T1, Karmine Corp, Gen.G, Dplus move on to LOL World Cup semis

T1, Karmine Corp, Gen.G Esports and Dplus are the final four teams standing in the Esports World Cup League of Legends tournament.

Those four clubs won their quarterfinal matches Friday in Paris to advance to the semifinals taking place Saturday. They’re two wins away from lifting the trophy at the prestigious $2 million tournament.

The playoffs began Friday and conclude with Sunday’s best-of-five grand final. The winning team takes home $600,000 and 1,000 Esports World Cup club points. The MVP will earn an additional $25,000.

On Friday, T1 blanked Hanwha Life Esports 2-0, Karmine Corp did the same to AG.AL International, Gen.G shut out JD Gaming 2-0 and Dplus defeated Bilibili Gaming in the only 2-1 result of the day. Hanwha Life, AG.AL, JD Gaming and Bilibili Gaming were eliminated.

T1 prevailed in a tidy 23 minutes and 35 minutes, both times on blue. Kim “Peyz” Soo-hwan of South Korea led T1 with a combined 16 kills, just two deaths and 18 assists.

Karmine Corp beat AG.AL in 28 minutes and 38 minutes on blue. Frenchman Caliste “Caliste” Henry-Hennebert totaled an 11-1-14 K-D-A ratio for the victors.

Gen.G bested JD Gaming in 28 minutes on blue and 38 minutes on red. It was a balanced attack for Gen.G, featuring nine kills by South Korea’s Kim “Canyon” Geon-bu and eight apiece from his countrymen Kim “Kiin” Ki-in and Jeong “Chovy” Ji-hoon.

Dplus defeated Bilibili in 39 minutes on blue, absorbed Bilibili’s 35-minute victory on red and bounced back to win in 38 minutes on red. Dplus’ Jeon “Siwoo” Si-woo of South Korea led all players with 14 kills, and teammate and countryman Oh “Career” Hyung-suk had a match-high 29 assists.

The Esports World Cup features competition in 25 titles and a $75 million prize pool. Other events this month include DOTA, PUBG, EA Sports FC, Call of Duty: Warzone, Call of Duty: Black Ops 7, Rocket League, Counter-Strike 2 and Fortnite.

The tournament continues Saturday with the two semifinals matches:

–T1 vs. Karmine Corp

–Gen.G Esports vs. Dplus

Esports World Cup League of Legends prize pool (money, EWC club points)

1. $600,000, 1,000 — TBD

2. $340,000, 750 — TBD

3. $220,000, 500 — TBD

4. $140,000, 300 — TBD

5-8. $90,000, 200 — Hanwha Life Esports, AG.AL International, JD Gaming, Bilibili Gaming

9-12. $55,000, 0 — G2 Esports, Sentinels, GAM Esports, MIBR.LOS

13-16. $30,000, 0 — FURIA, Team Secret, Movistar KOI, LYON

–Field Level Media