IEM Katowice 2014 Finals: A Recap

By Helmight           

             

            Intel Extreme Masters Katowice 2014 concluded this Sunday with a showdown between OGN’s KT Rolster Bullets and EU LCS’s Fnatic. Though both teams had fought hard to earn their place in the finals, KTB stomped Fnatic in three games to take home the trophy.

            Game 1 was a hotly contested, hour-long match for the two teams. Though sOAZ’s Shyvana struggled against Leopard’s Olaf in the top lane, xPeke managed to go even in farm despite Ryu’s aggressive LeBlanc plays and Fnatic’s botlane had a decisive advantage. It only took a single gank from Cyanide’s Elise to get Fnatic’s ball rolling with a double kill bot and an early dragon.

            Despite their early advantages though, Fnatic was never able to get far enough ahead that they felt comfortable sieging on the Bullet’s inner towers. As a result, KTB was able to farm up and equalize the kill score thanks to the constant threat of their roaming assassins. Though the European squad made moves towards Baron, the Bullets’ vision control proved to be too much and the Koreans were the first to gain the buff after a devastating teamfight. Though Fnatic fought hard for the rest of the game, they weren’t able to stave off the Bullet’s onslaught.

            The second game had Fnatic switching up their tactics, taking early-game lane bullies like Pantheon and Renekton in an effort to win hard and win early. However, the Bullets countered Fnatic’s comp with an unusual Ryze pick in the top lane and with Mafa playing Karma. It appeared as though Fnatic’s early game dominance would go to waste during the laning phase, but a clutch teamfight at dragon yielded a double kill for xPeke and the objective gold. Fnatic immediately tried to put the pressure on the KT squad’s towers, but smart rotations from the Bullets prevented the European team from making the most of their advantage.

            It was at the dragon pit that Fnatic finally broke. As the Europeans pushed for their second dragon of the game, inSec leaped in and stole the objective from under their noses – then escaped thanks to Kha’Zix’s ultimate. By the time the fight ended, the Bullets had lost two members but aced Fnatic, handing them a solid lead that they’d hold for the rest of the game. As the early game ended, so too did Fnatic’s hopes of victory: the Bullets smart rotations and objective pressure kept them from mounting any sort of comeback.

            Game 3 was entirely lopsided in favor of the Bullets. While first blood went to Fnatic after YellOwStaR’s hook landed on Ryu at the top tower, xPeke was rendered impotent by his inability to farm mid against the Bullets’ duo lane.  sOAZ’s Aatrox meanwhile couldn’t handle the early aggression put out by Leopard on Renekton – by the time Cyanide finally showed up to gank, it was easy for Leopard to simply kill sOAZ and walk away from Fnatic’s jungler.

            Midgame proved to be too much for Fnatic, as KTB claimed each and every dragon and stole away Fnatic’s buffs. With the gold lead rising against them, Fnatic tried sending Rekkles to splitpush bot, only to have the Korean squad group up and shove the top lane. With Rekkles too far away to help, Fnatic lost their jungler and their inhibitor for only a single kill onto Score’s Lucian. Finally, after chasing Fnatic away from their desperate Baron attempt, the Bullets shoved down the mid lane for the eventual win.

Super Week Results and Predictions

By Helmight

 

            With the conclusion of the second Super Week of this season and the coming of the All-Star break, both the NA LCS and EU LCS have been shaken up. Some teams rose, some teams fell, and others worked their butts off to stay in the same place. Let’s take a look at the changes.

NA LCS:

            It is perhaps no surprise that Team SoloMid and Cloud 9 are still sitting pretty on the top of the standings. After 4-0 finishes from both teams through Super Week, I would be quite surprised indeed if either of them fell from their pedestals. Instead, the question to be asked is whether or not C9 can reclaim their first-place throne before the All-Star break.

            While their Super Week performance didn’t hand them the third place spot, it certainly cemented Counter Logic Gaming’s position there. However, third place will also be where CLG will stay for the rest of the season – they’re four games out of second place, and are two ahead of the remainder of the NA teams. Certainly it’s something to be happy about given their early-season struggles, but it’s disappointing to think of where they might have been at this time had Dexter joined them sooner.

