IEM Cologne 2013

Whee, we finally get to see the matchups that everyone was expecting from World’s: Cloud 9 vs Gambit and CLG vs Fnatic. I didn’t even know this tournament was happening until yesterday, so it was a very pleasant surprise. After all, there’s been a dry spell in League tournaments for awhile, so it’s great to see these teams playing out.

Cloud 9

Is the #1 NA team as good as everyone expected them to be on the international stage? Sadly, the answer appears to be no (as of now). Game 1, Meteos gets off to a bad start with his blue invaded. Afterwards, he has little impact on the game, since no one fears an underfarmed Nocturne. And while Meteos had a better start in the second game, he wasn’t exactly crushing the opposition. In fact, Diamond’s Lee Sin was even on cs with Meteos the whole time. Hai’s Zed was ok, but Zed falls off late game, especially when his team gets behind. The Riven pick in Game 2 was a little questionable, as Riven is hecka squishy. The most pressing concern of both Games 1 and 2 was Ball’s Rumble. There’s no doubt about him being the best Rumble in NA, with those godly team-winning ults. But he was seriously underfarmed in both games, with less than 100 cs by 30 minutes. I know Rumble is supposed to be good even without farm, but being 100 cs below the enemy lane is just asking for trouble. Cloud 9 is by no means a weak team, but they have a number of weaknesses that get punished against stronger teams. The problem is that there were no stronger teams in NA during season 3. Hopefully the roster changes and amateur teams bring about stronger rivals for Cloud 9 in season 4.

CLG

Once again we see another iteration of CLG, with the support and jungler being upgraded to Aphromoo and TrickZ. So first about Aphromoo as support. He’s a good support, as he knows what the ADC needs in lane, being a former ADC himself. Had a bunch of good Thresh hooks and amazing Leona plays. It looks like he’s meshing very well with Doublelift, who is also doing really well himself. Link is also showing his worth in midlane. Very good Ziggs play, and overall mechanics, as I have come to expect of him. These are the two lanes that CLG really excels at. As for top lane, I’m not too impressed with Nientensoh. He’s not developing into the star top laner that CLG had hoped for him to become, and he gets constantly outlaned by his opponent. And finally the jungler. Trickz appears to be the weakest link of the team at the moment. He does not have much map presence, as seen by him only participating in less that 33% of the kills in the second game against Fnatic. His ganks seem more like the laners calling him over to do so, rather than him doing it himself. As for CLG as a whole, their overall map strategy can be summarized as ‘hesitant’. They start and stop dragon, don’t commit to tower pushes, and are all over the place. They don’t seem to have a clear goal in their actions, which has numerous times caused the enemy teams to take advantage of them. The current CLG team looks like they could be a strong contender for Season 4, but they also have a number of issues that need to be cleared up.

Fnatic

With the end of worlds, Fnatic finally the ADC that they had waited for: Rekkles. Is he better than Puszu? I’d say yes. In the games against CLG, Rekkles was able to win his 2v2 lane against doublelift. And even when he got repeatedly killed in the second game, he still managed to out-cs doublelift. So he’s the real deal alright. Fnatic also looked like they had new comps out, with the poke comp of Karma and Nidalee. xPeke’s escape with Nidalee was glorious, and I can only imagine how frustrated CLG was in chasing him. There’s not really much to say about Fnatic, because it feels as if they are still the same team that appeared at worlds, with the addition of a new ADC. Same strengths, same weaknesses.

Gambit 

Gosh, what can I say. With the return of the prodigal son Edward, Gambit just exploded all over Cologne. May as well just go over each team member one by one. Darien is a monster, whether he’s feeding or winning lane, he just has such a huge presence in teamfights that he draws tons of aggro. Alex Ich is still a star midlaner, though I’m not sure if he ever practiced Ziggs before the tournament, as his Ziggs mechanics paled in comparison to Link’s. Diamond absoluetly owned in the jungle, stealing Meteo’s buffs, appearing in every lane, and then carrying the team as Eve in the final Fnatic game. Genja’s style really fits the new champions Lucian and Jinx, which he performs magnificently on. Finally, Edward shows that he really belongs among the Russian crew, as he is defintely able to carry as support. Their one weakness this tournament may have been their excessive cockiness in a few games, but that’s nothing compared to how they completely swept the tournament. GG Gambit Gaming.

