▲ source : lolesports.com flickr

■ Pre-Match



▷To be honest, I think Samsung is going to take the win. Longzhu's strength lies in Khan overwhelming other toplaners, but I don't think CuVee is going to be pushed back by him. I think the game will be decided by how Crown performs.

└ Not even Smeb is safe against Khan. In my opinion, the best toplaner at the moment is Khan, and the gap between the best and the 2nd best is quite wide.

└ I don't think there ever was a moment where CuVee was overwhelmed by Khan. Actually, there was a moment where Khan picked Fiora and was crushed by CuVee's Camille.

└ According to GBM, the best toplaner is Alphari...

└ Even if CuVee is better than Khan in terms of mechanics, I highly doubt that Samsung will ever give CuVee a strong pick. They will probably force him on a tank like Maokai or Cho'Gath.



▷Longzhu might look stronger, but I really can't tell. It's quite disappointing that these two teams met so early on in the tournament, but I'm really expecting an amazing game regardless.

└ I think I can tell.

└ I think Longzhu will win.

└ Longzhu does look stronger, but anything can help... like last year's Worlds...

└ I think Longzhu will take the win. But they shouldn't underestimate SSG.



▷How to beat LZ as SSG: Ambition needs to gank.

└ Real life gank.

└└ PraY will shut him down.



▷I don't care who wins. But I really don't want a 3:0 one-sided game.



▷Woah, there are so many people in the stadium.

└ Yeah... it's just a match between two Korean teams, but so much people came to watch.

└ As expected from China, the largest country in the world.

└ I honestly expected only a few to come. It's a weekday and the game features two Korean teams...

└ I thought it was the Finals.



■ Game 1



[Picks and Bans]



▷Longzhu is doing great with their picks and bans. Ruler isn't that great on champions not named Xayah, and CoreJJ isn't that great on Rakan.

└ SSG is really bad with Rakan. LZ won. SSG's picks are terrible, while on the other hand, LZ's look great.

└ LZ banned both Lulu and Janna, then they took Thresh. I guess Thresh is good once those two are banned? I think MSF will also do this strategy against SKT.



▷Kennen...? I don't doubt CuVee's skills, but I doubt Kennen in the current meta.

└ Jax vs Kennen. Super fun!

└ I'm worried about the Kennen. Khan's Jax will scale well because Ambition probably won't gank pre-15-minutes... It's highly likely that Kennen will become street food for LZ due to Jarvan ganks.

└ CuVee took the 2016 signature pick. Kennen is the champion that carried SSG to game 5 in the Finals during last year's Worlds.



[Bdd Secures a Solo-Kill]



▷Midlane is getting stomped... Can Crown make a comeback...

└ Malzahar is really hard to play due to his weak early-game.

└ Look at the difference between the two midlaners. The gap is only going to get wider. And as expected, the jungler is playing a single-player game.

└ I expect a 3:0. Crown still being under a slump is big.

└ It feels like I'm watching a game between a Challenger team and a Platinum team.



[Ambition Lands Successful Ganks on Mid and Toplane]



▷Ambition finally got a kill pre-15-minutes. Congratulations~

└ SSG finally has some breathing room.

└ The CS difference between Bdd and Crown is still large.

└└ It'll be hard to reverse the lead in the midlane. Malzahar didn't pick up the kill... and Bdd has twice the CS over Crown. Sejuani will have to camp mid.



▷Woah, Ambition is making things happen for SSG

└ Khan almost killed Sejuani though.

└ Goosebump-inducing!

└ If it wasn't for Ambition, things would've gone for the bad. You can't underestimate a player with experience.

└└ Only if Crown didn't get solo-killed. It would've been even better.

└└ SSG is doing quite good. There is a 30CS difference in the midlane, but it doesn't look as bad as it did. Ambition is doing better than expected in the early-game. SSG is doing great.

└└ I honestly expected SSG to lose terribly. The global gold difference isn't too big, and SSG's draft is good in the late-game... they will need to watch out for Jax though.



■ Game 2



[Picks and Bans]



▷ Who said Longzhu was going to go 3-0?

└ You can only assume so much till they finally vs

└ I knew they could do it. When everyone said Longzhu was going to go 3-0, I believed in Samsung. Turning up in important matches from Samsung... this is why I’m a Samsung fan for over a year.

└ All these people saying Longzhu was going to win.. They aren’t talking now lmao

└└ I still think Longzhu is going to win.

▷I couldn’t even imagine Samsung winning. Not saying Ardent Censer did everything but there was a huge difference in that AOE Ardent. Ruler is too busy firing, Pray backs off after one hit and can’t deal damage to Sejuani.

