League of Legends Worlds Analysis, Quarterfinals - C9 vs. SSB Game #4

Cloud9 vs. Samsung Blue Game #4

2v1 Lanes, SSB Top

Bans

Thresh Zilean

Zed Alistar

Ryze Lucian

Picks

1. Lee Sin 2. Maokai

3. Rumble 2. Yasuo

3. Corki 4. Rengar

5. Talon 4. Nami

5. Braum 6. Twitch

Lane Match-ups – Cloud9

Top –

Rumble can attempt to bully Maokai early, but should not have too much success. Maokai will heal a lot from his passive due to Rumble's spell spamming. Rumble does win the all-in trades at the early levels, but since he lacks sustain Maokai will come out on top over time, this does however, mean that Maokai does not have kill threat on Rumble unless Rumble is significantly lower on HP. Once Rumble is able to get his double Mpen items (Sorcerer's Boots and Haunting Guise) he will have kill potential on Maoki, especially so if Maoki does not get early MR. Very vulnerable to a gank, but very high damage output if Lee Sin is there for the counter-gank.

Mid -

While all melee vs melee match-ups in the mid lane are very volatile, Talon should have a decent advantage in this lane. While he cannot match the sustained damage that Yasuo can put out, Talon has a much stronger trade/burst and poke potential. Talon will need to avoid early all-ins, but should be able to whittle Yasuo down from range and then from trades at level 3. Since Talon normally goes flask, he should also be able to outlast Yasuo in the lane. Come level 6, Talon has huge burst ability to push Yasuo out of lane or kill him. Must be aware of Yasuo's Wind Wall, as it will cancel out both Rake and Talon's ultimate. With proper timing against Yasuo's Flow and Wind Wall, Talon should come out on top in this lane. If he falls behind though, Talon will have a hard time coming back against the sustained damage of Yasuo.

Bot -

Corki/Braum are stronger than Twitch/Nami. Should look to scout out the lane swap and match it. If they can find the 2v2, then Corki and Braum should be able to out everything SSB's lane. Higher burst, better bullying potential, Braum able to block everything from Twitch/Nami. There are a lot of options for C9's lane. Especially with Twitch having no escape, and Corki able to dash away from Nami bubble, getting down damage onto Twitch, and potentially getting Braum's passive stun off, should be pretty easy and consistent for C9's duo.

Jungle -

Lee Sin has a stronger early-game than Rengar and should look to use it, especially since every lane has solid gank opportunities. Getting Rumble or Talon ahead will be best for the team and should be looked to for primary pressure. Getting wards around level 4/5 into Rengar's jungle will be important, as it will give the rest of the team the knowledge of when and where he reaches level 6.

Lane Match-ups – Samsung Blue

Top -

Maokai will be able to bully Rumble early and will be extremely safe. Will not be able to kill Rumble early though. Must build early MR to outlast Rumble's all in damage as it grows, especially when Rumble gets his double Mpen items. Needs Rengar to gank for the kill, great CC on both and enough damage. Needs to be wary of the counter gank, as Rumble/Lee Sin damage will be much higher.

Mid -

All mid lane melee vs. melee match-ups are volatile, however this one will be difficult for Yasuo. Yasuo should play very aggressive against Talon, trying to stay in Talon's ranged creeps to keep him back. Using Flow to take Rake hits, and then dashing into Talon will net great results. Yasuo has much stronger sustained damage, but will lose out in quick trades or poke. Using the minions properly will allow Yasuo to keep up with Talon after he uses his combo, and can then proceed to keep up the sustained damage on Talon. At 6, Yasuo should make sure to use his knock-up as his spinning slash, as Talon can blink attack over Yasuo's tornado, both dodging and attacking Yasuo. Wind Wall can be used to block Talon ultimate and his Rake, doing so will vastly decrease Talon's damage in an all-in. If Yasuo can get a lead, he should be able to keep it, as the extra Flow shielding will allow him to stay in the fight and out-trade Talon.

Bot -

Twitch/Nami should look to lane swap. If they end up in the 2v2 they will end up getting bullied by Corki/Braum. Faster harass from Corki, and the potential for Braum stun are very deadly to Twitch and should be avoided. In a 2v2 lane, Twitch should just look to safely farm, relying on Nami to keep him safe and healed, and look to get any free shots onto Braum when possible, and avoid fighting Corki.

Jungle -

Rengar is going to want to focus on farming. Getting to level 6 quickly will be a great boon to the team. Outside of farming, ganks against Rumble will be the most successful, as long as Lee Sin is not there for the counter-gank.

Team Composition/Strategy – Cloud9

*Win Condition – 5v5 fight in small areas, utilizing the their AoE. Do not get picked off and do not let Maokai be the one to engage the fights.

Cloud9 have once again come out with a weaker team that looks like the team said, oh I need to play this as individuals. Their only hard CC is coming from Braum and though they have a lot of AoE, they have no way to group SSB up. They do have a great response to SSB diving, however Maokai Yasuo is so strong that when they do engage, C9 will be immediately put on to the back foot, forced to use their team skills on the duo engage while Twitch can fire from behind safely. Cloud9 are going to need to turn early dragon's into snowball wins. They cannot get picked out by Twitch or Rengar and they must avoid any small skirmish that is sought after by SSB. Hopefully, Lee Sin can get some good knock-back kicks and allow Talon to instantly kill the target. C9 have to win in the mid-game, and they have to do so by out-maneuvering Maokai and Yasuo while keep good wards up for Twitch and Rengar.

Team Composition/Strategy – Samsung Blue

*Win Condition – Get picks and small skirmishes throughout the mid game with the double stealth and the synergy of Yasuo/Maokai.

Samsung Blue have gotten the very deadly combination in Maokai/Yasuo and will have great strength throughout the entire game. Early ganks once Yasuo is 6 will be huge and those two moving as a team into skirmish spots in the jungle will yield great results. On top of this huge synergy in every fight aspect of the game, SSB have double stealth champions and very large pick potential with Rengar/Twitch. Opening up the map early and spreading C9 from team-fights will be key for SSB's victory, helping them to keep C9 from grouping for their AoE. Aim for small fights and picks. 2's and 3's, and avoid 5v5 fights until defensive stats come in.

Game Notes -

C9 let Samsung Blue get Yasuo/Maokai. *sad face x10000*.

A trap by C9 ends up casting Lee Sin his flash as SSB move as 3 into the 2 man trap.

Lanes turn into 2v2, with Rumble v. Twitch in the top lane.

Rumble stepping out to ward, gets caught at the wrong time and SSB take First Blood, going onto Twitch.

Rumble is super shut down at the start of this game, something that C9 could not have had happen.

Rengar's level 6 nets SSB a kill onto Yasuo and dragon for SSB.

A forced engagement by SSB on the top lane ends up with them losing the fight, C9 taking 3 kills for 1.

C9 focus top, and are able to get a dive and the turret.

Another deep dive by SSB turns into a 1v1 and C9 able to put damage onto the mid turret.

Despite a very bad laning phase, C9 have brought the gold within 1k with great map movements.

After baiting out the dragon and taking mid, C9 disengage from Rengar ultimate, however Balls gets antsy and his Rumble ultimate is near useless as he tries to use it from too far away. The fight goes crazy, with a lot of bad plays on both sides. Braum ultimate hitting one, Lee Sin kick not being used in time, Talon too far out to nuke Twitch. SSB piles in onto Lee Sin, the jungler and groups for all of C9's AoE, leaves Corki alone. Yasuo waiting so long on his ultimate, Lee Sin never using his. Corki not using his heal on Rumble. Such a crazy fight. If Rumble's ultimate had been up, this would have been a wash or if Lee Sin had hit his. Gah such a crazy fight. C9 end up got 5 for 4 and they get dragon.