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LoL Season 3 World Championships Finals: Day 11

I’m writing my thoughts on these games right as they happen, so that I actually remember what’s going on, unlike my previous writeups (lol). But before that, why the heck was the intro so long? Sure, the music is nice, but waiting 50 minutes for the games to start is booooring. Anyways, yay world championships! My predictions for this series: 3-2 for SKT, so I’ll be rooting for Royal.

Game 1

A somewhat disappointing game heavily in the favor of SKT. They even went red side, and still got ahead. The picks by Royal were not well suited against the SKT team. I mean it was actually a very good team comp with a good amount of cc and a lot of hard engage.But SKT was able to get ahead during the laning phase, with two early ganks on by Bengi on midlane. Then they snowballed this into a 4 man roam bot lane, and the rest was history. Royal’s team comp couldn’t deal with the poke that SKT was putting out. They tried making plays to get back, with the flash Sona crescendo to maplhite teleport ult, but the execution missed at the fatal time, and they missed their opportunity. I’m surprised at how badly Royal did early game, which is not something you can mess up against the mid-game titans of SKT.

Game 2

Oh boy. It seems like Royal was trying to go for a fresh start here, with new picks and bans to completely differentiate their next game from the first one. One thing they messed up is that the Renekton ban by SKT signals a Jax pick. Aside from Renekton, I can’t think of a bad matchup for Jax in a straight 1 on 1 lane. This Jax pick has been wrecking Godlike for both of these games, and Royal needs to pick up on this. The Rumble and teleport Kassadin picks were a nice surprise, but Rumble ended up being a liability by getting caught at a crucial time and being down 100 cs at the end of the game. Additionally, Royal’s weak early games fed into SKT’s strong mid game lineup. All their lanes were losing, and things were looking bad. But by some miracle, they had this incredible team fight in midlane, and could swing things back into their favor. Unfortunately, Royal blew this chance due to a number of mistakes. First, they chased too far in the ensuing dragon fight, giving kills to Piglet and gaining unnecessary deaths. The nail that sealed their coffin was Godlike getting caught at Baron while Tabe was recalling. I believe Royal was stronger in a teamfight at that time, but trying to fight a 3/4 v 5 in their position was suicide. Everything went downhill after that, and SKT played very well in closing the game. I really hope that Royal can win the next game, because I know they have the ability to, and also because I don’t want the championship to end in a 3-0 stomp.

Game 3

Flawless victory by SKT. Looking back at game 2, the problem isn’t so much SKT’ outcomping Royal, or their lanes being countered; it was just SKT being metter mechanically and objectively. Midlane: White is a great laner, but he gets a little too greedy and overextends, causing him to get behind Faker. Toplane: Godlike losing lane with an early bushcheck, getting dove by Jax bot lane, and being perpetually behind. Botlane: Royal did ok, going toe-to-toe with SKT, but PoohMandu was just the better support, with better catches and superior play. In terms of objectives, SKT kept immediately capitalizes their early game advantages, getting tower after tower, and snowballing this to victory. Not even a 20 minute game, showing the absolute dominance of SKT.

 

So overall, it was kind of a disappointing championship game. There was a clear difference in skill between SKT and Royal, especially with the complete stomp in the third game. SKT proved that they are the #1 team in the world right now.

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LoL Season 3 World Championships Semi Finals: Day 10

Today’s picture is dedicated to Yellowstar and his amazing Leona plays, that were skillful in execution, and masterfully on target.

Going into today’s matches, my money was on Fnatic. They looked to be on top of their game over the tournament, as every lane looked strong, and their global strategy was first-rate and deadly. My prediction was a 3-2 win for Fnatic, with Royal putting up a good fight. And thus, I ended up rooting for Royal throughout the matches. And man, these games were just so exciting. I was on the edge of my seat in each game, as they were so incredibly close. This series was truly very very fun to watch.

