Fionn Profile Joined October 2009 United States 3012 Posts Last Edited: 2013-05-08 02:36:45 May 08 2013 02:31 GMT #1

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Welcome to the Teamliquid recap of the group stages! First, I would like to announce that Fionn, a veteran member of the Teamliquid community, who wrote many articles for the Starcraft section joined our Writing-Team. But he is not the only new member Mafia a long time lurker on Teamliquid decided that he wants to help us out, too.



With two new members on the staff we can hopefully produce more quality content in the future. In this recap Atrioc and me will review the Group Stages and GTR wrote about the tiebreaker situation. Fionn will you introduce to the new power ranking and Mafia will preview the first Quarterfinal between SKT T1 #2 and Najin Shield



<div style="text-align: right;">Signing off,

Chexx</div>



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<h2>Table of Contents</h2>

Group Recaps



Tiebreak Dilemma



Power Rankings



SKT T1 #2 vs Najin Shield Preview



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<div class="LOLheader" id="partone">Group recaps

<h2>By: Atrioc & Chexx</h2></div><div class="LOLfeature">

Group A Recap



This group started off with a bang as last season's 3-0 dominant grand champions Najin Sword were unceremoniously blown out of the water 2-0 by MVP Blue, a team that couldn't break out of group stages in that same season. The message was clear: the bar has risen, and no team was going to snatch a single win without bringing their best performance. That hyper competitiveness made the meteoric ascendance of the brand-new SK Telecom T1 #2 (affectionately dubbed "Judgement Day") all the more awe-inspiring, as they crushed series after series led by solo queue superstar Faker and his diverse pool of champions. They shot out to an early lead while most other teams continued to go 1-1 and trade wins, making for some very unexpected standings.



The bigger name teams fought their way back in the later half of the season, bringing some balance back to the chaos. CJ Entus Blaze, in particular, recovered from their early shock to tie SKT1 #2 for first place in the group, showing some excellent team cohesion and an marked improvement in Cpt. Jack and Lustboy's ability to not be exploited by other teams. Najin Sword also fought back, though much more shakily, barely edging out the bottom two teams in order to advance to the playoffs with a very important 1-1 tie series against SK T1 #2. While this may point towards a lack of preparation, its worth noting that Sword had a bad group stage in the last tournament, and still went on to win the whole thing - so this could be more of their style of pacing and less of a predictor of how the playoffs will go.



The very end of the group stage was marred by a few underwhelming performances by teams that had no incentive to play their best due to seeding and/or their slot already being determined - SKT1 in particular, with their first place seed securely locked, had a pretty lackluster/joking performance against MVP Ozone that lacked some of their characteristic picks and aggressiveness. The final standings are outlined below, along with some highlight matches from all of Group A.



Key Matches:



Game #1, Najin Sword vs MVP Blue

The opener to the season, this was a real wakeup call game where the reigning champs were instantly shown just how much even the lower ranked teams from last season had advanced in skill.



Game #1/#2, MVP Blue vs SK Telecom T1 #2

Both games are worth watching from this series - the first because it is an incredibly close game with a lot of back and forth plays and skilled teamwork, and the second because Faker goes absolutely highlight-reel level crazy on LeBlanc, busting out a difficult, underplayed champion to completely snowball the game for his team.



Game #1, Najin Sword vs SK Telecom T1 #2

The only real legitimate defeat SKT1 #2 suffered during the group stage, absolutely excellent play by Najin Sword to show the new upstarts that the champions can go toe-for-toe with them.



Game #1 CJ Blaze vs Najin Sword

Incredibly fun, close game featuring the extremely rare "Double Ace".





Final Standings:

#1 SK Telecom T1 #2

Score: 3-1-1, 10 points. 7 wins, 3 losses. ----> Advances to play Najin Shield in the Quarterfinals.



#2 CJ Blaze

Score: 3-1-1, 10 points. 7 wins, 3 losses. ----> Advances to play SK Telecom T1 #1 in the Quarterfinals.



#3 MVP Ozone

Score: 2-2-1, 8 points. 6 wins, 4 losses. ----> Advances to play KT Rolster B in the Quarterfinals.



#4 Najin Sword

Score: 1-2-2, 5 points. 4 wins, 6 losses. ----> Advances to play CJ Frost in the Quarterfinals.



#5 KT Rolster A

Score: 1-1-3, 4 points. 3 wins, 7 losses. ----> Eliminated from Tournament



#6 MVP Blue

Score: 1-1-3, 4 points. 3 wins, 7 losses. ----> Eliminated from Tournament



Group B recap



In Group B the top two spots were quickly secured for the favorites CJ Entus Frost and KT Rolster B but for the remaining two spots, a fierce competition emerged between Najin Shield, LG-IM, ahq Korea and SKT T1 #1. The first week in Group B reminded fans of Group A from the Winter Season because all three matches ended in a tie and many more tie’s followed. In particular the tie between LG-IM and Najin Shield would play a huge role at the end of the group stage. A big surprise in the first week was that KT B dropped a game to ahq Korea, a new team formed by HooN and supported by ahq e-Sports Club, a taiwanese organization. In week two Frost and KT B took their first 2-0 wins and gained distance on the other teams. After week three Frost and KT B were still on top of Group B and the only game left for either of them was a match between the two over first place. But for the two remaining seats we had fours teams left.



With only 2 matches left, Najin Shield, LG-IM, ahq Korea, and SKT T1#1 all still had the chance to advance. Najin Shield could have secured their advancement earlier in the group stage had they not thrown their advantage versus LG-IM with a bad base race. After Shield and SKT parted with a tie, SKT advanced but Shield was dependant on the outcome of LG-IM versus ahq Korea to advance. LG-IM needed a win against ahq Korea but their dreams to advance got crushed early by an awesome play from ahq’s top laner TrAce, who killed LiLac at his own blue buff. ahq Korea continued to totally deny Lilac his jungle and cleaned up the first game. Shield was left hoping that LG-IM could win the second game, which would tie Shield and ahq in game score, with team KDA deciding the tiebreaker. At 24 minutes into the game ahq Korea surrendered after they got aced, hoping that cutting their losses would leave them with a better KDA rating than Najin Shield. But in the end Shield KDA rating was 0.005 points better than the KDA rating from ahq Korea, advancing them to the knockout rounds.



+ Show Spoiler [Locodoco's reaction to ahq/LG-IM] +



Key Matches:



Game #2, LG-IM vs Najin Shield

Shield had a huge lead in the game but a bad decision when the base race started costed them the win and made them dependant on the outcome of the match between LG-IM vs ahq Korea.



Set, LG-IM vs ahq Korea

The outcome of this set decided who advanced into the next stage of the tournament



Set, SKT T1 #1 vs Najin Shield

Both teams had the chance in this match to secure their spot in the KO-rounds of the tournament.



Set, CJ Frost vs KT Rolster B

Winner of this set determined first place. Game was highly entertaining.



