

Many can make predictions, but none can be certain of what is to come. Among the many incidents that have been recorded in our history, a handful of them flowed in a direction unexpected by man. The same thing can be said for sports... and another such event took place at the quarterfinals of the 2017 League of Legends World Championship.



A team that was expected to convincingly advance did the complete opposite. Fights that were expected to be the 'Goliath vs David' matchup ended up being close fights between two adversaries who are equal in strength. Players that were underrated by fans made a name for themselves. And finally, champions who aren't "fit" in the current meta were used as key champions for winning games.



The outcomes they brought were different from what we expected. Whether they were the winning card or simply players that boosted the morale of their teammates, they were the "symbol" that made this year's Worlds much more memorable - and furthermore, fun.



In all the games that were played during the quarterfinals, each series' had an outstanding star. Some flipped the tables and defied all expectations or simply performed better than what we expected. Here are four players that surprised us during the quarterfinals.



■ Born again into perfection... SSG's eldest son, "Ambition"



If I was to pick the biggest "upset" that has happened so far at Worlds, it would be the LZ vs SSG series. During the Group Stages, LZ was a "tank" - six wins without dropping a single game. As the team's lineup is fairly new - stocked with rookies who have never before set foot on an international stage, their playstyle was arguably a bit rough around the edges. But the individual members of the team overpowered the need for a standard playstyle: Khan, the destroyer; BDD, the undying; and PraY and GorillA, the veteran botlane that just seemed unstoppable.



On the other hand, SSG was the least popular LCK team coming into Worlds. Their style of play does not involve or rely on individual outplays but rather teamwork that focuses on sustaining the early-game. This could be the reason why some of the players on the SSG lineup tend to be underrated. The team often showed their shaky side, and even when they win, they tend to take the win without showing any "flashy" or "memorable" plays. More often than not, they simply survive and endure the early parts of a game to slowly take over the match in the late-game - this was their equation in most of their winning games. For the most part, this playstyle was SSG's only weapon; their only style.



The battle between LZ and SSG was a spear trying to penetrate a shield. If LZ's strong individual players were able to overpower the solid teamwork of SSG, the outcome of the match would've been different. However, in the three games played during the series, SSG did not falter - and they showed it. SSG completely shut down the new champions of the LCK - the champions that had to break SKT to get there - with a score of 3-0.



At the core of the SSG lineup, there is Ambition. He played nothing but Sejuani during the series; but rather than watching a warrior riding atop a hefty boar, I felt as if I was watching an agile spider. Ambition went lane to lane with no rest and left his mark each time. He also held up a wall, solid enough to endure the barrage of LZ. Whatever the analysts in the past declared were "weaknesses" for SSG, Ambition was there to cover for them. The rest of the crew just had to play their role accordingly to win, as the foundation was already set in place by him.



Ambition showed that he has the capability to observe and act according to the "flow" of a game. It's not too difficult to find players who overpower their opponents with incredible, mechanical talent. But finding a player that can truly assess and act upon a situation is quite rare - and Ambition was just that kind of player during the LZ vs SSG series. His playstyle then was completely different to his usual "survive, thrive, and win later" style that he had shown during the regional league.



Whatever the case may be, Ambition was the reliable, unshakable pillar that kept the mentality of the team together, and this is of the utmost importance in any team. If a key member of a team is mentally shaken during a match, the result of that match is already set and given - and this is especially the case during games between two top teams.



Ambition was almost always the first to collide in trades and he protected his backline. We can't be sure of what happened during the series, or more specifically, what kind of verbal exchanges happened between the players. But we witnessed his plays affecting the rest of the roster, and it became the "variable" that allowed SSG to overcome the seemingly undefeatable team, LZ.



■ The support that cornered SKT T1, "MSF IgNar"



To be frank, only a few fans - if any at all - had any expectations for Misfits.



Before Worlds began, my coworker and I had the opportunity to meet and speak with the players of MSF during the boot camp season. When I met them, I couldn't help but notice the atmosphere surrounding the players; it was different to the ones I've seen or felt during interviews with other teams. Usually, when you meet a team right before an international tournament, most overflow with eagerness - ready to prove themselves on the stage.



The interview was done light-heartedly, prepared as an event to get to know the players and help them relax. But deep inside the players of MSF, I saw knives being sharpened. The MSF players didn't oversell themselves - even as just a joke - like most other players do in interviews of such nature. They also refrained from disclosing even a hint of what they were planning for the tournament. The players of MSF are all young; at the age where most could be driven by passion alone; but the players all looked calm with barely any hint of excitement. The image of the poised, composed players of MSF was stuck in my head even long after the interview, and I started looking forward to seeing them play on stage.



Worlds finally began, and MSF met the expectations that I had formed after that interview. What I had thought was originally a joke - PoE wielding Nashor's Tooth on Orianna - actually happened, on an international stage at that. Maxlore used his time very efficiently while at the same time playing very sharp. Alphari was a solid, reliable player for the team. Last but not least, Hans Sama and IgNar were the botlane duo that maybe stood out the most at the tournament.