Game 1

The story of game 1 was every lane of Fnatic lost, which was unexpected (at least for me). Bot lane’s loss was half-expected, but for Wh1t3zZ to destroy xPeke and GoDlike to beat soaz was not something I foresaw. Uzi lived up to all his expectations on Vayne, as his ridiculous mechanics earned Vayne a ban in the rest of the game. Great play by Royal, as they quickly turned their advantages into a win.

Game 2

So I actually don’t remember much about this game, other than Fnatic’s bot lane getting completely wrecked, and Cyanide trying to keep his team in the game with Aatrox. Actually, his Aatrox was incredible, and he got kills that I didn’t even think he could get. Unfortunately, xPeke also wasn’t doing too well this game, and Royal was able to win.

Game 3

This game was what Fnatic should’ve done from the beginning. They got Orianna and Varus, played passively, got picks, and snowballed their lead hard. I would call this “classic Fnatic” minus the teleports. Varus is definitely Puszu’s champion of choice, and his snipes were on-point. Oh, Royal started off with a huge level 1 advantage, but somehow blew it by being way to cocky with their early game plays. Instead of slowly pressing their advantage, the got continuously caught by Fnatic. Great job by Fnatic to not lose heart after the early losses, and to blast their way to the win.

Game 4

Wow, what a game. It was just so back and forward, that I had no idea who was gonna win. Why is Annie always banned against Royal? This game certainly answered that question. Tabe’s ability to make plays with Annie is just game-changing. Annie’s got this AOE stun and damage over time that no other support can replicate continuously, It’s great to see how these players do when their favorite champion is unbanned. Anyways, the lane swaps by Royal were very well played. Uzi and Tabe were wrecking Puszu and Yellowstar mid lane, Shen got a good match up with Fizz, and Kayle did fairly well against Rumble. Against a team like Royal, you can’t give them such advantageous lanes. Fnatic needed to swap asap and lose a small lead instead of having every lane slowly lose. I also don’t think that Puszu should have picked up all the kills. Fnatic is a team that is mid-top lane oriented, and having those solo-laners take the kills would be far more advantageous than the adc nabbing them. The team fights this game were incredible to watch, with each team backing out only when their health was nearly out. Both teams played really well, but Royal simply played better. Uzi was just on point with his double cleanse, and remained untouched as he threw out damage form the back. To tell the truth, I was focusing on Uzi in every team fight, and his positioning is just great (minus a few fights). Anyways, it was a great game, and we’ll get to see Royal in the finals. I’m really looking forward to this, as they’ll certainly give SKT a long series.

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LoL Season 3 World Championships Semi Finals: Day 9

Wow, it’s the semi-finals already! Hard to believe that we’re nearing the end of this tournament. And man, the games that have been played so far have been simply amazing, and today’s matches were no exception. Going into this series, everyone thought that SKT was going to roflstomp Najin Sword. I thought so too, and was thus rooting for them. It’s safe to say that Sword really impressed everyone in this series, showing Korea’s high level of play that we had all expected Ozone to also exhibit. All of the games played were very exciting, so I’m gonna go through them all one by one.

Game 1

I’ve been wondering why teams have picked Gragas throughout the tournament. With the exception of the TSM-GG.EU game, Gragas has lost every match he has played in. That’s why I was a little surprised to see Nagane pick him up, especially since we haven’t seen him play him before. But surprise surprise, Nagane was really good on Nagane. Not only did he keep up with Faker in farm, he also made picks and plays all across the map, and was a key factor in their victory. And we also got to see Expession’s Jax, which destroyed Shen in top lane. And while the game did drag out, it was Sword slowly pressing all their small advantages to finally gain the win in the end.

Game 2

So what the heck was Sword thinking this game? They picked the EXACT same comp. I know, there’s the phrase “If it isn’t broken, don’t fix it.” But this wasn’t a comp that Sword was stomping in Game 1 with, it was a comp that they barely pulled off a win. You’d think your opponents could adapt to the same thing two times in a row. SKT did all the right things this time, including picking Renekton, giving Orianna to Faker, and doing the Vayne-Thresh lane. It was almost silly how one-sided this match was. There’s no reason to give your opponent time to learn your strategies, especially with a world-class team like SKT. That’s just asking to lose.

