League of Legends Worlds Analysis, Group Stage - SHR vs. SK Game #2

SK Gaming vs. Star Horn Royal Club Game #2

Standard Lanes

Bans

Zilean Nidalee

Lucian Aatrox

Ryze Alistar

Picks

1. Maokai 2. Orianna

3. Lee Sin 2. Rengar

3. Ahri 4. Irelia

5. Kog'maw 4. Janna

5. Kayle 6. Vayne

Lane Match-ups – SK Gaming

Top -

Maokai will be fine early against Irelia and the lane should go even in a farm heavy situation. Should be a boring lane. Maokai needs to respect the power spike of Irelia once she gets a sheen, since Maokai likes to go scaling Rod of Ages. Both have good ability to support or start ganks.

Mid -

Ahri vs Orianna is a very even match-up. Both have good wave clear and decent kill potential on each other. Ahri will have to rely on Charm to get harassment off and then quickly back off after it wears off. Ahri has a stronger burst and fast trade ability and needs to use it. Once 6 hits, going all-in can be effective, but she must dodge Orianna's Shockwave, which is harder than it seems it would be for Ahri. If Ahri goes all-in and misses her charm, she will lose to Orianna who has much higher sustained damage.

Bot -

Kog'maw and Kayle will have a little bit of a tricky time in this lane. They have the range and sustain going for them once they hit level 3/4 but they are going to have a rough time in levels 1-2. It depends on how they decide to play it. Vayne and Janna will want to combo Tumble and Shield for bursty damage at level 1 and will be able to put a lot of hurt onto SK, since the typical skill start for both of them is the auto attack skills. It might almost be worth it for SK to go all-in at level one against Vayne. Hide in a bush or catch them coming from river and go hard onto Vayne, quickly breaking the Janna shield and trying to win the fight with their greater auto attack damage. If not, then they should expect to be pushed back early and just wait to out-sustain SHR. Gracefully submit to losing in the first levels.

Jungle -

Lee Sin needs to keep an eye on Rengar. Try to confine him to the top half of the map and bully him when possible. Coordinate with Ahri to watch for collapse opportunities. While Orianna will most likely push harder, catching her with a charm when she rotates can give SK a chance to kill her. Once Rengar hit's six, it will be a lot harder for Lee Sin to control him and hopefully the lanes have been given enough of a chance to ward up and be prepared.

Lane Match-ups – Star Horn Royal Club

Top -

An even match-up against Maokai. Neither will be able to generate an advantage early, but once Irelia grabs a sheen she can really start to bully Maokai in the lane and should be able to push him out given enough time. Both have good ability in ganks so Irelia should be wary of that and ready to gank as well.

Mid -

Against Ahri, Orianna will have an even lane. Farm should go even as well as wave clear speed and trades. The only thing Orianna needs to do is dodge charms. As long as she can dodge charms she has stronger bully potential and with her sustained damage can take down Ahri. However, getting charmed will let Ahri put on a huge amount of burst and possibly kill her. Great ganks with Rengar, ball delivery system with stealth.

Bot -

Vayne/Janna can win the lane at level 1 against Kog'maw and Kayle. Generally Kog'maw and Kayle will go their auto attack skills. This lets Vayne/Janna use shield and Tumble to great effect and they should try to push this advantage hard early on. Things will start to change as the levels increase, but if SHR can get ahead they can keep the lane in their favor. When level 6 hits, the match-up will change into SK's favor if they are even. Great poke and all-in protection will prevent SHR's lane from taking charge.

Jungle -

Rengar will want to farm as fast as possible to level 6. The lanes should be safe enough, with top having the most danger. As soon as he hits 6, lane gank opportunities will hit, especially in bot and mid lane. Bot have no natural escapes, and mid having the ball delivery system.

Team Composition/Strategy – SK Gaming

*Win Condition – PPP, Poke with Kog'maw, Pick with Ahri, and Protect with the rest.

SK have a nice little protect and pick composition going on here, with some solid siege potential. They need to survive the laning phases and get Kog'maw and Ahri to their first items. Once that spike hits, they should group up and start to pressure turrets and dragon. SK need to be very proactive with Kayle and his ultimate and not play a defensive game. Move to towers and use Kog'maw to poke at SHR's champions and get chip damage onto the turrets. Meanwhile, Ahri will try to get picks with her Charm. When SHR try to engage, the rest of SK gaming need to protect Kog'maw and Ahri. Lock-up Rengar and keep him away from the damage dealers hopefully preventing Orianna's ultimate in the process. Lee Sin's kick can be used as well to knock Irelia or Vayne away. If SK can shut down Rengar's engagement, then they should be able to poke and pick successfully. It will be key to siege and be able to shut-down the engagement, as SHR have a great split-push and a great wombo combo engage.

Team Composition/Strategy – Star Horn Royal Club

*Win Condition - Split-push with Irelia and Vayne so long as they go even or get ahead and/or use the engagement of Rengar with Orianna and go all-in against SK.

