What a week to have caught up on my VOD's, eh? Two week hiatus between matches. I took the time to badger two of my friends into belatedly starting a Fantasy LCS league with me. Only one week left, really, so we just drafted a position player each and agreed that best KDAs would win it. Xian won the initial roll, so he got Meteos, and Lin and I just picked the rest of Cloud 9, haha.
Counter Logic Gaming vs Team Coast
[CLG bans: Twitch, Zed, Shen][CST bans: Tristana, Elise, Twisted Fate]
CLG: Zac, Nocturne, Ahri, Vayne, Thresh
CST: Rumble, Nasus, Zigs, Ezreal, Zyra
Maybe picking bigfatlp as my jungler was a silly move. He didn't die, but he didn't land any kills either. Oh well, positive points is positive points. I picked him and Doublelift because CLG needs some decisive victories during superweek to stay in it, and I believe they're going to come out with long games, high scores, and big wins, or die trying. Doublelift did good for me in this game, and unfortunately for Lin, shiphtur's Zig's just wasn't effective.
Team Dignitas vs Curse
[Dig bans: Ahri, Jarvan, Twitch][Crs bans: Shen, Kassadin, Fiddlesticks]
Dig: Zac, Elise, Zed, Ezreal, Sona
Crs: Kennen, Nasus, Karthus, Varus, Thresh
Both Lin and I avoided both these teams, so Xian is the only one with anything at stake here. The game was a super long slog fest that came down to a sudden death finish.
Velocity Esports vs Team SoloMid
[VES bans: Jayce, Zed, Kassadin][TSM bans: Elise, Varus, Lee Sin]
VES: Zac, Jarvan, Anivia, Urgot, Zyra
TSM: Shen, Nocturne, Karthus, Twitch, Sona
No mercy-kill for VES, they have to play the remainder of their games for balance. Nobody gambled on any of the VES players in the fantasy league, because in this last week, they have no real reason to try and win. As much as they may play for pride and come out with unusual champs and unexpected strats, they also probably shouldn't give away their secrets for the upcoming relegation matches.
Vulcun vs Cloud 9
[Vul bans: Kassadin, Twitch, Zac][C9 bans: Caitlyn, Ahri, Shen]
Vul: Kennen, Lee Sin, Zed, Tristana, Zyra
C9: Elise, Jarvan, Jayce, Vayne, Sona
Concerned that C9 would phone it in with nothing to play for, our fears were not allayed by a surprising level 1 face-check and subsequent fast loss by C9. A weakness, or just playing with a bit of 'meh'? Concerning for the fantasy points, at any rate.
Team SoloMid vs Team Coast
[TSM bans: Elise, Zed, Blitzcrank][CST bans: Karthus, Twisted Fate, Shen]
TSM: Rumble, Jarvan, Ahri, Twitch, Sona
CST: Riven, Nasus, Diana, Caitlyn, Zyra
CST banned all kinds of global ults and Zionspartan got Riven, but nope. TSM is on that late-season roll that happens when you're TSM.
Team Dignitas vs Vulcun
[Dig bans: Ahri, Evelynn, Shen][Vul bans: Kassadin, Ezreal, Zed]
Dig: Elise, Lee Sin, Gragas, Graves, Fiddlesticks
Vul: Zac, Jarvan, Karthus, Tristana, Sona
Might just be me, but this game seemed to have more intricacies than usual. First blood comes from a duel between Zac and Elise, which Zac is winning until Elise lands a cocoon, and then activates his passive. But before she can kill the bloblets, Karthus channels ult to kill her first. Karthus has to be careful where he channels, though, because Gragas will blind throw his ult to disrupt him. As for the others, they're all jump-in champs; the question is, when to jump in?
Counter Logic Gaming vs Cloud 9
[CLG bans: Rumble, Nasus, Twitch][C9 bans: Nocturne, Jarvan, Ahri]
CLG: Zac, Cho'Gath, Karthus, Tristana, Thresh
C9: Shen, Elise, Zed, Ashe, Zyra
I like to ban those three also, CLG, but letting C9 have the Ashe/Zyra? Early game goes so well for CLG, Doublelift gets some nice plays in. I feel like I would enjoy being ADC a lot more if there was love like CLG loves Doublelift. So much protection! But, when lane phase is over, C9's 5v5 team fight is always just superior.
Velocity Esports vs Curse
[VES bans: *did not ban first, Kennen, Thresh][Crs bans: Lee Sin, Rumble, Shen]
VES: Elise, Zac, Lissandra, Varus, Zyra
Crs: Zed, Nasus, Orianna, Twitch, Sona
As if things weren't bad enough for VES, they also got punished by the peeps on high for unpausing a game early and lost a ban, and THEN lost first blood on an unfortunate face check. It does not get better from there.
Vulcun vs Team Coast
[Vul bans: Riven, Twitch, Jarvan][Cst bans: Shen, Sona, Tristana]
Vul: Zac, Evelynn, Zed, Caitlyn, Zyra
Cst: Kha'Zix, Elise, Ahria, Ezreal, Lulu
Not many more Z-champs could have been picked by Vul. Ziggs? Zilean? Coast began a comeback, but then I guess they realized they didn't have a tank, so it stopped cold at Vul's front steps.