Game 3

I’m so glad Sword didn’t do the same thing 3 times in a row. They got smart after the last game, and took Lee Sin from Bengi, and got Expession on Renekton against Shen. Bengi looked lost on Aatrox, as his build was something like cutlass into defensive items. I guess he was trying to copy the Chinese/European meta, but did it without much practice. Also, Nagane’s Gragas once again shut down Faker’s Ahri. It was literally a repeat of Game 1. In fact, the winning conditions of this game was essentially the same as Game 1, as Sword struggled through a long game to clench victory.

Game 4

SKT finally banned out Gragas, and this proved to be a very good move. Nagane defaulted back to his Ahri, and boy was he lack-luster on her. We finally see the dominant Faker that everyone is used to. Another thing I would like to point out is how Pray was underperforming this game. Cain played an amazing Thresh (which finally got unbanned), getting these mind-blowing hooks, only for Pray to get outplayed when he engaged. Or maybe Ezreal’s just not the champion for him. Well, he got really behind, and didn’t have much impact in teamfights, which is a little disappointing given how highly regarded he is by the other Korean ADCs.

Game 5

It’s hard to believe this series went all the way to the fifth game, when I thought it would only take three games. Sword tried to switch it up this game with Nocturne and Cait, but mid was a disaster again, Expession getting his Shen countered with Jax, and Pray not carrying. In the end, we get the expected outcome, but in a far different manner than everyone expected. I’m glad to see SKT move on to the finals, and show us even more amazing games.

 

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LoL Season 3 World Championships Quarter Finals: Day 8

Yay, no more best-of-1s! Not sure why the NA side of League likes single matches so much, but having a series is the way to go for determining which team is better.

SKT vs Gamamia Bears

Going into this match, I had no doubt that SKT would win. These games weren’t exactly stomps, but were overwhelming wins for SKT in terms of mechanics and objective control. In both games, SKT won every lane, grouped and got most objectives, gained a lead, and baited/pushed for a win. I must say that it looked like SKT was being a little sloppy in this game, as Piglet was missing a lot of cs, poohmandu got caught a lot, and Faker not looking entirely in it. I’m curious as to how strong the Bears actually all, but it looks like we won’t know. Might have been nice to see them in the group stages though. Actually, I would’ve like the Bears to play any team other than SKT, as it was essentially a match of the strongest group stage team vs the weakest bye team. Like, maybe Cloud 9 could have faced off against them (RIP).

Royal vs OMG

It’s such a pity that the two Chinese teams had to meet during the quarterfinals like this. I would have liked to see them matched up further down the road, but whatever. Game 1 was extremely close. Actually, I don’t remember much abuot this game since it happened so many days ago. But I do remember Uzi being an absolute beast, and showing off those amazing ADC mechanics. Game 2 was a stomp in favor of Royal, and they showed that their win over OMG during the qualifier was no throw. Kind of amazing how OMG, the team that went 7-1 in groups, got 2-0’d in the quarterfinals. This is just a testament to how good Royal is.

 

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LoL Season 3 World Championships Quarter Finals: Day 7

 

What’s with the sudden middle of the day matches? It was really hard avoiding spoilers until I was able to get home and watch the games.

Fnatic vs Cloud 9

The match everyone’s been waiting for, where Cloud 9 gets to strut their stuff and show the world who’s boss. The first two matches were both incredibly close. Game 1 was classic Fnatic, with xPeke’s Kass doing work and overall good objective control and teamwork. Match 2 was classic Cloud 9, with Balls hitting his insanely good Rumble ults in nearly every fight, Meteos farming up, and good team fighting locations for Cloud 9. It was really sad to see the way that game 3 began, with the early 2 kills on Cyanide. While I wouldn’t say that this was the moment that the game went to Fnatic, it certainly helped a lot. Cloud 9 got picked off early in their lanes due to the immense jungle pressure from Fnatic, and then got continuously picked off afterwards solo-que style. They should have just turtled and safely farmed here, but this was a very difficult option against Fnatic’s dive comp. The end of the game was almost expected, and it’s frustrating to see Cloud 9 only get to play 2 games at worlds. Riot needs to do something about the formatting of the tournament, since the teams with byes can potentially only be playing 2 matches, versus the group stage where each team played 8 matches.

