FlyQuest (2w 0l) vs. Counter Logic Gaming (1w 1l)

Week 2, Day 1, Game 1

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=biDJHldJmNc

This match was the one to watch. This one, above all others this week. Given both team’s level of commitment to their rosters and strategic minds in Hai and Aphromoo, I was assured that this would be one of the premier matches. More critically acclaimed and hyped matches happening this week don’t distract from that.

*Analysis summary (TLDR) is at the bottom*

Lineups

FlyQuest

Top: Balls

Jungle: Moon

Mid: Hai

Bot: Altec

Support: LemonNation

Counter Logic Gaming

Top: Darshan

Jungle: Xmithie

Mid: Huhi

Bot: Stixxay

Support: Aphromoo

Team Introduction

FlyQuest

Ever since the old Cloud 9’s 2014 Worlds performance, I was hooked on Hai’s shot-calling. This guy always has something up his sleeve, and is super fun to watch when playing well.

Transitioning to C9 Challenger, the lineup of Balls, Hai, and LemonNation has been farming LCS spots for the last couple of splits. While C9 Jack has been on the record saying it’s not a great financial strategy, they’ve definitely been successful, regardless.

Late 2016, as rules regarding Challenger Series spots has changed, Hai and the boys had to find a new way of dealing with their entry into the LCS. This time around, they decided to stick together and test their luck in the LCS under the new name of FlyQuest. LemonNation has gone on record about this shift, stating that they are trying to build the brand and continue under the banner of FlyQuest as long as they find it feasible.

As for their current record in the LCS, my personal opinion is that it won’t be long-lasting. While Hai has always been an incredibly thoughtful and creative shot-caller, I’ve seen too many times where he and his team have blown up, and simply gotten figured out within a couple of weeks. I genuinely hope I’m wrong. I hope this is the time they manage to adapt, but I just don’t see this win streak going on for very long.

Counter Logic Gaming

I’ve been a consistent CLG fan ever since HotShotGG stepped back and started working on the team’s infrastructure. He took really impressive risks (not many worked out) that were revolutionary for the scene at the time.

Since then, he has found staff that have settled down strategically, and really dug into what makes teams successful. They have won two championships, and had a consistent roster for the past two years or so. They’ve impressed me on several occasions, taking home second for NA at MSI last year, as well as taking down Korean teams (if only in best-of-ones). While their regular season record isn’t the best, they have decisively taken down many teams in playoffs, and shown their dominance as one of North America’s premier teams.

This year will be CLG’s toughest yet. Given their rocky start and the rise in overall level of the NA LCS, it’s going to be tough for them to maintain a high enough standing to make playoffs. However, if trends of the past couple of years have shown us anything, it’s that CLG will make a deep run into playoffs. Hell, if I was running the team, I’d have flights to Worlds already booked. CLG is resilient and determined, and has the past to back up their fight.

The Draft

Phase 1

Bans

Ryze [FLY] – A staple blue-side ban, Huhi’s champion pool is probably a factor here.

– A staple blue-side ban, Huhi’s champion pool is probably a factor here. Camille [CLG] – You know why Camille was banned just as well as I do.

– You know why Camille was banned just as well as I do. Olaf [FLY] – One of Xmithie’s best junglers, Olaf is very good at turning around pick attempts in the midgame. As we see the draft play out, a pick composition is mostly what they’re looking for, so it makes sense.

– One of Xmithie’s best junglers, Olaf is very good at turning around pick attempts in the midgame. As we see the draft play out, a pick composition is mostly what they’re looking for, so it makes sense. LeBlanc [CLG] – Too strong to let through the ban phase, CLG ban away one of Hai’s favorite Solo Queue champions.

– Too strong to let through the ban phase, CLG ban away one of Hai’s favorite Solo Queue champions. Miss Fortune [FLY] – With Zyra up and Miss Fortune banned, CLG will probably pick Zyra very early. Malzahar is a solid pick into Zyra, LemonNation is comfortable on it, and it fits nicely into their supposed pick composition.

– With Zyra up and Miss Fortune banned, CLG will probably pick Zyra very early. Malzahar is a solid pick into Zyra, LemonNation is comfortable on it, and it fits nicely into their supposed pick composition. Rengar [CLG] – As another currently OP champion, Rengar rounds out most red-side must-bans alongside Camille and LeBlanc.

