Week 3 in the EU, and wow, it's obviously been a while since I actually played if I don't even know who Thresh is, and there's new Sona art. It makes her look way too much like Corki in the portrait window. I am always so critical of the art in this game. Also, if I didn't mention it before, the last week and this week, the 'analysis desk' actually has really helpful breakdowns of the games afterwards with guest analysts xPeke, Hosan, and others. It's probably too high-level of breakdowns for the regular LoL player, though. I mean, "stop feeding" is most of the analysis the people in my ELO need.
Copenhagen Wolves vs Fnatic
---CW bans: Kassadin, Kayle, Thresh---Fnatic bans: Lux, Nidalee, Vi---
CW: Singed, Xin Zhao, Elise, Caitlyn, Sona
Fnatic: Shen, Volibear, Katarina, Miss Fortune, Leona
Rough times, CW.
Gambit Gaming vs Giants
---GG bans: Elise, Kennen, Mundo---Giants bans: Kog'Maw, Xin Zhao, Shen---
GG: Renekton, Nassus, Kayle, Ezreal, Thresh
Giants: Akali, Volibear, Twisted Fate, Caitlyn, Sona
Finally, some fresh picks! And overall, a nice game. Giants won a few team fights, but GG won the last one.
Against All Authority vs Copenhagen Wolves
---aAa bans: Lux, Kayle, Vi---CW bans: Nidalee, Elise, Shen---
aAa: Renekton, Xin Zhao, Orianna, Ezreal, Sona
CW: Singed, Volibear, Syndra, Varus, Thresh
Nice first blood, CW, but your losing streak continues.
Evil Genuises vs Fnatic
---EG bans: Vi, Kassadin, Caitlyn---Fnatic bans: Lux, Xin Zhao, Thresh---
EG: Renekton, Volibear, Anivia, Ezreal, Sona
Fnatic: Blitzcrank, Kayle, Katarina, Miss Fortune, Leona
You read that right, Blitzcrank top, they're basically running two supports. And you'd think that would make it a super interesting game, but somehow, no. It is super boring, Fnatic wins. Let me just explain the gameplan in words so you don't waste 45 minutes trying to watch it: at this level of play, as I've discussed before, it comes down to possibly one single ten second team fight at the 45 minute mark. Before that, it's just jockeying for position while not getting caught out for unnecessary deaths. By 45 minutes, the only two people doing appreciable damage are the AP and AD carries. Top lane is usually just a damage soak, or maybe a diver at that point, and by bringing Kayle as their jungler, Fnatic has a lot of their protection covered for that ten second free for all. Blitz can pull enemies off carries or drag a enemy carry into the group, and has decent tankiness with the manashield and health items.
Dragonborns vs Giants
---DB bans: Kennen, Twisted Fate, Elise---Giants bans: Draven, Thresh, Xin Zhao---
DB: Kha'Zix, Kayle, Vi, Ezreal, Taric
Giants: Akali, Volibear, Ryze, Caitlyn, Sona
This game was fun. It was also 18-18 in kills at 45 minutes. It really felt like DB just let it slip, though, so the ending was a bit weak. The rest was plenty good, though.
Fnatic vs Against All Authority
---Fnatic bans: Lux, Shen, Xin Zhao---aAa bans: Thresh, Kayle, Vi---
Fnatic: Malphite, Volibear, Diana, Miss Fortune, Leona
aAa: Renekton, Jarvan, Cho'Gath, Kennen, Sona
There were some fun fights, and I want to say this was an exciting match, but... not really. Fnatic just tips the scales in their favor at about 30 minutes.
Dragonborns vs Copenhagen Wolves
---DB bans: Elise, Twisted Fate, Kha'Zix---Giants: Vi, Kayle, Thresh---
DB: Xin Zhao, Amumu, Jarvan, Varus, Lulu
CW: Shen, Cho'Gath, Lux, Caitlyn, Zyra
What, DB, didn't you watch the game CW had against aAa just the day before where they got first blood at that exact spot? Finally, there's a very cool fight where everyone blew everything, which was magnificent to behold because of the number of glittery circles on the ground and one or the other colored team running away from the circle. Also, watch for the initiate at the end on the Cho'Gath while he's laughing under his own tower, and DB's ADC chasing onto the enemy fountain to get himself lasered to death.
Giants vs Against All Authority
---Giants bans: Lux, Thresh, Elise---aAa bans: Kennen, Ryze, Kayle---
Giants: Xin Zhao, Volibear, Twisted Fate, Caitlyn, Zyra
aAa: Renekton, Vi, Nidalee, Ezreal, Sona
Zzzz. Didn't even get to see very many nice Nidalee spears, though aAa won ...eventually.
Monday, April 29, 2013
Saturday, April 27, 2013
LCS EU W2
Week 2 in the EU, and we finally get to see Dragonborns! Oh, and I had another idea for troll-games I want to see these pro players play: a 'scattegories' game where you roll the dice and you must play a champ whose name begins with that letter. For example, you roll 'K'. Your team has to play Karma, Kassadin/Karthus, Katarina, Kayle, Kog'Maw, etc. Or you have to play champs from the same area of Runeterra.
Evil Geniuses vs Dragonborns
---EG bans: Vi, Xin Zhao, Kha'Zix---DB bans: Anivia, Twisted Fate, Lux---
EG: Renekton, Cho'Gath, Kayle, Varus, Sona
DB: Akali, Shen, Jayce, Draven, Leona
Who to root for? Wickd vs Shushei? Wicked makes it easy, since Renekton was the original "WICKD IS TOO BOSS" champion. And, playing Akali against Wickd's Renekton makes it easy, ultimately. By the end, Wickd was taking no damage from champs or towers, or minions, apparently. Also, Froggen plays a pretty monstrous Kayle.
Copenhagen Wolves vs SK Gaming
---CW bans: Vi, Twitch, Olaf---SK bans: Zyra, Shen, Xin Zhao---
CW: Elise, Cho'Gath, Kayle, Caitlyn, Lulu
SK: Renekton, Jarvan, Kassadin, Miss Fortune, Sona
CW was actually in a strong position for a long time, but SK started to turn it around at a long tower defend where CW maybe hung around one of SK's towers for just a while too long, and SK finally organized a fast engage. Sona ult, Jarvan ult, and MF ult would come out all at once to slice CW down repeatedly.
Against All Authority vs Gambit Gaming
---aAa bans: Ryze, Xin Zhao, Kayle---GG bans: Elise, Nidalee, Twisted Fate---
aAa: Kennen, Shen, Lux, Graves, Sona
GG: Kha'Zix, Vi, Karthus, Caitlyn, Lulu
Low kills in the first thirty minutes, as has become usual. I suppose, as in football, as teams become familiar with one another and extremely high skill, you'll see a spike in defense and a drop-off in scoring. Whatever the cause, aAa just seems to be a touch more hesitant in the early engages, and the always-aggressive GG begins to quickly snowball into an unstoppable force.
Evil Geniuses vs SK Gaming
---EG bans: Vi, Kassadin, Olaf---SK bans: Kayle, Anivia, Shen---
EG: Renekton, Maokai, Lux, Varus, Sona
SK: Irelia, Xin Zhao, Nidalee, Twitch, Taric
Despite Lux Froggen vs Nidalee Ocelot mid and more Renekton Wickd top vs Irelia, this game was something of a snoozer, being 6-6 in kills right up until the end of the game, and both teams playing relatively passively.
Evil Geniuses vs Giants
---EG bans: Vi
EG: Renekton, Kayle, Twited Fate, Varus, Sona
Giants: Elise, Dr. Mundo, Ryze, Kog'Maw, Zyra
Wow, even slower game. 2-0 up until 25:00, and ended at 13-0 at 35:00 in favor of EG.
SK Gaming vs Dragonborns
---SK bans: Kayle, Xin Zhao, Kha'Zix---DB bans: Anivia, Vi, Renekton---
SK: Shen, Hecarim, Orianna, Caitlyn, Zyra
DB: Darius, Jarvan, Lux, Draven, Taric
Even the commentators are bored, now. If you're going to watch this game, may as well do something else while you're at it. The end was alright. Maybe because DB won, since I'm a fan of Shushei.
Gambit Gaming vs Copenhagen Wolves
---GG bans: Elise, Nidalee, Caitlyn---CW bans: Ryze, Xin Zhao, Kha'Zix---
GG: Vlad, Volibear, Kassadin, Kog'Maw, Sona
CW: Shen, Vi, Diana, Graves, Zyra
Apparently theTess got mugged in Cologne! He's too injured to play in this game, and CW substitutes ForellenLord, who I think we've seen in the qualifying rounds. I suppose his team didn't make it? At any rate, CW seems to be pulling the upset for a long time, but just didn't capitalize with enough force, and GG gets back into it.
Giants vs Copenhagen Wolves
---Giants bans: Vi, Diana, Xin Zhao---CW bans: Kennen, Wukong, Ryze---
Giants: Elise, Volibear, Twisted Fate, Ashe, Sona
CW: Kha'Zix, Kayle, Orianna, Caitlyn, Lulu
More regular and even game, with some deaths! Unfortunately for CW, they're still winless. Also, I love Jimbz on Ashe. Giants, unlike most of the teams, are usually carried by Jimbz, and not by their mid-AP.
Standings:
EG 5-1
GG 3-2
Fnatic 2-1
SK 3-3
Giants 2-2
DB 1-1
aAa 0-1
CW 0-5
Evil Geniuses vs Dragonborns
---EG bans: Vi, Xin Zhao, Kha'Zix---DB bans: Anivia, Twisted Fate, Lux---
EG: Renekton, Cho'Gath, Kayle, Varus, Sona
DB: Akali, Shen, Jayce, Draven, Leona
Who to root for? Wickd vs Shushei? Wicked makes it easy, since Renekton was the original "WICKD IS TOO BOSS" champion. And, playing Akali against Wickd's Renekton makes it easy, ultimately. By the end, Wickd was taking no damage from champs or towers, or minions, apparently. Also, Froggen plays a pretty monstrous Kayle.
Copenhagen Wolves vs SK Gaming
---CW bans: Vi, Twitch, Olaf---SK bans: Zyra, Shen, Xin Zhao---
CW: Elise, Cho'Gath, Kayle, Caitlyn, Lulu
SK: Renekton, Jarvan, Kassadin, Miss Fortune, Sona
CW was actually in a strong position for a long time, but SK started to turn it around at a long tower defend where CW maybe hung around one of SK's towers for just a while too long, and SK finally organized a fast engage. Sona ult, Jarvan ult, and MF ult would come out all at once to slice CW down repeatedly.
Against All Authority vs Gambit Gaming
---aAa bans: Ryze, Xin Zhao, Kayle---GG bans: Elise, Nidalee, Twisted Fate---
aAa: Kennen, Shen, Lux, Graves, Sona
GG: Kha'Zix, Vi, Karthus, Caitlyn, Lulu
Low kills in the first thirty minutes, as has become usual. I suppose, as in football, as teams become familiar with one another and extremely high skill, you'll see a spike in defense and a drop-off in scoring. Whatever the cause, aAa just seems to be a touch more hesitant in the early engages, and the always-aggressive GG begins to quickly snowball into an unstoppable force.
Evil Geniuses vs SK Gaming
---EG bans: Vi, Kassadin, Olaf---SK bans: Kayle, Anivia, Shen---
EG: Renekton, Maokai, Lux, Varus, Sona
SK: Irelia, Xin Zhao, Nidalee, Twitch, Taric
Despite Lux Froggen vs Nidalee Ocelot mid and more Renekton Wickd top vs Irelia, this game was something of a snoozer, being 6-6 in kills right up until the end of the game, and both teams playing relatively passively.
Evil Geniuses vs Giants
---EG bans: Vi
EG: Renekton, Kayle, Twited Fate, Varus, Sona
Giants: Elise, Dr. Mundo, Ryze, Kog'Maw, Zyra
Wow, even slower game. 2-0 up until 25:00, and ended at 13-0 at 35:00 in favor of EG.
SK Gaming vs Dragonborns
---SK bans: Kayle, Xin Zhao, Kha'Zix---DB bans: Anivia, Vi, Renekton---
SK: Shen, Hecarim, Orianna, Caitlyn, Zyra
DB: Darius, Jarvan, Lux, Draven, Taric
Even the commentators are bored, now. If you're going to watch this game, may as well do something else while you're at it. The end was alright. Maybe because DB won, since I'm a fan of Shushei.
Gambit Gaming vs Copenhagen Wolves
---GG bans: Elise, Nidalee, Caitlyn---CW bans: Ryze, Xin Zhao, Kha'Zix---
GG: Vlad, Volibear, Kassadin, Kog'Maw, Sona
CW: Shen, Vi, Diana, Graves, Zyra
Apparently theTess got mugged in Cologne! He's too injured to play in this game, and CW substitutes ForellenLord, who I think we've seen in the qualifying rounds. I suppose his team didn't make it? At any rate, CW seems to be pulling the upset for a long time, but just didn't capitalize with enough force, and GG gets back into it.
Giants vs Copenhagen Wolves
---Giants bans: Vi, Diana, Xin Zhao---CW bans: Kennen, Wukong, Ryze---
Giants: Elise, Volibear, Twisted Fate, Ashe, Sona
CW: Kha'Zix, Kayle, Orianna, Caitlyn, Lulu
More regular and even game, with some deaths! Unfortunately for CW, they're still winless. Also, I love Jimbz on Ashe. Giants, unlike most of the teams, are usually carried by Jimbz, and not by their mid-AP.
Standings:
EG 5-1
GG 3-2
Fnatic 2-1
SK 3-3
Giants 2-2
DB 1-1
aAa 0-1
CW 0-5
Tuesday, April 23, 2013
LCS NA W2
Week 2, some of the players are sick, do you remember? The first week was Valentines, and the week after, it seemed like everyone in the country was super gross ill. At one point there was a pause and OddOne had disappeared from his chair. Ugh, I can't imagine playing while sick. Lucky they get to pause, though. If I had an emergency sick during LoL, I'd just be AFK and my team would be so pissed.
Dignitas vs Team MRN
---d bans: Jarvan, Taric, Nidalee---MRN bans: Shen, Gragas, Xin Zhao---
d: Singed, Lee Sin, Kyale, Draven, Alistar
MRN: Renekton, Vi, Anivia, Kog'Maw, Lulu
Not much to see here, dignitas was eating their Wheaties this week. They super roll face.
Team SoloMid vs Vulcun Command
---TSM bans: Kayle, Elise, Shen---VC bans: Leblanc, Kha'Zix, Malphite---
TSM: Renekton, Xin Zhao, Orianna, Miss Fortune, Leona
VC: Rumble, Jarvan, Gragas, Graves, Taric
Vulcun seems to know what TSM are about to do with the lane switch, but they just don't cope well.
Team Complexity vs Curse
---coL bans: Nidalee, Xin Zhao, Jarvan---Crs bans: Rumble, Shen, Kayle---
coL: Renekton, Vi, Lux, Kog'Maw, Soraka
Crs: Elise, Hecarim, Ryze, Miss Fortune, Taric
Strange bans and strange picks! Unfortunately, despite some fun with Soraka's Wish, Crs eventually becomes too much for coL.