C9 catch Nami out, and now C9 have a lead.

SSB set up a trap in their top jungle as C9 seek to control it. Yasuo having his knock-up from wraiths ends up being huge and unexpected. Corki instantly dies and SSB are able to clean up 4 kills for 0, and then take Baron. A great trap by SSB, especially the Yasuo knock-up. Corki could possibly have used a rocket to check the bush instead of his Q, and would have to have flashed super fast once seeing the Tornado. The fight is spread out and C9 cannot use their AoE. Big comeback by SSB and looks to be the closing point for C9 with how strong Yasuo is after this.

C9 still play aggressive, even against a team with Baron. Catch out and kill Nami. Do have to give up Dragon though, when she respawns and makes it to the fight.

Yasuo is super ahead on Yasuo right now. No one on C9 can fight him.

C9 are getting whittled down by Yasuo. C9 should just say screw it at this point and 5 man push bottom against him, force a reaction from SSB.

Rengar is able to catch Talon out with Yasuo, and SSB take the bottom inhibitor and a long drawn out fight, the total trade ending up 4 for 1 and the inhibitor for SSB.

C9 try to make a fight in the middle with a man advantage. It's a bit forced and does not work out due to the gold lead of SSB. C9 back off and lose the turret when the rest of SSB make it middle.

SSB use their gold advantage to start denying vision at Baron, waiting for a pick or for complete vision control as SSB will destroy Baron. However C9 can make their best fight at Baron.

SSB try Baron, are forced to fight, and the fight goes 5 for 2 in SSB's fight, but its very close, much closer than SSB needed to make it.

Yasuo gets caught out and Lee Sin is able to knock him back into C9. C9 then get the pick onto Twitch and Maokai as well. C9 make the call to go for the win, the best call they can make at this point.

C9 group up a little too much and it lets Nami get a 2 man knock up and a 3 man bubble. And this, saves SSB. The Nexus is saved with just a few hits, those 2-3 seconds mattering. Could go over this play with a fine toothed comb, but it was C9's best chance at the win, and was so close.

Item Notes -

Yasuo picks up QSS to combat Exhaust.

End Game Notes -

Once again Cloud9 are able to make great rotations and pull SSB into their team-fights.

SSB make a lot of mistakes, a lot of getting caught out, and do not play their team composition to its full potential.

The laning phase is the only reason SSB won this game, going so much stronger, close to 100 CS and dragon ahead of C9.

What Cloud9 should have done -

Yasuo really messed up Cloud9 the most. I really feel that if they hadn't given up the Maokai/Yasuo combination then C9 could have taken this game.

Inside the game, Cloud9 got way behind in the laning phase. Talon got stomped, and Rumble got picked on and ended up with a bad lane swap. Cloud9 should have really sought after and found that 2v2 lane, keeping Twitch low and allowing Rumble to play against Maokai to get to his level 6 faster.

After the laning phase, Cloud9 played really well. They made their comebacks. Turned a 6k gold lead into an even match. Took a 10k gold lead on SSB into a near win. They did well. Outside of the laning phase, (and the dragon fight in which both sides really messed up) the Corki Q into the bush instead of a longer Rocket really cost them. A fast flash or the rocket could have saved that whole fight and the massive swing into SSB.

League of Legends Worlds Analysis, Quarterfinals - C9 vs. SSB Game #3

Samsung Blue vs. Cloud9 Game #3

Standard Lanes

Bans

Lucian Yasuo

Alistar Zed

Thresh Zilean

Picks

1. Lee Sin 2. Syndra

3. Maokai 2. Janna

3. Braum 4. Rumble

5. Corki 4. Khazix

5. Jayce 6. Graves

Lane Match-ups – Samsung White

Top -

Maokai will be able to bully Rumble early and will be extremely safe. Will not be able to kill Rumble early though. Must build early MR to outlast Rumble's all in damage as it grows, especially when Rumble gets his double Mpen items. Needs Lee Sin to gank for the kill, great CC on both and enough damage. Needs to be wary of the counter gank, as Rumble/Khazix damage will be much higher.

Mid -

Jayce against Syndra is an interesting match-up, and one that can be even. Jayce has slightly longer range and a much faster projectile to hi Syndra with, while having the ability to fast push against her, as long as he is willing to get in range of some of her skills. Primarily, the lane will be one of farm, and attempted long range harass. If Syndra uses her stun and misses, Jayce can go for the all-in or for trade damage, having a lot more potential against her when she cannot stun. Ultimately, farm, poke with Shock Blast and go all-in when the stun is down. Once level 6 comes into play, Jayce will have to be a lot more careful, as Syndra's kill potential skyrockets.

Bot -

Corki/Braum are going to run into an even match-up against Janna/Graves. Both sides have good burst and all-in potential. Trading or harassment will have to be done around Janna's shield, avoiding Graves when it is up, and getting poke off when it is down. There is no real plan of action here, just the need to outplay. Once level 6 comes into the equation, avoid the all-in until Corki is able to get down a solid amount of poke. Remember, Graves/Janna are going to have huge burst at level 6.

Jungle -

Another Lee Sin vs. Khazix. Lee Sin should look to farm primarily, and make ganks onto pushed lanes. Lee Sin can turn any of the lanes into SSB's favor, if he is able to get in successfully, however all the lanes also run the risk of a strong counter-gank. Vision and trying to control Khazix's jungle will be very useful in controlling the ganks.

Lane Match-ups – Cloud9

Top -

Rumble can attempt to bully Maokai early, but should not have too much success. Maokai will heal a lot from his passive due to Rumble's spell spamming. Rumble does win the all-in trades at the early levels, but since he lacks sustain Maokai will come out on top over time, this does however, mean that Maokai does not have kill threat on Rumble unless Rumble is significantly lower on HP. Once Rumble is able to get his double Mpen items (Sorcerer's Boots and Haunting Guise) he will have kill potential on Maoki, especially so if Maoki does not get early MR. Very vulnerable to a gank, but very high damage output if Khazix is there for the counter-gank.

Mid -

Syndra's toughest time in this lane is going to be pre level 6. Syndra can farm from a safe distance, keeping creeps between her and Jayce. She should focus on simply Csing until level 6 and hold onto her stun until then. Syndra and Jayce will have similar poke/fight potential, but if Syndra's stun is ever down before level 6, then Jayce has the ability to all in her. Once level 6 hits, kill potential lies with Syndra and she should seek to be a strong bully in the lane while staying away from Jayce's poke ability.

Bot -

An even match-up in lane, Janna/Graves are going to have to rely on Janna's shield into Graves Buckshot while working around Braum's shield wall. The good news though, is that with Braum close, Graves will deal a lot of extra damage. The lane should go even, with both sides able to fight/harrass/trade with the other. Once level 6 hits, the lane will shift some, with Janna/Graves having huge all-in and burst damage potential while Corki/Braum will have poke damage for going for them. After 6, C9 should look to get into fights quickly, but safely (when the location of Lee Sin is known) to avoid extended poke damage from Corki.

Jungle -

Khazix should be looking to farm most of the time against Lee Sin. Get to level 6 quickly before joining the team at objectives. Khazix will be most successful mirroring Lee Sin and attempting to counter-gank when he shows up. Outside of that, ganking Maokai if he is pushed or low will be successful and a Syndra stun can potentially lead to a strong gank in mid.

