League of Legends Worlds Analysis, Finals - SSW vs. SHR Game #4

Samsung White vs. Star Horn Royal Club Game #4

Reverse Lanes

Bans

Lucian Alistar

Lee Sin Jayce

Maokai Zilean

Picks

1. Rengar 2. Ryze

3. Corki 2. Braum

3. Janna 4. Lulu

5. Kassadin 4. Tristana

5. Orianna 6. Pantheon

Lane Match-ups – Samsung White

Top -

Kassadin is moving into a rough match-up. Lacking range and only having one (sometimes two) spells to fight against Ryze's three, he will be losing any harassment or trade attempts. At 6 things will only be worse as Ryze will gain AoE and spell-vamp where as Kassadin will still be unable to make use of his auto attack spell. Kassadin's best bet is going to be getting what farm he can scrounge up against Ryze and wait for either a Lee Sin gank or his level 6. At level 6 Kassadin may just want to let the lane go and look to roam for ganks.

Mid -

Orianna against Lulu is a very even, farm heavy match-up. Both have good clear speeds, can harass while hitting creeps (though harder for Orianna), and can take on neutral camps for extra CS. Lulu's harass is easier to hit, so Orianna is going to have to be consistent with her ball movements to properly trade. The winner of this lane, is pretty much going to have nothing to do with the lane itself, and the effect they bring to their team in the mid-game and in roaming.

Bot -

Corki/Janna should have a solid time against Tristana/Braum. While their opponents are strong in their own right, Corki can far out-trade Tristana, especially with Janna shield. On top of his Q providing quick burst before a Braum stun can be procced, Gatling Gun will run while stunned, limiting some of the potential of the stun. SSW's duo should be able to bully their opponents and keep them behind for most if not all the laning phase, they just need to watch out for aggressive plays being made when Braum lands a Q. At six, Corki's poke should solidify the lane as a win for them, especially as he will be closing in on his item-spike and Tristana will not.

Jungle -

Lane Match-ups – Star Horn Royal Club

Top -

Ryze should have a pretty decent time against Kassadin, having stronger bully potential and able to keep Kassadin away from using his auto attack buff. As Ryze naturally builds tanky, this only helps to increase his strenght against Kassadin. Ryze should look to bully Kassadin at ever opportunity and keep him away from the creep line as much as possible. With both buying scaling items, Ryze should not even have to worry about his power-dip.

Mid -

Lulu against Orianna is a pretty even lane. Both have good farming, decent roaming, and lack kill potential against each other. The upside for Lulu is that she has an easier time harassing. Lulu can use her shield on Orianna to get down her Q after, or on a ranged creep to give it the extra range to hit Orianna. Lulu can also push, just slightly faster than Orianna and then speed off to roam. Mostly this lane is just going to be a farm fest, with both needing to make plays elsewhere to contribute to the team early on.

Bot -

Tristana/Braum, while strong, will have a bit of a rough time in the 2v2 lane. Corki is able to get out his burst quickly, and will be able to ignore a good deal of the Braum stun reducing his damage because of it, as well as being able to escape if he desires. Tristana/Braum should look to farm as best they can, and look for opportunities to proc Braum's passive without having Tristana jump in, as it will give her a better chance at dodging Corki's Q. At six, SHR's lane will be hard pressed to keep in the fight, as Corki's poke will prove to be strong against them. If they can get the right opportunity, they could potentially win and all-in fight, proccing a Braum stun and then using his ultimate to further CC Corki, followed up by Tristana using her ultimate for the kill. This will be tough to pull off, especially with Janna running interference, but it is not impossible. Outside of this, SHR can choose to farm defensively and take the CS loss that they will incur, though it should not be too huge of a difference.

Jungle -

Pantheon has strong gank opportunities in top and bottom lane. Double stun with Braum or Snare/Stun with Ryze will be very strong against Kassadin and Janna. This time around though, he must be careful at level 6, as all the lanes have some decent escape tools. Orianna can speed down the small lane, Kassadin can ult away, and Janna can prep a Tornado while running. Pantheon will have to make good use of long gank ultimates, heading behind SSW so that their lanes cannot escape.

Team Composition/Strategy – Samsung White

*Win Condition – Get catches with Rengar in any of the lanes or jungle to get kills. Use the big synergy with Rengar/Orianna to start off team-fights and get the engagements. Mid power-spike with Corki/Janna to control objectives, and then scale with Kassadin and Orianna for the win.