Gambit vs Najin Sword

I watched the first match yesterday, and then the next two matches today. I gotta say, it was like Najin Sword was playing on two different days. So first about match one: Sword’s teamcomp was very lopsided. It seemed to focus entirely on Pray’s Twitch, with the Nunu jungle for the speed buff, and the Diana top to bring everyone together. The problem is, aside from Twitch’s damage, there isn’t much coming from the rest of the team. Not to mention that Gambit had Fizz to assassinate Twitch while ignoring Nunu and Diana. Watching this gave the impression that Sword was not a very strong team, and their team comp choices sucked. Now game two was completely different. Cain’s Thresh was destroying Gambit’s bottom lane, and Pray showed why them tried building a team comp around him. It was an absolute stomp by Sword. And then game three, with the Nunu pick again along with Nidalee. I remember thinking how retarded their team comp was, and that it was a free win for Gambit. But somehow, it worked! It was essentially a poke comp with Nidalee’s spears and Corki’s missles, that did a very good job sieging towers. However, I still think the comp was very questionable. It replies on Nidalee being ahead enough that her spears hurt, which Nidalee was only able to do after an early double kill. Well, it worked out in the end, and Sword moves on, but I don’t think they will make it past the next round since they’re going against SKT.

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LoL Season 3 World Championships Group Stages: Day 6

What a week it’s been! The group stages are finally over, and I’m kinda gonna miss the plethora of high-class games that I had to watch everyday. Anyways, we’re finally moving on to the semifinals, where we’ll finally see the rest of the teams. It kind of feels like these are the mid-game bosses of an RPG, who only reveal themselves after you defeat the first few bosses. Hopefully we’ll see games just as good from these teams as we saw from the group stages.

And here are my thoughts on the teams from groups:

Vulcan

Being a Vulcan fan must be the most heartbreaking thing in the world. Every game they start out so strong, usually getting an early lead. And then they completely throw it! Especially the game today against Gambit, where they were up 10k gold and decided to do Baron, which led to them losing a team fight and ultimately the game. That game was literally Vulcan’s, and yet against all odds, they lost. It just blows my mind. I think Vulcan needs to work on their team communication and decision making, as these are really costing them their games. And they might want to find a new AD carry too, as Zuna is often losing lane, underfarmed, and out of position. It’s really frustrating to see a team that can perform so well in lane just completely throw all their advantages due to poor decision makings, as they would be a world-class team otherwise.

Gambit Gaming

Gambit has not been looking very strong these past few days, especially after today’s games. Alex hasn’t been performing well, as he keeps getting ganked early on, resulting in him unable to make plays or grab objectives for his team. Their team comps also seem to be all over the place, and they seem to pick whatever they want. Their mid-game objective decisions are also sometimes questionable, as they nearly pulled a Vulcan in their final match against Ozone. And it’s clear that Alex realizes that Gambit has problems, with his grim expression after the Vulcan game. Regardless, they’ve made it past the group stage, and drawn a match against Nanjin Sword. I honestly don’t know how they will do, as Sword is an Enigma, and Gambit always surprises everyone, though they’ve been looking iffy these past few days.

Samsung Galaxy Ozone

The glaring issue with Ozone is their midlane: Dade. He continually under-performed during group stages, costing his team many chances at wins. I’m not sure if this is from nerves or a small champion pool, but it’s a troubling aspect that will have repercussions when he gets back to Korea. Otherwise, Ozone’s a pretty strong team. Their double AD push comp against Gambit was beautifully played, and Imp is a scary Caitlyn. I’m a little dissapointed at how they did, but I do appreciate them letting Gambit continue on.