Team Composition/Strategy – Samsung White

*Win Condition – Play the game. Group up together as a team after the laning phase and push primarily turrets and to a less extent dragon. Poke and protect and whittle Cloud9 down.

Samsung Blue have all the advantages this game. No lane is weaker than the other and their team composition is far superior to Cloud9's. All Samsung Blue have to do is not get behind in the laning phase. Afterward, they can come together and let Jayce and Corki poke Cloud9. If they get C9 low enough, then SSB can engage, however they don't even need to. By poking, SSB can force C9 to have to engage onto SSB's much stronger front-line that can easily protect Corki/Jayce from the weak engagement abilities of Cloud9. Get to the 15 minute mark without falling far behind, then just push into C9's turrets and keep C9 on the back foot.

Team Composition/Strategy – Cloud9

*Win Condition – Force mid-game team-fights and snowball them into a win. Rumble will be essential here.

I want to start off by saying, that I'm not a fan of the Rumble/Janna picks because they don't give CC chain/multiple pick potential with Syndra, OR I don't like the Graves pick as C9 have a disengage team and he is such short range. There is almost an anti-synergy on C9's team, especially when looking at SSB's.

Cloud9 is going to have to pull off an early win in this game and against Lee Sin this is going to be hard. Janna/Rumble/Syndra and to some extent, Khazix can all run some decent form of disengage, however C9 lacks both pick and poke potential. With Corki and Jayce on SSB, they have no reason to hard engage and all C9's disengage is a bit useless without some form of poke or long range turret siege. Cloud9 are going to have to draw SSB into fights at dragon and in the jungle corridors where they can use Rumble's ultimate to lock SSB into fights. Even then, the strong burst and protection that SSB can offer Jayce and Corki are going to make it very hard for C9 to get in.

Game Notes -

I'm not sure why Cloud9 give up Corki, Sneaky has been super strong on it and they had no need to lock in Rumble/Khazix as both of SSB's top/jungle were picked up.

Aggressive late invade without a tornado setup by Janna costs C9 and they lose 2 for 0. SSB try to respond after by heading to take C9's blue, but they get caught out and lose 1. Both junglers switch and steal each others red buff.

A great Tornado from Janna saves the C9 duo from death.

Laning phase goes rather slow. Will have to talk about lane match-ups and team compositions and how every game C9 is letting the top side jungle go.

Rumble TP miss-communication with Janna flash ends up with nothing gained. Cloud9 leave Rumble down, waiting for an opportunity and C9 draw out a fight, going 3 for 1. However they all get super low and SSB end up taking the dragon.

After getting the kill on Jayce, C9 head back into the jungle instead of just going middle, ends up with Syndra dieing.

Meanwhile the duo's fight in the bottom lane and C9 come out on top, 2 for 0.

Lee Sin duels and kills Rumble in the top lane.

The laning phase is starting to end, and both teams are at even gold. Compositions will come into heavy play now.

SSB have been picking on Rumble, smartly.

Hai tries to make a sneaky play, does draw out a TP, but why is he in the jungle behind the SSB mid T1 turret when they had just seen Lee Sin in their top jungle.

C9 are not respecting the Lee Sin this game. Syndra dies, and then SSB take the mid turret.

Talk about the TP advantage on Rumble, vs the 5 man advantage of SSB.

SSB, having made it through the laning phase, now start to dominate with their team composition. Case and point of the team composition difference is that massive hit onto Graves at the mid T2 turret.

Cloud9 cannot engage without losing the fight and SSB have no need to engage onto C9 as they have superior poke with C9 have little pick potential.

Cloud9 are able to lock SSB up in C9's jungle. Rumble's equalizer misses, coming out too early, but it does zone SSB. They are able to take out Jayce early, but are too far behind the for Equalizer to do almost nothing. The mobility of SSB and the use of the jungle wall allow them to turn the fight around, and SSB go 5 for 1.

C9 try really hard to get a pick, but at this point its just desperate and C9 lose in a 5v4.

Item Notes -

Corki's Brutalizer and Black Cleaver are great pick-ups in this match. The CDR, HP and shred are huge. SSB do not want to engage, so any chance to get more poke, and then increase the burst when C9 do try to engage are huge.

End Game Notes -

The team composition really wins this game. There was very little Cloud9 could do against SSB's composition and though they made good tries, they were just unable to overcome the team disadvantage.

What Cloud9 should have done -

Have a better pick/ban phase. The Janna pick was way to early, especially when C9 had already gotten Syndra. Syndra sets up one pick potential and when you grab a pick champion, you really need at least 2 pick potentials if not 3. There was an open door for C9 to pick up Corki, keep Deft off of it and keep Sneaky on one of his favorite and very strong champions. C9 could have later picked Janna, or Nami or Morgana, C9 threw away options here. Seeing the Maokai Braum pick on SSB's next rotation, C9 could have then picked up Khazix and their support, saving the top pick for either Ryze or Rumble. SSB's team looks very engage heavy, however they are also very strong at protection. By locking in Rumble for disengage and by not having Corki at this point, it let SSB see that, ok we can't engage against their disengage, but SSB still had 2 primary picks, and they choose Jayce and Corki, wrecking C9's plan that they can no longer change. C9 essentially said, here is our team, now pick your last 2 primary picks, we can't change our team. SSB were given 2 counter-picks, as Blue Side, to C9's entire team. C9 lost this game in champion select.

Inside of the game, Cloud9 needed to recognize how behind they were in team composition and picked a lane to absolutely camp and destroy SSB's lane. C9's bot lane shows their strength in game 1/2 so we are given 2 choices here. Absolutely stomp SSB's bot lane and focus tons of jungle ganks onto them, and try to shut Corki down or let Sneaky/Lemon do their own thing and completely ignore them, making heavy 3 man fights and ganks in either top or mid, and always on that lane. The other option would be to fast push in 2v1 lanes. Just, open up the map because C9 cannot fight and win in lanes, so the more options they can create in the jungle and for rotations the higher their chance to at least fight even.

Going forward, C9 should shut down Deft, I still feel this. The other lanes are going decently even, but the duo lane is winning handily every match. Get Corki first pick, take out Twitch and Lucian and Lee Sin. Don't waste bans elsewhere and remember how good mid Lulu is against Zilean. Prefer Balls to pick up Ryze or Maokai, and let Rumble fall in this next match.

League of Legends Worlds Analysis, Quarterfinals - C9 vs. SSB Game #2

Cloud9 vs. Samsung Blue Game #2

Standard Lanes

Bans

Yasuo Zilean

Lee Sin Alistar

Ryze Lucian

Picks

1. Zed 2. Thresh

3. Corki 2. Khazix

3. Maokai 4. Rumble

5. Elise 4. Twitch

5. Morgana 6. Twisted Fate

Lane Match-ups – Cloud9

Top -

Maokai will be able to bully Rumble early and will be extremely safe. Will not be able to kill Rumble early though. Must build early MR to outlast Rumble's all in damage as it grows, especially when Rumble gets his double Mpen items. Needs Lee Sin to gank for the kill, great CC on both and enough damage. Needs to be wary of the counter gank, as Rumble/Khazix damage will be much higher.

Mid -

Zed has a lot of strength against Twisted Fate in the mid lane, but most of it will come in to play once level 6 is reached. Before level 6, Zed should focus on farming while harassing with his Q and dodging TF Wild Cards. When TF uses his Pick a Card, if Zed is close enough to move in for some harass and then back out with his shadow he should. Once level 6 is reached, and assuming Zed has not somehow fallen behind, he should use his ultimate on cooldown against TF, either after or to dodge Pick a Card. This will force Twisted Fate out of lane at the least and potentially kill him. Zed will need to keep TF back and low so that his ganks are less effective.