Poke, engage, clean-up. I think this is the core of the SSW strategy. They are playing a team that has a strong engage with Rengar/Orianna, able to get of some early poke with Corki and then burst, and they have Kassadin to clean-up fights while being mobile. The composition is a bit awkward, but not without its moments of synergy. Against SHR it is better than their last composition. I feel picks are going to be huge, and using Kassadin to clean up will be essential. SSW should look to use their power at the first two dragons, letting SHR start them and then poke from the outside and waiting for the right moment to go in with Rengar/Orianna. Outside of dragon, avoiding team-fights and relying on Rengar/Kassadin ganks will be SSW's best strategy until they can pull a lead.

Team Composition/Strategy – Star Horn Royal Club

*Win Condition – Run a pseudo front-line again, with Lulu providing the HP necessary for Pantheon or Ryze in the early game. Protect Tristana with the front-line again.

This has a little bit of reminiscence from last match. SHR will have a pretty durable front-line, though this time with 3 members instead of 4. Lulu will have to choose well who to use her ultimate on. Not using it on the front-line will really hamper their lock-down and tank ability, while Tristana may need it when Rengar or Kassadin dive her. Good choices are going to have to be made by SHR in how they use their ultimates and where/when they fight. They need to make sure that they do not let Corki dictate the fights, while also not getting baited into engaging into a bad spot. Hopefully, Pantheon can create a lot of early pressure, especially against Kassadin, and will get them into more tanky roles so that Lulu can focus on saving Tristana.

Game Notes -

Tense start for the junglers. But it does end with SHR getting 2 blue buffs, and SSW getting 2 reds. A very nice recovery by SSW.

The duo's in the top lane do a lot of brawling, both trading blows, but SHR are able to pull out the kill onto Corki in the top, while at the same time Pantheon and Ryze are able to kill Kassadin. SHR take a 2 kill lead, in 2 different lanes.

SSW decide to switch the lanes to a 2v1, but SHR switch as well.

Both Ryze and SHR's duo are bullying their lanes pretty well.

Rengar reaches 6 and now is the time for SSW to make plays and get back in the game.

SHR make a huge mistake. Pantheon gets over zealous with his ultimate and makes the gank, without knowing where Rengar is and it all goes awry. Rengar is able to counter-gank the turret dive and SSW get 3 kills for 1. and SSW get the dragon.

SHR go for another Pantheon gank, get the kill, but once again Rengar is there for the counter-gank and Kassadin teleports in just to secure both kills.

SSW are doing an amazing job of responding and waiting for the Pantheon ultimates.

SSW turn their attention to dragon but Ryze TP's into a bad spot and the fight starts off with SSW jumping on him and SHR are forced into protection mode. SSW clean-up, take the ACE, Dragon, and the mid turret. The TP was really bad, and got SHR split-up. SHR should have just let that dragon go, and taken another objective. SSW can now nail the coffin shut.

Another Pantheon ultimate and another Teleport to counter it.

SSW can now run their mobile skirmish composition, pressuring turrets and forcing rotational mistakes out of SHR until they are able to force their way into SHR's base.

End Game Notes -

SHR try to play the same composition that they played last match, but SSW respond with more engagement, more mobility, and some good power/control with Orianna. A lot more AoE from SSW.

SHR were looking good, but Rengar had Pantheon's number once level 6 came in.

What SHR should have done -

they did well, the composition was good, the best they had done on yet.

The loss came, from Rengar having Pantheon's number. If maybe, SHR had waited on seeing Rengar before Pantheon ultimate, things could have been different, but SHR tried to be proactive, and it just didn't work out, but they tried and tried well. SSW were just really prepared for it.

The second point of loss, was that dragon fight with the bad Teleport and SHR getting split-up. Not only was SHR at a power dip and SSW at a power-spike, SHR had to be together, not in a flank position. They need to be a 5 man team and they weren't, they should have just backed off, or have been ready for the fight sooner.

