Spring playoffs for the LCS. Around about the third game in, Deman talks about aAa getting disqualified from the playoffs and SK moving on automatically to face off against GG. He referred listeners to "go check out the forums" for more information, but Deman, come on. I don't read the LoL forums, just like I don't skinny dip inside industrial septic tanks. I just don't go there. A quick google scan tells me that aAa was disqualified for not having enough players the day of the game - one of them had a family emergency, and the substitute could not make it in time. Harsh!
Evil Geniuses vs Copenhagen Wolves, Game 1
[EG bans: Kha'Zix, Kassadin, Jarvan][CW bans: Thresh, Twisted Fate, Zed]
EG: Zac, Cho'Gath, Anivia, Varus, Leona
CW: Rumble, Nasus, Ahri, Ezreal, Zyra
Woah, low kill game.
Evil Geniuses vs Copenhagen Wolves, Game 2
[CW bans: Anivia, Thresh, Twisted Fate][EG bans: Kha'Zix, Jarvan, Zed]
CW: Shen, Nautilus, Kassadin, Varus, Lulu
EG: Zac, Volibear, Kayle, Kog'Maw, Alistar
Finally, some engages, and they all go CW's way. We still haven't figured out a good way to prevent spoilers: since you can see there's a third game, you know what happens here. Heck, if you glanced below these games, you'd see who wins. Don't look down, I guess. Also, blue team is listed first in bans and picks, if you haven't noticed so far.
Evil Geniuses vs Copenhagen Wolves, Game 3
EG: Rumble, Nasus, Zed, Kog'Maw, Leona
CW: Shen, Nautilus, Orianna, Varus, Lulu
Apparently they played for some time before EU server issues forced them to recreate the game. I didn't see the bans from this point. Wicked was convinced that blue side = victory, but Deman claims that the stats don't bear that out. I wonder if they did the stats on just the teams in the playoffs, or even just EG, or what. What might hold true for pro teams probably doesn't not hold true for all LoL players across every ELO.
ALSO! I urgently need to confirm my theory that the top lane tank is physically the biggest person on the team! Wickd is taller than I previously realized. And, now that I think about it, when I roll five, our top lane man is always one of two guys, and those are the two biggest guys in our group.
Fnatic vs Evil Geniuses, Game 1
[Fnatic bans: Thresh, Lux, Zed][EG bans: Kha'Zix, Kassadin, Twisted Fate]
Fnatic: Zac, Jarvan, Nidalee, Corki, Leona
EG: Shen, Volibear, Ahri, Varus, Alistar
It's easy to root for Nidalee teams, but I don't root for Corki teams. This presents a dilemma. Also, they lavish a lot of praise on Froggen's Anivia, but for some reason, he doesn't always pick the bird when it's available.
Fnatic vs Evil Geniuses, Game 2
[EG bans: Kha'Zix, Jarvan, Kassadin][Fnatic bans: Thresh, Twisted Fate, Zed]
EG: Zac, Cho'Gate, Anivia, Varus, Alistar
Fnatic: Elise, Nasus, Caitlyn, Corki, Leona
Low kills, but high skills. Haha, see what I did there? No, really, what engages there are showcase some impressive micro on both sides. Interesting lineup, Fnatic, double-AP. Almost weird to see xPeke trying to build IE. But they did this against Froggen's Anivia before, I think, trying to use the Caitlyn net to get through the ice wall.
Fnatic vs Evil Geniuses, Game 3
[Fnatic bans: Thresh, Lux, Zed][EG bans: Kha'Zix, Jarvan, Kassadin]
Fnatic: Rumble, Volibear, Twisted Fate, Varus, Leona
EG: Zac, Shen, Ahri, Kog'Maw, Elise
Fnatic themselves banned Twisted Fate last game, and who knows why. Twisted Fate on xPeke is win, everyone should know this. Even though EG got ahead early with kills and dragons and look in a dominant position, Fnatic was never that far behind in gold! All come-back wins must be hinged on TF or Tristana.
Gambit Gaming vs SK Gaming, Game 1
[GG bans: Twisted Fate, Nasus, Jarvan][SK bans: Kha'Zix, Shen, Zac]
GG: Elise, Udyr, Zed, Miss Fortune, Sona
SK: Rumble, Nautilus, Karthus, Varus, Thresh
GG steamroll. There should be a picture meme I can insert here instead of always saying that. Two pulls on SK's side, interesting but unsuccessful; Edward back on Sona, and still in fine form on those crescendos; Ocelot wearing a very ugly scarf today.
Gambit Gaming vs SK Gaming, Game 2
[SK bans: Kha'Zix, Zac, Shen][GG bans: nasus, Twisted Fate, Rumble]
SK: Zed, Nautilus, Kassadin, Ezreal, Elise
GG: Renekton, Jarvan, Malphite, Varus, Thresh
In case you didn't hear, and I didn't mention it previously, GG has not been together in the same place for practice in months because of their crazy travel schedules. When asked about it, AlexIch just shrugged and said, "we practice together in our sleep." Way to create more mystical atmosphere around your crazy team, Alex. At any rate, they showed up early in Germany for the playoffs, and they've had one week to practice together. And they're back to being monsters. This was even more of a regretful stomp than the last game. SK actually surrenders.
- And that brings to an end Wickd's dire prediction that the blue team would win every game. It held true for all the games up until that last one!
- On the one hand, I don't miss RageOcelot, because whoaaaa that was a lot of rage, and it would obliterate anything else you were trying to observe or talk about. But on the other, I just a little tiny bit miss RageOcelot, because his rage was special, you know?
- I cannot stand the EU interviewer, have I said? She drives me nuts. Xian thinks she's hot, and as usual, all sins can be forgiven depending on hotness scale.
- Alex's interview reveals GG's real intentions: they already assume they're the best in the EU (and who can blame them for that assumption, really) and they're using this time as idle practice for the international matches, already scoping out their Asian opponents (completely ignoring the other regions as non-competition).