Bot -

Corki/Morgana have some very solid poke, especially in this match-up. A binding from Morgana will lead into a guaranteed Corki Q and will add up to a substantial amount of damage. On top of this Morgana can shield out Thresh's hook, SSB's best way to fight as a duo in this match-up. At 6, the poke from Corki will keep SSB's duo on the back foot, however they must be wary for the Twitch all-in.

Jungle -

Elise has a stronger early-game than Khazix and can look to invade his jungle, as long as she is backed up by her laners. Using spiderlings to prevent Khazix isolation damage will be key, and any delay Elise can cause against Khazix will be useful. For ganking, bot and top lane will offer the best options, with shutting down Rumble and helping out Maokai coming up as a clear favorite. Beware any ganks after level 6, as Twisted Fate can show up for the counter.

Lane Match-ups – Samsung Blue

Top -

Rumble can attempt to bully Maokai early, but should not have too much success. Maokai will heal a lot from his passive due to Rumble's spell spamming. Rumble does win the all-in trades at the early levels, but since he lacks sustain Maokai will come out on top over time, this does however, mean that Maokai does not have kill threat on Rumble unless Rumble is significantly lower on HP. Once Rumble is able to get his double Mpen items (Sorcerer's Boots and Haunting Guise) he will have kill potential on Maoki, especially so if Maoki does not get early MR. Very vulnerable to a gank, but very high damage output if Khazix is there for the counter-gank.

Mid -

Twisted Fate is going to have to play very defensive against Zed, after level 6. Before level 6 Twisted Fate can harass Zed some with Wild Cards and Pick a Card, if he can land the stun, however he must be wary of letting Pick a Card fall off or be used when in range of Zed's shadow, as Zed can attempt to all-in TF. After 6, TF will need to focus on farming, fast clearing the wave and then backing off, as any attempt to fight Zed will most likely end with Twisted Fate dieing. Ganking for either bot or top should be successful, as top has the damage to kill Maokai in time, and bottom has follow-up CC.

Bot -

Thresh/Twitch are going to have a tough time in this lane. They lose out on poke/trade damage, as well as going even/behind in all-ins, depending on Braum's positioning and if Thresh can land a hook. If they do opt into the 2v2, to let Rumble have a better lane, then they should look to safe farm as much as possible. Thresh hooks can lead to some decent damage from Twitch, but should not be used as a means for the all-in fight. This duo will most likely want to transition out of the lane early, even if it means leaving Twitch in the 1v2 and losing some CS. Making up for the loss of lane power, can be made worthwhile with Thresh or Twitch picks in other lanes.

Jungle -

Khazix is going to out-scale Elise, however the early-game can be rough if Elise takes over his jungle. Help from the laners if this happens will be useful. Even with no help though, Khazix can avoid Elise while getting enough camps to reach 6, and be able to then fight on even terms with her. As for ganking, protecting Twisted Fate will be a good bet, while looking for a gank against a pushed Maokai or the counter-gank against Elise will serve Rumble well.

Team Composition/Strategy – Cloud9

*Win Condition – Shut down Rumble early and get a lead on Maokai before the mid-game hits. Transition this lead into a stronger mid-game team with Corki and take neutral objectives.

Cloud9's team composition is really at a bit of a disadvantage here. While Corki/Morgana, and to an extent Zed, will be strong in the mid-game around the dragon fights, so will Rumble and to a lesser degree Twitch. The real problem becomes, as the game goes on, fewer options will open up for Cloud9 while more will open up for SSB. Zed split-push will become difficult against Twitch with Twisted Fate back-up and Twitch/Khazix will outs-scale Elise/Corki, with Maokai being the only real scaling champion of C9. C9 need to get the ball rolling in the mid-game, and to do this they have to take out Rumble early. Cloud9 must focus Rumble, get Maokai going, and then take dragons and neutral objectives to snowball into a lead. Their bot lane can handle themselves.

Team Composition/Strategy – Samsung Blue

*Win Condition – Get picks with Twisted Fate and Twitch in the early-mid game and the mid-game. Take neutral objectives with the mid-game power of Rumble. Snowball this power and the picks into a win.

SSB have all the options this match-up. They have control of the mid-game with Rumble, especially up against Maokai, so long as he doesn't fall behind. During the mid-game they also have the pick potential of Twisted Fate and Twitch where as they do not need to fear picks from C9's team. As the game progresses, Zhonya's and QSS will put a big damper on Zed as well as Twitch/Twisted Fate's ability to counter split-pushes. SSB just need to make sure not to lose before the dragon fights, and then they should be able to come out on top. Any lead generated by SSB can be turned into a win through picks and 5v5 bullying.

Game Notes -

*Note* - I have to note that I really disliked the pick/ban phase from Cloud9. The Ryze ban to me is a bit unnecessary I think, and would have preferred to see Twitch or Kog'maw banned. Leaving Ryze up would mean that C9 could take Maokai/Ryze/Rumble and try to counter-pick it. The first pick Zed is also bad in my mind. Hai had Syndra and Zed up for pick (and I would have liked to see Syndra picked instead of Zed). This would have let C9 get the first pick Khazix, which is really the only first pick they needed to get in this pick/ban phase.

Good zone control in bot lane gets C9 some decent level 2 poke.

Both sides have left up a small minion at the blue buffs.

SSB doing a good job of keeping up the CS in bot lane.

C9 take First Blood in mid lane, taking out Twisted Fate.

C9 make a small misplay here, heading back to lane and Morgana backing. They could have looked to go dragon, especially seeing SSB's bot lane back off and then seeing Khazix show top. The delay to going to dragon, and not having Morgana there yet, allows SSB to collapse with Rumble TP and Twisted Fate ultimate. Costs C9 the dragon and a kill. Always look for an objective opportunity immediately after a kill.

Good hold on Gold Card to use after Twisted Fate Wild Cards to secure the stun. C9 make a proper response and deal a ton of damage onto the mid turret.

Great aggression by Sneak/LemonNation earn them a kill and then the bot turret.

Corki Trinity Force is now completed, C9 have to make a play before Twitch can finish his BotRK. They do go get the last hit onto the mid turret.

TP timers are in favor of SSB for this dragon. C9 should recognize this and delay or run top.

Zed takes his shadow too late when he should not have taken it at all. C9 did not need to engage this fight and got greedy nerves. They could have just backed off with a huge hp advantage over SSB's jungler and waited for another CC chain. Zed could have also used his ultimate to give him an escape route. C9 get away, with just Zed dieing and Maokai losing his Flash. C9 are able to take the dragon.

Zed should have split-pushed father towards the T2 bot turret, knowing where Twitch was and that TF's ultimate is still down. Wouldn't have ended up with much, but it would have been more pressure.

C9 let Twisted Fate take their bot T1 without response.

C9 for a dive attempt onto Rumble in the top lane, but they have no vision of Twitch or TF. Backfires horribly, and SSB get 2 kills for 0 and the top turret. There was no reason for C9 to even attempt this other than Zed wasting a lot of time trying to get the gank.

C9 get too aggressive after getting caught in mid lane. SSB get 4 for 1 and the mid turret. SSB have now generated a strong lead and with the better team composition, and not many options for C9 to get back into the game, SSB should be taking the easy win from here.

C9 do rush dragon, but another aggressive fight attempt by C9 onto the stronger SSB ends up with them getting ACED for 1 kill and dragon.