SHR have to fairly different ways to win, however both of them require SHR to be even or ahead, preferably ahead as it will really let them steamroll over SK. Irelia and Vayne are both strong split-pushers and as long as they do not fall behind, they will be able to run a 1-3-1 split-push with Rengar able to move quickly between lanes. The other opportunity that they have is a full on all-in. Rengar engages and Irelia/Vayne just follow in and overpower SK gaming. The dual true damage will help this against Maokai, but unless SHR are ahead, it will be very dangerous. If SHR can get ahead early, they will have complete control. They just need to make sure that they don't let themselves get locked down at turrets or objectives with Kog'maw poking them and Ahri looking for picks.

Game Notes -

SK's bot lane takes way too much damage at level one, Vayne and Janna really using their power at level 1 against SK's weak level 1.

Vayne makes an aggressive play and takes some hits, going very low. Kog'maw could have killed her but does not flash for it. Couple missed opportunities and non aggressive skill shots by Kog'maw.

Maokai gets pushed out by Irelia and has to TP back.

Rengar ganks bot lane as soon as level 6 hits. Vayne gets First Blood.

SK get a dive kill onto Irelia.

Rengar and Orianna get the jump onto Lee Sin and mid and take him out before there can be a response.

Jungle skirmish goes 2 for 2, mid ultimates being down.

Janna comes around the side as SK take down the bottom turret just as Vayne comes down. SHR get both kills, Irelia TP's in for the secure and SHR take dragon.

Ahri tries to 1v1 Orianna, Janna comes to help but Orianna could have killed Ahri alone. Janna does save Orianna when Lee Sin tries to finish her off with his Q.

SHR take mid easily, 4v1.

Vayne gets caught out in bot lane.

Big vision war over dragon area.

SK pressure mid and take it while SHR deal with vision.

Maokai TP's in too far from his team and gets collapsed on 5v1. His tank ability and Intervention is wasted on nothing, SHR turn around, chase SK and Orianna gets a great ultimate, killing Ahri and Kayle. SHR run and take Baron, then take Dragon after.

SHR can run away with the game now. They split-push and force SK off the top T2 turret since Maokai is no longer there.

Decently boring now SHR slowly close out the game.

Kayle uses Intervention onto Maokai and Vayne immediately goes after Kog'maw.

Maokai gets caught top while Irelia distracts the rest of the team. SHR go to Baron. Irelia gets out as well.

End Game Notes -

Kog'maw not aggressively taking First Blood really cost the bot lane of SK. They could have gotten ahead and easily stayed ahead for the rest of the match, at least in the 2v2.

Kayle ultimates were always used defensively when Kayle's ultimate is the best used proactively.

The TP by Maokai way ahead of his team really solidified the win for SHR.

What SK Gaming should have done -

I don't feel the Kayle pick was really that good. Picking it into Rengar has the benefit of blocking damage on the champion targeted, however it does not stop the engage or the lock-down that follows Rengar. Having a champion for disengage, like Nami or to a lesser extent Thresh, would have offered so much more. Kayle is much better used in heavy engage compositions.

Inside of the game, Kog'maw not going for that early first blood on Vayne really hurt SK. It would have put the bot lane ahead and allowed them to bully Vayne when she came back. They had the chance to take total control of the lane but did not take it.

Secondly, they were unable to keep a good eye on Rengar early enough and he was able to get his quick level 6 gank, which set SK's bot lane behind.

The final nail in the coffin, was the Maokai TP. It was just done in the wrong place, and SK were unable to make any use of the time Maokai tanked.

Lee Sin needed to put pressure on the Blue buff side of SHR, keeping Rengar away from the bot lane and directing him to a single side against mid. Maokai would have been the safest against a gank.

At the dragon fight that really lost the game, a closer TP into trying to catch picks with Ahri would have been the best play. Being grouped up really removes a lot of Rengar's potential and allows Maokai to protect Kog'maw and keeping his aura on his team. The fight was too forced when it should have been poke by Kog'maw and pick with Ahri.

League of Legends Worlds Analysis, Group Stage - SHR vs. SK Game #1

Star Horn Royal Club vs. SK Gaming Game #1

Standard Lanes

Bans

Nidalee Rengar

Aatrox Alistar

Maokai Zed

Picks

1. Ryze 2. Zilean

3. Lee Sin 2. Khazix

3. Janna 4. Syndra

5. Tristana 4. Twitch

5. Yasuo 6. Mundo

Lane Match-ups – Star Horn Royal Club

Top -

Ryze has a major advantage over Mundo and while it will be hard to kill him, Ryze will be able to bully him away from lane while having almost 0 fear of Mundo being able to fight back and kill him. Ryze should be very happy farming up and scaling his mana items safely and potentially getting a kill with Lee Sin ganks.