Final standing:



#1 CJ Frost

Score: 3-2-0, 11 points. 8 wins, 2 losses. ---->Advances to play Najin Sword in the Quarterfinals.



#2 KT Rolster B

Score: 2-2-1, 8 points. 6 wins, 4 losses. ---->Advances to play MVP Ozone in the Quarterfinals.



#3 SKT T1 #1

Score: 0-5-0, 5 points. 5 wins, 5 losses. ---->Advances to play CJ Blaze in the Quarterfinals



#4 Najin Shield

Score: 0-4-1, 4 points. 4 wins, 6 losses. ---->Advances to play SKT T1 #2 in the Quarterfinals



#5 ahq Korea

Score: 0-4-1. 4 points. 4 wins, 6 losses. ----> Eliminated from Tournament



#6 LG-IM

Score: 0-3-2, 3 points. 3 wins, 7 losses. ----> Eliminated from Tournament

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<div class="LOLsuperheader" id="parttwo"><span style="color: #dde8e9;">A Tie-t Dilemma</span>

<h2>By: GTR</h2></div><div class="LOLsuperfeature">



Funny how the world works. A few months, we saw OnGameNet introduce a new method of eliminating tie breaks without using the dreaded IEM 'time' rule or the infamous (and possibly infinite)



We first saw this formula being used for the Club Masters show match, where LG-IM and Najin barely missed out on qualifying for the elimination bracket off this figure. However, the biggest instance of this so far has been Najin Shield qualifying for the fourth and consequently, the final position in their group over ahq Korea by a minuscule amount of 0.005.



What repercussion did we see from this?



This begs the question, is there a better way of determining who advances from a tiebreaker besides a coin-flip or KDA/minute? Frankly, I personally think that the best way is a one-off sudden death match, blind pick, broadcast on a day without any games (weekday afternoons come to mind). While there is some minor problem with one team taking the 'preferable' side of the map - I'm pretty sure teams are willing to live with that over losing out on a silly little KDA/minute number.



Let us know in the thread what other methods of tie-breaking you think is suitable for League of Legends - as long as it's not that stupid IEM time rule. Let's leave that buried and dead.



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<div class="LOLsuperheader" id="partthree"><span style="color: #dde8e9;">Power Rankings</span>

<h2>By: Fionn</h2></div><div class="LOLsuperfeature">



After five weeks of big plays, monumental throws, and new heroes emerging from the elite class of teams in the premiere league in Korea, we are left with eight squads heading to the playoffs and four teams wondering what went wrong in their quest to become champions. Before the playoffs start and the possibilities of blind pick ace matches fill our dreams, let's take a step back and get a quick breakdown of how the twelve teams performed in the regular season.



LG-IM 0-3-2 (3-7) 12.LG-IM 0-3-2 (3-7)



You can say what you want by Ring Troll, LG-IM's former controversial Jungler who was kicked off the team before the beggining of the season due to internal team issues, but he was one of the best Junglers of the previous season, helping his team get into the quarterfinals and give heavy favorites Blaze a scare of their life in the quarterfinals. With Ring Troll and his luscious locks off the team, LG-IM's fan support and play dropped off this season, finishing last place in their group and having to go through the NLB to get back into Champions for the summer season.



The adding of the inexperienced Smeb, the moving of a Lilac to the jungle to replace Ring Troll, and the overall rise of play in Korean play were all reasons for LG-IM's quick exit out of the spring season. Now, heading down to fight for their lives, they will have to contend with their sister team, LG-IM 2, who has been on fire of late, only dropping a single game in the group stages of NLB Spring and topping the current standings. LG-IM should return with a bit more experience with their new line-up, but they'll have to watch out for their "B-team" in the qualifiers back.



ahq e-Sports Club Korea 0-1-4 (4-6) 11.ahq e-Sports Club Korea 0-1-4 (4-6)



Coming in as the ultimate underdogs to start the season, ahq Korea surprised many with how close they got to actually make the knockout rounds. Sure, they were in what many considered to be the weaker of the two groups, having two top teams and then four others battling for two remaining playoff spots, but the newly formed (and then dropped) team was able to hang around the best teams in Korea, taking four draws and only losing one series 0-2 to the three time finalist CJ Entus Frost.



Only having to win the final game of the season against LG-IM to eliminate Shield and get a ticket to the playoffs, ahq Korea choked when it mattered most, throwing away an early game lead and succumbing to the pressure that they were under to perform. Promise had a very promising (pun very much intended) start to his professional career, ending up with the most MVP points on his team and being one of the better AD Carries in his group for the regular season. Even with the ahq sponsorship dropped, the now unnamed team will try to get through the deadly NLB stages and get a second chance at proving themselves inside Champions. All in all, when many predicted them to end at the very bottom of the table, you have to say this season was a mild success for the former ahq team.



KT Rolster A 1-1-3 (3-7) 10.KT Rolster A 1-1-3 (3-7)



What a strange season for the "A-team" of KT Rolster. Kakao, who got a "promotion" from going from the "B-team" to the "A-team" might be feeling the worst of everyone in KT Rolster, having to see Insec, widely considered the best Jungler in Korea, take over his role on his old team and lead KTB to one of the best records in the regular season. While most of KTA's season consisted of Vitamin, their shaky top laner, getting run over game after after game, they actually had a few golden moments amidst a season of strife and disappointment.



They were the last team to actually take a win off CJ Entus Blaze, starting the series 1-0 before Blaze started to get things going and reeled off seven straight victories to end up the season as the second season in Group A. They also - while having nothing to play for, mind you - were able to eliminate MVP Blue from the playoffs, taking the final series of the season 2-0 and bringing down the former GSG to hell with them. This is a season that KT Rolster A would like back, having flashes of brilliance here and there, but they'll need to be more consistent if they hope to be back up for their sister team for the summer season.



Najin Shield 0-4-1 (4-6) 9.Najin Shield 0-4-1 (4-6)



Escaping relegation from Champions by only a few tenths of a point in KDA, Shield was able to beat out the two weakest teams in Champions and make into the playoffs. Expession, the hipster's choice for best top laner in Korea, gets a lot of talk about him and how he has the potential to be right up there with the likes of Shy and Flame, but he hasn't been able to carry his team any farther than four ties and a 0-2 loss to KT Rolster B. Nofe, the former player of MVP Blue, has been a revelation for Shield this season, playing a strong Jungler role for his team and ending up even in the top five KDA for his position at the end of the regular season.



With Shield having to play SK Telecom T1eam Faker in the first round of the quarterfinals, their chances at making a run to the semifinals will really fall onto the shoulders of their bottom lane duo. Locodoco is and always will be one of the most popular players in Korea, having great success with Madlife in the days of MiG Frost, but his combination with his new partner a Wolf hasn't gone as smoothly as a Shield fan would have hoped. Shield is truly a team with untapped potential and could bring a major upset if they could finally all click at the same time, but it might be too late in the season for that hope to turn into reality.