└ They just got 'Ardented'.

└ If it wasn’t for Ardent Censer, it would be impossible to come back late game.

└ Today’s lesson: Let’s only do Ardent Censer supports.

▷ CuVee is eating a banana lol.

└ Recharging his energy? lmao

└ YOU ARE EATING AGAIN?

└ Winston?

└ Full Ryu vs Full CuVee... who will have the better nutrition?

└ If CuVee is full for the 2nd game, isn’t there going to be another ‘toilet issue’?

▷ I think Lulu is a trap pick as well... After laning phase, I think she is worse than other supports.

└ It is because the enemy would always have Janna. She is still top tier.

└ Movement speed buff is OP

└ She gets countered by Janna but if you ban Janna then...

└ Janna is better than Lulu in every way except for Lulu’s W.

▷ ??? : "What keystone do you take for Cho’Gath?"

└ First-time Cho’gath pick for Khan? He rarely ever plays tanks, but he is playing Cho this game.

[During the game]

▷ F*** Crown...

└ He is so bad. Almost trash tier...

└ How is there a such a huge mid difference every game?

└ He had the guts to make that play because of Ambition but Cuzz comes first lmao

▷ Damn, Samsung gains leads this way?

└ CoreJJ popping off as Taric!

└ Ambition has changed. His covering is insane

└ Is Crown just bait?

▷ Ambition is so cheap. Hiding his true strength before quarterfinals... Had 0 kill participation in 5 games before 15 minutes in groups but goes 4 times that in the first 2 games?

└ If he keeps up this pace, he will become a top-tier jungler.

└ Samsung STARTS an early game dive? I do not want to sleep.

└└ They are lifting the mattress and throwing it over GG

▷ Is there reason that SSG lost to RNG because of Janna? Maybe they got feedback that they just need to ban Janna and give Lulu to win...

└ In the end, RNG has become the strongest team at Worlds GG



[SSG Wins the Teamfight In the Toplane and Near Dragon]

▷ BDD is dying so much today. It is so weird seeing him not die at all then die so much lol.

└ Even we wouldn't have tried to flash that Taliyah wall, right? Right?

└└ We would all do the same if we were isolated by 4 people.

└└ I do that a lot if I panic.

▷ Woah... Crown got a quadra kill...

└ Has the game snowballed?

└ Imagine the looks on people’s faces as they thought Longzhu was going to win...

└ How can a game play out like this?

└ I didn’t even know Longzhu could lose like this. Samsung is playing really well.

└└ Is this a difference in international stage experience?

▷ BDD feels different compared to his usual self. Even though he outputted a lot of pressure and solo killed the mid lane, he feels different. He usually does all this on top of not dying. He is dying too much today and trying too hard to pull off super plays.

└ He will overextend a lot and die. In the 2nd game, Crown played really well outside of the laning phase.

▷ Shouldn’t they just ban Sejuani?

└ Ambition’s performance is insane. He takes advantage of opportunities.

▷ Samsung’s performance today is rising as high as computer RAM prices



■ Game 3



[Picks and Bans]



▷CuVee that has eaten a banana = no death.

└ CuVee that has eaten a banana removed Khan's presence.



▷What happened during the week for SSG to perform like this?

└ ???: "Longzhu's group didn't have a Chinese team. That's why they were 1st during Groups."



▷The last game was a good example of how Khan has his limits, too. He's so great on carry-toplaners, but he sucks on tanks. But then again, it's not like his carry-toplane champions are marginally better than CuVee's. Crown also played really well. He used the Taliyah ult perfectly, being reminiscent of SSG's old days of being the #1 team in the LCK.

└ I honestly think CuVee is better than Khan on every carry-toplaner. Except for Jayce.

└ I'm so happy right now. If Crown keeps this up, I think they can even win the whole thing. They're showing 100% of everything that they have, and it's so amazing. I'm also really happy they fixed their early-game issues. They must've had a great review session before the games.



▷CuVee after game 2.gif

└ Eat, then eat again!

└ Bananas are the key to victory!

└ Doping on bananas...

└ Two stacks.





▷They really should've banned Sejuani.

└ They lost games 1 and 2 because of Sejuani. Why are they keep letting that champion through?

└ SSG's core pick is the Sejuani. Why aren't they banning it? Ambition is playing so well on that champ, yet they leave it open.

└ Sejuani+Taric+Tristana... gave over the same picks, again. If LZ loses this, it's all on the picks and bans.



▷Lissandra!

└ Lissandra? What have they prepared?

└ Every champion on the side of SSG is blue... a fitting composition for playing on the blue-side.

└└ Taric is actually pink though.