The series that brought the spotlight to MSF wasn't the ones that they actually won, but the one that they lost. During the Group Stages, MSF showed the fans a "hint" of them playing outside of the Ardent Censer meta. MSF pulled out the Blitzcrank pick during their match against TSM, but in the end, the pick was proven "not enough" as they lost that game. However, in the quarterfinals, during their match against SKT T1, MSF unveiled the rest of their once hidden strategy, and IgNar was the core of it all.



In one game, by constantly marking Faker's Corki with Blitzcrank, MSF went against and cracked the SKT formula, and in another, MSF utilized Fervor Leona to completely destroy their oppositions in the botlane. As the series went to game 3 with a score of 2-1 in favor of MSF, many fans were both shocked and in awe.



MSF continued on the series to drop both games 4 and 5, hence losing the series in the end. But they definitely left a strong impression on players and fans alike who were watching. Most teams that have little to no experience on the international stage tend to struggle and drop out from the tournament without leaving much of an impression. MSF, on the other hand, did just the opposite. In Korea, MSF gained two new nicknames: "Max Level Rabbit," and "Kingfits," and they definitely deserve them. Furthermore, although MSF was eliminated, IgNar was remembered by fans as the "brightest" support player at Worlds 2017.



■ Jackpot! Hard-Carry By "FNC sOAZ"



▲ Source: lolesports.com flickr



sOAZ was always a player that is both loved and disliked by fans in Europe. No, anyone that has watched his games could probably relate, regardless of the region. But honestly, I always thought that he was a genius... In Season 3, I witnessed him overpowering both PDD and Shy, two players that were highly regarded as the best, to win the ALL-STAR event.



The problem with sOAZ was that his "genius" side didn't seem to always be present. I don't personally know him, so I can't make any bold assumptions, but his "good" and his "bad" were like night and day. In Season 3, I was awed by his performance. In Season 4, he looked to be in a slump. In Season 5, I was again, awed by his performance, but when Season 6 came around, he looked shaky. When FNC won their regional qualifier and made Worlds, I couldn't shake off this uneasy feeling that I had. I wondered, "Which side of the coin will sOAZ land on?"



At Worlds, sOAZ showed everything that he had... but of course, amongst what he presented, there was both good and bad. During the 1st week of Groups, FNC couldn't secure a single victory. But during the 2nd week, after 1 loss, FNC miraculously went on a four-game winning streak and made it to the quarterfinals.



During the final game of FNC's group stage matches, sOAZ showed the world exactly what kind of a player he is. Despite starting off the match with a kill-score of 0/4/1, sOAZ devoured everyone standing in his path.



His performance is indeed inconsistent and there's no argument to be made there. But the reason he's included in the list is that he made this year's Worlds much more entertaining. He showed both his strong and weak side during the tournament, but during his final game against RNG in the quarterfinals, sOAZ showed the world, again, that he is capable of hard-carrying a game as a toplane Gnar, and that left an impression on many gamers watching.



■ Triggering the Singed ban, "C9 Impact"



C9 entered the tournament as the 3rd seed of NA - and so came the need for them to climb up from the Play-In Stage. Their hardships didn't reward the players with an easy group either; as their group contained both EDG and SKT T1. C9, however, didn't flinch, and they collected win after win to secure their ticket to the quarterfinals while the rest of the NA squad were purchasing plane tickets to fly back home.



The situation they were in most definitely brought pressure to the players. Their opponent, Team WE, was also the 3rd seed for their region, and they had also climbed from the Play-In Stage. But WE was well-known for their great performance in international tournaments, as well as being a solid team in the LPL. On top of the pressure that they already felt, the fact that NA's eternal rival, EU, had two teams advance to the quarterfinals while NA only had one, most likely weighed down on them. But C9 had a player that shines in such situations. He was reliable, unshaken, and did his job the way a toplaner should have.



Despite being named Impact, the toplaner of C9 isn't really "impactful." He didn't open up opportunities for his team like Ambition did or constantly threaten the enemy team like IgNar. He also didn't make flashy outplays like sOAZ has. He simply did what he does best: play a reliable tank. One of the "tanks" that he ended up playing during the quarterfinals was none other than Singed, a champion that no one expected to see at Worlds 2017.



Singed's playstyle is actually quite straightforward: rely upon the tankiness of the champion to rush into the enemy and "deliver" the enemy DPS champions to his team. That's the ideal outcome of the Singed pick, but in actual practice, it's much harder to pull off than it sounds. No one expected the pick to work as it did at Worlds, especially since ADCs are very powerful at the moment. A Singed that can't successfully infiltrate the enemy lines is nothing more than a punching bag full of gold.



Impact, however, made it happen. Not only did he proxy while laning against 957, one of the best toplaners in China, but he also escaped from a four-man chase after successfully flinging back the enemy ADC, Mystic, in a later teamfight. Impact wasn't necessarily the star player in C9 during the series, but he held his own against WE with a pick that no one expected, to the point where WE's ADC Mystic made a personal request to the team to ban Singed.



Sure, Impact isn't the most impactful player, and the only moment in which he brought a considerable amount of excitement to those watching was when he picked Singed; all he did was do what he does best in lane. But that was enough to leave a deep impression on gamers from around the world. C9 might've lost, but they took two games off of Team WE, a team that's arguably a strong contender for the Worlds trophy... and for them to have had such a close series against them, the dependability that Impact brings to the team most likely played an important role.