Cloud 9 vs Team Dignitas
[C9 bans: Diana, Kassadin, Sona][Dig bans: Rumble, Zac, Zed]
C9: Shen, Evelynn, Kennen, Ashe, Zyra
Dig: Elise, Jarvan, Orianna, Ezreal, Janna
Phreak points out in champ select that Dig has chosen mostly blonde champs. The skins actually made it so almost none of them were blonde in-game, though. That aside, mid Kennen! And Dig tries to ban out Meteos, then tries to focus him down to disastrous results that made Dig look downright awful. Meteos would be two towers deep and soloing scarra and crumbz, and still would not die. Didn't die the entire game, despite all the focus. Does that make his KDA infinity? Please do NOT expect similar results on your jungle Evelynn.
Velocity Esports vs Counter Logic Gaming
[VES bans: Twitch, Elise, Ahri][CLG bans: Lee Sin, Varus, Urgot]
VES: Shen, Evelynn, Viktor, Kennen, Blitzcrank
CLG: Zac, Sejuani, Orianna, Tristana, Thresh
Yup, VES has nothing to play for, you can see that now. The only reason I knew how to spell Viktor is because Phreak mentioned it during champ select. But why is CLG messing around with Sejuani? And am I even spelling that right? At any rate, CLG's Sejuani experiment nearly costs them a game that they really had no excuse for losing. Eventually they win, but not all that gracefully.
Curse vs Team SoloMid
[Crs bans: Twisted Fate, Karthus, Shen][TSM bans: Orianna, Kassadin, Thresh]
Crs: Zed, Nunu, Kennen, Caitlyn, Nami
TSM: Renekton, Nocturne, Ahri, Twitch, Sona
This is the first time the YouTube video stalled during a game for me. It wasn't that long, anyway. TSM generally starts to roll, and then WildTurtle gets bored and flashes straight over the wall into 5 Crs players.
Team Coast vs Cloud 9
[CST bans: Rumble, Zac, Elise][C9 bans: Riven, Ahri, Zed]
CST: Shen, Jarvan, Renekton, Caitlyn, Blitzcrank
C9: Kennen, Nocturne, Twisted Fate, Twitch, Zyra
What a terrible time for a "win or you're out" scenario, CST. You could feel the doom in the air, even though CST was up by a little bit early. You can't just be up a little bit early on C9. By now you know their team fight is just plain superior to yours, and that's just a fact. This is one of those games that makes you think about the value of over-aggression on your carries. Perhaps DontMashMe should have gone all in at the fight at baron when they had something of an upper hand, because he was doing a lot of damage at that time. You can't be sure what would have happened, but it's something to think about.
Team Dignitas vs Velocity Esports
[Dig bans: Evelynn, Twisted Fate, Lee Sin][VES bans: Kennen, Shen, Zed]
Dig: Zac, Elise, Gragas, Ezreal, Fiddlesticks
VES: Riven, Jarvan, Karma, Twitch, Zyra
Well, they didn't have any more to lose, so Karma it is. They proceed to get destroyed, but look at it this way, at least they didn't surrender. Really, would you do that well in their position?
Vulcun vs Team SoloMid
[Vul bans: Twitch, Ahri, Zed][TSM bans: Evelynn, Lee Sin, Shen]
Vul: Zac, Jarvan, Ezreal, Ashe, Zyra
TSM: Karthus, Nocturne, Twisted Fate, Vayne, Sona
I don't know if it's the caster's fatigue from this super week, or possibly it's my own fatigue, but their chatter doesn't even feel relevant anymore. If you want to see the best version of this, you should watch EU (I know, another EU plug!) When the final superweek went into overtime by 5 extra games, all the casters couldn't even speak straight by the end. Anyhow, this game was relatively back and forth, but it definitely felt like TSM was always on a back foot. Eventually Vul wins a definitely end game fight.
Curse vs Counter Logic Gaming
[Crs bans: Nocturne, Thresh, Shen][CLG bans: Nasus, Kennen, Orianna]
Crs: Zac, Amumu, Ahri, corki, Elise
CLG: Renekton, Jarvan, Karthus, Twitch, Lulu
More loopy casting from our favorite play by play specialists, and more dull winning by Crs.
Velocity Esports vs Vulcun
[VES bans: Zac, Sona, Zed][Vul bans: Ahri, Evelynn, Shen]
VES: Ezreal, Singed, Nidalee, Jayce, Ashe
Vul: Malphite, Lee Sin, Diana, Vayne, Zyra
I don't begrudge VES some self-entertainment via crazy champs, so support Ashe is a-okay with me, except her frost shot turns out to be non-useful every time. Top lane Ez loses his lane really fast, though, and the that Nidaleee that I wanted to see so much doesn't exactly acquit herself well. I know it sucks, VES, having to keep playing with nothing to win. But you put yourself in this hole, and you have to accept this punishment with gracefulness.