Mid -

Yasuo will have to play tricky with his dashes to survive in this lane. While he should be safe from taking too much poke, and with Syndra's all-in a little weak before level 6, he should stay even in lane. If Syndra's stun is down and does not hit him, then it will be a good time for Yasuo to try to get in and do some trade damage. Once level 6 hits, both will have kill pressure. However, Yasuo will have a huge advantage with his Wind Wall and should be able to block at least some of Syndra's ultimate even if stunned. With Lee Sin ganks at level 6, there should be a huge advantage for Yasuo in this match-up.

Bot -

Solid advantage for SHR's lane. Janna offer's a lot more in combat potential pre 6 than Zilean will, able to shield his bombs and then provide slow and knock-up for Tristana. Tristana will also be safe against Twitch, able to out-range and push him early, as well as offer similar trades (especially) with Janna shield. Later on, Tristana can escape Twitch assassination attempts. All in all it should be an easy lane for SHR.

Jungle -

Guess who again. Lee Sin will have a larger advantage over Khazix in this match-up due to his synergy with Yasuo. Once the ultimates come into play, Lee Sin should always be looking to make plays with Yasuo.

Lane Match-ups – SK Gaming

Top -

Mundo has a rough time against Ryze early on. He will get bullied in lane but at least he will be able to regen over time and get CS with cleavers. Once Mundo gets Spectre's Cowl things will turn around a lot and Mundo will be really safe in the lane. It will be hard for Mundo to get in against Ryze with Ryze's snare, but if he can land a cleaver during a gank, Mundo and Khazix should be able to kill Ryze. Mundo's biggest focus will be to farm up and be a massive tank in the late game.

Mid -

Syndra will have a slightly rough time against Yasuo. While she can bully him somewhat and can farm safely and easily, she must be careful of Yasuo's all-in potential. Dealing with Wind Wall after level 6 will be especially important as it can block out massive portions of her damage. Properly whittling Yasuo down and getting him to use his Wind Wall will be essential for her getting her burst combo down onto him and getting the kill. Syndra must worry about Lee Sin though. At level 6 the synergy between him and Yasuo will make her lane time a nightmare and SK must have good warding to combat this.

Bot -

This lane is fairly weak from SK. Both Twitch and Zilean not being that strong in lane, especially against a Janna who can block Zilean's bombs. SK should really look to lane swap and let Mundo deal with the fast pushing Tristana. Otherwise they will fall behind eventually. The best chance SK will have is with a level 2 all-in. However getting to level 2 first will probably prove difficult.

Jungle -

Again Khazix against Lee Sin. Khazix is going to have more of his work cut out for him though, having to deal with the synergy Lee Sin has with Yasuo. Rushing to 6 with Zilean passive and beating Lee Sin to a level 6 gank could be an option. Other than that, look for picks with Syndra or Ryze over-extending.

Team Composition/Strategy – Star Horn Royal Club

*Win Condition – Scale up and win the game. Use the synergy with Yasuo to make plays in small skirmish settings.

SHR's team is another one that scales hard into the late game while having some minor dips in power during the mid-game. In this match-up though, they have some good mid-game saving grace in the Yasuo/Lee Sin synergy that they should use to control mid lane and make small neutral objective skirmishes. Their duo lane also has an advantage and SHR should seek to make the 2v2 happen. These two things will minimize their mid-game dip from Tristana and Ryze, smoothing out SHR's transition into the late game with 3 hyper carries.

Team Composition/Strategy – SK Gaming

*Win Condition – Win lanes win game. Use Twitch and Syndra in the mid-game to get picks.

SK Gaming have a sort of mixed composition. There isn't really a solid strategy here and each lane is kind of doing their own thing. A big portion of their composition is going to be Twitch and his ability to play with Zilean ultimate. SK should do whatever they can to get Twitch rolling, especially since he starts with 1 item and Tristana really needs 2.5 to get going. Start with lane swaps, send the weak duo lane away from the 2v2 and let Mundo fend for himself in the double jungle and 2v1 lane. Once Twitch gets his item and a turret or two have fallen, then plays should start to be made around the map with him and Syndra. SK really need to get picks during the mid-game and use a number advantage to take objectives and bully SHR around. If they can't get picks, then they will a hard time staying alive in team-fights against Yasuo/Lee Sin. Once enough of a lead is built up from picks, use Mundo to force SHR off of towers while Twitch kills them.

Game Notes -

SK invade SHR, almost get a kill, but Mundo misses a cleaver and Tristana blocks the next one.

SK do not take SHR's red buff after invading, while SHR counter and take SK's red. Ends up costing SK a red buff and SHR get 3 buffs. Really should have taken SHR's red with the invade.

Lots of action on bot lane, both sides taking good damage.

Mundo goes to ward and gets caught, gets out with some damage though.

Khazix gets FB and draws all of SHR to the bot lane. Maybe could have gotten away, maybe not.

The kill that Tristana got does let her get a pick-ax and allows SHR to out-trade in the bot lane. Eventually causing Tristana to get 2 more kills. Very bad for SK.