Picks

Kha’Zix [FLY] – Being the next strongest jungler after Rengar, this makes perfect sense, since there are no other priority picks they are seeking at this point.

– Being the next strongest jungler after Rengar, this makes perfect sense, since there are no other priority picks they are seeking at this point. Corki [CLG] – Corki currently doesn’t have too many lane counters, and does pretty well in most compositions. This means he’s a safe pick for Huhi. Corki is extremely strong in the midgame, so CLG should be looking to fight a lot in the midgame.

Corki currently doesn’t have too many lane counters, and does pretty well in most compositions. This means he’s a safe pick for Huhi. Corki is extremely strong in the midgame, so CLG should be looking to fight a lot in the midgame. Zyra [CLG] – As Miss Fortune was banned, Zyra is a great pick here, as one of the best supports in the current meta.

– As Miss Fortune was banned, Zyra is a great pick here, as one of the best supports in the current meta. Varus [FLY] – Being one of the top two most picked markspeople, Varus is the better at sieging, which is a necessary component of any split-push composition. Also, his ultimate is very good at following up picks. It also telegraphs your enemy picking Ashe, since she’s low mobility and vulnerable to Kha’Zix.

– Being one of the top two most picked markspeople, Varus is the better at sieging, which is a necessary component of any split-push composition. Also, his ultimate is very good at following up picks. It also telegraphs your enemy picking Ashe, since she’s low mobility and vulnerable to Kha’Zix. Malzahar [FLY] – As one of the S-tier supports, Malzahar is an easy pick that does well in sieges as well as getting picks. This was also telegraphed by the Miss Fortune ban.

– As one of the S-tier supports, Malzahar is an easy pick that does well in sieges as well as getting picks. This was also telegraphed by the Miss Fortune ban. Ashe [CLG] – Not wanting to let FlyQuest ban Ashe in phase 2 of the draft, Ashe guarantees a strong botlane of Ashe/Zyra for CLG.

Phase 2

Bans

Syndra [CLG] – Huhi’s not the only one with a small champion pool. Hai has historically been pretty set on his few champions he can do well with, such as Zed and Syndra. Syndra would also round out a pick composition very well, and CLG know this.

– Huhi’s not the only one with a small champion pool. Hai has historically been pretty set on his few champions he can do well with, such as Zed and Syndra. Syndra would also round out a pick composition very well, and CLG know this. Elise [FLY] – Since CLG haven’t picked a jungler yet, FLY want to make sure it’s a low-impact jungler. Lee Sin, being the next highest priority pick, has a strikingly low win rate, as well as being one of Xmithie’s weakest champions.

– Since CLG haven’t picked a jungler yet, FLY want to make sure it’s a low-impact jungler. Lee Sin, being the next highest priority pick, has a strikingly low win rate, as well as being one of Xmithie’s weakest champions. Orianna [CLG] – This one I haven’t figured out yet. Before this game, FLY had actually banned Orianna on two occasions, which is half of all Orianna bans throughout the league. This was a poor ban by CLG.

– This one I haven’t figured out yet. Before this game, FLY had actually banned Orianna on two occasions, which is half of all Orianna bans throughout the league. This was a poor ban by CLG. Fiora [FLY] – Darshan, being the best performing member of CLG, has shown in the past that he can carry, so getting rid of the best anti-tank split-pusher in the game is a great way of doing that. This also telegraphs a bit more emphasis on split-pushing from FLY.

Picks

Maokai [CLG] – Picking a jungler at this point would be silly, since FLY no longer have any control in that area. Getting Darshan the most globally successful tank is a no-brainer.

– Picking a jungler at this point would be silly, since FLY no longer have any control in that area. Getting Darshan the most globally successful tank is a no-brainer. Nautilus [FLY] – Given FLY’s composition currently doesn’t have a tank, grabbing the next best thing next to Maokai is also an easy decision to make.

Given FLY’s composition currently doesn’t have a tank, grabbing the next best thing next to Maokai is also an easy decision to make. Twisted Fate [FLY] – Rounding out their split-push and pick composition, he’s instrumental in ensuring they can get early pressure and advantages where they need them.