Team Dignitas vs Team SoloMid
---d bans: Jarvan, Miss Fortune, Taric---TSM bans: Kayle, Gragas, Alistar---
d: Singed, Xin Zhao, Diana, Draven, Zyra
TSM: Renekton, Maokai, Orianna, Ezreal, Leona
Banning Kayle, Gragas, and Alistar? It's scarra, TSM, not Shushei. Also, why didn't you take Leblanc! She was not banned for once! TSM paid for it, too, so there. Dignitas played a very tight team game by taking advantage of what they knew about TSM and their comfort patterns.
Curse vs Vulcun Command
---Crs bans: Shen, Rumble, Elise---VC bans: Akali, Xin Zhao, Kayle---
Crs: Katarina, Jarvan, Ryze, Miss Fortune, Taric
VC: Nidalee, Hecarim, Lulu, Vayne, Sona
Curse must've laughed when VC picked Lulu mid. This is no pub game, friends. Curse won in 30 minutes and the score at that point was 7-4. Zzzz.
Team Dignitas vs GoodGame University
---d bans: Twisted Fate, Twitch, Nidalee---GGU bans: Kayle, Xin Zhao, Draven---
d: Singed, Vi, Diana, Ezreal, Alistar
GGU: Rumble, Elise, Lux, Cait, Nunu
Zzzz again, dignitas roll.
Team SoloMid vs Team MRN
---TSM bans: Kayle, Renekton, Jarvan---MRN bans: Xin Zhao, Vi, Leblanc---
TSM: Malphite, Maokai, Orianna, Tristana, Taric
MRN: Olaf, Shen, Anivia, Ezreal, Lulu
MRN took all the favorite champs from last week, and still got rolled under. In an interview after the game, TSM was talking about how they carefully make plans for every match, map out their strategy minute by minute. The commentator asked what the strategy was for this particular game against MRN, and he basically said, "oh, we figured we wouldn't need a strategy to beat them." Ouch.
GoodGame University vs Vulcun Command
---GGU bans: Jayce, Shen, Xin Zhao---VC: Kayle, Twitch, Katarina---
GGU: Kha'Zix, Trundle, Nidalee, Ezreal, Lulu
VC: Renekton, Jarvan, Karthus, Miss Fortune, Taric
This is it, basement teams facing off against one another, one gets their first win, the other continues to be the basement. GGU brings a poke comp and wins it, but the fights are good, and the game is closer than most others this week.
Standings:
Crs 5-0 Dig 4-2
TSM 4-2 CLG 2-1
GGU 1-3 coL 0-1
MRN 0-2 VC 0-5
Dignitas vs Team MRN
---d bans: Jarvan, Taric, Nidalee---MRN bans: Shen, Gragas, Xin Zhao---
d: Singed, Lee Sin, Kyale, Draven, Alistar
MRN: Renekton, Vi, Anivia, Kog'Maw, Lulu
Not much to see here, dignitas was eating their Wheaties this week. They super roll face.
Team SoloMid vs Vulcun Command
---TSM bans: Kayle, Elise, Shen---VC bans: Leblanc, Kha'Zix, Malphite---
TSM: Renekton, Xin Zhao, Orianna, Miss Fortune, Leona
VC: Rumble, Jarvan, Gragas, Graves, Taric
Vulcun seems to know what TSM are about to do with the lane switch, but they just don't cope well.
Team Complexity vs Curse
---coL bans: Nidalee, Xin Zhao, Jarvan---Crs bans: Rumble, Shen, Kayle---
coL: Renekton, Vi, Lux, Kog'Maw, Soraka
Crs: Elise, Hecarim, Ryze, Miss Fortune, Taric
Strange bans and strange picks! Unfortunately, despite some fun with Soraka's Wish, Crs eventually becomes too much for coL.
Team Dignitas vs Team SoloMid
---d bans: Jarvan, Miss Fortune, Taric---TSM bans: Kayle, Gragas, Alistar---
d: Singed, Xin Zhao, Diana, Draven, Zyra
TSM: Renekton, Maokai, Orianna, Ezreal, Leona
Banning Kayle, Gragas, and Alistar? It's scarra, TSM, not Shushei. Also, why didn't you take Leblanc! She was not banned for once! TSM paid for it, too, so there. Dignitas played a very tight team game by taking advantage of what they knew about TSM and their comfort patterns.
Curse vs Vulcun Command
---Crs bans: Shen, Rumble, Elise---VC bans: Akali, Xin Zhao, Kayle---
Crs: Katarina, Jarvan, Ryze, Miss Fortune, Taric
VC: Nidalee, Hecarim, Lulu, Vayne, Sona
Curse must've laughed when VC picked Lulu mid. This is no pub game, friends. Curse won in 30 minutes and the score at that point was 7-4. Zzzz.
Team Dignitas vs GoodGame University
---d bans: Twisted Fate, Twitch, Nidalee---GGU bans: Kayle, Xin Zhao, Draven---
d: Singed, Vi, Diana, Ezreal, Alistar
GGU: Rumble, Elise, Lux, Cait, Nunu
Zzzz again, dignitas roll.
Team SoloMid vs Team MRN
---TSM bans: Kayle, Renekton, Jarvan---MRN bans: Xin Zhao, Vi, Leblanc---
TSM: Malphite, Maokai, Orianna, Tristana, Taric
MRN: Olaf, Shen, Anivia, Ezreal, Lulu
MRN took all the favorite champs from last week, and still got rolled under. In an interview after the game, TSM was talking about how they carefully make plans for every match, map out their strategy minute by minute. The commentator asked what the strategy was for this particular game against MRN, and he basically said, "oh, we figured we wouldn't need a strategy to beat them." Ouch.
GoodGame University vs Vulcun Command
---GGU bans: Jayce, Shen, Xin Zhao---VC: Kayle, Twitch, Katarina---
GGU: Kha'Zix, Trundle, Nidalee, Ezreal, Lulu
VC: Renekton, Jarvan, Karthus, Miss Fortune, Taric
This is it, basement teams facing off against one another, one gets their first win, the other continues to be the basement. GGU brings a poke comp and wins it, but the fights are good, and the game is closer than most others this week.
Standings:
Crs 5-0 Dig 4-2
TSM 4-2 CLG 2-1
GGU 1-3 coL 0-1
MRN 0-2 VC 0-5
Friday, April 19, 2013
LCS EU W1
Here is the link, resolution isn't the highest, but at 42:00, there is a cute recap of the epic SK v fnatic game. Day 2 games are individually loaded, and in higher resolution, later in the playlist.
Let me ask a few questions while we wait.
SK vs Fnatic (1:00:00)
---SK bans: Wukong, Malphite, Kassadin---Fnatic bans: Xin Zhao, Shen, Vi---
SK: Olaf, Cho'Gath, Anivia, Twitch, Nunu
Fnatic: Evelynn, Kayle, Caitlyn, Urgot, Taric
Interesting picks. Jungle Kayle, no Kha'Zix, two AD carry's? But as it turns out, Caitlyn is actually a good counter to Anivia! (No doubt ruining soloQ for a long time). When Anivia walled, Cait 90-caliber netted back through it or ult'd past it. When Anivia would want to push and then roam, Cait would push even harder back and pin her to the turret. It was remarkably successful. For a while, it also looked like Fnatic was also playing the players instead of the champs - remember once upon a time, when the only way to beat TSM was to anger Reginald, because there was no other way to win? It felt like Fnatic was playing that with Ocelot. Though they tell me that Ocelot's become a lot less ragey now that he's kind of the official leader of the team. Anyway, the game is low-kill, and extremely even until the very end, where one ace at 40+ minutes is always game. It certainly looks for a long time as if SK would win, with Fnatic being all squishies, and no one to stop Olaf and Cho'Gath from running through and eating lunches, but Fnatic pulls it out, as one almost expects them to.
Gambit Gaming vs Evil Geniuses (2:46:00)
---GG bans: Elise, Zed, Jayce---EG bans: Xin Zhao, Twisted Fate, Kha'Zix---
GG: Olaf, Udyr, Ryze, Ezreal, Nunu
EG: Shen, Maokai, Anivia, Caitlyn, Lulu
You don't recognize the team names, because I guess Riot made them change them, but you know all the players - Gambit Gaming is Moscow 5 (probably Riot doesn't want city names causing bias - wait, Copenhagen Wolves?), and Evil Geniuses is CLG.eu (which would conflict with the NA CLG, sort of). So that's Froggen on Anivia, Wickd on Shen, Snoopeh on Maokai, AlexIch on Ryze, DiamondProx on Udyr, etc etc. Unique champs and my favorite people? Heck yeah, this one's worth watching - DiamondProx gets dragon at level 3! I wonder if I can find this game recorded from Wickd's point of view (probably not), but that would be well worth it, because his Shen went 8/0/10! His ego was probably out of control at the end.
Fnatic vs Giants Gaming (4:14:00)
---Fnatic bans: Ryze, Nunu, Xin Zhao---Giants bans: Blitzcrank, Kassadin, Shen---
FN: Malphite, Olaf, Nidalee, Caitlyn, Lulu
Giants: Wukong, Elise, Zyra, Kennen, Sona
Oddly, I am familiar with more players in the EU, so I have more rooting interest. As for champs, I like Nidalee mid over Zyra, but AD Kennen is always cool. Ultimately, though, rooting against xPeke is kind of an exercise in frustration, even though Giants pulled out some interesting early game tactics to get ahead, Fnatic knows how to come back.
SK Gaming vs Copenhagen Wolves (5:38:00)
---SK bans: Zyra, Kayle,Olaf---Wolves bans: Xin Zhao, Elise, Kha'Zix---
SK: Shen, Vi, Orianna, Twitch, Sona
Wolves: Nidalee, Cho'Gath, Lux, Ezreal, Lulu
Now I realize why I know all the EU players - they're like the Yankees and the Red Sox. Even if you don't follow baseball, you know the characters. The others in the EU are the Indians and the Pirates - still professional players, but the average joe doesn't even know your team exists. Maybe even the Yankees don't even know you exist. Anyway, that's fully on display here, when the score reaches 8-0
Fnatic vs Gambit Gaming
---Fnatic bans: Xin Zhao, Ryze, Kha'Zix---GG bans: Elise, Nidalee, Shen---
Fnatic: Malphite, Olaf, Wukong, Kog'Maw, Lulu
Gambit: Renekton, Volibear, Twisted Fate, Miss Fortune, Sona
Hooray for fun champion picks! And yet it was a pretty standard face roll for GG. Team fights were good, but definitely one-sided.
Copenhagen Wolves vs Evil Geniuses
---Wolves bans: Anivia, Lux, Olaf---EG bans: Nidalee, Xin Zhao, Kha'Zix---
CW: Shen, Lee Sin, Zyra, Ezreal, Sona
EG: Akali, Kayle, Twisted Fate, Caitlyn, Lulu
Wickd Akali, woo.
Giants Gaming vs Gambit Gaming
---Giants bans: Xin Zhao, Kog'Maw, Shen---GG bans: Kassadin, Elise, Kha'Zix---
Giants: Olaf, Dr. Mundo, Ryze, Kennen, Zyra
GG: Renekton, Volibear, Twisted Fate, Ezreal, Sona
Commentators did a lot of discussing on various counters to plays that we have been seeing a lot of in the last few weeks. Olaf counter: Anivia wall, it's a cc that Olaf can't Ragnarok through. 2v1 top+early jungle gank: ward tri-bush and mid lane bring teleport, if the jungler is nearby, a 3v1 tower dive can turn around quickly to a 3v3 under your tower. Anyway, back to this game. Giants get out to a surprise early lead, and then do a great job of hanging on to it. Kennen becomes an awesome little monster with "shurikens of steel" so if you like Kennen or Dr. Mundo, or classic upsets, this is a good game for it. Also, the constant split push and small engage strategy of Giants makes Deman blue in the face trying to keep up with all the action.
SK Gaming vs. Evil Geniuses
---SK bans: Maokai, Lux, Anivia---EG bans: Vi, Twitch, Nidalee---
SK: Olaf, Shen, Kassadin, Ezreal, Sona
EG: Akalie, Xin Zhao, Jayce, Caitlyn, Lulu
Wickd vs Ocelot! Alas, the game is a super slow snowball in favor of SK, mostly due to their Olaf. That Olaf, OP in this patch, clearly. There are some really nice fights, though, if you can dig around for them in the 50 minute match.
Results:
Gambit Gaming 1-1 Fnatic 2-1
Copenhagen Wolves 0-2 Evil Geniuses 2-1
SK Gaming 2-1 Giants Gaming 1-1
Against All Authority 0-0 Dragonborns 0-0
Let me ask a few questions while we wait.
- Why do they still wear two headsets? If they're all in-studio, just attach a microphone to the noise-cancelling headphones? Build a noise-cancelling booth to separate the two teams?
- Can they have weeks where they play less-serious games? Dominion? ARAM? Hunt the Teemo? Ultimate Bravery? Off-role? Like, Ocelot has to play support? A Pro-Am? Where they have to stand behind an amateur player and talk them to victory? Pub play? Where they play against amateurs, but they can only play like... Teemo and Karma?
SK vs Fnatic (1:00:00)
---SK bans: Wukong, Malphite, Kassadin---Fnatic bans: Xin Zhao, Shen, Vi---
SK: Olaf, Cho'Gath, Anivia, Twitch, Nunu
Fnatic: Evelynn, Kayle, Caitlyn, Urgot, Taric
Interesting picks. Jungle Kayle, no Kha'Zix, two AD carry's? But as it turns out, Caitlyn is actually a good counter to Anivia! (No doubt ruining soloQ for a long time). When Anivia walled, Cait 90-caliber netted back through it or ult'd past it. When Anivia would want to push and then roam, Cait would push even harder back and pin her to the turret. It was remarkably successful. For a while, it also looked like Fnatic was also playing the players instead of the champs - remember once upon a time, when the only way to beat TSM was to anger Reginald, because there was no other way to win? It felt like Fnatic was playing that with Ocelot. Though they tell me that Ocelot's become a lot less ragey now that he's kind of the official leader of the team. Anyway, the game is low-kill, and extremely even until the very end, where one ace at 40+ minutes is always game. It certainly looks for a long time as if SK would win, with Fnatic being all squishies, and no one to stop Olaf and Cho'Gath from running through and eating lunches, but Fnatic pulls it out, as one almost expects them to.
Gambit Gaming vs Evil Geniuses (2:46:00)
---GG bans: Elise, Zed, Jayce---EG bans: Xin Zhao, Twisted Fate, Kha'Zix---
GG: Olaf, Udyr, Ryze, Ezreal, Nunu
EG: Shen, Maokai, Anivia, Caitlyn, Lulu
You don't recognize the team names, because I guess Riot made them change them, but you know all the players - Gambit Gaming is Moscow 5 (probably Riot doesn't want city names causing bias - wait, Copenhagen Wolves?), and Evil Geniuses is CLG.eu (which would conflict with the NA CLG, sort of). So that's Froggen on Anivia, Wickd on Shen, Snoopeh on Maokai, AlexIch on Ryze, DiamondProx on Udyr, etc etc. Unique champs and my favorite people? Heck yeah, this one's worth watching - DiamondProx gets dragon at level 3! I wonder if I can find this game recorded from Wickd's point of view (probably not), but that would be well worth it, because his Shen went 8/0/10! His ego was probably out of control at the end.
