Team preview before Worlds 2023: Golden Guardians or Team BDS? Traditional rivalry between America and Europe as an attractive starter

During the Worlds preview, we’ll also take a look at Monday’s matchup of teams that have not yet secured their participation in Worlds.

America vs. Europe, a traditional esports rivalry regardless of the esport in which these regions compete. Yet, representatives of these “feuding” rivals will face off in the last and important question just before Worlds.

This year’s World Championship format has offered us some major changes. One of them is the so-called WQS (World Qualification Series), an additional qualification for the lowest qualified teams from the LCS and LEC. This will take place the day before the World Championship starts, on 9 October at 6:00 am our time.

This additional series for the last place at Worlds is generally received with mixed feelings. Some celebrate this change and welcome the “uniqueness” of this addition. Others speak of a redundancy that shouldn’t have happened. Whichever side you’re on, one thing is for sure, we’re going to see something that is very rarely seen at World Championships.

That rare thing is the clash between America and Europe in the so-called Bo5. We’ve often watched these teams battle it out in the group stages but direct battles in knockout fights are paradoxically rare. Leaving aside the first world championship, we have seen very few direct battles between these rivals in thirteen years. Most of the time the main reason has been the lot or the underperformance of the teams from the west.

This year, however, the changes have made this age-old rivalry a great starter to open the question of which region is better.

The U.S. No. 2 as the underdog of the year

If we were to make a pure assessment of the Golden Guardians for the year so far, they are clearly the second best team in the LCS, having picked a weaker moment. Although it didn’t seem like it at first, the Guardians have developed into a very good team over the course of the season.

The team responded to a great finish to the spring split, crowned by their participation in MSI, with a similar response in the summer. Guardians became direct rivals of the previous hegemon of the last few years – Cloud9. Even until the last game of the regular season, it was unclear who of the Guardians-Cloud9 duo would win the regular season of the LCS Summer Split.

Despite the tiebreaker setback against Cloud9, Guardians went into the playoffs (also a regional qualifier) as a big favorite. The second place advantage gave the team the opportunity to play in the second round, and thus only needed to win one Bo5 series to qualify for Worlds.

But what the hell, their opponent – NRG, got into fantastic form during the playoffs. And the Guardians got a big surprise when they had to watch their World Championship chances slip away. NRG defeated Golden Guardians 3-1 and it was NRG who secured their place at Worlds at the expense of Guardians.

There was some talk that the Guardians were caught in a slump of form, and indeed they were. The team’s young guns, River and Gori, did not perform as dominant and constant as they did in the regular season.

The team responded to the lapse with a resounding win over Dignitas (3: 0). However, the team completely lost the subsequent clash with Team Liquid for certainty on the world cradle (2:3).

It was the inconsistency of performance, especially with the midaros Gori, that cost the de facto second best team in America the confidence and the necessary calm. So the Guardians had to wait for their European opponent in the fight for the last ticket to the Worlds.

BDS – a team of two faces

The Golden Guardians’ opponent was finally the BDS players. Although they had a very tricky road to qualification, they managed to defend their position thanks to the points earned throughout the season.

Looking at BDS, we can talk about a two-faced team. They can whip up fantastic performances (spring split LEC), but also play without a shred of ideas and invention (summer split LEC). BDS can also be described as a team that plays based on who slept before the game.

Inconsistent performances and occasional unnecessary mistakes bring down an otherwise very well put together team. BDS certainly don’t have the finances to have the biggest stars. However, looking at the roster, there are no starters on the team.

On one side we have Adam, a top player who has earned a lot of reputation and respect not only in the French LFL but also in the LEC.

A player who, on his day, is one of the best top players in Europe. His aggressive game full of outplays and great actions is notorious in the LEC. Unfortunately, he also suffers from occasional fluctuations in his performance, which his opponents can punish heavily. Such as Fnatic in Season Finals (2:3).

The strong French team is complemented by Nuc and Sheo, who have developed into very skilled players. Crownie and Labrov are also not complete newcomers to the bot. On the outside, BDS may look like a sort of dumping ground for failed players or opportunities not yet taken. Still, the team was able to at least make it to the final fight for Worlds in the end.

But the team has a lot of questions to sort out before the WQS, as their American challengers are not looking weak. One series will decide the fate of these teams – who will extend their season or end this year.

Guardians as favourites

The clash between the American and the European four must look unambiguous at first glance. The Guardians are definitely a better team than BDS, at least in terms of consistency of performance and most importantly experience on the international stage.

It’s that extra MSI experience that may help the Guardians advance to the Worlds play-in stage. But what is given on paper does not necessarily apply.

Many factors will decide the series, but the main one will be concentration and stability. Both teams have shown some fantastic moments throughout the season, but also some big lapses. We have seen this more often with BDS, however if the Guardians do not prepare well, their eventual collapse will be all the more painful.

The American four excel at complex teamfights and great confidence around the main lenses of the game. BDS, on the other hand, have ‘smashers’ on their team, players who aren’t afraid to be very active and quickly gain an early game advantage.

While the meta at Worlds will be largely identical to what we’ve seen during the season, BDS may hold a certain joker in their hand. While Adam is known for playing for Darius or Olaf, he has also shown that he can prepare for other compositions. Licorice, on the other hand, is certainly no newcomer, but it is the duel of the toppers that can tell a lot about the chances of each team.

Although the Guardians are favored in this series, BDS are definitely not without a chance. A lot of details will matter. Still, in general, we are looking forward to this series and the revival of a great rivalry. The big appetizer before the battle of the best will definitely be worth it.

Source: Leaguepedia, Kaza LoL