MVP Blue 1-1-3 (3-7) 8.MVP Blue 1-1-3 (3-7)



Finishing last in their group, MVP Blue had the hottest start to the season, but also had the biggest fall by the end of it. Taking in over half of GSG, the champions of NLB Winter, MVP Blue gained a spot in the spring season of Champions, adding two solo queue heroes to their bottom lane in Deft and Flham, and entered the season as one of the potential picks for last place in the group. Surprising everyone by taking Club Masters, MVP proved they could be a force in the regular season, Blue and Ozone starting the tournament with matching 2-0 scores and running out of the gates as the favorites to top the group over the former champions Blaze and Sword.



Easyhoon was the star of the team, playing throughout the season considered as one of the best mid laners in the world and helping his team to an early lead at the top of the Group A standings. They eventually ran out of steam, their inexperience in the bot lane coming back to bite them and easyhoon not being able to carry the team any farther. Teams started to pick up on how they started to play, were able to ban out their champions, and MVP Blue ended the season at the opposite side to where they started it. Still, Deft and Flahm will only get better with more experience, and any team with easyhoon will have a good shot of returning to the Champions next season.



SK Telecom T1eam Reapered 0-5-0 (5-5) 7.SK Telecom T1eam Reapered 0-5-0 (5-5)



Are they extremely consistent or simply mediocre? Should we be impressed by Reapered's four man of the match awards, or should we be worried that he was MVP in four of their five wins this season? Going 1-1 in every single series this season, you could look at the positives and remark how well Reapered has played when his team won, carrying the top lane position and looking like one of the best Korean top laners in a country where there is no shortage of incredible players at the position. But you could also look at the negatives and how badly this relies on Repeared to pull through for them every series, knowing that if he has an off night - which has happened throughout the regular season - they will have an almost impossible job of taking a victory.



StarLast has been an excellent pick-up for the team in the support position, giving some stability down in the bottom lane. Heading into the playoffs, Repeared will be meeting up with his old teammates, hoping to get a bit of revenge for not only losing to them at the IEM World Championships, but to prove that he was one of the main reasons why they were able to take the championship in the first OGN Champions season. Even with their impressive trend to take a game and lose a game to every team in their group, it's hard to rank them any higher than seventh. Inconsistent, too reliant on a single player, and playing in the weaker group puts them just out of the top six spots in our rankings.



MVP Ozone 2-2-1 (6-4) 6.MVP Ozone 2-2-1 (6-4)



Ozone is a pretty easy team to breakdown. Everyone on the team is essentially the secret service, and imp, their star AD Carry, is the President of MVP Ozone and is in need of protection 24/7. If the secret service can do their job throughout the game, President imp can rule the country of Summoner's Rift with an iron fist and lay down justice against the rebels trying to kill him. If President imp's protection can't stop the rebels from getting to him, then MVP Ozone is hopeless, having no one strong enough to take the mantle of President after he's out of the game.



imp's mechanics are out of this world, and he's been - alongside Faker - the player that has given us the most highlight reel plays of the season, but teams have figured out that if you can stop him, you can stop Ozone. Homme, their top laner, has been their weakest link, not being able to handle the pressure of 1v2 lanes and usually falling behind before he can make any sort of impact. Protecting imp is the job for the entire team, needing imp to get fed and farm up, allowing their star player to carry in the late game and lead them to victory. The plan for the most part has worked, Ozone making the playoffs and having a record of 6-4 at the end of the group stage, but their predictability might be their downfall having to face the monsters KT Rolster B in the quarterfinals.



Najin Sword 1-1-2 (4-6) 5.Najin Sword 1-1-2 (4-6)



The defending champions have once again had a slow start to the season, limping into the playoffs with only four wins out of ten. Luckily for them, KT Rolster A decided that it was time to actually play well after being eliminated from the playoffs, and they were able to knock out MVP Blue from contention. If it wasn't for KTA's heroics against Blue, there is a high possibility Sword would be outside looking in as the playoffs started. So, why are they so highly ranked if they have had an awful season for their standards? Simply, Sword is a slow starting team, and from what we saw from the KTB-Frost match this past week, no team in Group B would rather face Sword over Ozone come playoff team.



The regular season was a mess, but this is a team built for the playoffs. Unlike President imp and his bodyguards and Reapered and friends, Sword is a team that you can't focus solely on one player and win a series by shutting down that individual. Oh, you want to camp Maknoon and take the reigning league MVP out of the game? Pray and Cain will just carry in the bottom lane. Want to focus on those two? Then you leave Ssong, one of the better mid laners in Korea, to himself and let him carry the team. They excel in the BoX format, and CJ Frost will not have an easy time dispatching the reigning kings of Champions in the most highly anticipated first round match-up of the playoffs.



SK Telecom T1eam Faker 3-1-1 (7-3) 4.SK Telecom T1eam Faker 3-1-1 (7-3)



No one had more pressure on him heading into this season than Faker. As the biggest free agent in the offseason, the best amateur and #1 player on the Korean server, many teams tried to grab Faker, but it was SKT T1, the organization with richest history and pockets in Korean e-sports who were able to land the solo queue superstar, creating a second team and putting Faker in the center as the main pillar. Similar to Ozone and T1eam Reapered, there is no doubt that this is Faker's team and that if they want to win the finals, that Faker will need to be the MVP, but the supporting cast around him have come together throughout the season.



Impact, the former top laner for Xenics Storm, has come in and held down the top lane for his squad, having a strong first season. Piglet and bengi, the two unknowns that were also plucked from amateur status, have also come up big for the team, Piglet starting a Winnie the Pooh bot lane with the former GSG member Mandu and quickly becoming one of the better duos in the Korea. Faker, of course, has been the all-star of the team, having insane performances to get his team to the top of Group A, but he wouldn't have been able to make those incredible plays if it wasn't for his teammates around him. Their biggest weakness heading into the playoffs will be their inexperience and team fighting, the three teams ranked above them in the rankings all having won championships around the world.





CJ Entus Blaze 3-1-1 (7-3) 3.CJ Entus Blaze 3-1-1 (7-3)



Blaze's season started out terribly, dropping their first three games and on the verge of being knocked out of the group stage. With Flame leading the way, Blaze went on a seven game win streak to end the season, take second place in the group and show they are one of the most dangerous teams in the world. The world champions of IEM, Blaze have been on the upswing of late, Flame coming into his own and being recognized as possibly the best top laner in the scene, destroying everyone he has faced in the top lane during the seven game win streak Blaze has been on. Resilient as they come, Blaze is a team known for their comebacks, knowing how to take fights from behind and be able to scratch and crawl their way back into games like no other.



The inaugural OGN champions will need to tighten their bot lane, though. CptJack and Lustboy, who were once the backbone of the team in the early days, have now become their biggest weakness, the two being caught out continually in the beginning of games. This has led to a trend of Blaze going down early due to CptJack and Lustboy dying, Flame carrying in the top lane by out CS'ing his counterpart by over 100, and then having perfectly positioned team fights at key points in the game to land major objectives and complete the comeback. That might have been all good and fun in the group stages, but having to rely on comebacks in the playoffs? That's a recipe for disaster.



