Saturday, June 28, 2014

Game of the Day: Millenium versus SK Gaming

By Helmight

            Remember when Millenium was the joke of the EU LCS? Back in the Spring Split, Millenium had an abysmal 9-19 finish to their season and were forced to play in the Challenger Promotion tournament just to keep their spot in the league. No one’s laughing now though. Millenium have reshaped themselves into a dominant team that easily go toe-to-toe with the best of Europe, as proven in today’s game against SK. Though SK put up an excellent fight against the up-and-comers, they were unable to stop the well-executed pick comp that Millenium brought to the table.
            Part of the issue rests with SK’s composition though. With a Trundle in the top lane, an Evelynn in the jungle, and a Lulu in the mid lane, SK’s team was severely lacking in the damage department. All of their hopes were resting on CandyPanda’s Kog’Maw to carry the game – if the Void puppy went down, so would the rest of SK. However, Millenium’s comp featured a trio of champions that were more than capable of diving SK’s backline to get to CandyPanda. The game therefore became a case of SK’s peel versus Millenium’s dive – whomever could pull off the strategy more successfully would be victorious.
            The early game was quiet for both teams. Millenium was able to secure the first tower of the game thanks to a 4v0 push in the top lane, but SK responded to that strategy by grabbing the first dragon. They might have pulled out a tower too, but a good defense by Kev1n and Kottonex prevented SK from taking the objective. Afterwards, both teams went back to standard lanes – Millenium shifted their duo down to lane against CandyPanda and nRated while Kev1n roamed top. Though standard lanes usually mean a more passive laning phase, this was hardly the case. Jree’s Morgana was constantly looking for blood and managed to secure a suicide first blood onto nRated with his ultimate and Ignite. No sooner had he respawned and come back to lane than Jree went ham again, using his ultimate effectively to lock down CandyPanda and allow Kottonex to pick up the kill.
            But despite the pressure on their botlane, SK refused to cave. Good rotations by Jesiz and Svenskeren allowed SK Gaming to take a handful of towers from Millenium. With the gold and kill count dead even, SK moved for dragon. Millenium quickly responded, opening the first teamfight of the game. Kottonex and fredy122 both dove for the enemy team and respectively got blown to pieces, but Millenium also lost Kev1n’s passive as well. With SK’s team low on health, Creaton tried going for a kill and got locked down by a well-timed Grasping Roots from nRated. With two members down and Aatrox weakened, Millenium had no choice but to concede the dragon and the early lead to SK.
            The old Millenium might have been beaten right then and there, but the new Millenium wasn’t out of the fight yet. A clutch dragon steal by Kottonex, followed by a well-played teamfight, allowed Millenium to reverse the gold lead. SK tried holding onto their advantage by pressuring MIL’s mid and top towers, but made a crucial mistake in leaving CandyPanda at the front of their team. One Dragon Rage by Kottonex later, the Kog’Maw was dead, along with two other SK members. Millenium wasted no time, seizing the first Baron of the game and starting a long siege on SK’s towers. By the time the buff finally ran out, SK was left with a single inner tower still standing and a 7k gold deficit to come back from
            The final blow for SK was not long in coming. Millenium’s second Baron attempt of the game forced SK to respond, but they arrived just a second too late to prevent the buff from going to Millenium. Despite this, SK had a good chance to win the teamfight – if they had focused Kerp. A well-placed ultimate from Millenium’s midlaner placed him right in SK’s backline and he proceeded to rip SK apart, without taking almost any damage in the process. With the ace in his pocket, Kerp led Millenium on a fast push through SK’s top lane straight to the Nexus, winning the game after only 37 minutes.

Player
Champion
K/D/A
Minions Killed
Millenium
Kev1n
Aatrox
3/0/9
231
Kottonex
Lee Sin
4/2/10
127
Kerp
Twisted Fate
4/1/11
296
Creaton
Lucian
6/2/12
270
Jree
Morgana
2/4/11
23
SK Gaming
fredy122
Trundle
1/4/1
258
Svenskeren
Evelynn
1/3/4
140
Jesiz
Lulu
2/3/2
250
CandyPanda
Kog’Maw
3/6/6
292
nRated
Zyra
2/3/5
39

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