C9 do try to go make plays, even from behind, moving their 4 man squad around the top while Zed pushes bottom. This actually ends up with C9 having their best fight yet, going 1 for 1 in a 4v5 and getting bottom T2 and inhibitor turrets. SSB send everyone bot against Zed, and C9 take Baron. C9 way out play and out rotate SSB.

Zed gets caught out in a dumb way. Running through the jungle right after Twisted Fate has used his ultimate.

Cloud9 have brought the gold a lot closer. With the Locket built by Elise, Banshee up by Maokai, and the power of Corki, C9 should really be pushing that bottom inhibitor as 5. Poke with Corki and use a ton of wards to spot out Twitch. Burn everything dodging Rumble ultimate, and have Zed focus Khazix. Great rotational play could get a chance at the bottom inhibitor, but I do not expect SSB to give C9 the opportunity to even come close to it, especially with Baron down. Instead, C9 try to play super ninja with Zed. It almost works out, but he runs out slightly to early. Crowd betrayal! Can't stop the hum of mass sound vibrations.

C9 try for Baron during this, but they get destroyed and SSB ACE C9 and take the Baron. The nail in the coffin for C9 has been hit.

End Game Notes -

Cloud9 make some good rotational plays using Baron as bait, however when Baron is down they misplay their opportunity to take advantage of the open inhibitor.

Maokai is almost non-existent in this match.

SSB did a great job baiting out fights with Twisted Fate and Twitch collapsing.

Zed shows off his weakness in this game. Zhonya's, QSS, dives, and Exhaust really coming in to shut him down.

What Cloud9 should have done -

As mentioned earlier, I really disliked their pick/ban phase and wish Hai had played Syndra again. If you didn't read the first note I made in game notes, read that.

Outside pick/ban, Maokai was useless this game. Cloud9 had to stop Rumble up top and get Maokai to the point where he can deal with Rumble in lane, instead of just Csing. Instead C9 focus entirely on the mid/bottom side and give no pressure against Rumble, who is weak early on to ganks, especially against the double CC of Elise and Maokai. Cloud9 had to get an advantage early and keep it going, or else their composition and champions are going to get shut down by not being able to 5v5 or split-push, and that unfortunately is what happened.

They did great, with their rotational come back, and they should have just pressured that open inhibitor. It would have been a long shot, however with Baron down and on C9, it was their only option to pressure it.

Going forward, Cloud9 need to get Corki/Lucian onto Sneaky, and prevent Twitch from going onto Deft. After that, Cloud9 need a stronger jungler than Elise, unless they want to fast push, and get Hai onto a champion that he does not need to all in dive with.

Why don't Zed's take cleanse to stop CC and Exhaust?

League of Legends Worlds Analysis, Quarterfinals - C9 vs. SSB Game #1

Samsung Blue vs. Cloud9 Game #1

Standard Lanes

Bans

Zed Yasuo

Alistar Lee Sin

Maokai Zilean

Picks

1. Thresh 2. Ryze

3. Elise 2. Khazix

3. Tristana 4. Syndra

5. Nidalee 4. Morgana

5. Jayce 6. Lucian

Lane Match-ups – Samsung White

Top -

Nidalee is going to have a rough time against Ryze. While Nidalee can out-sustain Ryze early on, its going to take quite awhile to overcome the damage that Ryze is able to put out. When it comes to full trades or all-in's, Ryze will come out on top, unless Nidalee can land a spear to mark him with Hunt. It's gong to be a tough match for Nidalee, and only get tougher as Ryze scales into the mid/late-game. All in all, a losing lane for Nidalee, but one she will be able to sit in and farm, in relative safety.

Mid -

Jayce against Syndra is an interesting match-up, and one that can be even. Jayce has slightly longer range and a much faster projectile to hi Syndra with, while having the ability to fast push against her, as long as he is willing to get in range of some of her skills. Primarily, the lane will be one of farm, and attempted long range harass. If Syndra uses her stun and misses, Jayce can go for the all-in or for trade damage, having a lot more potential against her when she cannot stun. Ultimately, farm, poke with Shock Blast and go all-in when the stun is down. Once level 6 comes into play, Jayce will have to be a lot more careful, as Syndra's kill potential skyrockets.

Bot -

This lane is very weak against C9's. Tristana gets bullied easily by Lucian, and if Morgana hits a binding, that will only result in even more damage being put down onto her. With Thresh somewhat neutered in his ability to influence the lane, because of Black Shield, it puts this lane in an even weaker position than if C9 had not grabbed Morgana. I'd suggest a lane swap, and a fast push to facilitate moving into the poke/siege composition that SSB has.

Jungle -

Elise has a stronger early-game than Khazix and can look to invade his jungle, as long as she is backed up by her laners. Using spiderlings to prevent Khazix isolation damage will be key, and any delay Elise can cause against Khazix will be useful. For ganking, bot and top lane will offer the best options, even though they are not very strong ones, with shutting down Ryze and helping out Nidalee coming up as a clear favorite.

Lane Match-ups – Cloud9

Top -

Ryze has the advantage in this lane, throughout all stages of the game when on even footing. Early on Ryze can trade easily with his spells, dealing more damage than Nidalee can heal for. As long as Ryze can dodge spears, particularly by sitting inside of the creep waves, he will come out on top in any trade or harass situation. As the lane progresses, the advantage he has will only grow until Nidalee is no longer able to challenge him. The only time that Ryze would be vulnerable to Nidalee, is if he gets hit by a spear, so dodging these should take priority over anything else. Just watch out for Elise gank, as the stun could lead into a Nidalee spear.

Mid -

Syndra's toughest time in this lane is going to be pre level 6. Syndra can farm from a safe distance, keeping creeps between her and Jayce. She should focus on simply Csing until level 6 and hold onto her stun until then. Syndra and Jayce will have similar poke/fight potential, but if Syndra's stun is ever down before level 6, then Jayce has the ability to all in her. Once level 6 hits, kill potential lies with Syndra and she should seek to be a strong bully in the lane while staying away from Jayce's poke ability.

Bot -

C9's duo is much stronger than SSB's lane. The bully potential of Lucian against Tristana is very strong while Morgana is able to provide lock-down and protection against Thresh, preventing SSB's only chance of turning the tide of the lane. C9 should make sure to get the 2v2 lane and just bully them from level 1, and transition into the strong mid-game of Lucian before Tristana can scale-up.

Jungle -

Khazix is going to out-scale Elise, however the early-game can be rough if Elise takes over his jungle. Help from the laners if this happens will be useful. Even with no help though, Khazix can avoid Elise while getting enough camps to reach 6, and be able to then fight on even terms with her. As for ganking, the best bet will be top with Ryze against Nidalee with bot lane coming up second.

Team Composition/Strategy – Samsung White

*Win Condition – Get lots of poke down onto C9 before fights and force C9 to back off or fight with low HP.

SSB have a team almost completely focused on poking. Jayce and Nidalee have very long range and very hard hitting poke. If they every land both their Spear and Shock Blast on the same target, that target will essentially be removed from a fight. Samsung Blue have to concede the early game to Cloud9 and survive until the mid-game, roughly the 18-20 minute mark, before SSB's team composition can really come into effect. At this point, SSB will need to group up as five and start to siege objectives as a full team. It might even be better to try some extremely early sieging and go for the 5v5 turret push as early as 9 minutes, but will be risky to try that. Once SSB come together as a team, they should play the turret game, almost completely ignoring C9's team and avoiding any team-fights. Push one turret after another and generate a gold lead that can be snowballed into a win from turret gold.

I would love to see a lane swap and fast push with SSB's team composition. 3 man or 4 man fast push in the lane swap and take out at least one turret to move into the siege push earlier than normal.

