After MAD Lions didn’t win a single best-of-five series in the 2022 LEC Summer Split playoffs but still qualified for Worlds 2022, a lot of people in the competitive League of Legends community started calling them out, claiming that they don’t deserve their place. And after a few days, MAD’s jungler Elyoya shared his perspective on the topic.
The player shares the view of many pundits, which he admitted in an interview with Factor.GG’s Tom Matthiesen. He also sees that MAD’s run in the 2022 LEC Summer Split playoffs was subpar and makes them undeserving of going to the international tournament.
“I don’t think we deserve to go to Worlds. I want to achieve it,” Elyoya said. Furthermore, he added that he doesn’t feel right about the thought that he and his teammates advanced without winning a single best-of-five in their domestic playoffs. “I also do not like to qualify without winning any Bo5’s. I don’t think it’s fair for anyone, not even for us,” he said.
Nevertheless, MAD’s jungler admits that while the system is broken, it’s not his or any of MAD’s players’ fault, and therefore they cannot do anything about it except prepare for Worlds 2022 as best as they possibly can. “It’s not our fault,” Elyoya said. “If we lose two Bo5s and we still go to Worlds, we cannot change it. What can we do?”
In the 2022 LEC Summer Split playoffs, MAD lost 3-2 to Rogue in the upper bracket’s first round and then failed to overcome Fnatic in the third round of the lower bracket. Still, they claimed fourth place in the playoffs and therefore will go to Worlds 2022, where they will begin their journey during the play-in stage.
For some, starting the tournament in the play-ins may come as additional hustle. But for Elyoya, it’s a helpful step that will allow them to better prepare for the group stage. “I think it’s going to be useful for us to go through Play-Ins for sure. We should make it out, obviously, and we should get the best practice we can,” Elyoya said.
Worlds 2022 will begin on Sept. 29, with the final being scheduled for Nov. 5.