Fnatic vs Giants Gaming (4:14:00)
---Fnatic bans: Ryze, Nunu, Xin Zhao---Giants bans: Blitzcrank, Kassadin, Shen---
FN: Malphite, Olaf, Nidalee, Caitlyn, Lulu
Giants: Wukong, Elise, Zyra, Kennen, Sona
Oddly, I am familiar with more players in the EU, so I have more rooting interest. As for champs, I like Nidalee mid over Zyra, but AD Kennen is always cool. Ultimately, though, rooting against xPeke is kind of an exercise in frustration, even though Giants pulled out some interesting early game tactics to get ahead, Fnatic knows how to come back.
SK Gaming vs Copenhagen Wolves (5:38:00)
---SK bans: Zyra, Kayle,Olaf---Wolves bans: Xin Zhao, Elise, Kha'Zix---
SK: Shen, Vi, Orianna, Twitch, Sona
Wolves: Nidalee, Cho'Gath, Lux, Ezreal, Lulu
Now I realize why I know all the EU players - they're like the Yankees and the Red Sox. Even if you don't follow baseball, you know the characters. The others in the EU are the Indians and the Pirates - still professional players, but the average joe doesn't even know your team exists. Maybe even the Yankees don't even know you exist. Anyway, that's fully on display here, when the score reaches 8-0
Fnatic vs Gambit Gaming
---Fnatic bans: Xin Zhao, Ryze, Kha'Zix---GG bans: Elise, Nidalee, Shen---
Fnatic: Malphite, Olaf, Wukong, Kog'Maw, Lulu
Gambit: Renekton, Volibear, Twisted Fate, Miss Fortune, Sona
Hooray for fun champion picks! And yet it was a pretty standard face roll for GG. Team fights were good, but definitely one-sided.
Copenhagen Wolves vs Evil Geniuses
---Wolves bans: Anivia, Lux, Olaf---EG bans: Nidalee, Xin Zhao, Kha'Zix---
CW: Shen, Lee Sin, Zyra, Ezreal, Sona
EG: Akali, Kayle, Twisted Fate, Caitlyn, Lulu
Wickd Akali, woo.
Giants Gaming vs Gambit Gaming
---Giants bans: Xin Zhao, Kog'Maw, Shen---GG bans: Kassadin, Elise, Kha'Zix---
Giants: Olaf, Dr. Mundo, Ryze, Kennen, Zyra
GG: Renekton, Volibear, Twisted Fate, Ezreal, Sona
Commentators did a lot of discussing on various counters to plays that we have been seeing a lot of in the last few weeks. Olaf counter: Anivia wall, it's a cc that Olaf can't Ragnarok through. 2v1 top+early jungle gank: ward tri-bush and mid lane bring teleport, if the jungler is nearby, a 3v1 tower dive can turn around quickly to a 3v3 under your tower. Anyway, back to this game. Giants get out to a surprise early lead, and then do a great job of hanging on to it. Kennen becomes an awesome little monster with "shurikens of steel" so if you like Kennen or Dr. Mundo, or classic upsets, this is a good game for it. Also, the constant split push and small engage strategy of Giants makes Deman blue in the face trying to keep up with all the action.
SK Gaming vs. Evil Geniuses
---SK bans: Maokai, Lux, Anivia---EG bans: Vi, Twitch, Nidalee---
SK: Olaf, Shen, Kassadin, Ezreal, Sona
EG: Akalie, Xin Zhao, Jayce, Caitlyn, Lulu
Wickd vs Ocelot! Alas, the game is a super slow snowball in favor of SK, mostly due to their Olaf. That Olaf, OP in this patch, clearly. There are some really nice fights, though, if you can dig around for them in the 50 minute match.
Results:
Gambit Gaming 1-1 Fnatic 2-1
Copenhagen Wolves 0-2 Evil Geniuses 2-1
SK Gaming 2-1 Giants Gaming 1-1
Against All Authority 0-0 Dragonborns 0-0
Wednesday, April 17, 2013
LCS NA W1
Here's a link to the playlist, starting with the first game, CLG vs TSM! I'm excited to see these two teams, finally! I wanted to put under bans "Reginald" and "HotshotGG". Which would be the most OP bans ever. Woo. Several of the team names have changed from qualifiers, notably The Brunch Club has been picked up by sponsor Complexity (who obviously dumped the entire team that didn't qualify!!) and Fear, who is now Vulcun Command.
Team SoloMid vs CounterLogic Gaming
---TSM bans: Nunu, Nidalee, Shen---CLG bans: Olaf, Maokai, LeBlanc---
TSM: Elise, Xin Zhao, Kayle, Ezreal, Lulu
CLG: Malphite, Lee Sin, Syndra, Urgot, Taric
Slow early game - it was still 1-1 at nearly 20 minutes in. At the end, though, you see why they're top players.
Curse vs Team Dignitas
---Crs bans: Shen, Kha'Zix, Olaf---d bans: Akali, Katarina, Miss Fortune---
Crs: Nidalee, Xin Zhao, Kayle, Caitlyn, Lulu
d: Elise, Lee Sin, Gragas, Twitch, Nunu
So Curse banned tanky brutes, and dignitas banned sexy ladies? And then Crs took the remaining sexy ladies (minus Sona), while dignitas took Gragas, Twitch, spider-lady, blind-man, and Nunu? Just saying, you do better playing the sexy ladies, dignitas.
CounterLogic Gaming vs GoodGame University
---CLG bans: Twitch, Elise, Olaf---GGU bans: Nunu, Nidalee, Shen---
CLG: Cho'Gath, Xin Zhao, Twisted Fate, Ezreal, Leona
GGU: Katarina, Nocturne, Diana, Graves, Taric
It was close - GGU was even ahead in kills, but CLG was ahead in gold, and, well....
Team SoloMid vs Vulcun Command
---TSM bans: Elise, Kayle, Nunu---V bans: LeBlanc, Maokai, Olaf---
TSM: Malphite, Jarvan, Kha'Zix, Miss Fortune, Taric
Vul: Shen, Xin Zhao, Ryze, Kog'Maw, Sona
Nope. Reginald's a monster on Kha'Zix.
Curse vs CounterLogic Gaming
---Crs bans: Shen, Nidalee, Taric---CLG bans: Katarina, Kayle, Miss Fortune---
Crs: Olaf, Xin Zhao, Orianna, Kog'Maw, Sona
CLG: Cho'Gath, Lee Sin, Anivia, Caitlyn, Nunu
Apparently Curse was knocked out of the pre-qualifier at PAX East by CLG, and they were looking for a bit of grudge-match vengeance. And boy, did they get it, having picked up Olaf on Voyboy. CLG just didn't have enough CC to deal with the damage and health being put out by Crs.
Team SoloMid vs Dignitas
---TSM bans: Nunu, Elise, Kha'Zix---d bans: LeBlanc, Maokai, Olaf---
TSM: Renekton, Jarvan, Ryze, Miss Fortune, Taric
d: Kayle, Shen, Kassadin, Graves, Alistar
Are we never going to see Reginald on LeBlanc? Banned out every time. It would make it more entertaining. The way TSM dominates games is remarkably yawn. Farm, extensive CC, fight small fights, kill one or two, disengage.
GoodGame University vs Curse
---GGU bans: Miss Fortune, Xin Zhao, Katarina---Crs bans: Nunu, Olaf, Elise---
GGU: Rumble, Trundle, Kayle, Twitch, Lulu
Crs: Nidalee, Jarvan, Orianna, Ezreal, Sona
This game was much closer. The teams went back and forth, and GGU had an edge for a long time, but I guess the lack of direct CC was their undoing. They had both nexus turrets down and just got aced before they could finish the nexus itself.
Vulcan Command vs Dignitas
---V bans: Gragas, Kayle, Kha'Zix---d bans: Jayce, Elise, Nunu---
V: Shen, Olaf, Ryze, Twitch, Lulu
d: Katarina, Xin Zhao, Diana, Ezreal, Alistar
When dignitas picked up Katarina, I was super excited, but no. Scarra played Diana. Guess we'll never see scarra on Katarina ever again? These two teams have no wins yet this first weekend, and I dread the season for Vulcan Command at this rate - hope they don't become like, the Browns. Stay tough, guys. Even though you just got pretty rolled.
Results:
Curse 3-0 CLG 2-1
TSM 2-1 Dignitas 1-2
coL 0-0 MRN 0-0
GGU 0-2 Vulcan 0-2
Team SoloMid vs CounterLogic Gaming
---TSM bans: Nunu, Nidalee, Shen---CLG bans: Olaf, Maokai, LeBlanc---
TSM: Elise, Xin Zhao, Kayle, Ezreal, Lulu
CLG: Malphite, Lee Sin, Syndra, Urgot, Taric
Slow early game - it was still 1-1 at nearly 20 minutes in. At the end, though, you see why they're top players.
Curse vs Team Dignitas
---Crs bans: Shen, Kha'Zix, Olaf---d bans: Akali, Katarina, Miss Fortune---
Crs: Nidalee, Xin Zhao, Kayle, Caitlyn, Lulu
d: Elise, Lee Sin, Gragas, Twitch, Nunu
So Curse banned tanky brutes, and dignitas banned sexy ladies? And then Crs took the remaining sexy ladies (minus Sona), while dignitas took Gragas, Twitch, spider-lady, blind-man, and Nunu? Just saying, you do better playing the sexy ladies, dignitas.
CounterLogic Gaming vs GoodGame University
---CLG bans: Twitch, Elise, Olaf---GGU bans: Nunu, Nidalee, Shen---
CLG: Cho'Gath, Xin Zhao, Twisted Fate, Ezreal, Leona
GGU: Katarina, Nocturne, Diana, Graves, Taric
It was close - GGU was even ahead in kills, but CLG was ahead in gold, and, well....
Team SoloMid vs Vulcun Command
---TSM bans: Elise, Kayle, Nunu---V bans: LeBlanc, Maokai, Olaf---
TSM: Malphite, Jarvan, Kha'Zix, Miss Fortune, Taric
Vul: Shen, Xin Zhao, Ryze, Kog'Maw, Sona
Nope. Reginald's a monster on Kha'Zix.
Curse vs CounterLogic Gaming
---Crs bans: Shen, Nidalee, Taric---CLG bans: Katarina, Kayle, Miss Fortune---
Crs: Olaf, Xin Zhao, Orianna, Kog'Maw, Sona
CLG: Cho'Gath, Lee Sin, Anivia, Caitlyn, Nunu
Apparently Curse was knocked out of the pre-qualifier at PAX East by CLG, and they were looking for a bit of grudge-match vengeance. And boy, did they get it, having picked up Olaf on Voyboy. CLG just didn't have enough CC to deal with the damage and health being put out by Crs.
Team SoloMid vs Dignitas
---TSM bans: Nunu, Elise, Kha'Zix---d bans: LeBlanc, Maokai, Olaf---
TSM: Renekton, Jarvan, Ryze, Miss Fortune, Taric
d: Kayle, Shen, Kassadin, Graves, Alistar
Are we never going to see Reginald on LeBlanc? Banned out every time. It would make it more entertaining. The way TSM dominates games is remarkably yawn. Farm, extensive CC, fight small fights, kill one or two, disengage.
GoodGame University vs Curse
---GGU bans: Miss Fortune, Xin Zhao, Katarina---Crs bans: Nunu, Olaf, Elise---
GGU: Rumble, Trundle, Kayle, Twitch, Lulu
Crs: Nidalee, Jarvan, Orianna, Ezreal, Sona
This game was much closer. The teams went back and forth, and GGU had an edge for a long time, but I guess the lack of direct CC was their undoing. They had both nexus turrets down and just got aced before they could finish the nexus itself.
Vulcan Command vs Dignitas
---V bans: Gragas, Kayle, Kha'Zix---d bans: Jayce, Elise, Nunu---
V: Shen, Olaf, Ryze, Twitch, Lulu
d: Katarina, Xin Zhao, Diana, Ezreal, Alistar
When dignitas picked up Katarina, I was super excited, but no. Scarra played Diana. Guess we'll never see scarra on Katarina ever again? These two teams have no wins yet this first weekend, and I dread the season for Vulcan Command at this rate - hope they don't become like, the Browns. Stay tough, guys. Even though you just got pretty rolled.
Results:
Curse 3-0 CLG 2-1
TSM 2-1 Dignitas 1-2
coL 0-0 MRN 0-0
GGU 0-2 Vulcan 0-2
Tuesday, April 16, 2013
Dead Space 3, Day 2
We are really big fans of Visceral Games and the Dead Space franchise, so we don't harbor any anger or resentment for the lack of .... "Dead-Space-ness". Just a vague sense of... boredom. A lack of edge-of-our-seats, pants-wetting terror that was what provided all the entertainment value in the first place. It's just an emptiness, not a disappointment. Like, we watched an episode of River Monsters that was more harrowing.
Anyway, we're cruising through the game at a good clip. I had expected us to be moving faster than last game, because when Xian is alone, he often will just hover in doorways before going through - sometimes refusing to go through at all, saving and quitting the game instead. Did I mention that we had quickly made it to Chapter 5 in our very first day, while in Dead Space 2, it took over a year? This time, we're moving incredibly fast, partly because I'm an active participant; once a room is empty, it's time to move onto the next, so I open the door and trigger the next wave of baddies. Not that he needs time to sit and cry anymore, most locations are well-lit and, according to Xian, he doesn't fear being overwhelmed by baddies if I can save him.
We discuss it idly while riding one of the interminable elevators in the game. Were there this many elevators before? It feels like we've spent a solid percentage of our time riding back and forth in elevators.
"I told you, people have been saying it's not scary," Xian said, pacing back and forth in the tiny elevator.
"And I was telling you, it's not about adding multi-player. Look around us. We're fighting real humans. They've taken away the 'last survivor, backs against the wall' mentality," I disagreed, reloading both weapons in irritation.
"It's still perfectly acceptable gameplay," he said as we exited the elevator, resorting to one of his favorite gameplay aspects, stomping corpses. "It's just maybe a little disappointing that it's not scary."
"I don't know, the human opponent does kind of affect gameplay," I countered, spotting the orange sight-beams of enemy military. "It's an irritating chest-high wall, Gears of War knockoff," the crouch mechanism is dumb, so I strafe out of cover between volleys to pick off enemies. "I'm not a military man, I'm an engineer, dammit!"
"Well, I am," Xian says, taking care of the rest of the gun-wielding enemies.
"Then why do you have a plasma cutter, may I ask?"
"I have no idea. But the plasma cutter used to be the best weapon of all."
"But now with all this customization of guns, looks like that's not true anymore." I spot a necromorph crawling out of a nearby air duct and wait for it to get to its feet before stasis-ing it, alerting Xian to turn around. He puts a thousand bullets into it.
"Overkill much?" I joke, but the 'doubletap' rule is standard for zombie games, so despite criticizing, I stomp every corpse in the room once.