Rounding out their split-push and pick composition, he’s instrumental in ensuring they can get early pressure and advantages where they need them. Lee Sin [CLG] – Unfortunately for CLG, the obvious last pick was inevitable, and is the result of an excellent draft by FLY.

Draft Synopsis

As each pick unfolded, it seems likely that FlyQuest had a specific strategy heading into this draft. However, given the disadvantage they were put into by FLY’s clever drafting maneuvers, CLG definitely got their hands on some notable picks, such as the Maokai, Ashe, and Zyra. These three are staples for a reason, and all have the ability to carry games.

Corki and Maokai especially will have to do a lot of work this game in the midgame. Team fighting early and often is a key to victory for CLG.

FLY need to get ganks going in the laning phase and transition that lead into picks and strong vision control for split-pushing.

Line-ups

FlyQuest

Balls – Nautilus

Moon – Kha’Zix

Hai – Twisted Fate

Altec – Varus

LemonNation – Malzahar

Counter Logic Gaming

Darshan – Maokai

Xmithie – Lee Sin

Huhi – Corki

Stixxay – Ashe

Aphromoo – Zyra

Gameplay Breakdown

The Earlygame

What to Expect

Heading into laning phase, all lanes seem to have fairly straight-forward match-ups. Malzahar bullies botlane early, Corki needs to push Twisted Fate in early, and the tanks just get to farm until they’re needed elsewhere.

00:35 – Plants vs. Voidlings

The only way that Zyra is able to achieve parity in lane with a bully like Malzahar is if she was allowed to get 3-4 plants down in lane before the match-up even started. Zyra tries to do just that, but gets thwarted by two events. First, Malzahar interrupts this process by zoning her out of the lane.

Beyond this, however, Zyra’s plants don’t spawn in the right places, rendering them useless in the early stages of the lane. This gives Malzahar complete control of the lane, forcing Zyra to take a lot of free damage. We see this turn itself into a tangible advantage around 3:20, where Zyra must blow her flash in order to dodge a Piercing Arrow that would have meant her death.

02:30 – Aliens!

Kha’Zix, being the ridiculously fast single-target camp clearer that he is, was able to finish his entire blue-side jungle before 03:00. This allows him to get a huge amount of pressure down onto any lane he chooses. Since he couldn’t have cleared the red side so healthily, it wasn’t nearly as viable of an option. Thankfully, as I stated earlier, Corki must push in Twisted Fate before he hits level 6. This means that midlane is the obvious choice here. Kha’Zix knows this, and heads in for an early gank.

Now, pressure would have been all he achieves, had Corki not made an enormous mistake. He failed to put a point into his Valkyrie with his second skill point. This ensures his death, and he even uses flash and cleanse, leaving him with little to no pressure after he comes back into lane.

3:20 – Calculated Repercussions

Lee Sin, not wanting to get counter-ganked by Kha’Zix, he patiently clears the rest of his jungle before responding to the pressure in the midlane. After Twisted Fate was able to farm back into parity with Corki, he pushes slightly too far, and gets chunked out by Lee Sin. Thankfully for Corki, this gives him just enough pressure to regain priority of the lane. He decides to keep the wave closer to his own turret, since this way, Twisted Fate can’t get close enough to last hit without exposing himself to Lee Sin once more.

Barely thirty seconds later, Kha’Zix grabs Scuttle Crab, while Lee Sin clears out his red-side jungle. If you can believe it, Kha’Zix actually spots the use of Lee Sin’s Scryer’s Bloom with a ward in the river, realizing that he didn’t recall, and could very well be on his way to gank Nautilus. Knowing this, he finishes his recall and picks up an enormous amount of combat stats with Caulfield’s Warhammer.

Lee Sin’s gank was made even more obvious when he unwittingly revealed himself while walking into the lane brush. This was a crucial error which allowed Kha’Zix to grow his lead into something formidable. The counter-gank was successful, giving Kha’Zix his second kill of the match.

6:02 – Separate Ways

FlyQuest decide it’s time to strike with their so-far accrued advantages. Twisted Fate sees an over-reaching Zyra without flash in the botlane, while Kha’Zix prays on Corki’s false sense of security in the midlane. Here’s how it all started.