            Despite being the first team to beat Cloud 9 this year, Dignitas has had a fairly lackluster midseason. CLG’s sudden rise to prominence didn’t do them any favors, but going 1-3 in Super Week definitely hurt their chances of making a run for third place. The game they lost against Curse was especially crippling – had they won, Scarra and the team would have been a game away from CLG and two games up on Curse and Team Coast. As it stands though, Dignitas will simply need to play out of the rest of the season and prepare themselves for the Summer Split.

            And speaking of Curse, they’ve made a pretty fantastic run for themselves. With a 5-11 record two weeks ago, they were facing relegation and losing hope of seeing the Summer Split. After a few clutch victories during Super Week and Team Coast’s fall from relevance, Curse have finally emerged from the bottom three spots and sit only a game behind Dignitas. Beating Dig next week will move Curse up to fourth – the highest they’ve been this year – and leave them in a great position to head into the All-Star break.

            Finally, Team Coast fans are guaranteed to be disappointed after their 0-4 finish to the week. While they had been sitting at a comfortable 7-9 record before Super Week, Coast was unable to employ the same tenacity and determination that had brought them out of the bottom three during the middle of the season. With luck, Coast will be able to make it back into the LCS from the relegation tournament – but they will certainly not be playing their way out of 7^th place.

EU LCS:

            Super Week was not kind to ROCCAT. While the Polish team has surprised many by leading the pack in their first ever LCS season, their 1-3 record last week has dropped them from first place. With only a game separating them from the leaders, it’s certainly possible that ROCCAT will be able to claw themselves back to the top of the league – but it will all come down to the consistency of Gambit and SK Gaming.

            SK meanwhile has come out of nowhere. For a team that started the season at the bottom of the roster, SK has shown remarkable resiliency and has managed to climb up to challenge Gambit for dominance of the EU LCS. Gambit meanwhile has been the most consistent of the European teams, refusing to ever fall more than a game out of first place and executing well at all stages of a match. These two will be interesting to watch as the split winds to an end.

            In addition to the two-way tie for first, the EU LCS has also been unable to get rid of its three-way tie for fourth. Though the Supa Hot Crew’s 0-4 finish to Super Week has dropped them from relevance, Alliance’s incredible 4-0 record has catapulted them right into the spot formerly held by SHC. Fnatic and the Copenhagen Wolves meanwhile have simply held their ground with respectable 2-2 finishes each. The real question is which team will be able to break the tie and rise to fourth place alone. Copenhagen has been the most consistent of the three teams and has a real shot at breaking away from the others, but Alliance’s red-hot performance during Super Week could be a sign that they’re ready to make a shot at the top three teams. Fnatic meanwhile has been shaky and inconsistent, but still has enough talent to hold their own. Next week will most likely decide where these three teams end up.

            If anything, the EU LCS is shaping up to be a lot more exciting than the NA scene. With only two games between the first place team and the 6^th place team, things could change very quickly. Given how the league has played out so far, nothing can really surprise me anymore. It could be the former last-place Alliance or the fallen Fnatic team taking home first place by the time they break for the All-Star matches – but it’s just as likely that Gambit or SK hold onto their advantages. Only time will tell.

PSA: CHECK YOUR BRUSHES!!!

     Ever since the pre-season vision changes, the traditional “ward wars” have changed substantially. One of the major changes was made to pink wards, which allows them to exist on the field permanently, but also makes them visible. Since they have the possibility to last forever now, the only thing that can prevent them from doing their job is you.

     It simply amazes me that after nearly three months now of watching professional league and playing solo queue, people still don't understand that you have to constantly check the brush for pinks. Of particular note are those small, pesky lone bushes on both sides of the river. These are by far the most common spots to place pinks, and yet people always seem to avoid checking them. Maybe it’s the reputation that they have – too many teams use them to stage ambushes - but since vision is a super important part of League I cannot stress hard enough how vital it is to check them.

     To be completely honest, it’s not very hard to do. All it takes is training yourself to walk through any bushes you come across when you're roaming, rotating, or preparing to take dragon or Baron. If there is in fact a pink in the bush, you can immediately clear it and deprive your opponent of vision. Clearly though, you’ll need to be safe about it – if the enemy team is rotating to stop you, it’s not the best time to clear the ward. Even if you don’t kill it though, you've still gained valuable information about that particular area of the map and can clear the vision ward at a later time.

     In short, checking the brush is immensely important in keeping vision under your team’s control and it’s not hard to do at all. So please: check your bushes.

                 - Jujubez