Team Composition/Strategy – Cloud9

*Win Condition – Snowball mid and early-game power-spikes into a gold lead and the win. Get picks with Ryze/Syndra/Morgana for extra gold and to create number advantage.

Cloud9 have a very strong team, especially in the mid-game once the level 1 ultimates come into play. As long as Cloud9 can prevent SSB from coming together and turret sieging, then Cloud9 should have the stronger team in this match-up. Syndra and Morgana both have solid ways to start off a fight with a pick, or just get a long ranged pick and chain some CC for the kill. SSB's team can't fight in a 5v5, so even just one binding or one Syndra stun will be enough to start an engagement. Ryze can also flash snare to start things off and be that front-line powerhouse that he is. The one thing that Cloud9 need to not do, is get stuck at turrets under siege. Get strong wards and be prepared to flank and take fights to more open area's like dragon. If C9 can get ahead, then they should have the game in their hands by rotating through SSB's jungle until they find a pick, fight, or open turret to kill.

Game Notes -

No idea what SSB were doing at the start. They had full vision of C9's top jungle and never saw a member head in. They should have been expecting the invade on their red instead of walking into it.

Nidalee hops in to attack Ryze but does so without Hunt up and into a minion wave. Forced to flash herself out to safety.

Nidalee saw the ward go down top, but Elise still tries to gank from the bush with the ward.

A great read by C9 predicting Thresh warding gets C9 their third kill.

Ryze TP secures the kill bottom (though he doesn't touch it) and turns into a free dragon for C9. SSB do take the top turret though.

SSB spend a ton of resources to take out Ryze in the top lane.

With how far ahead Lucian is, C9 focus on bot lane, getting another skirmish going 2 for 1 and drawing out the TP from Nidalee.

SSB get a catch on mid and end up 3v1 at the mid turret, however they do not push to take mid turret, big mistake.

Even with the early focus on Ryze, he has kept up and is the best split-pusher in this game.

For the second time, Syndra gets caught in the middle by Thresh, due to improper warding. SSB are still unable or unwilling to take something from this point of power play. They are delaying any play for Tristana to catch-up, however it is only hampering SSB as C9 are able to extend their lead, and Ryze is also a super strong late game champion.

Cloud9 properly play their composition by pressuring mid and bottom, forcing rotations through SSB's jungle and getting catches and picks, ends up generating an ACE for 0 C9 as well as the bot T2 turret. Game should now be 100% over. C9 just need to do the same thing with mid/top and pressure the next dragon and baron.

Mid T1 is still up for C9 when SSB could have taken it a long time ago.

C9 get a good pick onto Elise, and a huge TP from Ryze secures the fight and a kill. Chain CC ends up just barely killing Tristana as well.

Two awkward ward positions do give SSB vision of Baron.

Game stalls for a bit, C9 not making any strong moves. Really need to start pressuring Baron and SSB top inhibitor turret and middle to facilitate picks.

A pick generates a Baron attempt, however C9 are forced off. SSB could have kept baron low and forced it, however they get a bit greedy trying to get kills and get caught and picked off. SSB trying to force the fight, as a much weaker fight team, end up paying dearly for it, getting ACED, giving up Baron, and only getting 1 kill.

Syndra finds a 1v1 kill onto Jayce and C9 push down SSB's mid inhibitor using Baron.

C9 now shop, and then move towards bot lane to push. Even with SSB landing good poke and getting most of C9 to half HP, a flash snare by Ryze allows C9 to dive and kill 2 on SSB, get the inhibitor and push for the win.

Item Notes -

I really dislike the early Sheen from Nidalee. In this composition she needs higher AP/CDR for the poke/siege. The last thing SSB's team wants to do is have a team-fight and Nidalee will not beat Ryze in a split-push.

End Game Notes -

SSB got behind from level 1 from a silly play.

SSB did not properly play their composition until around the 18-20 minute mark. They played scared, with Deft so low on Tristana even though the crux of their composition was Nidalee/Jayce and Tristana was more of a late game fall back.

C9 did take awhile to get back into the rotation/pick after dropping it after getting the top T2 turret.

What Samsung Blue should have -

Play a different composition. This poke composition really does not fit SSB. They take a bit too long to get into the mindset and they like to 5v5 fight, when a poke composition like this needs to be running away and focusing objectives not fighting.

In the game, SSB should have grouped earlier and said, whelp Tristana is screwed. They wait so long to do anything to try to get Tristana to catch up, but she is never going to catch up when behind a much stronger ADC, and against a team that is not only able to kill her, but able to control the map. Tristana will get items, but the overall gold difference is only going to grow. They had the opportunity to take mid early, and never did, and then they could have moved this into push/siege with good wards.

Going forward, SSB need to remove Syndra and Lucian. Syndra is by far Hai's best champion and has to be removed to throw him off his game and Sneaky just played, so strong on Lucian. Look for lane swaps, as C9's bottom lane is looking truly dominating.

League of Legends Worlds Analysis, Quarterfinals - C9 vs. SSB, Post-Game

  C9 vs. SSB Quarterfinals

Top

Balls vs. Acorn

1. W – Ryze 5/2/6 1. L – Nidalee 1/4/2

2. L – Maokai 2/6/2 2. W – Rumble 2/0/21

3. L – Rumble 1/5/3 3. W – Maokai 2/2/11

4. L – Rumble 5/4/10 4. W – Maokai 2/4/17

Jungle

Meteos vs. Spirit

1. W – Khazix 1/0/12 1. L – Elise 1/4/3

2. L – Elise 1/5/1 2. W – Khazix 8/1/9

3. L – Khazix 1/2/4 3. W – Lee Sin 7/0/9

4. L – Lee Sin 4/5/8 4. W – Rengar 4/4/13

Mid

Hai vs. Dade

1. W – Syndra 7/4/12 1. L – Jayce 1/5/3

2. L – Zed 1/10/1 2. W – Twisted Fate 9/2/11

3. L – Syndra 5/6/1 3. W – Jayce 7/2/3

4. L – Talon 5/7/7 4. W – Yasuo 8/3/11

ADC

Sneaky vs. Deft

1. W – Lucian 15/0/7 1. L – Tristana 2/5/1

2. L – Corki 2/3/1 2. W – Twitch 9/2/9

3. L – Graves 3/4/4 3. W – Corki 5/2/7

4. L – Corki 5/5/11 4. W – Twitch 9/4/10

Support

LemonNation vs. Heart

1. W – Morgana 1/1/24 1. L – Thresh 2/11/3

2. L – Morgana 0/5/3 2. W – Thresh 1/0/20

3. L – Janna 0/4/16 3. W – Braum 0/4/16

4. L – Braum 0/5/14 4. W – Nami 3/4/18

End Series Notes -

Cloud9 lost this series due to pick/ban mistakes in all 3 of their losses. Even when playing from behind Cloud9 make some great plays to keep the games close.

SSB look to have several weaknesses in the early and mid-game, and going forward against Samsung White this is going to be a huge huge problem.

SSB need to come up with a solid level 1 plan and stick to it in their semi-finals and possibly look to dropping turrets faster and moving into the team-fight phase before SSW can pick them apart.

League of Legends Worlds Analysis, Quarterfinals - C9 vs. SSB, Pre-Game

Samsung Blue vs. Cloud9

Picks and Bans – Samsung Blue

I think that SSB's weakest point in picks and bans is going to be their ADC Deft. He's only shown off 3 ADC's so far, and 2 of them are immobile champions. Making sure that Deft gets onto an ADC that he is comfortable performing on in the World Stage will be important. This is doubly important because SSB prefer to run dual threat teams and if mid or bottom can be put onto something uncomfortable and/or shut down, then SSB will be in a weak spot.