Team Dignitas vs Counter Logic Gaming
[Dig bans: Nocturne, Jarvan, Shen][CLG bans: Lee Sin, Kassadin, Gragas]
Dig: Zac, Xin Zhao, Pantheon, Vayne, Sona
CLG: Malphite, Elise, Ahri, Ezreal, Thresh
This seems like a good game to illustrate the weakness of CLG, which is not a 'weakness' as traditionally defined. They have enormously skilled individual players, yes. That's good for several early kills, and sometimes, that's enough for them to get ahead and win games. But in the team fight phase, if the other team can work together, they're going to outfight CLG's individual brilliance. You can see them, in some of the teamfights, making decisions independent of each other, and at this extremely high level of play, that solo queue mentality isn't going to win you championships anymore.
Team Coast vs. Curse
[CST bans: Zac, Twitch, Elise][Crs bans: Riven, Shen, Zed]
CST: Kha'Zix, Lee Sin, Ahri, Vayne, Zyra
Crs: Kennen, Amumu, Orianna, Caitlynn, Thresh
I think CST was already mathematically eliminated, but they kept it even until a bad fight at baron at around 30 min. After that, they pretty much threw in the towel.
Cloud 9 vs Team SoloMid
[C9 bans: Ahri, Sona, Nocturne][TSM bans: Elise, Evelynn, Zed]
C9: Shen, Zac, Kassadin, Ashe, Zyra
TSM: Renekton, Jarvan, Karthus, Twitch, Thresh
Haha, I almost wrote "Reginald" instead of "Karthus". They let C9 get the Ashe/Zyra combo, though they've seen the kind of havoc it can cause. I wish I was as good as Sneaky on Ashe, but as Phreak points out, it's mostly due to the intense team-oriented play that C9 employs. SoloQ Ashe doesn't really hold up to that ideal.
Team Dignitas vs Counter Logic Gaming (tiebreaker)
[Dig bans: Nocturne, Jarvan, Shen][CLG bans: Lee Sin, Gragas, Fiddlesticks]
Dig: Zac, Evelynn, Zed, Ezreal, Alistar
CLG: Elise, Sejuani, Vladimir, Vayne, Sona
Crumbz dies trying a steal of blue, and the casters bring up a very good question: who was he trying to steal that buff from? Link doesn't have mana, bigfatlp wasn't even bothering to get it, even his own team doesn't use mana. Just get your own, Crumbz, jeez. At any rate, Crs steamroll after that. C'mon, CLG.
Our one-week fantasy league did not turn out all that well for me (19.2 points) and though Xian came close, Meteos didn't quite do it for him (28.3 points). Lin was victorious (31.6 points), due to Sneaky being the C9 team member with the totally crazy KDA of 14.3.
Velocity Esports vs Counter Logic Gaming
[VES bans: Twitch, Elise, Ahri][CLG bans: Lee Sin, Varus, Urgot]
VES: Shen, Evelynn, Viktor, Kennen, Blitzcrank
CLG: Zac, Sejuani, Orianna, Tristana, Thresh
Yup, VES has nothing to play for, you can see that now. The only reason I knew how to spell Viktor is because Phreak mentioned it during champ select. But why is CLG messing around with Sejuani? And am I even spelling that right? At any rate, CLG's Sejuani experiment nearly costs them a game that they really had no excuse for losing. Eventually they win, but not all that gracefully.
Curse vs Team SoloMid
[Crs bans: Twisted Fate, Karthus, Shen][TSM bans: Orianna, Kassadin, Thresh]
Crs: Zed, Nunu, Kennen, Caitlyn, Nami
TSM: Renekton, Nocturne, Ahri, Twitch, Sona
This is the first time the YouTube video stalled during a game for me. It wasn't that long, anyway. TSM generally starts to roll, and then WildTurtle gets bored and flashes straight over the wall into 5 Crs players.
Team Coast vs Cloud 9
[CST bans: Rumble, Zac, Elise][C9 bans: Riven, Ahri, Zed]
CST: Shen, Jarvan, Renekton, Caitlyn, Blitzcrank
C9: Kennen, Nocturne, Twisted Fate, Twitch, Zyra
What a terrible time for a "win or you're out" scenario, CST. You could feel the doom in the air, even though CST was up by a little bit early. You can't just be up a little bit early on C9. By now you know their team fight is just plain superior to yours, and that's just a fact. This is one of those games that makes you think about the value of over-aggression on your carries. Perhaps DontMashMe should have gone all in at the fight at baron when they had something of an upper hand, because he was doing a lot of damage at that time. You can't be sure what would have happened, but it's something to think about.