Spotting out a control ward in river with his red-side Scryer’s Bloom, Kha’Zix grabs is raptors, then heads to clear it out. Meanwhile Twisted Fate, as low on mana as he is, has just enough to ultimate, and stun someone in CLG’s botlane. Truly I have no idea why Zyra and Ashe didn’t back off, as they definitely had all of the information at their disposal. There was even a ward in midlane to spot where Twisted Fate would roam to.

Despite them having all of the information in the world (including Kha’Zix’s whereabouts near midlane), Zyra still decides to stay in lane without flash, giving Twisted Fate a free kill. Furthermore, Corki gets ganked by Kha’Zix (again, knowing well where he is on the map), and isolates himself for a huge chunk of damage. Lee Sin comes in and gets the counter-gank kill, but trades Corki’s life for it. While this may seem like a decent trade because of shut-down gold and an assist, Kha’Zix now has three kills, which will overall be more impactful later on. Corki should have either walked back to turret, or collapsed immediately with Lee Sin to secure the kill swiftly.

7:05 – Preparation

Noting that Kha’Zix is dead very quickly after his blue buff had spawned, Lee Sin sees an opportunity to take the enemy blue buff, making the trade in midlane favor them slightly.

While this happened, Malzahar was busy placing wards down in Lee Sin’s blue-side jungle. This was only possible because of Zyra’s death, and Lee Sin’s blue buff steal. While a blue buff is definitely better than placing wards initially, deep and thorough vision of an enemy’s jungle gives you a lot of play-making potential.

8:21 – Attack of Titan

Nautilus, seeing Maokai had to recall, was very quick to realize what he had to do next. He shoved in his lane, and immediately looked to midlane for a gank. Since neither toplaner had teleport advantage, this gank was a huge boon for Nautilus, who was falling behind Maokai in minion kills. While the gank only served to get rid of The Package, it relieved a lot of pressure from Twisted Fate, and didn’t cost Nautilus anything.

10:05 – Attack on the Titan

Realizing that Nautilus was thirty minion kills behind, CLG take advantage of poor recall timings by Varus and Malzahar to recall themselves, and go to the toplane and make a play. Given that CLG’s botlane was missing and toplane was pretty far into Nautilus’ turret, he believed it was safe to grab a couple of minion kills. He was wrong, then he burned flash, then he was dead.

As a side note, Lee Sin had a great pathway into the enemy jungle, and was easily able to turret dive because he wasn’t spotted heading to toplane.

The Midgame

11:20 – “Worth.”

Seeing CLG’s incredibly effective push in the toplane, Varus and Kha’Zix make a decisive call to get Mountain Drake and botlane turret in exchange for two toplane turrets.

I would call this a fairly even trade, maybe slightly in favor of CLG. CLG got a kill, which was nice, but the true advantage comes from which turrets they took. They took first turret, and taking two turrets in an outer lane allows you a lot of freedom on that side of the map. This plays very nicely with CLG’s composition, too. CLG need gold. Maokai, Ashe, and Corki are an enormous team fight threat. If they’re behind, however, this is not the case.

What’s Next?

Now that CLG has secured an advantage, they need to press it soon. Unfortunately, this means sieging or waiting for Baron to spawn. Neither of those options are safe. Relying on being safe from picks is vary dangerous against Twisted Fate and Kha’Zix, and sieging, while it’s not terrible, isn’t going to net them much against a split-push composition. This time around, they have to be creative. Spoiler alert! This doesn’t happen.

14:12 – How the Tables Have Turned

Foolishly, Ashe and Zyra remain in the toplane, pushing out against Varus and Malzahar. They would probably have an advantage in isolation, but Twisted Fate is just two clicks of R away from making it an unfair fight. Twisted Fate utilizes his control ward on the top side of mid and commits heavily to a gank on toplane. This is exactly what CLG wanted to avoid, but instead they pushed out and ruined their chances of snowballing.

CLG should have been able to capitalize on the early objective trade by playing safe and accumulating a turret lead, but instead fail to respect Twisted Fate, and instead end up with a bad trade, leaving them few options for the minutes to come.

15:30 – Not Like This

Ashe and Zyra, having not learned their lesson, decide yet again that they need to push recklessly into toplane, giving Twisted Fate a double kill. Against a composition like FlyQuests, this was never going to work. Ashe and Zyra should have warded more thoroughly, been more patient, and understood that prudence is more important than making plays.