CJ Entus Frost 3-2-0 (8-2) 2.CJ Entus Frost 3-2-0 (8-2)



The true kings of Freljord, CJ Entus Frost do what they do best: play consistent, win games, and eventually get to the finals of OGN Champions. For the fourth straight season, Frost ended the opening group stages as the top ranking team in their group, only dropping two games the entire way through the regular season. Implementing a new strategy that might change how teams work in Korea, Frost have been using two subs the entire season, subbing in their main bot lane duo of Hermes and Madlife for the only remaining players left of the old CJ Entus, Muse and Space. The strategy has worked, giving their subs some experience in the booth, and it also gives Madlife and Hermes time to practice for bigger matches on the horizon and hide their strategies.



A team built on consistency and having a strong player at every position, Frost is once again a favorite to win it all, having all the tools to beat any team in the world. Hermes, the former MVP member, has fit in perfectly as a replacement for Woong, creating a great partnership with Madlife down in the bottom lane. Shy, as per usual, is the best top laner alongside CJ Entus' other top laner Flame, showing that Blaze and Frost's ability to find talent in the amateur scene is second to none in Korea. Madlife has gone through Locodoco, Woong and now Hermes in his four seasons in Champions, and he continues to be the God of the Korean League scene, being able to create a strong bond with any AD Carry he is teamed up with.



KT Rolster B 2-2-1 (6-4) 1.KT Rolster B 2-2-1 (6-4)



KT Rolster B might not have the prettiest record, but it's hard to argue they aren't the favorites to win this season's championship. Not playing up to their best on purpose to dodge Sword in the first round and possibly Blaze in the second, KT Rolster B put themselves in the easier side of the bracket, getting to play President imp and his secret service in the first round, before more than likely facing an inexperienced team led by Faker in the semifinals. Winners of the International Exhibition at the latest MLG and the Korean qualifier for the Asian Indoor Games, KT Rolster B has been winning everything of late, steamrolling their way past the best teams in Korea.



The KDA rankings look more like a KT Rolster B house party, four of the five starters at the top, only ssumday trailing CJ's Flame and Shy in the top lane position. Insec was the biggest acquisition for KTB in the offseason, taking in the best Jungler in Korea after CJ picked up Blaze and Frost, and he has done nothing but live up to expectations in his first season on his new team, leading his team into a great position heading into the playoffs. Their pressure in lane is incredible, their team fighting is at a different level than every team in Korea other than the two CJ teams, and their talent in every position makes it that you can't focus down a single player and hope to win. KTB didn't finish the regular season at the top of their group standings, but they are the favorites to be lifting the trophy by the end of the finals.





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<div class="LOLsuperheader" id="partfour"><span style="color: #dde8e9;">SKT T1 #2 vs Najin Shield</span>

<h2>By: Mafia</h2></div><div class="LOLsuperfeature">



After 5 rounds of this spring season, SKT T1 #2 and Najin Shield had contrasting results while both teams face against each other in this quarterfinals matchup. Most analysts predicted Najin Shield to be middle of standings which they barely managed to do, but no one predicted SKT T1 #2 to be 1st in group A with teams such as Blaze and Sword fighting for the top seed.



SKT T1 #2 placed 1st in group A after leaving many teams with the Faker Trauma. SKT T1 #2 star player Faker has been known as solo queue star with superb mechanics. But his ability to play wide variety of niche champions such as Jayce, Leblanc, Lux, Nidalee and Syndra along with the popular champions Kha’Zix, TF and Karthus this season. Faker’s leblanc play was incredible to watch as he demonstrated how to play the early game, mid game and late game.





Faker’s ability to farm 32 cs in a 1v2 lane while his lane counterpart karthus farming 19 cs gave faker enough gold to roll out with 2 dorans ring and move into the mid game.





Faker nuked a 70% elise from 70-0 while having 3 level advantage + 2 dorans ring. Leblanc’s early game cs gave enough ap damage to nuke anyone down.





Although SKT picked Leblanc to counter Karthus, Faker dealt with a 1v2 lane in which he was able to farm double his lane counterpart and erase any champion with nuke and nuke.



Impact plays a solid top lane who rarely dies from 1v1 lane and can farm decently in a 1v2 lane. In SKT T1 #2, Impact specializes in Jayce, Kennen and Shen performing average in lane phase but excelling in team fights with his positioning. Impact played an excellent kennen game as he was able to land ultimates on 2 to 3 people while zoning out enemy ad/ap carries away from Faker and Piglet..



Bengi is the jungler for SKT with a limited jungle pool due to the nature of the jungle meta. Bengi’s strength lies on his ability to initiate with either Lee Sin or Jarvan and becoming the tank for the team. I feel his weakness shows up in lane phase when enemy jungler ganks either top or mid lane, Bengi is slow to react to counter ganks and farming jungle creeps. Overall from watching his play, Bengi plays a passive early jungle that becomes a solid initator and a tank later in the game.



Piglet/Poohmandu plays very aggressive 2v2 all in lanes in which they either pick up both kills or die with no kills. Piglet utilized caitlyn early on but switched to Miss Fortune, Varus and Vayne for more damage in late game. In the meantime, opponents have banned out Poohmandu’s Fiddlesticks every game since week 3 but his support play has bad solid and diverse with champions such as Nami, Sona, Mordekaiser, Thresh. From watching all 10 games, SKT #2 prefers having the standard 2v2 bot lane so Piglet/Poohmandu can use their lane aggression to bully enemy lane.





Najin Shield placed 4th in Group B with 4 draws and 1 loss. Biggest problem for Najin Shield was the inconsistency from Save(Mid) and Locodoco/a Wolf(Bot). With roster changes in Mid lane, Jungle and AD carry, Shield looked vulnerable in team fights and shaky in early lane phase. Najin Shield needs their star top laner Expession to step up against SKT #2.



Expession is highly regarded amongst korean top laners and plays a similar champion pool to Maknoon. Kennen is always banned against Expession due kennen’s ability to carry late game but also able to farm in a 1v2 lane. Expession brings out Diana, Jayce, Rumble and Shen but excelling at Rumble and Shen. In teamfight composition, Expession plays the assassin/tank role in which he either kills the enemy ad carry or soak up all incoming damage.



Save is relatively unknown mid player who replaced Hoon this spring season. Save held his mid lane throughout the season with multiple ganks from Nofe helping Save pick up early lane kills. Shield uses Save in an assassin type but with burst damage and closing ability such as Kha’Zix, Diana or as an lane ganker type like Ryze and Twisted Fate. In order for Shield to have a competitive chance against SKT #2, Save will have to hold Faker underfarmed but also initiate lane ganks.