League of Legends Worlds Analysis, Finals - SSW vs. SHR Game #3

Star Horn Royal Club vs. Samsung White Game #3

Standard Lanes

Bans

Alistar Rengar

Jayce Lee Sin

Zilean Lucian

Picks

1. Maokai 2. Twitch

3. Braum 2. Thresh

3. Ryze 4. Fizz

5. Tristana 4. Jarvan

5. Rammus 6. Singed

Lane Match-ups – Star Horn Royal Club

Top -

Maokai cannot really do anything to stop Singed in this lane. Singed is just too tanky for Maokai to threaten and is able to wave clear fast while ignoring him. Maokai is going to have to look to do the same, go heavy into pushing the lane and be prepared to take creep damage. Good regen for both mana and hp will be important. Would love to see Maokai pick up a flask for the start, or on an early back, and to level up his Q first. Otherwise normal build will be fine if TSM expect Singed to run around the map.

Mid -

Ryze is strong against Fizz, especially if he decides to pick up and early Negatron Cloak. With Ryze's snare, he can guarantee that his full combo lands and Fizz is unable to pole hop away from a Q or an E. Ryze should be looking to harass Fizz at every opportunity, running in to snare/Q and then backing away before Fizz can retaliate. Things will become more dicey for Ryze at level 6, as Fizz will be able to throw his fish when Ryze snares to ensure that he can follow-up when the snare wears off. Ryze may want to consider Flashing away from the fish and then going for an all-in on Fizz. I would suggest Tear → Negatron Cloak or requesting a gank from Rammus to get ahead in lane.

Bot -

Tristana/Braum is a decently strong lane in this match-up. Braum puts a lot of threat out with his passive which Tristana can almost guarantee to proc, using her jump to stay in range, if SHR's duo decide to go for an all-in. Braum is also able to keep up with Tristana if she jumps, and provide the wall she needs to keep Thresh from locking her down. While they may not be able to fully bully the lane, they have the option for these strong trades when/if Braum lands his Q onto Twitch. At level 6, Braum will be able to negate Twitch's ultimate, while Tristana can also simply blow him away. As long as they avoid the Thresh hook at this time, they should be safe, and able to capitalize well on any opportunities.

Jungle -

Rammus has a strong early-game, provide good CC and strong gank abilities. In this match-up though, his real strenght is going to be in the team-fights, which is normally rare to say about Rammus. Before then, he will be best suited to look for ganks on the bot lane against Twitch/Thresh, especially if Braum is able to block Thresh's hook and get his Q slow down. Mid lane will also provide solid gank opportunity, with Ryze able to easily set Rammus up with a snare onto Fizz.

Lane Match-ups – Samsung White

Top -

Singed can pretty much ignore Maokai in this match-up, which means the lane is really whatever he wants to make it. Singed can clear the wave, pushing it against Maokai and then run off, or Singed can even proxy, putting more pressure onto TSM's top lane. The power of Singed, especially against an opponent who cannot control or harass him, is his ability to quickly wave clear and then disappear and I expect to see SSW utilize this.

Mid -

Fizz is going to have a rough time, especially before level 6. Ryze can keep him at bay with snares and then retreat with free damage. Fizz will have to choose between playing defensively or preemptively pole hopping towards Ryze when he comes in for harassment, allowing Fizz to be close enough to follow-up after the snare. At 6, Fizz can use his fish from snare to ensure the ability to engage Ryze after the snare. With enough tricks, Fizz can outplay Ryze, but it is going to be very difficult.

Bot -

Thresh/Twitch are running into a bit of a rough match-up. Once they can win, but it will be an uphill battle for them. Braum provides a lot of strenght against both Thresh and Twitch, while Twitch having no escape naturally makes him vulnerable to strong trades/all-ins with Tristana making use of Braum's passive. In the lane, Twitch should look to get any damage he can get freely onto Braum while letting Tristana be, as he can't really bully her. Getting Braum to burn his sustain, and then getting him hurt will severely hamper the all-in potential of SHR's duo. Thresh can look to hit hooks or flays, but SSW's duo should avoid the all-in until they are sufficiently ahead. At 6, a solid hook onto Tristana can lead to an all-in kill, but Thresh will have to stop Tristana's jump with his Flay for it to be successful.

Jungle -

Jarvan is somewhat lacking in any solid gank opportunity. Unfortunate as he is a strong early gank jungler. One of his best opportunities will be found against Ryze, as there is no escape in his inventory. Unfortunately Fizz cannot help set up the gank until level 6. Jarvan might be best utilized invading Rammus' jungle, particularly on Singed's side as he will be able to support quicker than Maokai can. At 6, he should focus on middle, helping Fizz reach his strong points while keeping Ryze down.