I expect top lane to be mostly ignored by SSB in terms of bans, other than the standard OP champions of Maokai/Alistar being just, standard bans not targeted ones. In the mid lane, I expect Yasuo to be a desired choice by SSB, working well with Maokai that Acorn loves in the top lane. We also know that Jayce is a staple of the Samsung Teams and we can expect to see it here at least once.

As for aiming bans towards C9, I'd primarily pick on Hai, force him onto Zed, or onto something really awkward for him by banning out Syndra, Zed, Yasuo/Talon. If not a super focus onto Hai, then Rumble and Lee Sin are both strong bans against C9.

Picks and Bans – Cloud9

If I were Cloud9, I'd be looking primarily towards making sure that Hai gets a champion that he can play on, hopefully he is carrying a new pick ready for this series. It will be paramount that Hai get a champion that he can play and shot-call on and I'd love to see picks that are stronger throughout the game no matter happens than Zed for Hai. Syndra and Yasuo would be great, as would Orianna or Ahri if he has picked them up.

Balls should be fine in the top, no matter what goes on there. His champion pool is currently holding all strong picks and should be of no worry. Meteos has looked a bit weak in his champion pool, only winning on Khazix and Lee Sin, however the jungle is a very stale place at the moment so I don't expect to see a lot of contention going on over the jungle.

The bot lane is where I'd like to see Cloud9 make some real focus, at least one game. Ban out Kog'maw/Corki/Twitch and then take Lucian. Force SSB's Deft onto something he hasn't played and then take the strongest lane bully ADC. Destroying the bottom lane, especially against SSB's dual threat compositions, will be very very effective.

Play-styles – Samsung Blue and Cloud 9

I group the teams together this time around because both teams play a very similar style. Neither team do a lot of crazy low level map movements or early-game risky plays, but both teams prefer to have a bit of a muted first 10-15 minutes. After this point, the mid-game objectives come into play and we see a lot of emphasis start to be played onto the neutral objectives and then soon after the turrets come under pressure.

We see a lot of focus on the individual play up until this 10-15 minute mark in which both teams will then look for those strong 5v5 fights. We do not often see skirmish compositions or even pick compositions from either of these teams. Both want to reach the mid-game team-fights and both want to clash head to head.

The only different play-style is that Cloud9 are much better at the split-push than SSB and will dedicate themselves to it 100% where as Samsung blue are way way more likely to stay together and always come together for fights.

Strengths and Weaknesses – Samsung Blue

Samsung Blue's weakest point is their early to early-mid game. We see a lot of sticking around to their lanes and seemingly looking to survive to the mid-game rather than trying to make plays early. This can put them on the back foot against teams who want to make heavy rotational plays in the early game. Luckily, Cloud9 are similar in this and the weakness should not rear its ugly head too bad.

SSB's biggest strength comes in their team-fight ability and their mid-late game decision making. This really shows up in how little hesitation they show in making calls and in how well they are able to perform with just dual threat teams. Samsung Blue will need to rely on this ability to deal with any rotational calls made by C9 and to out-fight them in team-fights.

Strengths and Weaknesses – Cloud9

Cloud9's biggest weakness lies in Hai and his champion pool. I hate to harp on it like everyone else, but it is true. Before going further, let me say that his champion pool throughout the season has been diverse, but a lot of his champions are no longer relevant. In this match though, I expect him to be focused and made a weak point. Getting him onto a comfortable champion, such as Syndra or Yasuo should be a focus for C9. I'd love to see Hai not play Zed unless forced to, as both his performance on Zed and Zed himself has been weak this tournament. If Cloud9 can get Hai onto a comfortable and safe champion that he is strong on, this will be huge for Cloud9

One of C9's biggest strengths this tournament, has been the bot lane of Sneaky and LemonNation and I would love to see C9 fully focus this at least one game and ban out Deft while putting Sneaky onto a strong champion.

In play itself, Cloud9 have very strong rotational play, even early on if they open up the map. If they at all miss getting the duo lane, I want C9 to fast push and then start to rely from an early point on their ability to manage and move around the map. Opening up the options for split-push and neutral control.

Balls in the top lane is also playing very strong and getting him Rumble or Ryze should be a solid point for Cloud9 to focus.

How to Win – Samsung Blue

Focus Hai. Get him uncomfortable from champion select and then keep him weak throughout the game. Dade is much stronger and SSB should seek to use this to their advantage.

Avoid the duo lanes when possible, especially in weaker duo match-ups. Acorn plays a very safe, support style anyways, where as Balls likes to play more carry oriented. Finding the 2v1's will work in the benefit of both of SSB's lanes.

Be ready to make split second decisions in game. If C9 make a rotational play, do not let it go unanswered. Trade objectives if you must, but do not dilly dally in response. Even as little as 3-5 seconds in decision making can end up becoming a huge cost.

How to Win – Cloud9

Make sure Hai has a champion that he can be relevant on no matter how the match goes. Let him focus on the shot calling rather than on the need carry the game himself. Balls and Sneaky/LemonNation have been doing great and focus should be put onto these lanes. Get Hai the likes of Syndra or Ahri (if he's learned her), or maybe even Xerath. If possible, Yasuo combo with Maokai would be ideal. Believe in Hai's shot calling.

Find the duo lane every game. Sneaky has been very strong with LemonNation in lane and Cloud9 should use this to turn the mid-game into their favor. Do not let 2v1 lane swaps go on for too long if they do happen, especially if Balls is playing Rumble.

If playing the mid-game team-fight does not seem to be working out. Get Hai onto Zed and split-push early, using their great shot calling to pull SSB apart. A lane swap in this situation would be great, quick pushes onto turrets to open up the map and then out rotating SSB.

League of Legends Worlds Analysis, Group Stage - C9 vs. NWS Tie-Breaker

Najin White Shield vs. Cloud9 Tie-Breaker

2v1 Lanes, NWS Top

Bans

Rumble Thresh

Syndra Ryze

Alistar Maokai

Picks

1. Zilean 2. Nidalee

3. Lee Sin 2. Corki

3. Zed 4. Elise

5. Rumble 4. Janna

5. Janna 6. Talon

Lane Match-ups – Najin White Shield

Top -

Kassadin will be easily bullied by Nidalee in lane. However this pick is not for winning the lane, but moving into the mid-late game and deal with the obvious split-push that Cloud9 have set up. Kassadin will be great at stopping this later on. While laning, he simply needs to survive and get what CS he can. Should expect Elise to try to gank and play very safe for it.

Mid -

A very volatile match-up, if either champion gets ahead the lane will shift heavily into their favor. Zed should get as much poke as possible. At level 2 Zed will have the all-in potential and use it to push Talon out of lane or at least away from the creeps. At level 6 the match-up becomes a game of chicken with their ultimates, whoever uses theirs first most likely losing the fight. Any damage brought in by the junglers will help shift this match-up.

Bot -

A fairly even match-up I believe. Both Lucian and Zilean are lane bullies in the bottom lane, offer good damage at the early levels. They are facing Janna/Corki though, another strong lane so the match-up should go even. Rush for the first level 2 and take advantage of the lane. Later on, especially at level 6, the all-in potential should switch in NWS's favor.

Jungle -

Lee Sin against Elise. Lee Sin is very much the stronger jungler and will be able turn any of Elise's ganks into a win for his team if he can counter-gank properly. Lee Sin needs to make plays around the map, and primarily make sure that the Nidalee does not snowball out of control.