"They all drop a ton of stuff. Look, got all that ammo back." Not that I could see what his drops are, but the baddies did drop ammo for me as well, and the universal ammo clip made it so I was stuffed to the gills with ammo for every gun.
"Hey, why can't I give you this stasis pack?" Xian complains.
"My inventory's full up," I replied, staggering over to him, loaded down with health packs and ammo.
"Heal yourself, already!" He demands, and I remember that he can see my health if he can see my back. Thanks, full immersion. Since I don't feel very threatened by the enemies, nor punished by the death sequences, I haven't been using my health packs. When we die, the screen merely turns red and informs you that 'Your Partner Has Died' or 'You Have Died', with potentially a torso-less Isaac lying on the ground.
Anyway, we're cruising through the game at a good clip. I had expected us to be moving faster than last game, because when Xian is alone, he often will just hover in doorways before going through - sometimes refusing to go through at all, saving and quitting the game instead. Did I mention that we had quickly made it to Chapter 5 in our very first day, while in Dead Space 2, it took over a year? This time, we're moving incredibly fast, partly because I'm an active participant; once a room is empty, it's time to move onto the next, so I open the door and trigger the next wave of baddies. Not that he needs time to sit and cry anymore, most locations are well-lit and, according to Xian, he doesn't fear being overwhelmed by baddies if I can save him.
We discuss it idly while riding one of the interminable elevators in the game. Were there this many elevators before? It feels like we've spent a solid percentage of our time riding back and forth in elevators.
"I told you, people have been saying it's not scary," Xian said, pacing back and forth in the tiny elevator.
"And I was telling you, it's not about adding multi-player. Look around us. We're fighting real humans. They've taken away the 'last survivor, backs against the wall' mentality," I disagreed, reloading both weapons in irritation.
"It's still perfectly acceptable gameplay," he said as we exited the elevator, resorting to one of his favorite gameplay aspects, stomping corpses. "It's just maybe a little disappointing that it's not scary."
"I don't know, the human opponent does kind of affect gameplay," I countered, spotting the orange sight-beams of enemy military. "It's an irritating chest-high wall, Gears of War knockoff," the crouch mechanism is dumb, so I strafe out of cover between volleys to pick off enemies. "I'm not a military man, I'm an engineer, dammit!"
"Well, I am," Xian says, taking care of the rest of the gun-wielding enemies.
"Then why do you have a plasma cutter, may I ask?"
"I have no idea. But the plasma cutter used to be the best weapon of all."
"But now with all this customization of guns, looks like that's not true anymore." I spot a necromorph crawling out of a nearby air duct and wait for it to get to its feet before stasis-ing it, alerting Xian to turn around. He puts a thousand bullets into it.
"Overkill much?" I joke, but the 'doubletap' rule is standard for zombie games, so despite criticizing, I stomp every corpse in the room once.
"They all drop a ton of stuff. Look, got all that ammo back." Not that I could see what his drops are, but the baddies did drop ammo for me as well, and the universal ammo clip made it so I was stuffed to the gills with ammo for every gun.
"Hey, why can't I give you this stasis pack?" Xian complains.
"My inventory's full up," I replied, staggering over to him, loaded down with health packs and ammo.
"Heal yourself, already!" He demands, and I remember that he can see my health if he can see my back. Thanks, full immersion. Since I don't feel very threatened by the enemies, nor punished by the death sequences, I haven't been using my health packs. When we die, the screen merely turns red and informs you that 'Your Partner Has Died' or 'You Have Died', with potentially a torso-less Isaac lying on the ground.
LCS EU Qualifier, Day 2
Here is the link to the TwitchTV vod. Deman called the Amumu-MF combo: "Curse of the Sad Bullet-Time"
Millenium vs Copenhagen Wolves Game 1 (0:44:00)
---M bans: Wukong, Evelynn, Kayle---CW bans: Olaf, Elise, Kha'Zix---
Wolves: Shen, Cho'gath, Morgana, Ezreal, Lulu
M: Jax, Amumu, Fizz, Miss Fortune, Zyra
After each team's performance in Day 1, I was surprised to see Wolves come out with an early edge which they pushed into an overwhelming advantage.
Millenium vs Copenhagen Wolves Game 2 (1:39:00)
---M bans: Shen, Olaf, Cho'Gath---CW bans: Wukong, Evelynn, Elise---
Wolves: Kha'Zix, Lee Sin, Zyra, Caitlyn, Nunu
M: Jax, Kayle, Fizz, Ezreal, Lulu
This game was very even until the end. Wolves just pulled out of a fight or two on top, and at a late game stage, that's death.
Dragonborns vs Against All Authority Game 1 (3:05:00)
---DB bans: Twisted Fate, Elise, Kha'Zix---aAa bans: Xin Zhao, Draven, Olaf---
DB: Evelynn, Amumu, Kayle, Ezreal, Zyra
aAa: Karthus, Shen, Wukong, Ashe, Sona
Don't try any of what you see here at home, kids. Hosan and Spontexx just hang around after the rest of DB is dead, poking at the five-man mass of aAa and taking damage in return. Luckily for them, their gambit somehow works, Shushei respawns and teleports behind aAa, and they nab the ace.
Dragonborns vs Against All Authority Game 2 (3:58:00)
---aAa bans: Xin Zhao, Olaf, Kayle---DB bans: Elise, Twisted Fate, Kha'Zix---
aAa: Nidalee, Shen, Evelynn, Ezreal, Sona
DB: Jarvan IV, Lee Sin, Zed, Draven, Taric
Lane switch mania! And, though the action starts early with towers going down early, and although DB gets first blood, aAa just musters a remarkably boring domination win.
Dragonborns vs Against All Authority Game 3 (4:44:00)
---aAa bans: Xin Zhao, Olaf, Kayle---DB bans: Twisted Fate, Kha'Zix, Evelynn---
aAa: Elise, Shen, Lux, Graves, Sona
DB: Jayce, Cho'Gath, Nidalee, Ezreal, Zyra
Whew, 12-1 aAa. What happened, DB.
Giants vs Mousesports Game 1 (6:11:00)
---Giants bans: Elise, Evelynn, Dr. Mundo---mouz bans: Twisted Fate, Kassadin, Ryze---
Giants: Katarina, Lee Sin, Zyra, Kennen, Nunu
mouz: Renekton, Olaf, Kayle, Ezreal, Leona
Rare champs in use, and the Kennen running around with the Nunu made for some interesting double-ults. Coupled with an ugly mess of an early gank on Katarina bot and mouz is eventually run under.
Giants vs Mousesports Game 2 (7:02:00)
---mouz bans: Twisted Fate, Kassadin, Katarina---Giants bans: Dr. Mundo, Evelynn, Elise---
mouz: Renekton, Shen, Ryze, Varus, Taric
Giants: Wukong, Olaf, Zyra, Kennen, Sona
mouz manages to catch the Wukong out level 1, but they didn't bring ignite! The Wukong lives with 18 health left, can you believe it. mouz makes me wonder, they're the only team in either NA or EU that I've seen that will surrender. They surrendered both games. I mean, I know how LoL works, when it's hopeless, it's hopeless, but surrendering both games of a best-of-3 just seems.... odd. That's the best word I can find for it.
MeetYourMakers vs Fnatic Game 1 (7:53:00)
---MYM bans: Blitzcrank, Nidalee, Kha'Zix---Fnatic bans: Twisted Fate, Jayce, Wukong---
MYM: Evelynn, Kayle, Vlad, Miss Fortune, Nunu
Fnatic: Rumble, Olaf, Zyra, Urgot, Taric
Not that I really thought that MYM had a chance here, but Fnatic really put down the hurt early and often.
MeetYourMakers vs Fnatic Game 2 (8:40:00)
---MYM bans: Blitzcrank, Nidalee, Kha'Zix---Fnatic bans: Twisted Fate, Wukong, Jayce---
MYM: Evelynn, Xin Zhao, Kayle, Caitlyn, Nunu
Fnatic: Shen, Olaf, Zyra, Urgot, Taric
Similar bans and line-ups, but early game changed. Each team seemed to be using the other's aggression against them. It was closer for a while, but the result was the same.
Millenium vs Copenhagen Wolves Game 1 (0:44:00)
---M bans: Wukong, Evelynn, Kayle---CW bans: Olaf, Elise, Kha'Zix---
Wolves: Shen, Cho'gath, Morgana, Ezreal, Lulu
M: Jax, Amumu, Fizz, Miss Fortune, Zyra
After each team's performance in Day 1, I was surprised to see Wolves come out with an early edge which they pushed into an overwhelming advantage.
Millenium vs Copenhagen Wolves Game 2 (1:39:00)
---M bans: Shen, Olaf, Cho'Gath---CW bans: Wukong, Evelynn, Elise---
Wolves: Kha'Zix, Lee Sin, Zyra, Caitlyn, Nunu
M: Jax, Kayle, Fizz, Ezreal, Lulu
This game was very even until the end. Wolves just pulled out of a fight or two on top, and at a late game stage, that's death.
Dragonborns vs Against All Authority Game 1 (3:05:00)
---DB bans: Twisted Fate, Elise, Kha'Zix---aAa bans: Xin Zhao, Draven, Olaf---
DB: Evelynn, Amumu, Kayle, Ezreal, Zyra
aAa: Karthus, Shen, Wukong, Ashe, Sona
Don't try any of what you see here at home, kids. Hosan and Spontexx just hang around after the rest of DB is dead, poking at the five-man mass of aAa and taking damage in return. Luckily for them, their gambit somehow works, Shushei respawns and teleports behind aAa, and they nab the ace.
Dragonborns vs Against All Authority Game 2 (3:58:00)
---aAa bans: Xin Zhao, Olaf, Kayle---DB bans: Elise, Twisted Fate, Kha'Zix---
aAa: Nidalee, Shen, Evelynn, Ezreal, Sona
DB: Jarvan IV, Lee Sin, Zed, Draven, Taric
Lane switch mania! And, though the action starts early with towers going down early, and although DB gets first blood, aAa just musters a remarkably boring domination win.
Dragonborns vs Against All Authority Game 3 (4:44:00)
---aAa bans: Xin Zhao, Olaf, Kayle---DB bans: Twisted Fate, Kha'Zix, Evelynn---
aAa: Elise, Shen, Lux, Graves, Sona
DB: Jayce, Cho'Gath, Nidalee, Ezreal, Zyra
Whew, 12-1 aAa. What happened, DB.
Giants vs Mousesports Game 1 (6:11:00)
---Giants bans: Elise, Evelynn, Dr. Mundo---mouz bans: Twisted Fate, Kassadin, Ryze---
Giants: Katarina, Lee Sin, Zyra, Kennen, Nunu
mouz: Renekton, Olaf, Kayle, Ezreal, Leona
Rare champs in use, and the Kennen running around with the Nunu made for some interesting double-ults. Coupled with an ugly mess of an early gank on Katarina bot and mouz is eventually run under.
Giants vs Mousesports Game 2 (7:02:00)
---mouz bans: Twisted Fate, Kassadin, Katarina---Giants bans: Dr. Mundo, Evelynn, Elise---
mouz: Renekton, Shen, Ryze, Varus, Taric
Giants: Wukong, Olaf, Zyra, Kennen, Sona
mouz manages to catch the Wukong out level 1, but they didn't bring ignite! The Wukong lives with 18 health left, can you believe it. mouz makes me wonder, they're the only team in either NA or EU that I've seen that will surrender. They surrendered both games. I mean, I know how LoL works, when it's hopeless, it's hopeless, but surrendering both games of a best-of-3 just seems.... odd. That's the best word I can find for it.
MeetYourMakers vs Fnatic Game 1 (7:53:00)
---MYM bans: Blitzcrank, Nidalee, Kha'Zix---Fnatic bans: Twisted Fate, Jayce, Wukong---
MYM: Evelynn, Kayle, Vlad, Miss Fortune, Nunu
Fnatic: Rumble, Olaf, Zyra, Urgot, Taric
Not that I really thought that MYM had a chance here, but Fnatic really put down the hurt early and often.
MeetYourMakers vs Fnatic Game 2 (8:40:00)
---MYM bans: Blitzcrank, Nidalee, Kha'Zix---Fnatic bans: Twisted Fate, Wukong, Jayce---
MYM: Evelynn, Xin Zhao, Kayle, Caitlyn, Nunu
Fnatic: Shen, Olaf, Zyra, Urgot, Taric
Similar bans and line-ups, but early game changed. Each team seemed to be using the other's aggression against them. It was closer for a while, but the result was the same.
Thursday, April 11, 2013
LCS EU Qualifiers Day 1, Group A
Group A for "Ashe"
Fnatic vs Anexis (0:00)
---Didn't see bans---
Fnatic: Shen, Olaf, Wukong, Caitlyn, Lulu
Anexis: Rumble, Amumu, Karthus, Miss Fortune, Blitzcrank
Anexis had a plenty good plan, look at their line-up: Rumble ult, Amumu ult, Miss Fortune ult, Karthus defile, Blitzcrank cc. Too bad that plan went up against Fnatic? Fnatic just stomped all over their faces in a miserable roll.
Giants vs Alternate (0:39:00)
---Giants bans: Ahri, Lee Sin, Twisted Fate---ATN bans: Kassadin, Elise, Olaf---
Giants: Katarina, Dr. Mundo, Ryze, Kennen, Zyra
ATN: Jayce, Cho'gath, Nidalee, Ezreal, Lulu
Huzzah for more interesting matchups. And, there is a ton of lane switching going on. But, after all this early action, ATN suddenly decides they can win the game without ever engaging the other team ever again. This stalls the game for a really, really long time, and only at the end does it start to get ridiculous. And I mean ridiculous. Finally, just before the hour mark, Giants manages the knock out punch.
Alternate vs Anexis (2:01:00)
---ATN bans: Kayle, Amumu, Urgot---Anexis bans: Olaf, Ahri, Twisted Fate---
ATN: Shen, Lee Sin, Orianna, Caitlyn, Lulu
Anexis: Evelynn, Kha'Zix, Anivia, Miss Fortune, Blitzcrank
ATN's comp looks like "protect the super-carry," and Anexis's comp seems to be more "we are squishy."
Fnatic vs Giants (2:57:00)
---Fnatic bans: Kennen, Twisted Fate, Kassadin---Giants bans: Evelynn, Kha'Zix, Blitzcrank---
Fnatic: Lee Sin, Olaf, Lux, Caitlyn, Lulu
Giants: Wukong, Elise, Ryze, Ashe, Nunu
Woohoo, an Ashe! Played by the same nutty guy who played the Kennen earlier. Fnatic seems to be playing the same kind of semi-troll game that Alternate was playing, where they go for wave-clearing and tower-pushing instead of team fighting. Early on, they gain heavy advantage by pushing early towers, but Giants quickly start killing off Fnatic where-ever they can find them and pushing lanes back. Good upset.