SK make a good blue steal with SHR's blue being so late. Mistimed by SHR.

Syndra burns her ult against Yasuo without side-stepping Wind Wall and does not get the kill. Ends up costing Khazix his life and SHR get dragon when Lee Sin and bot lane collapse on mid.

Lee Sin and Yasuo get a kill mid.

SHR go pretty aggressive after Zilean because of a ward spotting his movement.

Mundo kills Ryze under turret, going 1 for 1, but Ryze loses out on a huge creep wave.

SHR try to force a TP gank mid, ran it slightly late. Do burn a flash on Syndra.

Tristana is just too strong after those 3 kills for SK to deal with.

SK attempt to gank Tristana, turns a bit sour. Mundo TP's but SK do not respond to it properly and Mundo is left alone with no one chasing Tristana. SHR over commit though trying to kill Mundo and SK get a kill and take dragon.

A gank by 5 onto Mundo does not work out and SK delay them for a long time, allowing Twitch to almost kill mid T2 turret.

SK make a great dive on bot lane, 3 then 4v2. Get the kills and both turrets on bot lane. SHR is able to get both top turrets, and SK split while escaping, letting Yasuo get 2 kills for 1 on Janna.

SK get a good TP kill on bot, but Twitch tries to 1v1 Ryze and dies. SHR get mid turret. Khazix runs in and dies for nothing.

SK able to take dragon quickly and get out.

The chaotic skirmishes are delaying the game. This benefits SHR more than SK.

Khazix backs during the baron dance, and SHR just destroy Baron so quickly without having to smite fight.

Ward dash to flash at SK's mid T2 from Lee Sin starts off a full on fight, starting it as a 5v4 since Khazix just blew up from the Lee Sin play. SHR go 5 for 2 and get the turret.

Mundo gets a little overconfident and gets caught and killed, Tristana and Yasuo damage being too high. SHR push into SK's base, taking the mid inhibitor.

Khazix tries to get an assassinate onto Tristana, but not enough damage.

Mundo getting caught middle turns into a fight and SHR clean up and win the game.

End Game Notes -

Tristana got too strong too early with those first 3 kills. SK could have prevented all 3.

Yasuo and Lee Sin are just super strong.

SHR do a great job of drawing out the game and scaling way past SK's team.

Item Notes -

I really like the pick-up of BT by Yasuo. Provides good defense against Syndra burst and offers greater burst with his ultimate.

End Game Notes -

The early game kills really help SHR skip past their mid-game dip in power.

The skirmish heavy play-style draws out the game and allows SHR to scale past SK Gaming.

What SK Gaming should have done -

Pick a better team composition. Their team, while able to work together, did not really have anything to compliment one another. Elise with Syndra would have been good for picks or a top laner/support with disengage potential to keep SK safe while they try to get picks. As it stands, SK's team was just, good picks but without synergy.

In the game, SK really screwed themselves by not lane swapping. Twitch had to get rolling for them to succeed and being put into a losing lane from the start really kept that from happening. A few misplays also gave kills to SHR while losing SK kills, Syndra using her ultimate into Yasuo wall for example. The final kicker was that SK played into the skirmish style of SHR and this allowed the game to delay into the late game while also generating gold for both sides (more for SHR since they were coming out ahead), allowing SHR to highly out-scale SK's team.

SK needed to not let Twitch get behind and then do more picks and more baits, getting 1 kill here and 1 kill there before starting the big team fights.

League of Legends Worlds Analysis, Group Stage - TSM vs. SK Game #2

SK Gaming vs. Team Solo Mid Game #2

ADC/Top switch, SK Gaming

Bans

Zed Alistar

Tristana Nidalee

Ryze Aatrox

Picks

1. Khazix 2. Maokai

3. Swain 2. Janna

3. Morgana 4. Lee Sin

5. Vayne 4. Kog'Maw

5. Ziggs 6. Syndra

Lane Match-ups – SK Gaming

Top -

Swain is a lane counter to Maokai, able to bully him extremely well, more so than Maokai can sustain, and is safe against Maokai at all points during the game. Swain should take an easy lead in the top lane match-up, zoning from level 1/2 and going for kill pressure at level 3 and beyond. Must be aware of ganks from Lee Sin before level 6, at 6 Swain should be safe to escape any 2 man gank without ignite. Has plenty of potential with Khazix ganks.

Mid -

Ziggs turns this mid lane into a farm fest. Ziggs should seek to keep Syndra pushed back for the first few levels but no longer than level 6. Outside of that, Ziggs should seek to farm as many jungle camps as he can while quickly clearing mid lane when it shows up. Stay away from Syndra, and do not let her get kill pressure onto Ziggs. Pretty safe against Lee Sin ganks as long as Ziggs has quick reactions with the satchel.