After the retirement of Mokuza, Shield opted for Nofe to be the replacement for the legendary EDG jungler. Opponents banned Nofe’s Elise jungle consistently but Nofe regularly plays Jarvan and Nasus as his bread & butter junglers. Nofe mainly ganks top and mid lane and prefers ganking over farming. However, if Nofe can successfully gank bot lane early game, I feel Najin will have a better top laner in Expession and fed locodoco and cruise through Faker’s SKT.



Locodoco/a Wolf duo has been up and down this season with good and poor performances against every opponent they have faced this season. For the majority of the season, Shield ran aoe combo with Miss Fortune and Sona in bot lane but lately they have switched up to Varus/Thresh for more aggressive lane phase. Most likely Najin Shield will have to dominate this bot lane matchup in order to have a chance of defeating SKT #2. If Loco plays as consistent he was playing for Azubu Frost and wins this match up, SKT will have hard time dealing not only with Expession but Locodoco as well.



Mafia's Prediction: SK Telecom T1 #2 3 - 1 Najin Shield



Fionn's Prediction: SK Telecom T1 #2 3 - 2 Najin Shield



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border: 5px solid #d8ba7e; color: #f7f4e4; background: #2b0504; } .mustaju th { text-align: left; padding: 5px; background: #2b0504; font-size: 14px; text-transform: uppercase; font-family: Gill Sans, Verdana; border-bottom: 1px solid #4a201e !important; } .mustaju td { font-family: Gill Sans, Verdana; color: #f7f4e4; padding: 3px; } .mustaju tr > td:first-child { text-align: left; } .mloss { background: #5e0200; } .mgain { background: #7e403f; } .mtotals { text-transform: uppercase; font-weight: bold; } #holder { overflow: hidden; position: relative; width: 590px; padding: 0px; margin: 0px; } #holder li { float: left; list-style: none outside none; } .swControls { position: absolute; margin-top: 20px; } .rank { font-family: "Arial Black", "Arial Bold", Gadget, sans-serif; font-weight: bold; font-style: italic; font-size: 48px; position: relative; top: 85px; left: 30px; text-align: center; } #main { background: url('/staff/Kiante/skplr2w4/blueback.jpg') repeat; width: 600px; padding: 10px; position: relative; border: 1px solid #18283e; -moz-border-radius: 12px; -webkit-border-radius: 12px; border-radius: 12px; -moz-box-shadow: inset 0 0 30px #000000; -webkit-box-shadow: inset 0 0 30px #000000; box-shadow: inset 0 0 30px #000000; } .photocredit { font-size: 6pt; color: #444; } .photocredit a { color: #555 !important; } .photocredit a:hover { color: #666 !important; } a.single_image img {border:1px solid #000;margin:2px } Photo: Daily eSports (데일리e스포츠) Welcome to the Teamliquid recap of the group stages! First, I would like to announce that Fionn, a veteran member of the Teamliquid community, who wrote many articles for the Starcraft section joined our Writing-Team. But he is not the only new member Mafia a long time lurker on Teamliquid decided that he wants to help us out, too.With two new members on the staff we can hopefully produce more quality content in the future. In this recap Atrioc and me will review the Group Stages and GTR wrote about the tiebreaker situation. Fionn will you introduce to the new power ranking and Mafia will preview the first Quarterfinal between SKT T1 #2 and Najin Shield Table of Contents Group recaps By: Atrioc & Chexx This group started off with a bang as last season's 3-0 dominant grand champions Najin Sword were unceremoniously blown out of the water 2-0 by MVP Blue, a team that couldn't break out of group stages in that same season. The message was clear:, and no team was going to snatch a single win without bringing their best performance. That hyper competitiveness made the meteoric ascendance of the brand-new SK Telecom T1 #2 (affectionately dubbed "Judgement Day") all the more awe-inspiring, as they crushed series after series led by solo queue superstar Faker and his diverse pool of champions. They shot out to an early lead while most other teams continued to go 1-1 and trade wins, making for some very unexpected standings.The bigger name teams fought their way back in the later half of the season, bringing some balance back to the chaos. CJ Entus Blaze, in particular, recovered from their early shock to tie SKT1 #2 for first place in the group, showing some excellent team cohesion and an marked improvement in Cpt. Jack and Lustboy's ability to not be exploited by other teams. Najin Sword also fought back, though much more shakily, barely edging out the bottom two teams in order to advance to the playoffs with a very important 1-1 tie series against SK T1 #2. While this may point towards a lack of preparation, its worth noting that Sword had a bad group stage in the last tournament, and still went on to win the whole thing - so this could be more of their style of pacing and less of a predictor of how the playoffs will go.The very end of the group stage was marred by a few underwhelming performances by teams that had no incentive to play their best due to seeding and/or their slot already being determined - SKT1 in particular, with their first place seed securely locked, had a pretty lackluster/joking performance against MVP Ozone that lacked some of their characteristic picks and aggressiveness. The final standings are outlined below, along with some highlight matches from all of Group A.The opener to the season, this was a real wakeup call game where the reigning champs were instantly shown just how much even the lower ranked teams from last season had advanced in skill.Both games are worth watching from this series - the first because it is an incredibly close game with a lot of back and forth plays and skilled teamwork, and the second because Faker goes absolutely highlight-reel level crazy on LeBlanc, busting out a difficult, underplayed champion to completely snowball the game for his team.The only real legitimate defeat SKT1 #2 suffered during the group stage, absolutely excellent play by Najin Sword to show the new upstarts that the champions can go toe-for-toe with them.Incredibly fun, close game featuring the extremely rare "Double Ace".3-1-1, 10 points. 7 wins, 3 losses. ---->3-1-1, 10 points. 7 wins, 3 losses. ---->2-2-1, 8 points. 6 wins, 4 losses. ---->1-2-2, 5 points. 4 wins, 6 losses. ---->1-1-3, 4 points. 3 wins, 7 losses. ---->1-1-3, 4 points. 3 wins, 7 losses. ---->In Group B the top two spots were quickly secured for the favorites CJ Entus Frost and KT Rolster B but for the remaining two spots, a fierce competition emerged between Najin Shield, LG-IM, ahq Korea and SKT T1 #1. The first week in Group B reminded fans of Group A from the Winter Season because all three matches ended in a tie and many more tie’s followed. In particular the tie between LG-IM and Najin Shield would play a huge role at the end of the group stage. A big surprise in the first week was that KT B dropped a game to ahq Korea, a new team formed by HooN and supported by ahq e-Sports Club, a taiwanese organization. In week two Frost and KT B took their first 2-0 wins and gained distance on the other teams. After week three Frost and KT B were still on top of Group B and the only game left for either of them was a match between the two over first place. But for the two remaining seats we had fours teams left.With only 2 matches left, Najin Shield, LG-IM, ahq Korea, and SKT T1#1 all still had the chance to advance. Najin Shield could have secured their advancement earlier in the group stage had they not thrown their advantage versus LG-IM with a bad base race. After Shield and SKT parted with a tie, SKT advanced but Shield was dependant on the outcome of LG-IM versus ahq Korea to advance. LG-IM needed a win against ahq Korea but their dreams to advance got crushed early by an awesome play from ahq’s top laner TrAce, who killed LiLac at his own blue buff. ahq Korea continued to totally deny Lilac his jungle and cleaned up the first game. Shield was left hoping that LG-IM could win the second game, which would tie Shield and ahq in game score, with team KDA deciding the tiebreaker. At 24 minutes into the game ahq Korea surrendered after they got aced, hoping that cutting their losses would leave them with a better KDA rating than Najin Shield. But in the end Shield KDA rating was 0.005 points better than the KDA rating from ahq Korea, advancing them to the knockout rounds.Shield had a huge lead in the game but a bad decision when the base race started costed them the win and made them dependant on the outcome of the match between LG-IM vs ahq Korea.The outcome of this set decided who advanced into the next stage of the tournamentBoth teams had the chance in this match to secure their spot in the KO-rounds of the tournament.Winner of this set determined first place. Game was highly entertaining.3-2-0, 11 points. 