Alternate vs Fnatic (3:53:00)
---ATN bans: Kha'Zix, Elise, Shen---Fnatic bans: Twisted Fate, Olaf, Evelynn---
ATN: Urgot, Lee Sin, Ahri, Caitlyn, Sona
Fnatic: Nidalee, Nunu, Kassadin, Kog'Maw, Zyra
These are the two teams that used the tower-push philosophy in their games, and only Fnatic seemed to learn that this method doesn't work. Just as in their previous game, Fnatic saw a ton of their towers fall before finally being able to repeatedly kill ATN.
Results:
1) Giants (2-0)
2) Fnatic (2-1)
3) Alternate (1-2)
4) Anexis (0-2)
Fnatic vs Anexis (0:00)
---Didn't see bans---
Fnatic: Shen, Olaf, Wukong, Caitlyn, Lulu
Anexis: Rumble, Amumu, Karthus, Miss Fortune, Blitzcrank
Anexis had a plenty good plan, look at their line-up: Rumble ult, Amumu ult, Miss Fortune ult, Karthus defile, Blitzcrank cc. Too bad that plan went up against Fnatic? Fnatic just stomped all over their faces in a miserable roll.
Giants vs Alternate (0:39:00)
---Giants bans: Ahri, Lee Sin, Twisted Fate---ATN bans: Kassadin, Elise, Olaf---
Giants: Katarina, Dr. Mundo, Ryze, Kennen, Zyra
ATN: Jayce, Cho'gath, Nidalee, Ezreal, Lulu
Huzzah for more interesting matchups. And, there is a ton of lane switching going on. But, after all this early action, ATN suddenly decides they can win the game without ever engaging the other team ever again. This stalls the game for a really, really long time, and only at the end does it start to get ridiculous. And I mean ridiculous. Finally, just before the hour mark, Giants manages the knock out punch.
Alternate vs Anexis (2:01:00)
---ATN bans: Kayle, Amumu, Urgot---Anexis bans: Olaf, Ahri, Twisted Fate---
ATN: Shen, Lee Sin, Orianna, Caitlyn, Lulu
Anexis: Evelynn, Kha'Zix, Anivia, Miss Fortune, Blitzcrank
ATN's comp looks like "protect the super-carry," and Anexis's comp seems to be more "we are squishy."
Fnatic vs Giants (2:57:00)
---Fnatic bans: Kennen, Twisted Fate, Kassadin---Giants bans: Evelynn, Kha'Zix, Blitzcrank---
Fnatic: Lee Sin, Olaf, Lux, Caitlyn, Lulu
Giants: Wukong, Elise, Ryze, Ashe, Nunu
Woohoo, an Ashe! Played by the same nutty guy who played the Kennen earlier. Fnatic seems to be playing the same kind of semi-troll game that Alternate was playing, where they go for wave-clearing and tower-pushing instead of team fighting. Early on, they gain heavy advantage by pushing early towers, but Giants quickly start killing off Fnatic where-ever they can find them and pushing lanes back. Good upset.
Alternate vs Fnatic (3:53:00)
---ATN bans: Kha'Zix, Elise, Shen---Fnatic bans: Twisted Fate, Olaf, Evelynn---
ATN: Urgot, Lee Sin, Ahri, Caitlyn, Sona
Fnatic: Nidalee, Nunu, Kassadin, Kog'Maw, Zyra
These are the two teams that used the tower-push philosophy in their games, and only Fnatic seemed to learn that this method doesn't work. Just as in their previous game, Fnatic saw a ton of their towers fall before finally being able to repeatedly kill ATN.
Results:
1) Giants (2-0)
2) Fnatic (2-1)
3) Alternate (1-2)
4) Anexis (0-2)
Tuesday, April 9, 2013
LCS EU Qualifiers, Day 1, Group D
Group D for "Draven". One of the teams was banned for 'bad behavior,'(?) so there's only three teams. They just function by pretending that any game that the missing team was going to be a part of was won by the remaining team. MYM therefore gets an early bye.
Mousesports vs EloHell (1:18:00)
---mouz bans: Urgot, Olaf, Evelynn---EloHell bans: Shen, Kayle, Nunu---
mouz: Kha'Zix, Amumu, Katarina, Ezreal, Zyra
EloHell: Irelia, Xin Zhao, Elise, Corki, Sona
Oh no, Corki. I hate Corki, and I was super-relieved to not have to watch any games with Corki so far. Now I'm definitely rooting for mouz; you took Corki and let them have a super aoe+reset team, anyway! I hope you regret it, EloHell!
MeetYourMakers vs Mousesports (2:29:00)
---MYM bans: Renekton, Olaf, Katarina---mouz bans: Wukong, Evelynn, Elise---
MYM: Rumble, Kayle, Twisted Fate, Miss Fortune, Zyra
mouz: Kha'Zix, Shen, Jayce, Varus, Sona
Jungling Kayle, eh? Not successful.
Mousesports vs EloHell (reprise) (3:17:00)
---mouz bans: Urgot, Elise, Kha'Zix---EloHell bans: Shen, Kayle, Nunu---
mouz: Vlad, Dr. Mundo, Evelynn, Varus, Zyra
EloHell: Olaf, Amumu, Orianna, Ezreal, Taric
mouz slowly edges out an advantage over the first 20 minutes, and then uses that slight advantage to eeke out a few teamfights, then uses that slightly bigger advantage to win a few more, etc etc. I'm just not that excited to see a monstrous Eve, since I'm usually the one on the bad end of that.
And that's it! Results:
1) MYM (2-0)
2) Mousesports (2-1)
3) EloHell (1-2)
4) ??? (0-2)
And then the vod moves to some Group A matches, but I think those will be shown on the Group A vod.
Mousesports vs EloHell (1:18:00)
---mouz bans: Urgot, Olaf, Evelynn---EloHell bans: Shen, Kayle, Nunu---
mouz: Kha'Zix, Amumu, Katarina, Ezreal, Zyra
EloHell: Irelia, Xin Zhao, Elise, Corki, Sona
Oh no, Corki. I hate Corki, and I was super-relieved to not have to watch any games with Corki so far. Now I'm definitely rooting for mouz; you took Corki and let them have a super aoe+reset team, anyway! I hope you regret it, EloHell!
MeetYourMakers vs Mousesports (2:29:00)
---MYM bans: Renekton, Olaf, Katarina---mouz bans: Wukong, Evelynn, Elise---
MYM: Rumble, Kayle, Twisted Fate, Miss Fortune, Zyra
mouz: Kha'Zix, Shen, Jayce, Varus, Sona
Jungling Kayle, eh? Not successful.
Mousesports vs EloHell (reprise) (3:17:00)
---mouz bans: Urgot, Elise, Kha'Zix---EloHell bans: Shen, Kayle, Nunu---
mouz: Vlad, Dr. Mundo, Evelynn, Varus, Zyra
EloHell: Olaf, Amumu, Orianna, Ezreal, Taric
mouz slowly edges out an advantage over the first 20 minutes, and then uses that slight advantage to eeke out a few teamfights, then uses that slightly bigger advantage to win a few more, etc etc. I'm just not that excited to see a monstrous Eve, since I'm usually the one on the bad end of that.
And that's it! Results:
1) MYM (2-0)
2) Mousesports (2-1)
3) EloHell (1-2)
4) ??? (0-2)
And then the vod moves to some Group A matches, but I think those will be shown on the Group A vod.
LCS EU Qualifiers, Day 1 Group C
That's C for "Group Cho'gath." I believe, due to hints from the commentators, that this is the first group, chronologically, on the first day.
Copenhagen Wolves vs Against All Authority (2:17:00)
---CW bans: Nidalee, Evelynn, Kayle---aAa bans: Olaf, Kha'Zix, Malphite---
Wolves: Elise, Nocturne, Zyra, Caitlyn, Nunu
aAa: Karthus, Shen, Lux, Ezreal, Sona
Strange picks in strange lanes, but the game itself was not so interesting. AAA was just a slightly better team, playing with slightly better picks. I mean, if Lux laser and Ez ult land, a Karthus ult could often finish someone off.
Trudnief Juz Nie Bedzie vs TCM Gaming (3:08:00)
---TNB bans: Nunu, Shen, Kayle---TCM bans: Evelynn, Lee Sin, Olaf---
TNB: Kha'Zix, Lee Sin, Twisted Fate, Miss Fortune, Lulu
TCM: Irelia, Fiddlesticks, Wukong, Ezreal, Sona
TCM seems to be "HeyIJustMetYou," renamed to be helpful. Despite some early successful ganks on Irelia, TNB is just outclassed, and outgamed by TCM.
The next games are at this link.
Copenhagen Wolves vs Trudnief Juz Nie Bedzie (0:00)
---Wolves bans: Evelynn, Elise, Nidalee---TNB bans: Lee Sin, Kha'Zix, Nunu---
Wolves: Shen, Cho'gath, Kayle, Ezreal, Zyra
TNB: Olaf, Xin Zhao, Ryze, Miss Fortune, Sona
Like we saw in other games, these two teams are a bit more new to the professional gaming scene, and as a result, the fights are slightly more sloppy. But in the end, TNB shows itself to be more rookie than Wolves, and they get rolled in less than 25min.
TCM Gaming vs Against All Authority (39:00)
---TCM bans: Evelynn, Lee Sin, Nunu---aAa bans: Olaf, Malphite, Wukong---
TCM: Rumble, Amumu, Kayle, Miss Fortune, Zyra
aAa: Elise, Shen, Kha'Zix, Ezreal, Sona
You might have guessed this, but aAa is just better than TCM. It takes them a while, but they eventually outmatch them in every way and push down the base.
TCM Gaming vs Copenhagen Wolves (1:23:00)
---Wolves bans: Fiddlesticks, Wukong, Amumu---TCM bans: Elise, Evelyn, Lee Sin---
Wolves: Kha'Zix, Cho'gath, Kayle, Ezreal, Zyra
TCM: Olaf, Shen, Twisted Fate, Caitlyn, Nunu
About twenty minutes in, it changes over to this video. But by this time, TCM is behind by enough.
Results:
1) aAa (2-0)
2) Copenhagen Wolves (2-1)
3) TCM (1-2)
4) TNB (0-2)
Copenhagen Wolves vs Against All Authority (2:17:00)
---CW bans: Nidalee, Evelynn, Kayle---aAa bans: Olaf, Kha'Zix, Malphite---
Wolves: Elise, Nocturne, Zyra, Caitlyn, Nunu
aAa: Karthus, Shen, Lux, Ezreal, Sona
Strange picks in strange lanes, but the game itself was not so interesting. AAA was just a slightly better team, playing with slightly better picks. I mean, if Lux laser and Ez ult land, a Karthus ult could often finish someone off.
Trudnief Juz Nie Bedzie vs TCM Gaming (3:08:00)
---TNB bans: Nunu, Shen, Kayle---TCM bans: Evelynn, Lee Sin, Olaf---
TNB: Kha'Zix, Lee Sin, Twisted Fate, Miss Fortune, Lulu
TCM: Irelia, Fiddlesticks, Wukong, Ezreal, Sona
TCM seems to be "HeyIJustMetYou," renamed to be helpful. Despite some early successful ganks on Irelia, TNB is just outclassed, and outgamed by TCM.
The next games are at this link.
Copenhagen Wolves vs Trudnief Juz Nie Bedzie (0:00)
---Wolves bans: Evelynn, Elise, Nidalee---TNB bans: Lee Sin, Kha'Zix, Nunu---
Wolves: Shen, Cho'gath, Kayle, Ezreal, Zyra
TNB: Olaf, Xin Zhao, Ryze, Miss Fortune, Sona
Like we saw in other games, these two teams are a bit more new to the professional gaming scene, and as a result, the fights are slightly more sloppy. But in the end, TNB shows itself to be more rookie than Wolves, and they get rolled in less than 25min.
TCM Gaming vs Against All Authority (39:00)
---TCM bans: Evelynn, Lee Sin, Nunu---aAa bans: Olaf, Malphite, Wukong---
TCM: Rumble, Amumu, Kayle, Miss Fortune, Zyra
aAa: Elise, Shen, Kha'Zix, Ezreal, Sona
You might have guessed this, but aAa is just better than TCM. It takes them a while, but they eventually outmatch them in every way and push down the base.
TCM Gaming vs Copenhagen Wolves (1:23:00)
---Wolves bans: Fiddlesticks, Wukong, Amumu---TCM bans: Elise, Evelyn, Lee Sin---
Wolves: Kha'Zix, Cho'gath, Kayle, Ezreal, Zyra
TCM: Olaf, Shen, Twisted Fate, Caitlyn, Nunu
About twenty minutes in, it changes over to this video. But by this time, TCM is behind by enough.
Results:
1) aAa (2-0)
2) Copenhagen Wolves (2-1)
3) TCM (1-2)
4) TNB (0-2)
LCS EU Qualifiers, Day 1 Group B
Alright, I found Day 1. And this is Group B for "Blitzcrank"
LoLPro vs DragonBorns (0:22:00)
---LP bans: Jayce, Kha'Zix, Lee Sin---DB bans: Twisted Fate, Amumu, Panthon---
LP: Evelynn, Shen, Ryze, Miss Fortune, Lulu
DB: Xin Zhao, Olaf, Kayle, Draven, Zyra
LoLPro is apparently the re-named Curse.eu: all the EU versions of NA teams have been rebranded, and I'll mention it where I hear it (I fast forward through tons of commentator time-fill). And, of course, DragonBorns is Shushei's new team. Despite LoLPro being favored, DB runs them over with a truck. Their top laner, Spontexx, is a monster.
Team Acer vs Millenium (1:25:00)
---Acer bans: Kha'Zix, Evelynn, Kayle---M bans: Elise, Olaf, Shen---
Acer: Rumble, Lee Sin, Karthus, Varus, Zyra
M: Jax, Amumu, Wukong, Miss Fortune, Lulu
How is this Wukong keeping up with a Karthus mid? Pretty impressive Wukong play, overall, coupled with overpowering MF means win for Millenium.
Team LoLPro vs Team Acer (2:15:00)
---LP bans: Kha'Zix, Elise, Xin Zhao---Acer bans: Evelynn, Kayle, Amumu---
LP: Olaf, Malphite, Master Yi, Caitlyn, Lulu
Acer: Shen, Lee Sin, Fiddlesticks, Draven, Nunu
LoLPro initiating all kinds of lane switching, looks like it's an effort to keep the Fid from becoming a problem, but Fid just puts points into Dark Wind. Fid ult and Shen ult, why have I never thought of that?! Both teams playing it pretty safe, I think this is an elimination game, but LoLPro's team comp didn't seem to match up well against Acer. And sadly, no awesome Yi play to report. Whatever the case, these favorites are done.
DragonBorns vs Millenium (3:08:00)
---DB bans: Amumu, Lee Sin, Wukong---M bans: Evelynn, Olaf, Elise---
DB: Darius, Xin Zhao, Kayle, Jayce, Soraka
M: Jax, Kha'Zix, Yorick, Ezreal, Zyra
Deman and Phreak mention during bans that Ocelot is manning their camera. Wha? I'm not sure how Yorick was contributing, but Ezreal was becoming too high-damage for DB's lineup at the end.