Bot -

Vayne/Morgana don't really make for a great lane. There is some potential for a binding into wall stun and Black Shield can block some damage, but there is no hard CC for it to stop in the bot lane. However, Morgana will be good for getting picks later on and for providing massive protection against Syndra later on in the game. Should look try to farm, but will most likely be taking harass from TSM's lane. Can have a solid gank with Khazix if Morgana lands the right binding. Switching and fighting a 2v1 lane would probably be a much better choice.

Jungle -

Khazix vs Lee Sin again. Farm stuff. Best ganks will occur on the top lane against Maokai, especially if Swain can get him low. Try to mirror Lee Sin top and bottom to prevent him from having successful ganks. Mid lane should be just fine.

Lane Match-ups – Team Solo Mid

Top -

Maokai has been countered, it is going to be very difficult for Maokai to exist in this lane. Maokai needs to do everything he can to avoid harass and get farm. Needs to be wary of using saplings to farm creeps, as they will keep the lane in Swain's favor.

Mid -

Against Ziggs, this lane has been turned into a farm lane. Syndra should just farm, get to the point where she has fast wave clear, and then roam. Looking for catches in the jungle with Lee Sin would also be very strong. If Syndra can land a stun, before Lee Sin is caught by vision, a gank mid can happen, but it will be difficult.

Bot -

TSM have a much stronger duo lane. Janna/Kog'maw can get some easy harass onto SK's duo and eventually push them into a very defensive position in lane. Stay away from positions that will get you knocked into a wall if Morgana lands a binding. TSM should expect the lane swap SK, and try to match it. While Maokai will have a bad lane against Swain, if Vayne free farms, she will be able to deal with Maokai throughout the game anyways.

Jungle -

Another Khazix against Lee Sin match-up. Farm and try to be ready to counter-gank. Lee Sin.

Team Composition/Strategy – SK Gaming

*Win Condition – Get Vayne ahead and strong enough that she is able to decimate Maokai and split-push while the 4 man squad siege turrets using Ziggs/Khazix poke.

SK has not so much crafted a composition as they have baited TSM into picking Maokai and Syndra. Swain and Vayne counter Maokai pretty hard while the Ziggs pick effectively shuts down Syndra's lane strength by long range farming. Morgana is also used to prevent Syndra from being able to one shot people with her ultimate.

*SK's special strategy – SK have a plan going into this. Rather than sending Swain to fight Maokai, SK lane swap, sending Morgana and Vayne top. The moment they see that Maokai is indeed top, Morgana leaves Vayne alone. SK effectively switch their top laner and ADC. Vayne is great in a 1v1 against Maokai and Morgana/Swain become a bot lane that TSM don't really know what to do against.

Team Composition/Strategy – Team Solo Mid

*Win Condition – Win lanes, win game. Get ahead of SK, find picks, and push them down.

The team TSM crafted does not really excel at anything. It is however, a very strong composition. TSM have a strong front-line, good play making champions, disengage, pick, and a hyper-carry. Their team is very solid, and while it does not do any one thing super amazing, it does everything very well. TSM will be looking to get an early lead, and use that to just be stronger than SK. TSM need to make sure that the lanes go well early, and then start getting picks/plays with Syndra and Lee Sin.

Game Notes -

SK performs a very crafty lane swap, switching ADC with Top. Khazix will gank top lane for Vayne at level 3, this plan is already in SK's mind from the start of the match.

Maokai, with the level 3 to 2 advantage goes all-in against Vayne but Khazix is close by. Maokai has spent too much mana however, getting a few cs before the all-in and runs out before he can finish off Vayne (who he very nearly kills). Vayne then escapes with heal move-speed and Khazix picks up the kill.

It is not first blood though, as Lee Sin performs a dive on bot lane and gets the kill. However, TSM go too aggressive and end up performing a second, unnecessary dive onto Morgana and end up giving her 2 kills so the dive effectively trades 2 for 2 with Swain able to TP back to lane to grab the farm/exp. (Morgana does not have binding at level 2, very odd). Swain gets a huge level lead from this.

Lee Sin continues to focus bot lane, really should be keeping Vayne down instead.

Swain having the level advantage really allows SK's bot lane to be able to CS and fight against TSM's lane. Once Kog'maw reaches 6 though, the lane really turns back into a bullying situation.

Vayne being so strong against Maokai, Khazix comes top and they are able to turret dive a level 6 Maokai and get top turret.

Swain/Morgana make a great attempt to all-in Kog'maw/Janna, but a TP from Maokai and a counter-engage by Lee Sin and roam by Syndra allow them to pick up both kills for nothing.

TSM's bot lane move top, while SK goes bottom, trading T1 turrets. Vayne gets even farther ahead.

Vayne with her level lead and Blade of the Ruined King can 1v1 anyone at this moment, TSM having no response for her.

TSM put so much focus on Swain, making plays that are too aggressive and leave them vulnerable. TSM still have put 0 focus onto Vayne.