Continuing their snowball, Twisted Fate and Kha’Zix notice Ashe and Zyra’s rotation into midlane, and strike once more. They collapse onto Ashe intelligently, knowing that their item and exp advantage would protect them from any response CLG had prepared.

To be completely honest, at this point in the game, it is absolutely inexcusable that Maokai overextends in botlane. This comedy of errors by CLG is absolutely dreadful, and needs to be addressed.

Against a pick-based composition, overextending means you lose the game.

21:45 – The Hourglass Heard Around the World

In the last section, I mentioned patience. While I was mostly critiquing CLG for their poor positioning and greed, patience is something that everyone can work on. When FlyQuest are sieging mid turret, Twisted Fate decides he wants to auto-attack a turret with no minions, against Ashe ultimate, by himself. The truth is, if CLG’s composition wasn’t so dangerous in team fights, I’d be perfectly okay with this move. CLG, however, have no plans to surrender the turret, and immediately collapse onto Twisted Fate.

Baited

Ashe fires her ultimate, and Twisted Fate goes golden. At this point, arrow or hourglass, he’s doomed. Giving up a free kill, FlyQuest back up, recall, grab jungle camps, and wait for Twisted Fate to respawn. As he does, they regroup and last-hit the turret.

This may seem like a minor setback for FlyQuest, but it allows CLG to reclaim some of their lost advantages from their poor positioning earlier on.

24:45 – Clash of Compositions

CLG seem to have learned their lesson! They stop extending so deep into lanes and group up for an objective-focused team fight. Twisted Fate, looking for a pick onto Maokai, gates in and throws a gold card. By now, Maokai has picked up a Quicksilver Sash, so he cleanses the stun and walks away. CLG then notice their time to strike. While there were a couple of misaligned skill shots, CLG manage to do a good job of engaging and showing why their composition is fine if played from behind.

Even though The Package paves the way for Enchanted Crystal Arrow to miss literally everybody, CLG do a somewhat decent job of engaging a fight against FlyQuest’s team. Note that FlyQuest were cut off from their tank at this point, meaning a well-placed wombo-combo-style engage would secure a couple of kills and Dragon quite cleanly. This gives CLG a massive advantage in the fight. They’re the better team fighters, and they know it.

Suicide

Corki is the most renowned of the Screaming Yipsnakes for remaining cool under fire and exhibiting bravery to the point of madness.

Lima Oscar Lima! Mayday! Mayday! We’re one biscuit short of a baker’s dozen down here in the Mississippi! We’re goin’ down!

Giving death the middle finger, Corki dives head-first into the enemy team. Spitting in the face of danger, The Package hits all four enemies smack-dab in the gullet.

Then, he dies. He’s dead, buried, and can’t contribute to the team fight. What a shame, you might say. It’s true, it is a shame. Corki could have single-handedly dealt enough damage to clean up this fight, had he let Ashe and Maokai deal with engaging the fight.

Taking the loss hard, CLG try to back off. FlyQuest then try to re-engage without their Varus, leading to a quick outplay by Lee Sin and a team fight win for CLG. Good job, Lee. Taking their W, they grab the Ocean Drake and set up for Baron. This is by far the best decision they’ve made all game, and because of FlyQuest’s mistakes, are able to make a proactive play and set themselves up for victory.

The Lategame

27:45 – Late For Dinner

Seeing an opportunity to strike in the midlane, CLG want to re-create their previous team fighting conditions, and engage onto Malzahar and Twisted Fate. Given the timing of the Teleport by Maokai, CLG take a bit too much damage before their tank enters the fray. This could have been a clean engage and a clean Baron for CLG, but because of that late Teleport, they go even in the fight, and nothing comes of it. If you like tank battles, go ahead and watch this one. Otherwise, steer clear.

30:20 – Now You See Me

Previous to this team fight, I was unaware that Ashe moonlighted as a magician. The immediate disappearing act was particularly impressive. Twisted Fate couldn’t even disappear that quickly, even though he tried his darnedest. Spotted by a ward as he uses Gate, Twisted Fate gives CLG a clear window to engage Baron and bait a team fight. Ashe, wanting to keep safe at the back of the Baron pit, unwittingly recreates Corki’s blunder and gets blown up at the beginning of the fight. Granted, this was because of a beautiful Chains of Corruption by Varus, either snaring Ashe or forcing her to stay in the pit and take just as much damage (if not more) from Baron.