Fnatic

Just wow at Fnatic. I knew they were strong, but they were downright impressive after the first day. xPeke is just a monster at midlane, but while he might be the star of the team, everyone else can pull their weight. I’m especially impressed by Yellowstar’s support plays, as his Zyra and Leona skillshots have been spot-on. But even more impressive is how the whole team works together, getting blind picks, and their teleport plays. I think the key to defeating them is to shut shut down xPeke (obviously), but this is easier said than done. We can see from the recent games that his team will let him solo farm up until he’s strong enough, because they believe in his ability to carry. Fnatic is definitely looking like a strong contender for the win, and I’m looking forward to their match versus Cloud 9.

Mineski

After their first few games, Mineski looked like they had resigned themselves to losing the rest of their games. While Mineski can keep up with the other teams in mechanics, it’s their team fights and objective control that holds them back. Most of their games start with Mineski doing ok in lane, then one or two people getting picked off in the jungle, before they get snowballed to defeat. It really just shows how much League depends on teamwork, and it’s not enough just to be strong mechanically. Either way, it looked like they had fun in the last few games, and I’m sure they learned tons from being at worlds.

Lemondogs

I’m a little disappointed in these guys. After seeing them in the EU playoffs, I expected them to have a decent showing in groups. Unfortunately, they were only able to take games off of GG and TSM, which isn’t saying much. Their main weakness is that they rely too heavily on their midlaner, Nukeduck. He’s an amazing midlaner, on the same level as the other top EU midlaners such as xPeke, Froggen, Bjergson, and AlexIch. The problem is that he plays very flippantly in game, where he just goes off and does his own stuff. So when he does well, so does his team, but when he doesn’t they lose. Throughout groups, Nukeduck hasn’t been doing too great, and this has been reflected in his team’s performance. Maybe their other lanes need to do better? I’m not really sure.

TSM

Sight, TSM. They have potential, but it never seems to be fulfilled. Like, TSM has a strong bottom lane, a decent mid and top lane, and some very well-throught out strategies. It’s just that they always make small mistakes that puts at a disadvantage severe enough for capable opponents to snowball. I feel kind of bad for Dyrus, as he’s been continually dying these past few games. Part of it is due to carelessness, but another part is because these ganks he’s been getting are very unexpected. TSM is a team that can continually adapt to new strategies, though it always takes them awhile. It seems that they weren’t able to do so fast enough this season.

OMG

OMG is really good. This is showcased by their game against Lemondogs, where they picked Veigar support, AP Nidalee, jungle Yorick, and lane Atrox, and then they won. OMG focuses on grouping very early to grab objectives and establishing leads, whereupon they slowly snowball this lead. Their overall strategy is the same regardless of their champion pick, as can be seen how they crushed Lemondogs with such a silly team comp. You really have to be able to stop their early game aggression to have a chance against them, which is difficult for many teams facing them the first time. I’m definitely looking forward to their games against Royal Club, though I kind of wanted them to face another non-Chinese team. Oh well.

SKT1

SKT is also really good. I’d say that they are the best team mechanically among the group stages. Faker’s skills are the real deal, as he’s either winning his lane or making plays around the map. SKT plays more of the mid-game rather than OMG’s early game, which would explain their first lost against them. It seems like they’ve been adapting through the tournament, as SKT has been trying the 3 man dives. The scariest thing about SKT is that when they get an advantage, they push it to its limits. If they get a pick, they don’t stop there; they go for towers, dragons, or even more picks. It’s extremely hard to come back from behind SKT, and they look like another strong favorite to take worlds.

GG.EU

I didn’t really watch their games, and I would classify them in the same department as Mineski. While they all seem like nice people, they were also outclassed by every other team in their group. Except maybe TSM, who gave them a win. Just kidding, TSM wasn’t serious at all that game.

 

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LoL Season 3 World Championships Group Stages: Day 5

Woohoo! I’m all caught up! I think Group A is more or less determined after this day, though TSM may surprise everyone and uh wait I don’t think they can anymore.