8 wins, 2 losses. ---->2-2-1, 8 points. 6 wins, 4 losses. ---->0-5-0, 5 points. 5 wins, 5 losses. ---->0-4-1, 4 points. 4 wins, 6 losses. ---->0-4-1. 4 points. 4 wins, 6 losses. ---->0-3-2, 3 points. 3 wins, 7 losses. ----> ▲ Back to Top ▲ A Tie-t Dilemma By: GTR Funny how the world works. A few months, we saw OnGameNet introduce a new method of eliminating tie breaks without using the dreaded IEM 'time' rule or the infamous (and possibly infinite) '재경기' (rematches) of past OGN leagues. The new 'Kill-Death-Assist per minute formula' - while sophisticated to calculate - is the last straw used to distinguish tie breaks, much how the NFL uses a coin toss to determine who receives the favorable pick in its annual draft if certain factors remain in equilibrium between the two teams.We first saw this formula being used for the Club Masters show match, where LG-IM and Najin barely missed out on qualifying for the elimination bracket off this figure. However, the biggest instance of this so far has been Najin Shield qualifying for the fourth and consequently, the final position in their group over ahq Korea by a minuscule amount of 0.005.What repercussion did we see from this? ahq Korea has effectively disbanded , losing their main sponsorship from the Taiwan e-Sports club as a result of not qualifying for the elimination stage. Ouch.This begs the question, is there a better way of determining who advances from a tiebreaker besides a coin-flip or KDA/minute? Frankly, I personally think that the best way is a one-off sudden death match, blind pick, broadcast on a day without any games (weekday afternoons come to mind). While there is some minor problem with one team taking the 'preferable' side of the map - I'm pretty sure teams are willing to live with that over losing out on a silly little KDA/minute number.Let us know in the thread what other methods of tie-breaking you think is suitable for League of Legends - as long as it's not that stupid IEM time rule. Let's leave that buried and dead. ▲ Back to Top ▲ Power Rankings By: Fionn After five weeks of big plays, monumental throws, and new heroes emerging from the elite class of teams in the premiere league in Korea, we are left with eight squads heading to the playoffs and four teams wondering what went wrong in their quest to become champions. Before the playoffs start and the possibilities of blind pick ace matches fill our dreams, let's take a step back and get a quick breakdown of how the twelve teams performed in the regular season.You can say what you want by Ring Troll, LG-IM's former controversial Jungler who was kicked off the team before the beggining of the season due to internal team issues, but he was one of the best Junglers of the previous season, helping his team get into the quarterfinals and give heavy favorites Blaze a scare of their life in the quarterfinals. With Ring Troll and his luscious locks off the team, LG-IM's fan support and play dropped off this season, finishing last place in their group and having to go through the NLB to get back into Champions for the summer season.The adding of the inexperienced Smeb, the moving of a Lilac to the jungle to replace Ring Troll, and the overall rise of play in Korean play were all reasons for LG-IM's quick exit out of the spring season. Now, heading down to fight for their lives, they will have to contend with their sister team, LG-IM 2, who has been on fire of late, only dropping a single game in the group stages of NLB Spring and topping the current standings. LG-IM should return with a bit more experience with their new line-up, but they'll have to watch out for their "B-team" in the qualifiers back.Coming in as the ultimate underdogs to start the season, ahq Korea surprised many with how close they got to actually make the knockout rounds. Sure, they were in what many considered to be the weaker of the two groups, having two top teams and then four others battling for two remaining playoff spots, but the newly formed (and then dropped) team was able to hang around the best teams in Korea, taking four draws and only losing one series 0-2 to the three time finalist CJ Entus Frost.Only having to win the final game of the season against LG-IM to eliminate Shield and get a ticket to the playoffs, ahq Korea choked when it mattered most, throwing away an early game lead and succumbing to the pressure that they were under to perform. Promise had a very promising (pun very much intended) start to his professional career, ending up with the most MVP points on his team and being one of the better AD Carries in his group for the regular season. Even with the ahq sponsorship dropped, the now unnamed team will try to get through the deadly NLB stages and get a second chance at proving themselves inside Champions. All in all, when many predicted them to end at the very bottom of the table, you have to say this season was a mild success for the former ahq team.What a strange season for the "A-team" of KT Rolster. Kakao, who got a "promotion" from going from the "B-team" to the "A-team" might be feeling the worst of everyone in KT Rolster, having to see Insec, widely considered the best Jungler in Korea, take over his role on his old team and lead KTB to one of the best records in the regular season. While most of KTA's season consisted of Vitamin, their shaky top laner, getting run over game after after game, they actually had a few golden moments amidst a season of strife and disappointment.They were the last team to actually take a win off CJ Entus Blaze, starting the series 1-0 before Blaze started to get things going and reeled off seven straight victories to end up the season as the second season in Group A. They also - while having nothing to play for, mind you - were able to eliminate MVP Blue from the playoffs, taking the final series of the season 2-0 and bringing down the former GSG to hell with them. This is a season that KT Rolster A would like back, having flashes of brilliance here and there, but they'll need to be more consistent if they hope to be back up for their sister team for the summer season.Escaping relegation from Champions by only a few tenths of a point in KDA, Shield was able to beat out the two weakest teams in Champions and make into the playoffs. Expession, the hipster's choice for best top laner in Korea, gets a lot of talk about him and how he has the potential to be right up there with the likes of Shy and Flame, but he hasn't been able to carry his team any farther than four ties and a 0-2 loss to KT Rolster B. Nofe, the former player of MVP Blue, has been a revelation for Shield this season, playing a strong Jungler role for his team and ending up even in the top five KDA for his position at the end of the regular season.With Shield having to play SK Telecom T1eam Faker in the first round of the quarterfinals, their chances at making a run to the semifinals will really fall onto the shoulders of their bottom lane duo. Locodoco is and always will be one of the most popular players in Korea, having great success with Madlife in the days of MiG Frost, but his combination with his new partner a Wolf hasn't gone as smoothly as a Shield fan would have hoped. Shield is truly a team with untapped potential and could bring a major upset if they could finally all click at the same time, but it might be too late in the season for that hope to turn into reality.Finishing last in their group, MVP Blue had the hottest start to the season, but also had the biggest fall by the end of it. Taking in over half