▷Time for LZ to go and play PUBG. I can already see the results. Look at the picks and bans...



[Teamfight Erupts Near Blue]



▷Wow, Ambition... how did he live that? What did I just watch? Why are all the SSG players alive?

└ The fight seemed so intense, and yet, no deaths.

└ Ambition is only level 6, but he's able to endure damage from 4 members.

└ The married man that doesn't want to go home too early, has shown up.



▷There is a 2-level difference between the junglers...

└ LZ is going to lose because of Sejuani for the 3rd time...

└ Teams will need to permaban Shen when playing against SSG. They're so good with him.

└ During the games against RNG, Ambition's Sejuani was the cause of defeat. But in actuality, it was a God-juani.

└└ Ambition was hiding his REAL strength.

└└ During that time, Crown was completely ripped apart my Xiaohu. Which is not the case right now.

└└└ How will you explain the 0-3-0 Sejuani then?



[Khan Secures a Solo-Kill]



▷Freaking Khan...

└ Big mistake from Khan. He went overboard.

└ CuVee should've run immediately when he was hit by the skill!

└ It was worth taking the risk though. The difference in HP was quite big!



[SSG Succeeds Ganking Botlane]



▷What is KT? How did they have such a great record against SSG during the regular season of LCK?

└ Oh, the team that always loses when it's super important?

└ Well, KT did it again this year.



▷CoreJJ's Taric is insane. He is constantly landing stun after stun on PraY.

└ Why does Taric look so strong right now? He's nullifying all incoming damage...

└ LZ's botlane is trading terribly.



▷Was SSG just hiding their true strengths up until now?

└ I really don't understand why LZ keeps on letting the Sejuani through and why they're keeping putting PraY on Varus.

└└ Why is LZ being so stubborn? I always felt like Varus was overrated as a champion. His early-game isn't as strong as people make it out to be. I Caitlyn does a better job.



▷Reason for Ambition's sudden increase in performance = The husband that doesn't want to go home, gets his power-level quintupled.

└ He played Sejuani 3 times in a row... Reminds me of TPA's Mundo quite some time ago.

└ Why isn't LZ banning Sejuani? It's driving me nuts.



▷Are the members of SSG Saiyans? They seem to grow stronger as they fight.



▷The curse of the 1st seed? If LZ gets eliminated, there will be no 1st seed teams in the tournament.

└ LZ has been KT'd. When KT lost because of Kalista, they never let that champion through again. Now, since LZ lost because of Sejuani, I don't think we'll ever see that champion again too.

└ Historically, if you watch Bo5 games that end up 3-0, teams don't ban key champions, and they let it through 3 times in a row. Mundo, Xhin Zhao, Twitch, Galio, and Zac... they don't ban it, ever. Today, it's Sejuani... and I think Trist too?



▷3-0 games are so boring. Picks and bans and playmaking... there's nothing interesting. I didn't care who won, but I was rooting for a close game 5 match...

└ 100% that LZ lost because of the gap in skills. On top of that, LZ's drafting was terrible. SSG was making it pretty clear that they favor Sejuani and Tristana, and yet, LZ keeps on letting them have it. The casters didn't make it obvious, but they probably thought in their head that SSG was going to win even before game 3 started. LZ didn't prepare anything. They didn't prepare any surprises, they didn't pick counter matchups, and the only notable thing they did was blind-picking Taliyah. The skill difference between the junglers was also huge. LZ was behind in skills, but they were also behind in drafts... The 3-0 isn't too surprising at this point.



▷My Pick'em is ruined!





■ Post-Match



▷The team with the world's best ADC, best toplaner, and best midlaner won, right? This is all a lie, right?

└ This is the first time ever for a team that didn't lose a single game during Groups to be eliminated in quarters without winning a single game!

└ Wow. I really didn't expect a 3-0.

└ I did expect a 3-0. But in the other way around.

└ RIP LZ. 2017.08.26 ~ 2017.10.19



▷ I still wonder why LZ didn't ban Sejuani.

└ They really should've banned it if they weren't planning to take it for themselves.

└ This is the result of a lousy draft.



▷The SKT curse is still ongoing. Win the LCK Finals, but become eliminated during Worlds quarters...



▷???: "How can you lose to SSG 3-0? Give me the mouse, let me try... Oh, this is pretty hard.

└ I was looking for this comment.

└ KT getting in it once again.



▷???: "Whose fault is it if the toplaner loses?"

└ CuVee: "It's the jungler's fault for not beating me up enough."



▷Wolf: "Yes! We've successfully avoided SSG!"

└ I never thought this picture could be used like this.

└ Lol.



▷Their performance is just as high as their RAM prices.