Misplays by SK around dragon gets Swain killed and TSM take dragon, but with mid lane low from Zigg's constant pressure, SK are able to take mid turret. (I would have liked to see Vayne have stayed top instead of moving for dragon. Could have taken top T2 or kept Maokai from joining TSM at dragon and letting the 4 man squad poke at mid/dragon.

Returning from dragon, TSM run through jungle towards mid, not respecting the power of Vayne, and the AoE damage of Ziggs. Ziggs deals tons of damage and zoning against the returning, low hp TSM members, and SK get 3 kills for 0 and mid T2.

At this point the game is pretty even, but Vayne is miles ahead. SK really need to keep up the split-push with Vayne.

SK take top T2 next. With only bottom T2 left, SK should start to push mid as 4 and let Vayne split-push and 1v1. They do so, then collapse for the final T2 turret.

TSM start to focus on jungle objectives that will force SK to group. However, with all outer and inner turrets down, SK should keep Vayne split-pushing, either trading for inhibitor turrets or preventing TSM from being able to focus on such objectives. They do not however do this.

Vayne backs at 27:00 from bot lane while TSM is 5 man in mid. Vayne should have just kept pushing bottom.

SK get a pick onto Lee Sin, but then wander around Baron for awhile, they should have pressured mid with their 4 man squad while Vayne pressured top, could have easily put down turret pressure.

SK get caught in TSM's jungle, ending up in a 5v5 fight. TSM take 2 unanswered kills. TSM head to dragon and catch 1 kill plus take dragon.

SK give up on the split-push at this moment, (bad decision) and TSM start to gain an advantage.

Vayne finally heads to the split push but backs off when TSM head to Baron. Because TSM is low, this does work and SK are able to collapse, stop Baron, and then take it themselves.

Once again, SK do not use their split-push advantage, this time having Baron. TSM get a pick and take dragon.

This trend continues for a long time. SK not using their split-push advantage and playing into TSM's superior 5v5 team. Several fights occur over the next several minutes, TSM getting picks and pincers until they are able to freely take Baron. TSM, for the first time this game, gain control of the match.

TSM take mid inhibitor and Vayne finally starts to split-push again. TSM get antsy for the win and push as 4 into SK's base for nexus turrets, but get collapsed on from behind without their front-line. Trapped in SK's base, without Maokai, TSM get split up, flanked, caught out, and dismantled. Kog'maw goes down early, Syndra is unable to one shot Khazix, and everything goes down hill. SK Ace TSM in their own base, and are able to push all the way up to TSM's base and win the game before TSM can re-spawn.

Item Notes -

Ziggs goes Zhonya's second item. I would have much rather seen a Deathcap for greater poke, or especially a Lichbane for tower damage while Vayne splits and pulls multiple members away from SK's 4 man squad.

Would have preferred to see Zhonya's from Swain instead of Rylai's.

End Game Notes -

This game was a real mess for both sides.

SK gained a huge advantage on Vayne early, used it well to get the outer and inner turrets of TSM, but then just stopped. They could have kept pressing the advantage for Inhibitor turrets and potentially inhibitors. They threw the game by not keeping up the split-push pressure and not running a 4-1 push.

TSM played awful early game, not knowing what to do with SK's top/ADC switch. They do pull it together late game, however this is because SK does not play their composition well. However, impatience and one tremendous error ends up losing TSM the game.

What Team Solo Mid should have done -

Expect and match the lane swap. Having not matched it, then TSM should have put the focus onto Vayne top instead of on Swain bottom. Kog'maw/Janna would do fine against the lane, but Maokai will have a very rough time against Vayne. Lee Sin could easily swing that lane, using the cc of Maokai to keep Vayne in range for the kills. TSM needed to recognize as soon as SK left Vayne top in a 1v1 that Vayne needed to be stopped from being able to become a split-push monster.

League of Legends Worlds Analysis, Group Stage - TSM vs. SK Game #1

Team Solo Mid vs. SK Gaming Game #1

Standard Lanes

Bans

Nidalee Lulu

Kayle Zed

Aatrox Syndra

Picks

1. Alistar 2. Lucian

3. Lee Sin 2. Khazix

3. Nami 4. Mundo

5. Tristana 4. Sona

5. Yasuo 6. Orianna

Lane Match-ups – Team Solo Mid

Top -

Alistar and Mundo will have a pretty standard farming top lane. Neither champion will have an innate advantage over the other, however the lane can be turned by the jungle ganks. Mundo is much more susceptible to a dive or short gank, while the slows from Khazix and Mundo will allow a chase down a longer lane. Alistar should do his best to push lane and clear waves, then try to make TP plays or fight with Lee Sin and Yasuo in small skirmishes in the jungle or mid lane. Once Trinity Force comes into play, Alistar will have a little bit more bully potential, but not enough to make a significant difference. A long fight will still play out in Mundo's advantage.