Team Dignitas vs Velocity Esports
[Dig bans: Evelynn, Twisted Fate, Lee Sin][VES bans: Kennen, Shen, Zed]
Dig: Zac, Elise, Gragas, Ezreal, Fiddlesticks
VES: Riven, Jarvan, Karma, Twitch, Zyra
Well, they didn't have any more to lose, so Karma it is. They proceed to get destroyed, but look at it this way, at least they didn't surrender. Really, would you do that well in their position?
Vulcun vs Team SoloMid
[Vul bans: Twitch, Ahri, Zed][TSM bans: Evelynn, Lee Sin, Shen]
Vul: Zac, Jarvan, Ezreal, Ashe, Zyra
TSM: Karthus, Nocturne, Twisted Fate, Vayne, Sona
I don't know if it's the caster's fatigue from this super week, or possibly it's my own fatigue, but their chatter doesn't even feel relevant anymore. If you want to see the best version of this, you should watch EU (I know, another EU plug!) When the final superweek went into overtime by 5 extra games, all the casters couldn't even speak straight by the end. Anyhow, this game was relatively back and forth, but it definitely felt like TSM was always on a back foot. Eventually Vul wins a definitely end game fight.
Curse vs Counter Logic Gaming
[Crs bans: Nocturne, Thresh, Shen][CLG bans: Nasus, Kennen, Orianna]
Crs: Zac, Amumu, Ahri, corki, Elise
CLG: Renekton, Jarvan, Karthus, Twitch, Lulu
More loopy casting from our favorite play by play specialists, and more dull winning by Crs.
Velocity Esports vs Vulcun
[VES bans: Zac, Sona, Zed][Vul bans: Ahri, Evelynn, Shen]
VES: Ezreal, Singed, Nidalee, Jayce, Ashe
Vul: Malphite, Lee Sin, Diana, Vayne, Zyra
I don't begrudge VES some self-entertainment via crazy champs, so support Ashe is a-okay with me, except her frost shot turns out to be non-useful every time. Top lane Ez loses his lane really fast, though, and the that Nidaleee that I wanted to see so much doesn't exactly acquit herself well. I know it sucks, VES, having to keep playing with nothing to win. But you put yourself in this hole, and you have to accept this punishment with gracefulness.
Team Dignitas vs Counter Logic Gaming
[Dig bans: Nocturne, Jarvan, Shen][CLG bans: Lee Sin, Kassadin, Gragas]
Dig: Zac, Xin Zhao, Pantheon, Vayne, Sona
CLG: Malphite, Elise, Ahri, Ezreal, Thresh
This seems like a good game to illustrate the weakness of CLG, which is not a 'weakness' as traditionally defined. They have enormously skilled individual players, yes. That's good for several early kills, and sometimes, that's enough for them to get ahead and win games. But in the team fight phase, if the other team can work together, they're going to outfight CLG's individual brilliance. You can see them, in some of the teamfights, making decisions independent of each other, and at this extremely high level of play, that solo queue mentality isn't going to win you championships anymore.
Team Coast vs. Curse
[CST bans: Zac, Twitch, Elise][Crs bans: Riven, Shen, Zed]
CST: Kha'Zix, Lee Sin, Ahri, Vayne, Zyra
Crs: Kennen, Amumu, Orianna, Caitlynn, Thresh
I think CST was already mathematically eliminated, but they kept it even until a bad fight at baron at around 30 min. After that, they pretty much threw in the towel.
Cloud 9 vs Team SoloMid
[C9 bans: Ahri, Sona, Nocturne][TSM bans: Elise, Evelynn, Zed]
C9: Shen, Zac, Kassadin, Ashe, Zyra
TSM: Renekton, Jarvan, Karthus, Twitch, Thresh
Haha, I almost wrote "Reginald" instead of "Karthus". They let C9 get the Ashe/Zyra combo, though they've seen the kind of havoc it can cause. I wish I was as good as Sneaky on Ashe, but as Phreak points out, it's mostly due to the intense team-oriented play that C9 employs. SoloQ Ashe doesn't really hold up to that ideal.
Team Dignitas vs Counter Logic Gaming (tiebreaker)
[Dig bans: Nocturne, Jarvan, Shen][CLG bans: Lee Sin, Gragas, Fiddlesticks]
Dig: Zac, Evelynn, Zed, Ezreal, Alistar
CLG: Elise, Sejuani, Vladimir, Vayne, Sona
Crumbz dies trying a steal of blue, and the casters bring up a very good question: who was he trying to steal that buff from? Link doesn't have mana, bigfatlp wasn't even bothering to get it, even his own team doesn't use mana. Just get your own, Crumbz, jeez. At any rate, Crs steamroll after that. C'mon, CLG.
Our one-week fantasy league did not turn out all that well for me (19.2 points) and though Xian came close, Meteos didn't quite do it for him (28.3 points). Lin was victorious (31.6 points), due to Sneaky being the C9 team member with the totally crazy KDA of 14.3.