SKT

Unsurprisingly, SKT was looking very strong in both of their games. Why am I not writing about their games? Because both were very similar stomps. Faker even let his opponents have Zed, and picked Riven mid. I think Faker has kind of stopped caring about groups, as he did many solo queue-esque plays throughout the games. Not that I blame him, when he’s gotten 50 cs up on Regi’s Zed. So while Faker was busy chasing the enemy midlaner around the map, his team was doing all the right things, by outfarming their lanes, controlling vision, and getting objectives. SKT really shows how strong Korea is both mechanically and objectively, and I’m excited to see their rematch against OMG and the other teams at worlds.

OMG versus TSM

Oooh boy. So OMG swapped out their support, picked Volibear jungle, and Syndra mid. Maximum disrespect? Maybe, maybe not, as Lovelin’s Volibear just absolutely tore threw TSM like a hot knife through butter. That bear was like 6/0 before he died. TSM’s bottom lane was actually doing ok at first, but that volibear with mobility shoes gank just destroyed them. Oh, and Dyrus was feeding this game (0/7) due to some really nice early ganks top. It was kind of brutal to watch this game, as OMG just snowballed their lead so far that TSM just went kind of crazy at the end. Dyrus was running around OMG’s base as the worthless 0/7 Vlad, and Wildturtle had a long romp through OMG’s jungle while being chased down. You can tell how TSM had just given up at the end, as this match effectively ends their chances of continuing to the next stage. But man, OMG was just looking so incredibly strong this game. It makes me wonder how good Royal Club is, who defeated OMG during the Chinese qualifiers. The rest of worlds is looking really good.

 

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LoL Season 3 World Championships Group Stages: Day 4

I wonder if I have enough League pics to cover Worlds… Day 4 had some amazing games! And it darn well should’ve, given that there was a break on Wednesday. Yea, I’m still sore about that.

SG Ozone versus Gambit

I’m a Gambit fan, but I gotta say, Ozone played this game beautifully. So first to harp on Gambit’s mistakes. Why the heck did Genja facecheck that bush at level 1? This single play more or less cost Gambit the game. Not to mention that Gambit’s team comp was not able to handle Ozone’s strategy, which was just amazing to see. They ran a double AD push comp with Cait bot and Ez mid. After Ozone took bottom turret, they just grouped and continued poking and pushing the rest of the towers on the map. Gambit couldn’t engage, due to the poke from Ez and Cait, and Ozone’s all in team comp of Zac, Sona, and J4 I think. This was a textbook example of executing a push comp, as Ozone methodically took down every single one of Gambit’s towers. It was just beautiful to watch. Why couldn’t Ozone play this well from Day 1? They’re kind of in danger of not making it pass group stages, though Gambit is in a similar situation. I honestly can’t tell which of these two will make it to the quarterfinals.

Fnatic versus SG Ozone

After Ozone’s game against Gambit, I was expecting great things from them. And so I was even more surprised by Fnatic’s performance this game. Fnatic’s bush picks were very well executed, as they continually took advantage of fog of war to ambush unsuspecting prey. Like they picked off Piglet and Mata near Dragon, and Dade in top lane twice. This gave Fnatic enough time to power up xPeke’s Kassadin, which completely ripped through Ozone’s team in midgame (with Soaz’s Zed). People always talk about Fnatic’s weird strategies, and seeing this game showed me what they meant. I mean, Fnatic didn’t even have a tanky champion (unless you count Atrox). With this win, Fnatic will move on the next stage, provided they don’t somehow choke hard and lost to Mineski.

 

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LoL Season 3 World Championships Group Stages: Day 2

Better late than never right? I actually don’t remember much about this day, other than it being rather dull, with SKT and OMG further cementing their lead. Oh, and the lack of games on Wednesday caught me completely by surprise.

TSM versus SKT

So this game was actually pretty close early on. After seeing this game, you’ve got to admire TSM’s strats. They were almost able to pull of a 3 man dive bottom turret, and Dyrus was almost able to freeze and farm his lane top. The problem is that TSM’s mechanics were lacking. Flash-fail by Oddone bottom lane cost them a kill on Piglet, and Dyrus’ stupid plays up top fed impact. Not to mention Oddone’s facecheck for Dragon AFTER SKT had finished it. TSM certainly has the potential to be just as strong as SKT, but they make too many mistakes in trying to pull off their plays.

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