of GSG, the champions of NLB Winter, MVP Blue gained a spot in the spring season of Champions, adding two solo queue heroes to their bottom lane in Deft and Flham, and entered the season as one of the potential picks for last place in the group. Surprising everyone by taking Club Masters, MVP proved they could be a force in the regular season, Blue and Ozone starting the tournament with matching 2-0 scores and running out of the gates as the favorites to top the group over the former champions Blaze and Sword.Easyhoon was the star of the team, playing throughout the season considered as one of the best mid laners in the world and helping his team to an early lead at the top of the Group A standings. They eventually ran out of steam, their inexperience in the bot lane coming back to bite them and easyhoon not being able to carry the team any farther. Teams started to pick up on how they started to play, were able to ban out their champions, and MVP Blue ended the season at the opposite side to where they started it. Still, Deft and Flahm will only get better with more experience, and any team with easyhoon will have a good shot of returning to the Champions next season.Are they extremely consistent or simply mediocre? Should we be impressed by Reapered's four man of the match awards, or should we be worried that he was MVP in four of their five wins this season? Going 1-1 in every single series this season, you could look at the positives and remark how well Reapered has played when his team won, carrying the top lane position and looking like one of the best Korean top laners in a country where there is no shortage of incredible players at the position. But you could also look at the negatives and how badly this relies on Repeared to pull through for them every series, knowing that if he has an off night - which has happened throughout the regular season - they will have an almost impossible job of taking a victory.StarLast has been an excellent pick-up for the team in the support position, giving some stability down in the bottom lane. Heading into the playoffs, Repeared will be meeting up with his old teammates, hoping to get a bit of revenge for not only losing to them at the IEM World Championships, but to prove that he was one of the main reasons why they were able to take the championship in the first OGN Champions season. Even with their impressive trend to take a game and lose a game to every team in their group, it's hard to rank them any higher than seventh. Inconsistent, too reliant on a single player, and playing in the weaker group puts them just out of the top six spots in our rankings.Ozone is a pretty easy team to breakdown. Everyone on the team is essentially the secret service, and imp, their star AD Carry, is the President of MVP Ozone and is in need of protection 24/7. If the secret service can do their job throughout the game, President imp can rule the country of Summoner's Rift with an iron fist and lay down justice against the rebels trying to kill him. If President imp's protection can't stop the rebels from getting to him, then MVP Ozone is hopeless, having no one strong enough to take the mantle of President after he's out of the game.imp's mechanics are out of this world, and he's been - alongside Faker - the player that has given us the most highlight reel plays of the season, but teams have figured out that if you can stop him, you can stop Ozone. Homme, their top laner, has been their weakest link, not being able to handle the pressure of 1v2 lanes and usually falling behind before he can make any sort of impact. Protecting imp is the job for the entire team, needing imp to get fed and farm up, allowing their star player to carry in the late game and lead them to victory. The plan for the most part has worked, Ozone making the playoffs and having a record of 6-4 at the end of the group stage, but their predictability might be their downfall having to face the monsters KT Rolster B in the quarterfinals.The defending champions have once again had a slow start to the season, limping into the playoffs with only four wins out of ten. Luckily for them, KT Rolster A decided that it was time to actually play well after being eliminated from the playoffs, and they were able to knock out MVP Blue from contention. If it wasn't for KTA's heroics against Blue, there is a high possibility Sword would be outside looking in as the playoffs started. So, why are they so highly ranked if they have had an awful season for their standards? Simply, Sword is a slow starting team, and from what we saw from the KTB-Frost match this past week, no team in Group B would rather face Sword over Ozone come playoff team.The regular season was a mess, but this is a team built for the playoffs. Unlike President imp and his bodyguards and Reapered and friends, Sword is a team that you can't focus solely on one player and win a series by shutting down that individual. Oh, you want to camp Maknoon and take the reigning league MVP out of the game? Pray and Cain will just carry in the bottom lane. Want to focus on those two? Then you leave Ssong, one of the better mid laners in Korea, to himself and let him carry the team. They excel in the BoX format, and CJ Frost will not have an easy time dispatching the reigning kings of Champions in the most highly anticipated first round match-up of the playoffs.No one had more pressure on him heading into this season than Faker. As the biggest free agent in the offseason, the best amateur and #1 player on the Korean server, many teams tried to grab Faker, but it was SKT T1, the organization with richest history and pockets in Korean e-sports who were able to land the solo queue superstar, creating a second team and putting Faker in the center as the main pillar. Similar to Ozone and T1eam Reapered, there is no doubt that this is Faker's team and that if they want to win the finals, that Faker will need to be the MVP, but the supporting cast around him have come together throughout the season.Impact, the former top laner for Xenics Storm, has come in and held down the top lane for his squad, having a strong first season. Piglet and bengi, the two unknowns that were also plucked from amateur status, have also come up big for the team, Piglet starting a Winnie the Pooh bot lane with the former GSG member Mandu and quickly becoming one of the better duos in the Korea. Faker, of course, has been the all-star of the team, having insane performances to get his team to the top of Group A, but he wouldn't have been able to make those incredible plays if it wasn't for his teammates around him. Their biggest weakness heading into the playoffs will be their inexperience and team fighting, the three teams ranked above them in the rankings all having won championships around the world.Blaze's season started out terribly, dropping their first three games and on the verge of being knocked out of the group stage. With Flame leading the way, Blaze went on a seven game win streak to end the season, take second place in the group and show they are one of the most dangerous teams in the world. The world champions of IEM, Blaze have been on the upswing of late, Flame coming into his own and being recognized as possibly the best top laner in the scene, destroying everyone he has faced in the top lane during the seven game win streak Blaze has been on. Resilient as they come, Blaze is a team known for their comebacks, knowing how to take fights from behind and be able to scratch and crawl their way back into games like no other.The inaugural OGN champions will need to tighten their bot lane, though. CptJack and Lustboy, who were once the backbone of the team in the early days, have now become their biggest weakness, the two being caught out continually in the beginning of games. This has led to a trend of Blaze going down early due to CptJack and Lustboy dying, Flame carrying in the top lane by out CS'ing his counterpart by over 100, and then having perfectly positioned team fights at key points in the game to land major objectives and complete the comeback. That might have been all good and fun in the group stages, but having to rely on comebacks in the playoffs? That's