Team Acer vs DragonBorns (3:57:00)
--Acer bans: Evelynn, Kayle, Jayce---DB bans: Lee Sin, Kha'Zix, Amumu---
Acer: Shen, Dr. Mundo, Gragas, Ezreal, Nunu
DB: Xin Zhao, Olaf, Vi, Draven, Taric
Acer is doing some strangeness with lane swapping, but they are listed in the same theoretical order: top bruiser, jungler, APC, ADC, support. You know DB is the team of the people when all five members dive the fountain to get their carry the pentakill. Didn't quite make it, but it was pretty funny.
Results:
1) Millenium (2-0)
2) DragonBorns (2-1)
3) Team Acer (1-2)
4) LoLPro (0-2)
And that's all for the first group, but the video continues to show "Group Cho'gath," so I'll list them here before going on to a new post.
TCM Gaming vs Against All Authority (4:51:00)
---They cut to this group, so bans weren't shown---
TCM: Rumble, Amumu, Kayle, Miss Fortune, Zyra
aAa: Elise, Shen, Kha'Zix, Ezreal, Sona
Mostly uninteresting snowball by aAa from beginning to end.
Copenhagen Wolves vs TCM Gaming (5:36:00)
---CW bans: Fiddlesticks, Wukong, Amumu---TCM bans Elise, Evelynn, Lee Sin---
Wolves: Kha'Zix, Cho'gath, Kayle, Ezreal, Zyra
TCM: Olaf, Shen, Twisted Fate, Caitlyn, Nunu
And the video cuts partway through the game? Time to move to a new vod.
LoLPro vs DragonBorns (0:22:00)
---LP bans: Jayce, Kha'Zix, Lee Sin---DB bans: Twisted Fate, Amumu, Panthon---
LP: Evelynn, Shen, Ryze, Miss Fortune, Lulu
DB: Xin Zhao, Olaf, Kayle, Draven, Zyra
LoLPro is apparently the re-named Curse.eu: all the EU versions of NA teams have been rebranded, and I'll mention it where I hear it (I fast forward through tons of commentator time-fill). And, of course, DragonBorns is Shushei's new team. Despite LoLPro being favored, DB runs them over with a truck. Their top laner, Spontexx, is a monster.
Team Acer vs Millenium (1:25:00)
---Acer bans: Kha'Zix, Evelynn, Kayle---M bans: Elise, Olaf, Shen---
Acer: Rumble, Lee Sin, Karthus, Varus, Zyra
M: Jax, Amumu, Wukong, Miss Fortune, Lulu
How is this Wukong keeping up with a Karthus mid? Pretty impressive Wukong play, overall, coupled with overpowering MF means win for Millenium.
Team LoLPro vs Team Acer (2:15:00)
---LP bans: Kha'Zix, Elise, Xin Zhao---Acer bans: Evelynn, Kayle, Amumu---
LP: Olaf, Malphite, Master Yi, Caitlyn, Lulu
Acer: Shen, Lee Sin, Fiddlesticks, Draven, Nunu
LoLPro initiating all kinds of lane switching, looks like it's an effort to keep the Fid from becoming a problem, but Fid just puts points into Dark Wind. Fid ult and Shen ult, why have I never thought of that?! Both teams playing it pretty safe, I think this is an elimination game, but LoLPro's team comp didn't seem to match up well against Acer. And sadly, no awesome Yi play to report. Whatever the case, these favorites are done.
DragonBorns vs Millenium (3:08:00)
---DB bans: Amumu, Lee Sin, Wukong---M bans: Evelynn, Olaf, Elise---
DB: Darius, Xin Zhao, Kayle, Jayce, Soraka
M: Jax, Kha'Zix, Yorick, Ezreal, Zyra
Deman and Phreak mention during bans that Ocelot is manning their camera. Wha? I'm not sure how Yorick was contributing, but Ezreal was becoming too high-damage for DB's lineup at the end.
Team Acer vs DragonBorns (3:57:00)
--Acer bans: Evelynn, Kayle, Jayce---DB bans: Lee Sin, Kha'Zix, Amumu---
Acer: Shen, Dr. Mundo, Gragas, Ezreal, Nunu
DB: Xin Zhao, Olaf, Vi, Draven, Taric
Acer is doing some strangeness with lane swapping, but they are listed in the same theoretical order: top bruiser, jungler, APC, ADC, support. You know DB is the team of the people when all five members dive the fountain to get their carry the pentakill. Didn't quite make it, but it was pretty funny.
Results:
1) Millenium (2-0)
2) DragonBorns (2-1)
3) Team Acer (1-2)
4) LoLPro (0-2)
And that's all for the first group, but the video continues to show "Group Cho'gath," so I'll list them here before going on to a new post.
TCM Gaming vs Against All Authority (4:51:00)
---They cut to this group, so bans weren't shown---
TCM: Rumble, Amumu, Kayle, Miss Fortune, Zyra
aAa: Elise, Shen, Kha'Zix, Ezreal, Sona
Mostly uninteresting snowball by aAa from beginning to end.
Copenhagen Wolves vs TCM Gaming (5:36:00)
---CW bans: Fiddlesticks, Wukong, Amumu---TCM bans Elise, Evelynn, Lee Sin---
Wolves: Kha'Zix, Cho'gath, Kayle, Ezreal, Zyra
TCM: Olaf, Shen, Twisted Fate, Caitlyn, Nunu
And the video cuts partway through the game? Time to move to a new vod.
Monday, April 8, 2013
Las Vegas March 2013, Day 4
There's a ten dollar store in the Rio, and we bought another bag late night after dinner and packed it in the morning to get all our new sweatshirts and coats home. We checked out pretty late and headed over to Caesar's to try the new buffet, Bacchanal. And I finally realized that the entire weekend, we had been very lucky with lines. Everything (that's not a casino, I suppose) involves lines, and we just happened to be missing the lines everywhere we went. We had given up on valet-ing our car at the casinos, so no more lines there. We went to buffets at extremely off hours, so had not yet encountered a line. And all the attractions we tried to go to had been wait-free.
Not true at Bacchanal. I thought there wouldn't be a ridiculous line because it was a Monday. I was wrong. I am grimly convinced now that there is always a ridiculous line. At all hours of the day, every day of the week. I know there was a ridiculous line when we got there, there was still a ridiculous line when we got in, and there was a ridiculous line when we left! At 3pm! I thought we could come back at a non-lunch hour and it would be better, and that was not true. We walked all the way around the forum shops, and outside Caesar's, but no. Still a line. So we just grit our teeth to get inside - it's a new buffet, and the decor is pretty interesting (chandeliers made of drinking glasses), so we wanted to check it out. The line of food is immense. Each international section could stand alone as it's own buffet - Chinese, Mexican, Italian, American. Because each section is so long, some uncommon offerings are among the regular fare. Fried donut sticks and peking duck, sliders and oyster shooters. The dining areas were split into an area where all the decor was glass, another area where it was all wood, and another where it was all ebony. The best part was at the end of the line, where some industrious dudes were juicing things and placing cups of squeezed juice on ice, and one industrious dude who was shucking oysters as fast as he could to appease the crowd. And there was a crowd - the down side of the super-sized Bacchanal is that no amount of food and servers can really keep up with that many people. Desserts were plentiful and creative, if not the most delectable I've ever had. The forum shops had a very nice atrium, actually, but the stores, like at Crystals, are so top-of-the-line that one need not bother going inside any of them. Well the H&M is probably reasonable, but check out the entrance:
We don't have a shot of it from far away, but that's a three story entrance. Also, I have a picture of the main entrance atrium. (Somebody loves him some curved escalators)
We left for the CityCenter to check out the Mandarin Oriental. I hadn't heard anything about it before, so I was surprised by the fact that the lobby is on the 23rd floor - almost nothing on the ground floor entrance except a bank of elevators that takes you to the real lobby. I was a bit thrown for a loop. But the lobby does have a really great view, so I suppose it's worth the moment of confusion. Between Aria and Mandarin Oriental there is a strip of galleries, and usually we don't care about that sort of thing, but we did peek into the Dale Chihuly gallery. After that, we watched the water wall for a bit and then headed to the airport.
Not true at Bacchanal. I thought there wouldn't be a ridiculous line because it was a Monday. I was wrong. I am grimly convinced now that there is always a ridiculous line. At all hours of the day, every day of the week. I know there was a ridiculous line when we got there, there was still a ridiculous line when we got in, and there was a ridiculous line when we left! At 3pm! I thought we could come back at a non-lunch hour and it would be better, and that was not true. We walked all the way around the forum shops, and outside Caesar's, but no. Still a line. So we just grit our teeth to get inside - it's a new buffet, and the decor is pretty interesting (chandeliers made of drinking glasses), so we wanted to check it out. The line of food is immense. Each international section could stand alone as it's own buffet - Chinese, Mexican, Italian, American. Because each section is so long, some uncommon offerings are among the regular fare. Fried donut sticks and peking duck, sliders and oyster shooters. The dining areas were split into an area where all the decor was glass, another area where it was all wood, and another where it was all ebony. The best part was at the end of the line, where some industrious dudes were juicing things and placing cups of squeezed juice on ice, and one industrious dude who was shucking oysters as fast as he could to appease the crowd. And there was a crowd - the down side of the super-sized Bacchanal is that no amount of food and servers can really keep up with that many people. Desserts were plentiful and creative, if not the most delectable I've ever had. The forum shops had a very nice atrium, actually, but the stores, like at Crystals, are so top-of-the-line that one need not bother going inside any of them. Well the H&M is probably reasonable, but check out the entrance:
We don't have a shot of it from far away, but that's a three story entrance. Also, I have a picture of the main entrance atrium. (Somebody loves him some curved escalators)
We left for the CityCenter to check out the Mandarin Oriental. I hadn't heard anything about it before, so I was surprised by the fact that the lobby is on the 23rd floor - almost nothing on the ground floor entrance except a bank of elevators that takes you to the real lobby. I was a bit thrown for a loop. But the lobby does have a really great view, so I suppose it's worth the moment of confusion. Between Aria and Mandarin Oriental there is a strip of galleries, and usually we don't care about that sort of thing, but we did peek into the Dale Chihuly gallery. After that, we watched the water wall for a bit and then headed to the airport.
Dead Space 3, Day 1
Can you believe it? I forced Xian to set up a skype recorder, so we could make an awesome video of first reactions to what I was assuming would be an epic opening set piece, and.... nothing! I feel so ripped off. If I had only recorded our first playthrough of Dead Space 2, it would have been amazing. Alas for missed chances for us, back then, and for Dead Space 3, now.
I had heard that there was some light outrage, something about the game giving up on being scary, complaints about multiplayer, something. I wasn't concerned, because I never felt it was the solitude that was scary. After all, Xian never actually played the game alone. I felt that the atmosphere could still be there, with two people. But no, it's not about the multiplayer. The game isn't scary because it has, in fact, abandoned any pretense at atmosphere or scary. It has become full modern RE, or even worse, Borderlands. The opening sequence is so not scary, there's no words for it. You just roll up to a brightly lit spaceship armed with full guns, ammo, and health, as some nameless person that's probably going to die anyway. You go ahead and click that link back at the top. Look how dark it is in DS2, first of all. You can't see anything properly, except for the gruesome death of the only person that is helping you, right off the bat. You're a crazy man, one hit from death, in a straitjacket. That's right. You don't even get use of your arms at the opening of Dead Space 2. You don't get kinesis or the plasma cutter until after... well, some gruesome stuff happens first, I'm not going to lie (like I did during those parts to reassure Xian). But it was more memorable than Dead Space 3, right? Man, in the middle of that video, it is so dark, you can not see a thing while reloading your gun, since the gun has the flashlight on it. So you unload the clip into one creature, and then all is dark for the entire seconds of reload - you just have to hope that the other one didn't close in on you in the pitch darkness.
And where are my super-creepy Nicole hallucinations? And super-punishing deaths? Sometimes, the deaths in DS2 were so bad that Xian would shut off the machine and we'd all have ice cream instead. In Dead Space 3, we were at Chapter 5 before we knew it. By Chapter 5 in Dead Space 2, we had already seen a man slit his own throat, crashed a tram and had to fight off brutes upside-down, been through the creepy ruins of a city, been through an even creepier church of Unitology, been swarmed by a pack of scary zombie children and then shot them out an airlock, and finally betrayed by the only lady helping you and made a harrowing escape. Just to fight a boss. These are the kind of cinematic setpieces I'm expecting from you, Dead Space. I don't want to play another Gears of War. Or what this is really turning into: Borderlands. Because of their new crafting system, I find myself wishing more necros would show up so I can get my hands on more materials to craft more awesome trinkets. That's bad, Visceral - wanting more necros should be counter to your goals. Or is it? I hear that you want to 'appeal to a broader audience' to sell more stuff (or someone has told you to do so), is this the way you're doing it? It really feels like you've taking away the 'Dead Space-ness' of it all.
Well, we will turn it up to a harder difficulty and see how the rest of the game goes.
I had heard that there was some light outrage, something about the game giving up on being scary, complaints about multiplayer, something. I wasn't concerned, because I never felt it was the solitude that was scary. After all, Xian never actually played the game alone. I felt that the atmosphere could still be there, with two people. But no, it's not about the multiplayer. The game isn't scary because it has, in fact, abandoned any pretense at atmosphere or scary. It has become full modern RE, or even worse, Borderlands. The opening sequence is so not scary, there's no words for it. You just roll up to a brightly lit spaceship armed with full guns, ammo, and health, as some nameless person that's probably going to die anyway. You go ahead and click that link back at the top. Look how dark it is in DS2, first of all. You can't see anything properly, except for the gruesome death of the only person that is helping you, right off the bat. You're a crazy man, one hit from death, in a straitjacket. That's right. You don't even get use of your arms at the opening of Dead Space 2. You don't get kinesis or the plasma cutter until after... well, some gruesome stuff happens first, I'm not going to lie (like I did during those parts to reassure Xian). But it was more memorable than Dead Space 3, right? Man, in the middle of that video, it is so dark, you can not see a thing while reloading your gun, since the gun has the flashlight on it. So you unload the clip into one creature, and then all is dark for the entire seconds of reload - you just have to hope that the other one didn't close in on you in the pitch darkness.
And where are my super-creepy Nicole hallucinations? And super-punishing deaths? Sometimes, the deaths in DS2 were so bad that Xian would shut off the machine and we'd all have ice cream instead. In Dead Space 3, we were at Chapter 5 before we knew it. By Chapter 5 in Dead Space 2, we had already seen a man slit his own throat, crashed a tram and had to fight off brutes upside-down, been through the creepy ruins of a city, been through an even creepier church of Unitology, been swarmed by a pack of scary zombie children and then shot them out an airlock, and finally betrayed by the only lady helping you and made a harrowing escape. Just to fight a boss. These are the kind of cinematic setpieces I'm expecting from you, Dead Space. I don't want to play another Gears of War. Or what this is really turning into: Borderlands. Because of their new crafting system, I find myself wishing more necros would show up so I can get my hands on more materials to craft more awesome trinkets. That's bad, Visceral - wanting more necros should be counter to your goals. Or is it? I hear that you want to 'appeal to a broader audience' to sell more stuff (or someone has told you to do so), is this the way you're doing it? It really feels like you've taking away the 'Dead Space-ness' of it all.
