Game of the Day: SK Gaming versus Alliance

By Helmight

            SK Gaming has finally found their stride. Despite floundering in the middle of the pack throughout the Summer Split, SK came out swinging for Super Week. A victory against Millenium yesterday started them off on the right foot, and today they were able to carry the momentum through against the ever-dominant Alliance. In a 46-minute game, SK convincingly took down EU’s number one team thanks to a number of aggressive early plays and superior rotations.

            Good early rotations allowed SK to jump out to a 6k gold lead, but they found themselves stymied at the inhibitor turrets due to Alliance’s excellent waveclear. It took a pair of Barons to finally break into Alliance’s base, but even after the turrets went down it took everything SK had just to secure the inhibitors. An indecisive skirmish in the bottom lane sent SK home to heal, which gave Alliance a momentary advantage. They rushed for Baron, trying to take it down before SK gaming could respond, but were just a little too long in taking it. Jesiz and fredy122 went ham, comboing their knockups on four members of Alliance and killing all of them in seconds. Froggen was the only survivor of the massacre, but even Xerath’s long-ranged waveclear was of no use when his base was wide open. SK shoved down mid and took the Nexus down while Froggen danced on the sidelines, unable to stop the inevitable defeat.

            Jesiz carried SK Gaming through this matchup. His clutch three- and four-man Shockwaves never failed to turn the tides of a battle, and it was his ult alone that prevented Alliance from making too many aggressive plays. CandyPanda meanwhile made excellent use of the disruptions that Jesiz’s ult created, leaping into fights with his Rocket Jump and taking down Alliance’s members in a flurry of missiles. His late-game Tristana proved to be an absolute nightmare to deal with – he could tank towers thanks to Jesiz and Nyph’s shields and tear them apart within seconds. Tabzz’s Ezreal didn’t have nearly the same impact, but with Kog’Maw banned out and Lucian unavailable, his lategame AD carry options were slim.

            Alliance’s play was just as stellar as it has been all split long, but somehow – impossibly – SK outplayed them. Early objectives were traded back and forth between both teams, and while Alliance secured first blood, SK was not far behind with the second. The breaking point of the early game was the first dragon fight. Jesiz landed a beautiful Command: Shockwave on Alliance’s team, giving SK a kill and letting them secure dragon and back off before the rest of Alliance could regroup. Another skirmish a few minutes later by Alliance’s red buff had a similar feel to it – Jesiz landed a three-man ult, CandyPanda cleaned house, and then objectives were taken by SK. Alliance couldn’t get the early fights to go their way, nor were they able to catch up to SK’s rotations.

            However, Alliance didn’t go down easily. SK was forced into three Baron attempts to try and break through Alliance’s waveclear. The first Baron was easily secured by the duo of Svenskeren and CandyPanda, but in the aftermath of the Baron CandyPanda got sniped down by Froggen and Tabzz’s ults. With their AD carry down, SK fought a retreating battle against Alliance in which Jesiz and nRated also fell. Alliance took down the mid inhibitor and looked to end the game, but the spawn timers were too short and SK beat back the attack. It was the closest Alliance would get to winning the game.

SK Gaming (W)					Alliance (L)
Kills	Turrets		Gold		Kills	Turrets			Gold
14	10		79.7k		10	5			69.9k
Lineup
Position	Player		Champion	K/D/A	Position		Player			Champion	K/D/A
Top	fredy122		Aatrox	1/3/8	Top	Wickd				Gragas	1/4/2
Jungle	Svenskeren		Elise	0/3/5	Jungle	Shook				Riven	4/4/4
Mid	Jesiz		Orianna	3/1/6	Mid	Froggen				Xerath	2/0/5
ADC	CandyPanda		Tristana	9/1/4	ADC	Tabzz				Ezreal	3/3/5
Support	nRated		Morgana	1/2/13	Support	Nyph				Braum	0/3/7
Bans
Twisted Fate		Irelia	Kog’Maw		Maokai			Kassadin	Nidalee

Questions? Comments? Leave them below!

