, would falter against any major region team; HKA is a laning-focused team with deficiencies in macro and Baron control, while Rampage and Team oNe have players who are presently unable to compete on a high level.

In other words, Fenerbahce are still largely untested against teams that can both dominate the early game as well as push those advantages through to the late game. Teams like Samsung, who have gotten to this stage by grinding out games and relying on their decision-making ability lategame, will be a difficult proposition for any minor region.

This was shown during Team WE’s victory over Young Generation. In that instance, YG managed to gain a gold lead over WE and would have won Game 2 if not for two disastrous Baron attempts, both stolen by the Son of Baron himself, Condi. Such mistakes are, unfortunately, all too common in teams from minor regions. Like Gigabyte Marines at MSI, international competition has made their weaknesses apparent. However, Young Generation still acquitted themselves well and continues a trend, started by GAM, of being able to represent Vietnam and South East Asia on the world stage. 

The first 15 minutes of a game can be drilled and prepared for, but late-game decision making only comes with considerable experience playing against top teams. These are teams that minor regions have almost no access to, because their competition tends to be weak and make too many mistakes for there to be any late-game at all.

Gambit fell victim to this; the LCL was in its worst state during Summer 2017 due to various roster changes, and it showed heavily as Gambit stood almost unopposed on the way to the title. Simply put, their contemporaries in the LCL were unable to challenge them even in the early-game, meaning Gambit never had to find an alternative to their usual aggressive starts and risky Baron calls, because Plan A was enough to win games against CIS teams. As we saw at Worlds, once Gambit’s early engages started to backfire and they were unable to snowball, they quickly lost steam and rolled over.

Lyon Gaming is a classic example of a team lacking in competition and being unable to elevate themselves to the next level as a result. They have the makings of a great team, specially Oddie and WhiteLotus, but seem confined to the limits of the Spanish-speaking League community. It would not surprise anyone if they eventually get picked up by North American organizations in an attempt to reach out to said community, but for now Lyon seem doomed to repeat their domestic domination with no results to show for on an international stage. 

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The meme about ‘gaining experience at Worlds’ is a fallacy, as going back to playing against vastly inferior opposition usually only encourages sloppiness. Close physical proximity to Europe, investments from rich men in Turkey, and the presence of Korean and European imports like Frozen and Move have all improved Turkey over time, and these are advantages that regions like Oceania, Latin America South and Japan can only dream of.

The TCL did not become a better league because its representatives made MSI and Worlds; rather, it was the other way round. The TCL became more competitive (Best of 2 may or may not have played a part, as there were a vast number of draws) and this strengthened its teams, allowing them to perform better at international events. Same goes for CBLOL, where there have historically always been around three to four teams capable of representing Brazil; Team oNe coming from Challenger to take the title within a split was a shock to everyone, not least because it was expected that INTZ would represent Brazil for the third year running at Worlds after a strong regular split. 

On the other hand, getting stomped by Cloud 9 in less than 30 minutes hardly fixes any of Dire Wolves’ problems, who now have to wait several months for their next shot at international competition. With the current roster, it might as well be Groundhog Day. Lesser teams aren’t going to improve just by playing four or six games; they need so much more in the way of players, coaches, as well as teams to play against regularly. More importantly, they need training in adaptability, something minor domestic leagues seem unable to provide.

With franchising in NA and LPL, as well as a new format in EU, these minor regions threaten to be left even further behind; this may not matter to most, but given how League of Legends is such a global phenomenon, it would make a great deal of logical and financial sense if Riot can work to elevate developing regions further, especially those with large fanbases like Brazil.

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