LMS: Another force from the East

Photo from LoL eSports Flickr

LMS: Another Force from the East

"And it is Westdoor with the solo kill..!" It was during Mid Season Invitational (MSI) when Shu-Wei "Westdoor" Liu proved that he is a player to be reckoned with. AHQ eSports Club's (AHQ) victory over Fnatic exemplified their relevance in the international scene. Although it is true that AHQ's status as an international contender was rightfully earned, it is the League of Legends Masters League (LMS) that has pushed and molded the team AHQ currently represents. The region's rapid growth of competitive environment including the veteran team, Flash Wolves, and the team led by a former world champion Kurtis "Toyz" Lau, Hongkong eSports, has always made AHQ think dynamically with picks, line swaps, and jungle pathings. With the summer split completed, fans are now eying at the post-season playoffs, which happens tonight. That being said let's explore the LMS by first taking a look at the rankings.

Final Standings:

Rank Team W L T Points 1 AHQ e-Sports Club 11 0 3 36 2 Flash Wolves 9 2 3 30 3 Hongkong eSports 5 1 8 23 4 Midnight SUN e-Sports 3 4 7 16 5 Taipei Assassins 3 6 5 14 6 Machi 2 5 7 13 7 Assassin Sniper 2 9 3 9 8 Logitech G Sniper 1 9 4 7



Overall LMS Environment:

The LMS was launched just this season after seperating a larger region league, Garena. In terms of the game, the LMS is generally very conservative. Teams pick and ban trendy champions and itemize in a strict manner. Team compositions span from poke-comps, pick-comps, and to peel-comps in standard patterns. In terms of outside of the game, there were drama scenes here and there. For example, the suspension ruling of Soo-bin "Raison" Jung for "elo-boosting" left Hongkong eSports and some fans with distastefulness by the ruling. In regards to the league's competitiveness, it's top-notch. Teams do not have huge gap of skill-level differences. The teams that do win show less mistakes and take oppurtunities with little risk.

Photo from LoL Esports

In the LMS, the top four teams advance to the post-season playoffs. In this case, the advancing teams are AHQ, Flash Wolves, Hongkong eSports, and Midnight SUN e-Sports. Let us discuss about these playoff teams and how they will play in the brackets.

Photo from HKESPORTS

Fourth Seed: Midnight SUN eSports

Midnight SUN's original roster was originated from a popular amatuer Hongkong team called, "No Game No Life." Midnight SUN eSports (MSE) had an arguably successful spring split. Despite their inexperience as a professional team, they have not been relegated from the opportunity to play for the summer split. Their only chance at participating World's is here; they have to completely beat all the teams in the playoffs then win against Flash Wolves again to break their tie for seed points. However unlikey it may be, it's a fight they would have to fight for.

In the middle of the season, MSE brought in two Korean players to take over the main damage dealing carries. (ADC: SeungJu "Stitch" Lee; Mid-laner: SeungJu "CANDY" KIM) Pin-Lun "CorGi" Cheng and Xiao Xian "M1ssion" Chen were not necessarily weak in their lanes, but the addition of the two SeungJu's (which they do in fact have the same first Korean names) are definitely upgrades in their respectful lanes. My question, however, is: How does communication work with this relatively green team? Teams with great physical and mechanical players are not worth much if they can't communicate with their teammates. Ka Chun "LOFS" Lam often plays well with initiating champs, especially Maokai. Tsz Ho "Empty" Leung has been making impact to the team with his mobile champion pool, including Nidalee, Gragas, and Rek'Sai. What worries me most, however, is the bottom lane. Hoi Chun "Chunx" Tang is an aggressive supporter and Stich is not. Their teamwork in their lane is undeniably shaky. To remedy their bottom lane problem, I believe Chunx should learn to play more defensive champions like Janna (and even Braum if need be). I say learn because the lad plays defensive champions offensively. Chunx is great at aggressive champions, but if this team wants to bout with the big guns in the league he will best see to learn playing defensive supports. If Chunx won't play safe, Stitch and Chunx should play together.

In general, the team already has the players to play against the giants. What they don't have is a good communication, solid warding intel, and wise shot-calling. It is highly unlikely that we will see big changes from MSE. However, they will give a good fight against Hongkong eSports.

Strengths: Plays good when aggressive , Solid CS counts, Strong Jungle presence

Weaknesses: Poor communications, Easy to ward against, Poor team fights, Plays too risky

Photo from Gold Per 10

Third Seed: HongKong eSports

I find HongKong eSports (HKE) most entertaining. They are, indeed, a team that has many fans thanks to the Season 2 champions, Kurtis "Toyz" Lau and Wang "Stanley" June Tsan. Stanley has continued being a "Stanley," which is a common term for a player who has a large champion pool. Toyz has been calling valuable shotcalling for the team even under pressure. HKE looked strong this season. Unfortunately for the team, Soo-Bin "Raison" Jeong was suspended from the league for a year for elo-boosting. This means Yung Chieh "GoDJJ" Wang is required to step up his game for the team's loss of their talent. HKE's chance at going to World's is pretty realistic, despite their loss of a strong ADC. They need to beat both the FLash Wolves and MSE to receive the seed points they are required to go to World's.

