Wow, I've practically caught up. I actually watched most of these live, and let me tell you, the live comment stream was truly a sea of horrors. Week 8, ahead. By the by, do you think Riot knows that nearly every single one of the interview vods are busted on YouTube? Is it just me? Well, as long as it's not busted in the middle of a team fight in-game, I won't be upset.
Team Dignitas vs Cloud 9
[Dig bans: Rumble, Nasus, Ashe][C9 bans: Sona, Master Yi, Ryze]
Dig: Elise, Nasus, Kassadin, Graves
C9: Shen, Zac, Zed, Twitch, Zyra
C9 in a bloodbath. But you knew, right? Even Jatt and Phreak couldn't be unbiased, with phrases like "oh, that didn't turn out too bad for dignitas, considering!" and "how about that, dig got the kill!"
Team Coast vs Counter Logic Gaming
[CST bans: Tristana, Jayce, Twisted Fate][CLG bans: Riven, Gragas, Zed]
CST: Shen, Elise, Ahri, Twitch, Nami
CLG: Jarvan, Zac, Orianna, Ezreal, Thresh
Really zz. It's 6-2 in kills at nearly 40 minutes in, those 6 kills for CST coming mainly from their huge CC getting chained on a single target over and over. CLG never seems to get their act together after that to engage a team fight, even though there were several opportunities, and even several times where they should have engaged to defend an objective! What is going on.
Vulcun vs Velocity Esports
[Vul bans: Lee Sin, Ahri, Thresh][VES bans: Ryze, Twisted Fate, Elise]
Vul: Shen, Evelynn, Zed, Vayne, Sona
VES: Kennen, Jarvan, Orianna, Varus, Leona
Vulcun roll, no upset this time. Did something happen to Anivia? Why doesn't ecco play the bird anymore? Not that I think it would dig them out of this, but if the outcome is already determined...
Team SoloMid vs Curse
[TSM bans: Thresh, Elise, Orianna][Crs ban: Kassadin, Jayce, Twisted Fate]
TSM: Rumble, Jarvan, Karthus, Graves, Sona
Crs: Shen, Zac, Ryze, Ashe, Zyra
Long game, kind of a strange grind. TSM in the end.
Counter Logic Gaming vs Vulcun
[CLG bans: Ashe, Evelynn, Twisted Fate][Vul bans: Tristana, Elise, Shen]
CLG: Vladimir, Zac, Orianna, Vayne, Thresh
Vul: Jayce, Jarvan, Ahri, Twitch, Sona
Vul wins due to one or two late game fights that just go bad for CLG. Which is generally the way they've been losing lately, making them cohorts in the teamfighting doldrums with VES. C9 is the opposite of that spectrum: all about amazing team mechanics. Also, I think Zac has probably got to go. He is super interesting, and his passive is great. But the elastic launch maneuver puts him WAY too far in front - bigfatlp would just die surrounded by five enemies before his own team could even put a speck of damage on anyone.
Team Coast vs Velocity Esports
[CST bans: Kennen, Twisted Fate, Jayce][VES bans: Zed, Elise, Riven]
CST: Shen, Evelyn, Karthus, Vayne, Thresh
VES: Rumble, Jarvan, Ahri, Varus, Zyra
VES wins in a statement game. That statement being: we're not dead yet. The Evelynn, just like the Zac, just isn't all that useful of a champ, sometimes. Most times. VES, on the other hand, had a crazy amount of damage in a straight line, so at the end of the game, when CST runs up to try and contest baron, VES can ruin their day easily. Think about it: Jarvan EQ, Zyra snare, Ahri charm+ball, Varus arrow Rumble ult. All straight piercing lines!
Curse vs Cloud 9
[Crs bans: Zed, Rumble, Zyra][C9 bans: Orianna, Shen, Elise]
Crs: Zac, Jarvan, Karthus, Tristana, Nami
C9: Kennen, Nasus, Kassadin, Ashe, Thresh
C9 zz-roll. But you knew, right? They don't even have anything left to play for, and their teamfight is just superior. You can tell in that last fight, when Crs didn't protect Cop and Nyjacky the way C9 clusters around Hai and Balls.
Team SoloMid vs Team Dignitas
[TSM bans: Lee Sin, Elise, Aatrox][Dig bans: Karthus, Shen, Rumble]
TSM: Jayce, Nasus, Kassadin, Graves, Thresh
Dig: Zac, Jarvan, Diana, Ezreal, Sona
Interesting ending, even imaqtpie was shaking his head at how he managed to survive the last fight. While we were all still shocked, he pushed down the base for the sudden win.
Vulcun vs Curse
[Vul bans: Twitch, Jarvan, Tryndamere][Crs bans: Shen, Zac, Elise]
Vul: Malphite, Evelynn, Ahri, Tristana
Crs: Rumble, Nasus, Jayce, Ashe, Zyra
Vul zz-roll. I'm telling you, maybe they ought to try and close games out faster than that. Not just for my sake, watching their incredible slow snowball, but one bad engagement could have spelled another dramatic comeback against them.
Cloud 9 vs Velocity Esports
[C9 bans: Jarvan, Kennen, Shen][VES bans: Zed, Kassadin, Zac]
C9: Elise, Nasus, Jayce, Ashe, Zyra
VES: Rumble, Lee Sin, Twisted Fate, Varus, Nami
C9 in their usual 35 minutes. But you knew, right? What a terrible time for VES to go up against the nearly-undefeated C9.
Counter Logic Gaming vs Team SoloMid
[CLG bans: Rumble, Zed, Shen][TSM bans: Twisted Fate, Elise, (did not ban third)]
CLG: Malphite, Nocturne, Ahri, Ezreal, Thresh
TSM: Jayce, Zac, Kassadin, Graves, Sona
Another decisive win for CLG against TSM. 4-0, at least they can consistently beat somebody. And I reiterating above point about Zac.
Team Coast vs Team Dignitas
[CST bans: Ezreal, Kassadin, Zed][Dig bans: Riven, Ahri, Elise]
CST: Aatrox, Fiddlesitcks, Twisted Fate, Vayne, Thresh
Dig: Zac, Jarvan, Gragas, Graves, Sona
It may be worth it to you to check out the pick/ban phase, where Phreak insists that ZionSpartan told him that he'd pick Teemo. He really believed him, too, poor Phreak. At least their real picks are somewhat off the (heavily) beaten path: jungle fid, aatrox. Not that they win with those champs. This also could be a good game to watch because it feels like two teams that are still trying to adapt and understand the new meta of objective-first gameplay. You can see the good: each team grouping up as four early and pushing down one or even two towers without trying for kills. And you can see the bad: teams overpushing, and the opposing team taking advantage of setting up ambushes where they'll know their enemies will be.
Standings
C9 21-2
Vul 15-8
CLG 11-12
Dig 11-12
TSM 11-12
Crs 9-14
CST 9-14
VES 5-18