a recipe for disaster.The true kings of Freljord, CJ Entus Frost do what they do best: play consistent, win games, and eventually get to the finals of OGN Champions. For the fourth straight season, Frost ended the opening group stages as the top ranking team in their group, only dropping two games the entire way through the regular season. Implementing a new strategy that might change how teams work in Korea, Frost have been using two subs the entire season, subbing in their main bot lane duo of Hermes and Madlife for the only remaining players left of the old CJ Entus, Muse and Space. The strategy has worked, giving their subs some experience in the booth, and it also gives Madlife and Hermes time to practice for bigger matches on the horizon and hide their strategies.A team built on consistency and having a strong player at every position, Frost is once again a favorite to win it all, having all the tools to beat any team in the world. Hermes, the former MVP member, has fit in perfectly as a replacement for Woong, creating a great partnership with Madlife down in the bottom lane. Shy, as per usual, is the best top laner alongside CJ Entus' other top laner Flame, showing that Blaze and Frost's ability to find talent in the amateur scene is second to none in Korea. Madlife has gone through Locodoco, Woong and now Hermes in his four seasons in Champions, and he continues to be the God of the Korean League scene, being able to create a strong bond with any AD Carry he is teamed up with.KT Rolster B might not have the prettiest record, but it's hard to argue they aren't the favorites to win this season's championship. Not playing up to their best on purpose to dodge Sword in the first round and possibly Blaze in the second, KT Rolster B put themselves in the easier side of the bracket, getting to play President imp and his secret service in the first round, before more than likely facing an inexperienced team led by Faker in the semifinals. Winners of the International Exhibition at the latest MLG and the Korean qualifier for the Asian Indoor Games, KT Rolster B has been winning everything of late, steamrolling their way past the best teams in Korea.The KDA rankings look more like a KT Rolster B house party, four of the five starters at the top, only ssumday trailing CJ's Flame and Shy in the top lane position. Insec was the biggest acquisition for KTB in the offseason, taking in the best Jungler in Korea after CJ picked up Blaze and Frost, and he has done nothing but live up to expectations in his first season on his new team, leading his team into a great position heading into the playoffs. Their pressure in lane is incredible, their team fighting is at a different level than every team in Korea other than the two CJ teams, and their talent in every position makes it that you can't focus down a single player and hope to win. KTB didn't finish the regular season at the top of their group standings, but they are the favorites to be lifting the trophy by the end of the finals. ▲ Back to Top ▲ SKT T1 #2 vs Najin Shield By: Mafia After 5 rounds of this spring season, SKT T1 #2 and Najin Shield had contrasting results while both teams face against each other in this quarterfinals matchup. Most analysts predicted Najin Shield to be middle of standings which they barely managed to do, but no one predicted SKT T1 #2 to be 1st in group A with teams such as Blaze and Sword fighting for the top seed.SKT T1 #2 placed 1st in group A after leaving many teams with the Faker Trauma. SKT T1 #2 star player Faker has been known as solo queue star with superb mechanics. But his ability to play wide variety of niche champions such as Jayce, Leblanc, Lux, Nidalee and Syndra along with the popular champions Kha’Zix, TF and Karthus this season. Faker’s leblanc play was incredible to watch as he demonstrated how to play the early game, mid game and late game.Faker’s ability to farm 32 cs in a 1v2 lane while his lane counterpart karthus farming 19 cs gave faker enough gold to roll out with 2 dorans ring and move into the mid game.Faker nuked a 70% elise from 70-0 while having 3 level advantage + 2 dorans ring. Leblanc’s early game cs gave enough ap damage to nuke anyone down.Although SKT picked Leblanc to counter Karthus, Faker dealt with a 1v2 lane in which he was able to farm double his lane counterpart and erase any champion with nuke and nuke.Impact plays a solid top lane who rarely dies from 1v1 lane and can farm decently in a 1v2 lane. In SKT T1 #2, Impact specializes in Jayce, Kennen and Shen performing average in lane phase but excelling in team fights with his positioning. Impact played an excellent kennen game as he was able to land ultimates on 2 to 3 people while zoning out enemy ad/ap carries away from Faker and Piglet..Bengi is the jungler for SKT with a limited jungle pool due to the nature of the jungle meta. Bengi’s strength lies on his ability to initiate with either Lee Sin or Jarvan and becoming the tank for the team. I feel his weakness shows up in lane phase when enemy jungler ganks either top or mid lane, Bengi is slow to react to counter ganks and farming jungle creeps. Overall from watching his play, Bengi plays a passive early jungle that becomes a solid initator and a tank later in the game.Piglet/Poohmandu plays very aggressive 2v2 all in lanes in which they either pick up both kills or die with no kills. Piglet utilized caitlyn early on but switched to Miss Fortune, Varus and Vayne for more damage in late game. In the meantime, opponents have banned out Poohmandu’s Fiddlesticks every game since week 3 but his support play has bad solid and diverse with champions such as Nami, Sona, Mordekaiser, Thresh. From watching all 10 games, SKT #2 prefers having the standard 2v2 bot lane so Piglet/Poohmandu can use their lane aggression to bully enemy lane.Najin Shield placed 4th in Group B with 4 draws and 1 loss. Biggest problem for Najin Shield was the inconsistency from Save(Mid) and Locodoco/a Wolf(Bot). With roster changes in Mid lane, Jungle and AD carry, Shield looked vulnerable in team fights and shaky in early lane phase. Najin Shield needs their star top laner Expession to step up against SKT #2.Expession is highly regarded amongst korean top laners and plays a similar champion pool to Maknoon. Kennen is always banned against Expession due kennen’s ability to carry late game but also able to farm in a 1v2 lane. Expession brings out Diana, Jayce, Rumble and Shen but excelling at Rumble and Shen. In teamfight composition, Expession plays the assassin/tank role in which he either kills the enemy ad carry or soak up all incoming damage.Save is relatively unknown mid player who replaced Hoon this spring season. Save held his mid lane throughout the season with multiple ganks from Nofe helping Save pick up early lane kills. Shield uses Save in an assassin type but with burst damage and closing ability such as Kha’Zix, Diana or as an lane ganker type like Ryze and Twisted Fate. In order for Shield to have a competitive chance against SKT #2, Save will have to hold Faker underfarmed but also initiate lane ganks.After the retirement of Mokuza, Shield opted for Nofe to be the replacement for the legendary EDG jungler. Opponents banned Nofe’s Elise jungle consistently but Nofe regularly plays Jarvan and Nasus as his bread & butter junglers. Nofe mainly ganks top and mid lane and prefers ganking over farming. However, if Nofe can successfully gank bot lane early game, I feel Najin will have a better top laner in Expession and fed locodoco and cruise through Faker’s SKT.Locodoco/a Wolf duo has been up and down this season with good and poor performances against every opponent they have faced this season. For the majority of the season, Shield ran aoe combo with Miss Fortune and Sona in bot lane but lately they have switched up to Varus/Thresh for more aggressive lane phase. Most likely Najin Shield will have to dominate this bot lane matchup in order to have a chance of defeating SKT #2. If Loco plays as consistent he was playing for Azubu Frost and wins this match up, SKT will have hard time dealing not only with Expession but Locodoco as well. ▲ Back to Top ▲ https://twitter.com/FionnOnFire