Well, we will turn it up to a harder difficulty and see how the rest of the game goes.
Friday, April 5, 2013
LCS EU Qualifiers, Day 3
Here's the link at TwitchTV to watch them, though I'm not sure what order they're supposed to be in - I think this is the last day, so these may post in backwards order. But, they have a live audience! So that kind of gives it a more entertaining edge.
Mousesports vs DragonBorns, Game 1 (00:50:00)
---mouz bans: Xin Zhao, Kayle, Olaf---DB bans: Varus, Dr. Mundo, Evelynn---
mouz: Shen, Amumu, Jayce, Caitlynn, Zyra
DB: Jax, Cho'gath, Kha'Zix, Ezreal, Sona
After so long watching the same handful of champs in NA qualifiers, EU is a breath of fresh air. Sure, Ez/Sona lane bot and Shen top is the very same as NA, and Jayce/Kha'Zix/Amumu are staples, but look at those bans! Varus, Dr. Mundo? Are you trolling? Worth mentioning: gentleman Cho'gath! Is everyone in the EU this aggressive? There doesn't seem to be such a thing as 'disengage' for either team here. Also, DragonBorns, why do you have to go this long route to qualify? You're just going to smash all your opponents, aren't you?
Mousesports vs DragonBorns, Game 1 (00:50:00)
---mouz bans: Xin Zhao, Kayle, Olaf---DB bans: Varus, Dr. Mundo, Evelynn---
mouz: Shen, Amumu, Jayce, Caitlynn, Zyra
DB: Jax, Cho'gath, Kha'Zix, Ezreal, Sona
After so long watching the same handful of champs in NA qualifiers, EU is a breath of fresh air. Sure, Ez/Sona lane bot and Shen top is the very same as NA, and Jayce/Kha'Zix/Amumu are staples, but look at those bans! Varus, Dr. Mundo? Are you trolling? Worth mentioning: gentleman Cho'gath! Is everyone in the EU this aggressive? There doesn't seem to be such a thing as 'disengage' for either team here. Also, DragonBorns, why do you have to go this long route to qualify? You're just going to smash all your opponents, aren't you?
Even the music they play between games is different in the EU.
Mousesports vs DragonBorns, Game 2 (1:43:00)
---mouz bans: Xin
Zhao, Kayle, Evelynn---DB bans: Varus, Dr. Mundo, Elise---
DB: Olaf, Cho’gath, Kha’Zix, Ezreal, Janna
mouz: Vlad, Lee Sin, Syndra, Vayne, Alistar
mouz obviously knows that they need to keep DB down early, but
early ganks and lane switches turn out disastrously. Disastrous isn’t even a strong enough word
for what happened. Catastrophic may not
cover it, either. You should probably
watch it: start at around 1:45:00. DB
gets so far ahead that they could probably have ended it by fifteen minutes,
but instead, they start playing very recklessly,
and several lengthy, sloppy fights ensue. “Playing with their food,” I believe Deman
said. It got ugly.
MeetYourMakers vs Millenium Game 1 (2:40:00)
---MYM bans: Fizz, Kha’Zix, Kayle---M bans: Twisted Fate, Jayce,
Wukong---
MYM: Olaf, Xin Zhao, Karthus, Miss Fortune, Zyra
M: Shen, Lee Sin, Ryze, Urgot, Taric
This game was a slow, low-death-count game. It’s not like the mouz vs. DB game, where
wonton aggression steadily gets everyone killed off – both M and MYM play it
pretty defensive. Even in a 5v5 fight,
only 1 or two people will die. It was close
for a long time, but eventually edged out by MYM’s MF, hanging out in the
unreachable ethers.
MeetYourMakers vs Millenium Game 2 (3:40:00)
---M bans: Twisted Fate, Zyra, Olaf---MYM bans: Fizz, Kha’Zix,
Wukong---
M: Xin Zhao, Lee Sin, Nidalee, Caitlyn, Nunu
MYM: Shen, Kayle, Jayce, Miss Fortune, Sona
Why ban Zyra? It was the MF
that ruined you last game. And now she
has a Kayle.
MeetYourMakers vs DragonBorns Game 1 (5:02:00)
---MYM bans: Kha'Zix, Nidalee, Evelynn---DB bans: Twisted Fate, Jayce, Shen---
MYM: Olaf, Amumu, Wukong, Vayne, Sona
DB: Xin Zhao, Kayle, Vi, Ezreal, Taric
Gotta love Shushei, with his unknown champ picks. Also, about a minute into the game it's four to one deaths in favor of DB.
MeetYourMakers vs DragonBorns, Game 2 (5:48:00)
---DB bans: Twisted Fate, Shen, Jayce---MYM bans: Kha'Zix, Nidalee, Vi---
DB: Evelynn, Xin Zhao, Lux, Ezreal, Soraka
MYM: Olaf, Kayle, Wukong, Miss Fortune, Sona
For those of you out there like me, hoping to see some epic Lux play from Shushei, let me pop your bubble before you watch it: no such luck. But DB is still an unstoppable force. Now that I realize that this is the final day, I wonder how DB fell to the third day instead of qualifying on one of the first days.
MeetYourMakers vs DragonBorns Game 1 (5:02:00)
---MYM bans: Kha'Zix, Nidalee, Evelynn---DB bans: Twisted Fate, Jayce, Shen---
MYM: Olaf, Amumu, Wukong, Vayne, Sona
DB: Xin Zhao, Kayle, Vi, Ezreal, Taric
Gotta love Shushei, with his unknown champ picks. Also, about a minute into the game it's four to one deaths in favor of DB.
MeetYourMakers vs DragonBorns, Game 2 (5:48:00)
---DB bans: Twisted Fate, Shen, Jayce---MYM bans: Kha'Zix, Nidalee, Vi---
DB: Evelynn, Xin Zhao, Lux, Ezreal, Soraka
MYM: Olaf, Kayle, Wukong, Miss Fortune, Sona
For those of you out there like me, hoping to see some epic Lux play from Shushei, let me pop your bubble before you watch it: no such luck. But DB is still an unstoppable force. Now that I realize that this is the final day, I wonder how DB fell to the third day instead of qualifying on one of the first days.
Las Vegas March 2013, Day 3
We were getting up at 8am anyway, so arriving after 9am to the site of the time share complex was no problem for us. This particular one so happened to be within the network of Nan's mom's timeshare company, so we've heard of it - there aren't that many in Vegas, after all. So we put on our endurance+3 gear and patiently waded through the filling out of paperwork and waiting, etc. Luckily, the sales company knew what was up. Each couple/family got their own salesperson, and the pitch was literally made over a generous breakfast. It really helped my attention span to be able to nibble on some breakfast pastries and sip juice. And it wasn't a hard sell - once we politely declined, they handed us our Blue Man Group tickets and wished us a pleasant vacation. That was a relief, because the lady who made us attend was extremely pushy. You never know sometimes, with these kinds of things.
At any rate, since we were on the south end of the strip, I steered us in the direction of the Silverton Casino to check out the reports of a gigantic fish tank. It was there, but it was still early for feeding time, so we wandered into the humongous Bass Pro Shop. How big, you ask? There were multiple waterfalls, multiple swimming-pool-sized fish tanks, and a huge floor area to display entire boats.
Fish feeding was interesting, because all of gigantic rays in the tank were handfed by the diver right up against the glass. We didn't stay long, though, because the aforementioned bad parents vacationing in Las Vegas were taking a vacation from controlling their children, and we were largely getting run over by very loud kids. We headed to the Monte Carlo to catch the 4pm Blue Man show. There were lots of kids at the early show on Easter, which made me nervous, but they weren't too much in the way. The show was awesome as advertised, here's the last song, which may spoil it for you if you are sensitive to spoils? The rear level of seats was 90% as good as the front orchestra, so if it comes down to that decision, don't spend a lot more to sit up front. Though the very front row gets ponchos to wear :)
Our tickets came with a 2-for-1 deal at the nearby cupcake shop, so obviously we had to do that. After a light nap, we went to the Village Buffet the the Rio, which is supposedly the best (and only) seafood buffet on the strip. It did have unlimited lobster tails as advertised, though lobster tails in bulk somewhat turn out like crawdads. Still, lobsters and oysters, I'm not complaining. Though, service was pretty spotty, I'll complain about that - they were kind of closing up underneath us.
At any rate, since we were on the south end of the strip, I steered us in the direction of the Silverton Casino to check out the reports of a gigantic fish tank. It was there, but it was still early for feeding time, so we wandered into the humongous Bass Pro Shop. How big, you ask? There were multiple waterfalls, multiple swimming-pool-sized fish tanks, and a huge floor area to display entire boats.
Fish feeding was interesting, because all of gigantic rays in the tank were handfed by the diver right up against the glass. We didn't stay long, though, because the aforementioned bad parents vacationing in Las Vegas were taking a vacation from controlling their children, and we were largely getting run over by very loud kids. We headed to the Monte Carlo to catch the 4pm Blue Man show. There were lots of kids at the early show on Easter, which made me nervous, but they weren't too much in the way. The show was awesome as advertised, here's the last song, which may spoil it for you if you are sensitive to spoils? The rear level of seats was 90% as good as the front orchestra, so if it comes down to that decision, don't spend a lot more to sit up front. Though the very front row gets ponchos to wear :)
Our tickets came with a 2-for-1 deal at the nearby cupcake shop, so obviously we had to do that. After a light nap, we went to the Village Buffet the the Rio, which is supposedly the best (and only) seafood buffet on the strip. It did have unlimited lobster tails as advertised, though lobster tails in bulk somewhat turn out like crawdads. Still, lobsters and oysters, I'm not complaining. Though, service was pretty spotty, I'll complain about that - they were kind of closing up underneath us.
Thursday, April 4, 2013
LCS Qualifiers: Day 3, Eliminations
Two days of qualification down, one to go. Each game seems like a reprisal of the same themes - with so many champs in the League, there's no way to ban out a player, so you can only ban out the three champs that most annoy you, or the three champs that would ruin your secret strategem. As a result, I see the same champs over and over: Olaf, Kha'Zix, Cho'Gath, Shen, Elise, Katarina top or jungle; Ezreal, Graves, Twitch, Miss Fortune, Sona, Lulu, bot duo; and Ryze, Ahri, Karthus, Vlad mid. Any deviations are like a welcome breath of air for me, so it makes me wonder about the dudes who play just the one or two champs day in and day out. Katarina is fun enough, but Olaf's game concept bores me.
Dirtnap Gaming vs Azure Gaming
---DNG bans: Twisted Fate, Malphite, Nunu---AZG bans: Jayce, Kha'Zix, Evelynn---
DNG: Shen, Cho'Gath, Ahri, Graves, Sona
AZG: Olaf, Nocturne, Ryze, Ezreal, Lulu
This game might be likened to a knock-down drag-out brawl. It's close, and no quarter is given in the narrowly-won fights. Eventually the scales tip in favor of DNG, via small things like 2-for-3 fights, and AZG not quite as in synch with Demonlul as DNG is with ecko.
Dirtnap Gaming vs Azure Gaming, Game 2
---DNG bans: Twisted Fate, Malphite, Nunu---AZG bans: Jayce, Shen, Kha'Zix---
DNG: Jax, Cho'Gath, Gragas, Graves, Sona
AZG: Olaf, Amumu, Evelynn, Ezreal, Lulu
AZG gets slightly ahead early in this one, and verrrrrrry slowly snowballs that advantage into a win. Commentators speculate that their trepidation may come from the game that they had won vs MRN on an earlier day that they eventually lost.
Dirtnap Gaming vs Azure Gaming
---DNG bans: Twisted Fate, Malphite, Nunu---AZG bans: Jayce, Kha'Zix, Evelynn---
DNG: Shen, Cho'Gath, Ahri, Graves, Sona
AZG: Olaf, Nocturne, Ryze, Ezreal, Lulu
This game might be likened to a knock-down drag-out brawl. It's close, and no quarter is given in the narrowly-won fights. Eventually the scales tip in favor of DNG, via small things like 2-for-3 fights, and AZG not quite as in synch with Demonlul as DNG is with ecko.
Dirtnap Gaming vs Azure Gaming, Game 2
---DNG bans: Twisted Fate, Malphite, Nunu---AZG bans: Jayce, Shen, Kha'Zix---
DNG: Jax, Cho'Gath, Gragas, Graves, Sona
AZG: Olaf, Amumu, Evelynn, Ezreal, Lulu
AZG gets slightly ahead early in this one, and verrrrrrry slowly snowballs that advantage into a win. Commentators speculate that their trepidation may come from the game that they had won vs MRN on an earlier day that they eventually lost.
Dirtnap Gaming vs. Azure Gaming, Game 3
---DNG bans: Malphite, Nunu, Olaf---AZG bans: Jayce, Kha’Zix,
Evelynn---
DNG: Shen, Lee Sin, Karthus, Ezreal, Taric
AZG: Cho’gath, Amumu, Twisted Fate, Miss Fortune, Lulu
This is another dragged out blow-for-blow fight. It was dead even all the way to the end, the
winner could not be predicted even 40 minutes in, and how often can you say
that? DNG just… won the stare-down at
the end, I guess.
Meat Playground vs Team MRN, Game 1
---MP bans: Jarven, Riven, Anivia---MRN bans: Elise, Malphite,
Evelynn---
MP: Cho’gath, Amumu, Kha’Zix, Kog’Maw, Nunu
MRN: Irelia, Shen, Katarina, Ezreal, Sona
Really it came down to team picks - Katarina couldn't get off her damage combo against Cho'gath, and Kog'Maw didn't have to get anywhere near the fight to be effective. And, I believe I've said before, Meat Playground is a very end-game-heavy team.
Meat Playground vs Team MRN, Game 2
---MP bans: Jarven, Riven, Anivia---MRN bans: Kha'Zix, Malphite, Evelynn---
MP: Cho’gath, Amumu, Katarina, Kog’Maw, Nunu
MRN: Olaf, Shen, Ahri, Urgot, Taric
Maybe MRN realized that part about late game strategy for MP. They set up a mid-game team, and played lane farm with a compliant MP until nearly the twenty minute mark. Even though they were down 6-1 in kills, they simply started pushing towers and winning team fights.
Meat Playground vs Team MRN, Game 3
---MP bans: Jarven, Riven, Anivia---MRN bans: Kha'Zix, Malphite, Evelynn---
MP: Shen, Cho’gath, Vlad, Vayne, Nunu
MRN: Olaf, Nocturne, Ahri, Urgot, Taric
Whew, the Cho'gath gets caught out at 45 seconds! And things start landsliding in MRN's favor, but it's an elimination game, so despite being way behind in kills, MP gives them a seriously hard time of it in every fight. Team fights are almost constantly in effect, everyone is raring to fight at all times.
Dirtnap Gaming vs Team MRN, Game 1
---DNG bans: Jarven, Malphite, Anivia---MRN bans: Kha'Zix, Jayce, Evelynn---
DNG: Shen, Lee Sin, Karthus, Ezreal, Lulu
MRN: Olaf, Nocturne, Ahri, Urgot, Taric
DNG was ruthless early on, invading to MRN's wraiths and killing ClakeyDeeee before he realized they were there, then killing him twice more before he was even level 6. They abused Karthus/Shen to appear out of the jungle with tons of people and damage. MRN figured out how to turn it around, and the repeated their mid-game-crush-team comp.