Mid -

Yasuo has a slightly rough time against Orianna, but not enough to really be shut down from fighting. Good use of dashes through creeps can make it very hard for Orianna to hit him with offensive ball movement, and with good positioning Yasuo can get in some poke onto Orianna when his flow charge is full. As the lane progresses, Yasuo will gain bully presence at level 6, but will lose it once Orianna is able to wave clear in a spell cast or two. Both lack solo lane kill potential, barring any major mistakes, and any ultimate trades should come out with even damage. The major advantage that Yasuo has is with the jungler, Lee Sin. Once both are level 6, the kill pressure from a gank onto Orianna will skyrocket. It is at this point that they should take advantage of the lane.

Bot -

The bot lane match-up is a trade off between greater poke from Lucian/Sona, and better CC from Trist/Nami. The lane should remain even for a good part of the game. If Tristana/Nami want to pull a lead, they should push heavily into SK's tower. Being stuck at the tower will lower SK's harass and poke potential to a great degree, while TSM's lane holds onto a better all-in fight, as long as Nami hits the bubbles. A jungle gank from either side will sway this lane. At level 6, the greater potential lies in Tristana/Nami, as they have better and more tools for safety, even though they have a trickier engage/fight than SK's side.

Jungle-

Another Lee Sin against Khazix match. Both should go even on farm. In this particular game, Lee Sin should look to swing either top or bottom, without wasting too much farm time. An early dive, perhaps a 3 man dive, onto Mundo up top should prove very successful. Once Lee Sin hits 6, focus should shift to mid lane or jungle skirmishes near mid lane, synergizing with Yasuo ultimate.

Lane Match-ups – SK Gaming

Top -

Alistar and Mundo will have a pretty standard farming top lane. Neither champion will have an innate advantage over the other, however the lane can be turned by the jungle ganks. Mundo is much more susceptible to a dive or short gank, while the slows from Khazix and Mundo will allow a chase down a longer lane. Mundo needs to be wary of an early tower dive from Lee Sin as well as a follow up dive when Alistar reaches level 6. Outside of that, Mundo should farm as much as possible, stacking armor against TSM's team. Teleport plays should primarily be attempted on bottom lane.

Mid -

Orianna generally has an awkward time against Yasuo. His swift dashes combined with the flow shield make it hard to land solid harass against him while also using the ball for CS. Optimal placement of the ball will either be on top of Orianna, or in the middle of her own creep wave. Both of these options will serve to zone/deter Yasuo from attempting to harass Orianna back, as the quick short ball movements will be much easier to hit than if the ball were residing in the opposing creep wave. The ideal point in this match will be when Orianna is able to quick kill the creep wave in 2-3 spells, this nets her a much faster clear speed than Yasuo, as well as forcing minor creep damage onto him. Creeps attacking Yasuo are also much more predictable in their movement and this will help in avoiding Yasuo's dashes. Level 6 will be a feared point though, mostly because of the potential for Lee Sin ganks into an unavoidable Yasuo Ult. Good warding and safe play will be required when Lee Sin's position is unknown.

Bot -

Lucian/Sona have a better level 1 than Tristana/Nami and need to use it to their advantage. Keeping the wave even or in TSM territory will be essential for the better poke/bullying potential of SK's lane to be effective. Must be aware that a Nami bubble landing onto Sona could be disastrous, but must not allow that possibility to hold them back. Getting Khazix into a lane bush and then engaging onto Nami would be an ideal gank.

Jungle -

Another Khazix vs Lee Sin match-up. Not much new to say here. Khazix will farm mostly and look to counter-gank. Khazix should especially be looking to counter-gank or prevent a dive onto Mundo top. Other than that, look to punish an over pushed lane, and try to sneak in a bottom gank through a lane bush, particularly once Sona hits 6.

Team Compositions/Strategy – Team Solo Mid

*Win Condition – Get good Yasuo ultimates. Have Lee Sin make good early ganks and mid game plays to get the lead. Turn this lead into small skirmish and jungle objective control. Get Yasuo and Trist to scale before Mundo does, and try to create a lot of flanking plays to get to SK's back line.

What we see from TSM is very much a Yasuo composition with Tristana as a late game back up. TSM's largest spike will start at level 6, peak around level 11 and the mid game and then start to fall off after that. During their power spike, TSM must use their synergy with Yasuo to create small skirmish fights and solid lane ganks. EVERY champion on TSM's team can set Yasuo up. There are too many options for SK to reliably avoid them all. Mid game dragons will be key, and until Tristana gets sufficient range, they should avoid tower sieges in 5v5 fights, as SK has solid disengage potential, baring a Yasuo ultimate to the back line.

Team Compositions/Strategy – SK Gaming

*Win Condition – Do not fall behind in the early game, wait to scale up, and protect towers through wave clear and disengage. Get to a point where Alistar is no longer a major threat to your back line, Mundo is able to tank pretty much the entire TSM team with a high armor build, and Orianna's damage reaches her late game heavy threat potential.