Game of the Day: Copenhagen Wolves versus Fnatic

By Helmight

            Though often dismissed or written off as an easy win for the team they’re playing, the Copenhagen Wolves are still worthy of respect. Despite going down to Fnatic on the first day of Super Week, the Wolves put on a fantastic showing. With an arguably stronger composition, it was a definite possibility that Copenhagen could take home a late-game win – however, Fnatic’s superior mechanical skills allowed them to take multiple teamfight victories where it counted. At the end of the day, Fnatic got the picks they needed to push into the Wolves’ base and finish off the Nexus.

            Fnatic got off to a great early lead thanks to phenomenal plays from xPeke and YellOwStaR, but ending the game proved to be tricky. With the dispersion power of YoungBuck’s Gragas and a composition that was arguably better at teamfighting than Fnatic’s, the Copenhagen Wolves were able to stall out Fnatic’s aggression for a long time, even with an exposed inhibitor in the top lane. Both teams circled the Baron pit multiple times, getting into small-scale skirmishes that sent one or two members from each team back home to respawn. Eventually however, Fnatic’s pick comp found the opportunity they needed. After catching YoungBuck out by himself, Fnatic was able to pressure for the exposed inhibitor in a 4v3 situation. As soon as the structure fell, YellOwStaR made his move and Flash-Soul Shackled the remaining Wolves for the ace. Since the Nexus turrets had already fallen earlier, it was a fatal blow for Copenhagen.

            YellOwStaR was certainly the MVP of today’s game - he played absolutely out of his mind today, Flashing into multiple teamfights to set up huge multi-man Soul Shackles. Without his massive AoE damage and crowd control, Fnatic would have undoubtedly lost more teamfights and probably lost the game. Also of note is Fnatic’s midlaner xPeke. He looked perfectly at home on Fizz and took home more than half of Fnatic’s kills – a stunning record, given how few times he’s played the Tidal Trickster this season. With his performance today, it would be quite surprising if teams continue leaving Fizz open for xPeke. – or leaving Morgana for YellOwStaR, for that matter.

            Copenhagen meanwhile played a game that belies their status as the last-place team in the EU LCS. Despite being down in gold and facing off against a Fnatic squad that’s been hotter than Brand’s Pyroclasm, Copenhagen never ceased their aggressive moves. Despite losing an early inhibitor, the Wolves constantly roamed outside of their base, pressuring Baron and forcing Fnatic to back off of multiple objectives. However, the Wolves did make a few terrible calls in the midgame that put them too far back to really go toe-to-toe with Fnatic. Primary among these was their attempted base race. They were desperate, but should never have tried to beat a Tristana and a Lich-Bane’d Fizz in a tower-taking contest. Had they kept all of their inhibitor turrets intact, it’s probable that the Wolves could have stalled out long enough to beat Fnatic in the late game. With an exposed inhibitor though, there was only so much Copenhagen could do to forestall Fnatic’s team. 

Copenhagen Wolves (L)				Fnatic (W)
Kills	Turrets	Gold		Kills	Turrets			Gold
11	4	61.9k		24	9			76.5k
Lineup
Position	Player	Champion	K/D/A	Position		Player			Champion	K/D/A
Top	YoungBuck	Gragas	3/2/4	Top	sOAZ				Irelia	1/0/12
Jungle	Brokenshard	Lee Sin	3/5/6	Jungle	Cyanide				Rengar	0/4/13
Mid	SorenXD	Ryze	1/5/5	Mid	xPeke				Fizz	13/4/5
ADC	Woolite	Kog’Maw	4/6/5	ADC	Rekkles				Corki	2/1/18
Support	Unlimited	Braum	0/6/9	Support	YellOwStaR				Thresh	8/2/9
Bans
Evelynn	Thresh	Syndra		Kassadin			Orianna	Twisted Fate

Questions? Comments? Leave them below!