Lane Match-ups – C9

Top -

Nidalee has a great lane up against Kassadin. However she must recognize that the point of Kassadin is for the split-push denial later on. Knowing this, Nidalee needs to shut down Kassadin as hard as possible and grow her lead to where he can not stop her or Zed later on. Elise ganks or even an early tower dive will be huge in keeping Kassadin down.

Mid -

A very volatile match. This lane will swing very heavily from the first kill/forced back on. Talon must respect that Zed will take an early lead at level 2, and accept it. From level 3 on, the match-up will be a bit of a toss up. Zed will have the greater poke potential as well as being able to trade evenly with Talon. Creep damage will be on Zed's side, as Talon must go onto Zed to get down his harassment, while Zed does not. Early help from Elise can really shift this match-up. Level 6 will be a game of chicken, whoever uses their ultimate first and tries to fight will most likely lose. Talon however, can combo Zed and then ultimate out. Dealing some damage and fast clearing the wave before moving elsewhere.

Bot -

An even match-up I believe. There is a lot of bully potential and all-in potential on both sides. Janna will have to make good use of her shield to maximize the protection on Corki and allowing him to get use out of the extra AD damage it provides. Try to rush to level 2, however it will be hard against the experience boost and AoE damage of Zilean. Do not over commit and lose the lane early.

Jungle -

Elise will have a harder time against Lee Sin that other match-ups. His damage in ganks will be more lasting if she is unable to push out or kill NWS's lane member before he arrives. Elise should still look for solid gank opportunities and must decide between bot and top early on. Preferably, Elise should look to keep Kassadin down, as he will be the biggest hamper to C9's 1-3-1 split-push team.

Team Composition/Strategy – Najin White Shield

*Win Condition – Shut down Cloud9's split-push ability.

Najin have created a team that is designed to stop C9's split-push. They played the pick/ban phase wonderfully and have set themselves up with highly mobile champions capable of fighting against and catching out C9's split-push. With Zilean, NWS will have a natural advantage in experience which will really help this out. As long as they don't fall behind early on, NWS should scale into a greater split-push with Kassadin.

Team Composition/Strategy – C9

*Win Condition – Play the map much stronger than NWS and split-push with great strategic map play.

C9 have built a very strong 1-3-1 split-push team. Nidalee and Talon will be able to both push a lane, forcing NWS into splitting up to deal with them. In the meanwhile, C9's 3 man squad is holding onto strong wave clear, poke, and disengage which gives them the ability to both turret defend, and put pressure onto NWS's mid-lane. The keep need against NWS is going to be keeping Kassadin from getting to the point where he will be able to shutdown Nidalee or Talon.

Game Notes -

Lane swap initiated by NWS. Turns into a switch with Corki vs. Kassadin in the bottom lane and Nidalee/Janna top.

Great return damage from C9 up top when Lucian goes aggressive.

Elise does not check top red bush when going for a jungle invade. Did not back off when Zed hit 6. bad timing unfortunately.

C9, Talon and Elise, take a pink ward at a bad time and let Zed get behind them. Collasping NWS catch out and kill Talon. Note 4 pink wards down on the Dragon side by NWS.

Unfortunately for C9, both kill are on Zed.

Thinking about it, C9 should have banned Zilean if they wanted to run this composition. The experience advantage Zilean gives really makes things rough for getting a lead to split-push.

Nidalee's vision is a bit lax and Zed makes a good roam and kill top. C9 responds by taking bot turret and getting very deep vision into NWS' bottom jungle.

Lack of vision on the top side of the map costs C9 a lot.

A big commit top against Kassadin pays out and C9 takes a kill and top turret.

Crazy amount of wards in NWS inventory for taking dragon. C9 is at a double Trinity Force spike though.

C9 get initiated on and get split. They lose 3 and NWS head to dragon.

Corki makes a great play, 1v1's Lucian and is able to stop dragon when Nidalee tp's in. Baits in Zed, and Nidalee is able to catch and kill him. C9 take dragon. Meanwhile Kassadin gets top lane.

While the gold is close, C9 are at an experience disadvantage. They do still try to apply the pressure, trading turrets with NWS.

C9 push mid while Zed split-pushes top. Do not quite get the mid T2 turret, but Zed runs to try to flank instead of taking top turret. (Here we see a huge difference in play when comparing Asian teams to LCS teams). The flank does not work, it does draw C9 off the tower but after a ton of damage. C9 move back to mid to pressure, but get caught and being weaker in the 5v5 give up 2 kills for nothing.

C9 make the decision to stop trying to fight NWS and make a sneaky move to take T2 bot turret while NWS take dragon. NWS collapse after taking dragon and letting their turret fall. End up chasing C9 to the top lane near baron while Nidalee TP's bot lane, pulling NWS away from Baron.

Talon and Nidalee wait in the bot lane bush, until they see that NWS has 4 members middle and start to pressure the bot lane forcing NWS into trade or stall decision.

C9 end up taking the bot lane inhibitor, sneaking Corki into the bot lane with Zed while they let NWS take Baron. C9 actually end up getting 2 kills as well, almost getting 3.

C9 keep NWS busy in mid, clearing waves and Nidalee split-pushes bot lane, Nidalee gets a Nexus Turret, and C9 gets Dragon and top T2 turret. NWS send 4 mid to push, but all of C9 rush towards NWS' base, forcing NWS to recall and saving the mid-lane of C9.

C9's continual split-push keep NWS at bay, unable to push against the 3-man squad of C9.

Elise is not with the 3-man squad and NWS push and take C9 mid inhibitor. However when she gets back C9 put a lot of damage form Corki pokes onto all 4 members of NWS. Meanwhile Nidalee and Talon split-push both top and bottom against just Kassadin.

Nidalee ends up dieing to Kassadin (he is just too strong atm) but Talon, gets greedy. Instead of taking a guaranteed inhibtor, he heads mid to try and catch NWS's low members, gets obliterated by Lucian. This is really the end point. C9 needed that inhibitor. Just an overzealous, heat of the moment excitement decision.

NWS take baron and C9 take bottom inhibitor, but lose 3 members. NWS rush middle.

Talon and Nidalee setup a catch top and it almost goes so well, but Zed uses shadows so well and survives. If the kill had come through, C9 would have won.

Elise and Corki sneak into the base of NWS, but Kassadin is able to get back and help Zed save the base. And then NWS are able to end the game.

Item Notes -

Talon builds so much better than last time. Going for Last Whisper after Brutalizer and Tiamat.

End Game Notes -

C9 though behind, play this game super strategically.

An amazing game. C9 once again show cracks in NWS and potentially the entire Asian region. NWS do not know how to deal with the strategic split-push and map movements of Cloud9. It really shows that NWS only know how to play brawl focused, skirmish compositions.

If C9 had not gotten behind so early, then they would have dominated this game.

The overzealous play by Talon really solidifies the loss for C9, but the intention was good. Still should have taken the inhibitor.

What Cloud9 should have done -

First let me say, they played amazingly and ran NWS ragged.

All Cloud9 needed to do, was to not get so behind early. A few misplays early on really kept C9 from running away with the game. Elise getting caught right when Zed got six, and then C9 getting caught and collapsed on in the mid lane a few times.

The only other thing that I would have changed, would have been 1 thing in the pick/ban phase. If C9 wanted to run this 1-3-1 composition (which they showed at least a split-push with Nidalee in the first run) would be to drop the Maokai ban and ban Zilean. Prevent the experience lead that he gives, which will hamper your split-pushers early on.