Getting back to the fight quickly because of Lich Bane, Twisted Fate is able to bring damage due to his lead. Having taken too much damage from Baron and Varus’ Piercing Arrow, CLG now have to retreat, and eventually lose Zyra to solid follow-up play by Nautilus.

33:30 – Only as Strong as Your Weakest Link

FlyQuest look to secure another pick or team fight, as their scaling has finally overcome CLG’s strong midgame. Maokai boldly walks into three members of FlyQuest, hoping to get vision of Baron. This instigates a fairly passive team fight.

Lee Sin is very weak in the lategame. This has always been the case, and is only accentuated by the recent changes to Dragon Rage’s damage. Miscalculating his own damage, he is unable to kill Malzahar. He is now left alone against the two biggest threats on FlyQuest. Varus and Kha’Zix make short work of the blind monk, and CLG are forced to disengage the fight.

35:00 – Win Conditions

Understanding that getting a pick and split-pushing are their two best avenues for destroying CLG’s nexus, FlyQuest recall and continue to look for picks around Baron vision and side lane priority. CLG anticipate this, and engage the first chance they get. They use their crowd control onto Nautilus and Malzahar, burning Twisted Fate ultimate and a couple of ultimate abilities.

Pushing FlyQuest back, CLG regain control of Baron and set a trap.

36:30 – Lee Sin, the Completely Blind Monk

This is what should have happened:

Lee Sin, seeing an engage window onto Twisted Fate in the back line, ward-jumps over the wall and InSecs him into his own team. Twisted Fate gets blown up, CLG clean up the fight, and push for the win.

I can’t tell you in good conscience that this is the truth. Lee Sin tries to InSec Twisted Fate, but fails the kick and ends up running around like a chicken with his head cut off. His Guardian Angel gets activated, he dies again, and ends up losing his team the fight and the best chance they had at winning the game.

39:05 – Win Conditions Part Two

At this point, you know that FlyQuest will probably win this game, short of an enormous throw.

Grabbing Elder Drake after a couple of good vision maneuvers around baron, Twisted Fate starts split-pushing and secures another turret. The rest of his team is able to also secure mid inner turret, catapulting their vision lead, and opening up CLG’s base.

Corki, overextending only slightly in midlane and burning The Package, gives up 80% of his health, and a ton of map pressure. FlyQuest use this pressure to take mid inhibitor and secure their win (again, granted no throws happen). CLG attempt one last team fight to claw back some pressure, but can’t find anyone in the back line. FlyQuest secure four kills and push in for the win.

Analysis Summary (TLDR)

Mistakes

CLG banning Orianna against Hai

Huhi not leveling up Valkyrie at level 2

Xmithie not realizing he was noticed heading to toplane’s brush

Balls’ mechanical play in lane and in teamfights

Ashe and Zyra overextending multiple times

Huhi’s Package at the early Dragon fight

Xmithie’s multiple bad engage atempts

Big Plays

Moon’s early pathing

CLG’s earlygame rotation into toplane

Hai’s consistent play-making with Destiny and Gate

FlyQuest’s pressure via pick attempts and split-pushing

Synopsis

FlyQuest screamed confidence this game, regardless of how poorly CLG was executing.

Hai was extremely impressive this game. His use of Destiny and Gate were mostly on point (disregarding the one at 30:20), and his positioning and ability usage was proper and consistent. I can’t be completely confident in saying he’s the only shot-caller on FlyQuest, but if he is, it’s extraordinarily impressive that he is able to dish out huge game-changing calls as well as play as mechanically solid as he has been.

FlyQuest didn’t do too much wrong this game, aside from last-hitting poorly and a couple of minor mechanical misplays. I don’t see these hindering them in the NA LCS, so I won’t critique them too hard for it.

CLG, on the other hand, have consistently shown that they do not have the communication necessary to play against a split-pushing pick composition. They seem to understand their win conditions at times, but either lack the mechanical skill to pull it off, or make rash decisions to put themselves at a disadvantage before they can complete the play. I expect this to be fixed come crunch time, and see CLG finishing top 6 without a problem. Their confidence in their late-split run, however, is concerning for the future, and will have to be fixed if they want to improve with the rest of the league.

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