SK's team is setup to scale into the late game and against TSM's full AD composition will do well against it if they can reach that point. Their play making ability is lacking, but their counter-engage and ability to punish over reaching TSM members is severe. Orianna and Khazix will need to defend towers as much as possible, keeping up the wave clear and delaying any time of objective snowball from TSM. The key point to being able to reach past the mid game TSM spike, is by avoiding Yasuo's ultimate. This will require good warding to avoid flanking, and respect for Lee Sin's “Insec” plays as well as Alistar's headbutt/pulverize combo. If TSM engages without reaching Orianna or Lucian with Yasuo, then the disengage from SK should prove superior.

Game Notes -

Orianna throws the ball away from herself deep into creeps while there is an easy dash path for Yasuo to engage along with his knock-up being active. With Lee Sin present, this step too close costs Orianna her flash.

Not having her flash or her ball, and having just used her dissonance against creeps, behind Yasuo. Yasuo once again dashes through creeps with knock-up, just barely reaching Orianna and allowing Lee Sin to come in to help secure the kill. Was a great play by Yasuo.

Mundo show's his prowess against Alistar.

Orianna picks up a chalice, in my opinion a bad item pick against this TSM team and against Yasuo.

Yasuo, with the assist on first blood and the slight exp advantage, Yasuo takes control of the lane.

Lack of warding against Alistar roam ends up with Orianna dieing under tower to Yasuo to the gank synergy.

Lee Sin gets too greedy for a kill on Lucian, misses the knock-back shot with his ultimate and ends up dieing for his attempt.

Top and bot lane are running even, but mid is severely behind. TSM takes this advantage and turns it into a dragon.

Note how weak vision is in the top side right now.

Small fight at blue, nothing gained or lost. Does result in a 3 man move to top, but only burns Mundo's flash.

A great engage by Sona almost nets Lucian a kill on bot lane, but the safety of the Tristana/Nami lane allow a quick disengage. The sustain of Nami will allow Tristana to stay and heal up to take the next wave, before both sides return to shop.

A solo engage by Yasuo onto Orianna results with Lee Sin being able to collapse and provide just enough damage to kill off Orianna.

Fast reaction times in bot lane save Tristana from being locked down by Crescendo. Nami in turn, locks down Sona, and Sona barely escapes. Lucian goes hard on Tristana, but miscalculates the damage and does not keep chasing for the last hit. (Should have anyways and went after Nami after Tristana). Lee Sin comes from behind to lock Sona and Lucian at the tower and TSM 5 man collapses with Alistar TP. Mundo TP's but only adds his own death. Leads to a dragon for TSM. Khazix, trying to poke, lets himself get caught by Yasuo, and goes down, as Orianna tries to help and dies for her troubles as well.

At this point, TSM is very strong at this point, having hit their mid game spike on all their champions. With the map already opened up, the game is pretty much solidified. TSM will run all three lanes in in small match-ups in which SK will try to make plays, but will lose to the lead TSM has. Eventually this results in a Baron.

With Baron and the lead that TSM is wielding, TSM use Tristana's range to push into SK's base and win the game.

End Game Notes -

Yasuo was the central figure in this match, with Lee Sin providing great support to him and the rest of the team. Orianna misplaying the match and building wrong led to Yasuo getting too strong for the team to deal with.

The big dive bottom was the solidifying factor for TSM's win. If Lucian had been more aggressive, he could have killed Tristana and then Nami, the dive would not have happened and the crazy snowball from that point would not have happened.

The TP into the 5 man dive was also ill-advised, Alistar will provide much more in a dive with his ultimate while Sona could be considered already dead with her low hp.

Khazix letting himself get caught right after dragon led to two more kills onto Yasuo.

This whole series of events led to TSM's huge lead and dominance over the rest of the game.

What SK Gaming needed to do -

Not let TSM get Yasuo. Their composition from the first three picks were very ideal for a final Yasuo pick. Aside from that, Orianna needed to respect Yasuo's dash range and use her ball movements as well as creep wave manipulation better. Keeping Yasuo from going on a rampage was key against this team, and SK did not make sure that did not happen. SK needed wards to watch for Alistar and Lee Sin flanks on top of the better play from mid lane. SK can take away, don't let these insane Yasuo compositions go through.

Item Notes -

I have to point out that Orianna built terribly. Going chalice against a physical damage mid, let alone against a full AD team. Orianna had a few routes that she could have chosen including, seekers/Zhonya's, triple Doran's, or Haunting Guise. All of which would give her some survivability against Yasuo. I would have love to have seen any of those items then, into tear after. That would give her early game survivability and the mana/regen she will need throughout the game. Building Zhonya's or Rod of Ages next would be ideal. Either item, on top of Archangel's shield will give her the survivability she will need in the mid to late game. In this instance, I would trade out my blue runes, and possibly my Quints for scaling CDR runes to cover the CDR she so desperately needs.