The team is looking strong. Although it was with Raison, HKE is one of the only teams that has defeated AHQ in a game. Stanley's incredebly large range of champions to pick from and Toyz's ability to lead the team are simply priceless. The picks and bans are generally in their favor thanks to the players' dynamic choice of champions. HKE's strength comes from fluid strategy. Once they've got a lead, they capitalize hard in most of their wins. Olleh's overall map presence and Dinter's consistent solid ganks create more opportunities for HKE to sieze.

HKE does, indeed, look good, but they suffer from lack of high physical talent from half of the players. Their succes thus far has been their amazing teamwork, but playing against the Flash Wolves or AHQ will demand more than teamwork. To reiterate, Raison's absence is big. GoDJJ wil need to fill in big shoes to make this all work.

Strengths: Great choreography, Great teamwork, Decent shotcalling

Weaknesses: Mediocre physical, Struggles from early punishments, Raison's absence

Photo from Gold Per 10

Second Seed: Flash Wolves

Flash Wolves are veterans from the previous Garena league. There was once a time when AHQ was merely a lesser opponent to them. To talk about Flash Wolves, I must first explain that Flash Wolves (FW) are AHQ's biggest rivals. Every game that Flash Wolves have played against AHQ ended up AHQ's victory, even when FW had a strong lead. The Flash Wolves just need to be second in the playoffs to play at World's.

It is true that Flash Wolves are stronger than ever, but they are looking to defeat the reiging champions. The team is definitely very well composed with their solid teamwork. Hu "SwordArt" Shuo-Jie's style is very diverse. He looks to disturb the enemy jungler and create large map presence in the early game. He then looks to protect his backline during the late game as he wards consistently. Hao-Xuan "Karsa" Hong and Chou "Steak" Lu-Hsi have great synergy at the top lane. Given the oppurtunity, they look to punish both the enemy jungler and top-laner. Huang "Maple" Yi-Tang tends to play with decisive nuke champions like Victor and Azir. He gets the job done most of the time. He simply requires either his team giving him the correct opportunity or they enemy team to give a distinct error to capitalize on. Jong-Hoon "Kkramer" Ha's replacement over Hsiung "NL" Wen-An is a slight improvement to the team. I'm not sure Lihong "MMD" Yu will ever make the entrance in the playoffs, but his ability to play top carry role is also worth mentioning. MMD is a sub and yet he can make some magic for the team if need be.

I'm looking at a very entertaining finals if Flash Wolves does advance, which I think they will. I believe that they have what it takes to beat AHQ. The only thing they direly need is a solid late-game phase in each AHQ matchup. They tend to lose pace in long games, but, if they find a trick to keep them going, AHQ will have an entertaining opponent to face.

Strengths: Strong Early Game, Strong mechanics and phyicals, Good vision, Solid Coordination

Weakness: Loses tempo in late game, Tends to lose games when their backline is vurnerable, AHQ

Photo from LoL eSports Flickr

The Final Boss: AHQ eSports Club

And here we are. The final boss, AHQ eSports Club (AHQ) is the best team in the LMS right now. There is not much to say but the inescapable truth that they violently desire to win World's. Yes, they want to win World's. Even if they lose the finals, they are still heading for World's. Before we head into the discussion of the specifics, I would like to state that AHQ has evolved from MSI. Their confidence level is sky high and their composure is calm as a child's sleep. The question is: Can they be stopped by any of the prior teams we've discussed?

AHQ resembles discipline and tenacity as a team. Shu-Wei "Westdoor" Liu has a high affinity to play as an assasin. He plays with dominance and yet he makes the shots and leads the team into incredible comebacks at times. Always composed, he gives the next order even when under in a large gold gap. He is also rumored to usually practice at least 14 hours a day, demonstrating how serious he is about World's and the definite security for the first place in the LMS. Yi "Ziv" Chen, the top-laner, usually plays tanks including Maokai and Hecarim. He ocassionally plays carry champions including Ryze and Rumble. The greatest thing about is how fast he complies to team fights. He teleports for the correct opportunities more than puntually. Zhao-Hong "Mountain" Xue always looks to make an impact in the team with his Gragas, Rek'Sai, and few other high mobility champions. Chun An "AN" Chou and Chia-Wei "Albis" Kang duo is obviously good. An is one of the best ADC's if not the best in the LMS. His maneuvers from CC's and safe positioning payed An with incredible amount of damage. Albis has a prevailing inclination to create plays. However, he is also equally prone to misplays and creating less impressive deaths. Confidence and knowledge is key to their success and AHQ owns it.

My doubts in the team, however, lies with Mountain and Albis. Dare I say, they are the weakest links to the team. AHQ is indeed the best in the LMS, but they need to play with less mistakes and good vision in the early game to truly flourish at World's. Although AHQ is famed nutoriously for creating comebacks from losing games, they have to play with caution in the early game. If anything, they should look to play hard in every matchup they play in.

Strengths: Great late-game presence, Solid role players in each lane, Westdoor (both as a shotcaller and an incredible talent)

Weaknesses: Prone to early game mistakes (wrong early engagements and weak early vision), Westdoor has to play strong while shotcalling

Conclusion:

To be frank, I firmly believe that we are going to see AHQ and Flash Wolves to play for World's. However, the possibility of HKE beating Flash Wolves is quite possible, begging the question: "Can they beat AHQ?" It will be an entertaining playoff considering how little the gap between teams are. Anything can happen. This is why I love the game and the LMS. Watch the start of the playoffs today, July 24th.

Thank you for reading this long post. Please stay tuned for upcoming covers on the NA and the EU LCS playoffs and our predictions.