WATCH: The Prospect Of Facing C9 Impact Makes FW Top Laner Numb With Terror

“It’s my first time at Worlds” – it was more of a whimper than a triumphant boast of achievement. As Taiwan’s first seed, Flash Wolves gathered around the screen to watch their group draw. Things went from bad to worse for top laner Yau “MMD” Li-Hung. As he watched on – completely speechless – Flash Wolves were drawn alongside Korean powerhouses, SK Telecom T1 and underrated North American third seed, Cloud9.

Needless to say, MMD was far from excited to face the talents of C9 Jung “Impact” Eon-yeong and SKT Lee “Duke” Ho-Seong – the Taiwanese Worlds rookie looked absolutely terrified… and who can blame him? Impact has been so dominant of late, even SKT will be taking precautions when facing Cloud9’s hard-carrying top laner.

Initially, it seemed that Flash Wolves were happy to have drawn SKT. In addition to having a strong record against Korean rosters – defeating SKT T1 at the 2016 Mid Season Invitational and the Koo Tigers at the 2015 World Championship – drawing a strong team into the group should have meant they would only need to focus on defeating the other pool 2 team, given that SKT would be unlikely to drop any games.

Drawing Cloud9 from the third pool was the worst possible outcome. Being drawn from the third pool does not represent C9’s genuine prospects of advancing from Group B. Flash Wolves are going to have their work cut out – qualification is no longer guaranteed, despite being the group’s first seed.

The pressure is on for MMD, who will need to at least hold his own against the seemingly unstoppable force that is C9 Impact if Flash Wolves are to advance – he’s certainly putting the hours in to give himself a chance:

Today’s training is over, but someone want to stay and practice more. #flashwolves #fwinkorea pic.twitter.com/9C1r2akGpF

— Flash Wolves (@flashwolves2013) 16 September 2016

Group B will certainly present the spiciest top lane match-ups during the tournament’s group stages. It may well be MMD’s first World Championship, but Impact and Duke are unlikely to show him even the slightest bit of mercy.