Dirtnap Gaming vs Team MRN, Game 2
---DNG bans: Urgot, Malphite, Anivia---MRN bans: Kha'Zix, Jayce, Evelynn---
DNG: Riven, Cho'gath, Kassadin, Graves, Lulu
MRN: Olaf, Jarvan, Ahri, Ezreal, Sona
If DNG had reviewed their notes on the weekend tournament like I did, they'd have known that Kassadin had a 0% win rate for the entire tournament, and would not have put their eggs in that basket in their elimination game.
Results:
Team MRN is the only survivor from the online qualifiers to join the other newly salaried professional players that will play every week. The eight teams will be:
CLG, TSM, Dignitas, Curse, The Brunch Club, Team MRN, Good Game University, Team Fear
Wednesday, April 3, 2013
Las Vegas March 2013, Day 2
Our hotel, the Westin, just off the strip, is not only smoke-free, but also offers 5 bucks at any of the in-house restaurants if you forego room service. They claim it's for a more 'green' hotel. Well, since they'll still give you the toiletries you need if you ask, the only thing room service does for me is make my bed, which I don't even care about. All my stuff is plenty clean and put away, and they provide more than enough towels. So, five bucks at their 24-hr Starbucks? Sure.
In the morning we went to the Siegfried and Roy Secret Garden and Dolphin Habitat (long name). Lucky thing, too, because we walked right in with no line at about 10am, and when we left, there was a massive ugly line outside in the rapidly building heat, and the dolphin area was really crowded with people. In the morning, there was plenty of space around the dolphin pool to sit and watch at very close range. They say that they don't train the dolphins to do tricks, but regular 'interacting' with the dolphins pretty much means tricks. So we saw a dolphin show from as close as you can get without buying the Supreme Dolphin Experience (or whatever it's called). Basically I was right behind the people who did buy that ticket. Check it out:
The dolphin you can barely see on the far left is holding paintbrushes in its mouth and making abstract art. You can buy them in the gift shop. And we also saw some large cats. Not that many, and unfortunately, they're all asleep during the day. So, you make the determination on whether it's worth it - we bought the ticket 3-pack for this, the aquarium at Mandalay Bay, and CSI: The Experience. You have to decide right when you buy the 3-pack, which three out of several tickets you want, and without a line to stand in, I had to make a split-second choice. They're probably all a rip off, in the end. Sigh, Vegas.
We meandered towards the Venetian, passing by the gondolas and Madam Tussard's. I asked Nan if he wanted to check out a gondola ride, but it was really sunny and hot, the people in those gondolas looked like they were baking. He asked me if I wanted to check out Madam Tussard's, and that's a firm no. Wax people are creepy, period the end.
When we got inside the shops at the Venetian, we were all but assaulted by a door greeter that dragged us to a time-share seller that made a very hard sell to get us to go to one of those presentations. Even though she actually wanted money (a deposit to ensure we'd show up), the presentation seemed legit enough, so we agreed. What else were we doing in the morning, anyway. This whole vacation post is turning into an extreme couponing episode, isn't it? Well, the money we save, we in turn blow on the blackjack tables.
We finished up exploring the Venetian - apparently there's two gondola rides, one inside and one outside - and went to Mandalay Bay to see the aquarium. I didn't realize it until later, but there was a big boxing match going on in Mandalay Bay. We must have missed the crowds lining up for it. The aquarium is open pretty late, so we were confident there would be few people there, and there weren't many - apparently only the bad parents take their kids to an aquarium at 9pm at night. These bad parents are also the ones who let their kids run around screaming at the top of their lungs. So that was a little bit ruined. Also, strangely, the large tanks were significantly cloudy and poorly lit. Otherwise, it was a nice setup - glass floor and ceiling panels, glass tunnel through the tank, gigantic sharks and rays, touch-tank rays, jellyfish, lionfish tank.
We ate in Citizen, the 24-hr restaurant in Mandalay Bay, and saw all the people from the fight leaving. The music was turned up crazy loud in there, can't recommend it, despite free drink refills. I wanted to play spot-the-hooch, but there's no where to sit or stand discreetly in Mandalay Bay, and their new nightclub isn't open. Nan came up with a new game, though: Bad Parent Watch, so we also vied to see who would spot the worst parents. I scoured the casino floor, looking for someone smoking a cigarette, playing slots, and holding a baby, but no such luck. We did see some parents buying their kids candy at 11:45pm, but no clear winner yet.
We played some late blackjack back at the Westin. Usually I don't see the appeal of throwing money away, but I entertained myself by counting cards while Nan played. It wasn't a busy table, so the dealer let me sit next to Nan and watch. I told him I'd kick him or something to signal a favorable deal, but as it turned out, every time I was about to, the dealer would just so happen to win, so it would have just made him lose more money if I had anyway. I was sufficiently entertained, though - contrary to popular opinion, it does not take any smarts to count cards, just an enormous amount of concentration. Our first dealer dealt so fast that I probably couldn't have kept up if I had an abacus out. Our last dealer dealt at a more sedate (rookie) pace. Nan thought I looked incredibly bored, just staring blankly at the cards and refusing all drinks and conversation. At least I have something to keep myself occupied. Hope the dealers in the future let me sit at the table.
In the morning we went to the Siegfried and Roy Secret Garden and Dolphin Habitat (long name). Lucky thing, too, because we walked right in with no line at about 10am, and when we left, there was a massive ugly line outside in the rapidly building heat, and the dolphin area was really crowded with people. In the morning, there was plenty of space around the dolphin pool to sit and watch at very close range. They say that they don't train the dolphins to do tricks, but regular 'interacting' with the dolphins pretty much means tricks. So we saw a dolphin show from as close as you can get without buying the Supreme Dolphin Experience (or whatever it's called). Basically I was right behind the people who did buy that ticket. Check it out:
We meandered towards the Venetian, passing by the gondolas and Madam Tussard's. I asked Nan if he wanted to check out a gondola ride, but it was really sunny and hot, the people in those gondolas looked like they were baking. He asked me if I wanted to check out Madam Tussard's, and that's a firm no. Wax people are creepy, period the end.
When we got inside the shops at the Venetian, we were all but assaulted by a door greeter that dragged us to a time-share seller that made a very hard sell to get us to go to one of those presentations. Even though she actually wanted money (a deposit to ensure we'd show up), the presentation seemed legit enough, so we agreed. What else were we doing in the morning, anyway. This whole vacation post is turning into an extreme couponing episode, isn't it? Well, the money we save, we in turn blow on the blackjack tables.
We finished up exploring the Venetian - apparently there's two gondola rides, one inside and one outside - and went to Mandalay Bay to see the aquarium. I didn't realize it until later, but there was a big boxing match going on in Mandalay Bay. We must have missed the crowds lining up for it. The aquarium is open pretty late, so we were confident there would be few people there, and there weren't many - apparently only the bad parents take their kids to an aquarium at 9pm at night. These bad parents are also the ones who let their kids run around screaming at the top of their lungs. So that was a little bit ruined. Also, strangely, the large tanks were significantly cloudy and poorly lit. Otherwise, it was a nice setup - glass floor and ceiling panels, glass tunnel through the tank, gigantic sharks and rays, touch-tank rays, jellyfish, lionfish tank.
We ate in Citizen, the 24-hr restaurant in Mandalay Bay, and saw all the people from the fight leaving. The music was turned up crazy loud in there, can't recommend it, despite free drink refills. I wanted to play spot-the-hooch, but there's no where to sit or stand discreetly in Mandalay Bay, and their new nightclub isn't open. Nan came up with a new game, though: Bad Parent Watch, so we also vied to see who would spot the worst parents. I scoured the casino floor, looking for someone smoking a cigarette, playing slots, and holding a baby, but no such luck. We did see some parents buying their kids candy at 11:45pm, but no clear winner yet.
We played some late blackjack back at the Westin. Usually I don't see the appeal of throwing money away, but I entertained myself by counting cards while Nan played. It wasn't a busy table, so the dealer let me sit next to Nan and watch. I told him I'd kick him or something to signal a favorable deal, but as it turned out, every time I was about to, the dealer would just so happen to win, so it would have just made him lose more money if I had anyway. I was sufficiently entertained, though - contrary to popular opinion, it does not take any smarts to count cards, just an enormous amount of concentration. Our first dealer dealt so fast that I probably couldn't have kept up if I had an abacus out. Our last dealer dealt at a more sedate (rookie) pace. Nan thought I looked incredibly bored, just staring blankly at the cards and refusing all drinks and conversation. At least I have something to keep myself occupied. Hope the dealers in the future let me sit at the table.
Las Vegas March 2013, Day 1
The story behind this Las Vegas trip is that I finally decided to be a super-fan and buy tickets to IPL 6, after IPL 5 was so awesome and exciting. And Vegas is a perfect place to go with Nan, since there's things for him to do that don't involve sitting in a big audience with a bunch of other LoL geeks. I even convinced some of my other LoL crew to buy tickets, but I'm the only one who bought hotel and flight so far in advance. And, just my luck, IPL folded up shop and died. Not that I'm mad that I have to go to Vegas - there's other things to do there, but Goddammit, IPL. I'm going to be mad at you forevermore.
We arrived very early on Friday, grabbed a rental car from the super-rental-car theme-park-style rental mega-hub, and went straight to the Hoover Dam. It was sunny and approaching hot (especially for March), but not as hot as Vegas can get, thankfully. Still, we had some drive-through McDonald's and had an extra water or two with ice from them. We walked around and took many pictures, but didn't take a full tour, because Nan has been on one. Did you know, though, that you can park for free on the far side of the dam? It's not even really that far of a walk. Don't pay the $7 to park fifteen feet closer! The views were very nice from the dam and from the road. We didn't climb up to Pat Tillman bridge - too sunny, no sunglasses or sunscreen, coming from a freezing cold climate. We just soaked in some views and headed back.
As we half expected, it was still too early to check in, so we gave them our phone number and went to the Las Vegas Premium Outlets South. I wanted to go early on purpose, before we went to the extremely expensive shops on the strip proper. There were great outlet stores, not always huge deals, but we did manage to find some sweatshirts and coats on deep discount because it was so hot outside. We checked into our hotel and took a lengthy siesta before cleaning up and going out in the late evening to the buffet at the Wynn, rated as one of the best on the strip. Everything was quite good (decor was standard Las Vegas fare plus extremely tall flower vase structures) and dessert area was delectable, with crepes made to order and even ice cream cookie sandwiches made to order.
We spent some quality time hoochie-watching. I tried to convince Nan to try and take pictures, but he thought it would be too obvious. But it was really good - there are at least two night clubs in that complex, so the floor was full of ladies wearing their absolute minimum. I definitely saw some undies underneath some too-short skirts, and we spent some time trying to spot the sketchiest hooch. When Nan decided we were being too obvious, we went outside to watch the last Sirens of TI show. We were incredibly disappointed, partly by the show, but mostly by the audience. The show had the scantily-clad ladies as advertised, but that's not enough of a draw at that distance. And you could really see how awesome the show must have been, back in it's heyday of actual pirate battle, since they kept a lot of the special effects, a few fancy dives, and sinking ships. It must have been really fun. It's not anymore, in case you were wondering. The ladies sink the opposing ship due to mostly power of singing and burlesque dancing. It's a mite ridiculous. The other factor that was stupid was the audience. I'll give a pass to the incrrrrredibly drunk ladies right behind me screaming obscenities and otherwise before, during, and after the show, because it's Vegas, and they give away a lot of drinks in big novelty cups. But the numerous parents with small children in the audience? Not so forgiving. The show started after 11:30pm, first of all. The other people on the strip at that hour are hookers or women dressed as hookers. Even the ladies on the stage were dressed as hookers. One child, no more than four or five, asked loudly what that siren "was doing to that pirate" right there on the stage in front of us. I missed the parent's reply, but there's really nothing that could excuse them. Heads up, parents, there's nothing for your kids on the strip. If you thought Sirens of TI was for your kids, you were very, very wrong. They don't want you there. Just let your kids sleep.
We arrived very early on Friday, grabbed a rental car from the super-rental-car theme-park-style rental mega-hub, and went straight to the Hoover Dam. It was sunny and approaching hot (especially for March), but not as hot as Vegas can get, thankfully. Still, we had some drive-through McDonald's and had an extra water or two with ice from them. We walked around and took many pictures, but didn't take a full tour, because Nan has been on one. Did you know, though, that you can park for free on the far side of the dam? It's not even really that far of a walk. Don't pay the $7 to park fifteen feet closer! The views were very nice from the dam and from the road. We didn't climb up to Pat Tillman bridge - too sunny, no sunglasses or sunscreen, coming from a freezing cold climate. We just soaked in some views and headed back.
As we half expected, it was still too early to check in, so we gave them our phone number and went to the Las Vegas Premium Outlets South. I wanted to go early on purpose, before we went to the extremely expensive shops on the strip proper. There were great outlet stores, not always huge deals, but we did manage to find some sweatshirts and coats on deep discount because it was so hot outside. We checked into our hotel and took a lengthy siesta before cleaning up and going out in the late evening to the buffet at the Wynn, rated as one of the best on the strip. Everything was quite good (decor was standard Las Vegas fare plus extremely tall flower vase structures) and dessert area was delectable, with crepes made to order and even ice cream cookie sandwiches made to order.
We spent some quality time hoochie-watching. I tried to convince Nan to try and take pictures, but he thought it would be too obvious. But it was really good - there are at least two night clubs in that complex, so the floor was full of ladies wearing their absolute minimum. I definitely saw some undies underneath some too-short skirts, and we spent some time trying to spot the sketchiest hooch. When Nan decided we were being too obvious, we went outside to watch the last Sirens of TI show. We were incredibly disappointed, partly by the show, but mostly by the audience. The show had the scantily-clad ladies as advertised, but that's not enough of a draw at that distance. And you could really see how awesome the show must have been, back in it's heyday of actual pirate battle, since they kept a lot of the special effects, a few fancy dives, and sinking ships. It must have been really fun. It's not anymore, in case you were wondering. The ladies sink the opposing ship due to mostly power of singing and burlesque dancing. It's a mite ridiculous. The other factor that was stupid was the audience. I'll give a pass to the incrrrrredibly drunk ladies right behind me screaming obscenities and otherwise before, during, and after the show, because it's Vegas, and they give away a lot of drinks in big novelty cups. But the numerous parents with small children in the audience? Not so forgiving. The show started after 11:30pm, first of all. The other people on the strip at that hour are hookers or women dressed as hookers. Even the ladies on the stage were dressed as hookers. One child, no more than four or five, asked loudly what that siren "was doing to that pirate" right there on the stage in front of us. I missed the parent's reply, but there's really nothing that could excuse them. Heads up, parents, there's nothing for your kids on the strip. If you thought Sirens of TI was for your kids, you were very, very wrong. They don't want you there. Just let your kids sleep.
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