Team Composition/Strategy – Star Horn Royal Club

*Win Condition – Bulldozer wall moving forward as Tristana shoots from afar.

This composition tickles my fancy. I like it a lot. SHR get Maokai and Ryze, something that game up huge for them in the semi-finals. On top of that, they have Rammus, another strong wall with AoE and peel, and who is a curve-ball pick. Ryze will get beefy as well. SHR just need to get to the late-mid game portion, once both Rod of Ages are stacked up and Tristana is at two items and they can pretty much, roll, over SSW's team. There is a lot of peel, and a lot of lock-down on SHR's team for Tristana, and if SSW tunnel vision Tristana, then all the incidental AoE damage from SHR will add up. This composition, as long as they don't get behind and don't get picked off by Twitch/Fizz in rotations, should be able to just, brute force and bulldoze their way through SSW's team.

Team Composition/Strategy – Samsung White

*Win Condition – Outplay SHR.

That's all there really is too it. There are several potentials for picks with Fizz and Twitch and Jarvan and Thresh, and they should look to get them. However, there is no real synergy in team-fight situations and it will be up to individual skill to win any 5v5 fight. If I wanted to win as SSW with this composition, into SHR's, I would fast push a lane in 2v1, open the map, and then brute force down another turret in an unexpected way. This would force open SHR's jungle, allowing SSW to find the picks they need. If they can't do this, then well, they are going to have face a bulldozer.

Game Notes -

A great gank by Rammus, and a great escape by Fizz. Also a great retreat by SHR when the ward spots out Jarvan. That ward by Rammus is huge in letting SHR know to retreat.

A great hook by Thresh, threading through creeps, gives SSW the needed damage to stop SHR's bullying.

Braum shows off what being a man is about.

Twitch roams middle, instead of heading to bottom, and is able to gank mid for the First Blood, but only barely.

SSW try to dive Ryze, but they miss Fizz's ultimate and it comes back to bite them big when Rammus counter-ganks. Singed runs to the fight while Maokai TP's. Jarvan locks himself and Fizz in with Ryze, Rammus, and Maokai. SHR come out with a 2 for 1, almost a 3 for 1 and then almost a 4 for 1. With the HP and man advantage, SHR take dragon.

Singed is out attacking a pink when blue buff is spawning for SHR. SHR ditch the blue and pincer Singed. Maokai throws his sapling to cut off the one avenue of retreat and Singed has no where to go and falls down.

First turret to SHR's duo lane, bringing the gold lead to 3.4k

A beautiful flash by Ryze, ends with a trade kill in the middle.

A gank top goes awry as SSW are there with Jarvan and Singed TP's in. SHR are able to stick around after to take the top turret, while the bottom turret gets taken by SSW.

SHR's Rod of Ages are about half full for both Ryze and Maokai, they are ahead and getting tot he point of bulldozer.

SSW go for dragon, get it, but SHR go in for the fight. Jarvan locks down Maokai, but this positioning is what loses SSW the fight. He locks himself in range of Tristana and is stuck separated from his team, giving her a free kill. The Cataclysm does keep the AoE protection from Maokai away from the rest of the team though. SHR goes 3 for 1, but over chase and split, letting it turn into a 4 for 3.

SSW are starting to run out of time and have made very few plays this game. It's looking good for SHR as their team scales even more into a bulldozer with Tristana riding it.

Beautiful out play by Ryze against Fizz.

SWW need to run the split-push, but its hard with Ryze beating Fizz and Maokai beating Singed now. The options for SSW are almost out. They have to catch SHR in a mistake.

Twitch 1v1's Ryze, scaring Ryze by making him think he had backup, Ryze doesn't even fight back. The mind games. I guess that is an option, crazy Twitch picks.

SSW start to set up some baron vision/control trying to draw out a fight and mistakes from SHR. And.... Fizz blows his caviar onto the support Braum. SSW dives in to save Fizz when the fight turns onto him, and SHR's massive front line just says, thank you very much, lets fight. Tristana goes and hangs out on the outside, chasing Fizz and making a nice circle hopping around the fight. SHR get 4 for 0 and then take Baron. Whoops Fizz. SSW even knew that all of SSW was around. Just a bad choice.

SHR are now in the position to win and SSW can't do anything to stop it.

SHR take mid and bottom inhibitor and then start to push in to top. SHR get a little too close without Tristana near, and SSW lock them up under the turret. Fizz is able to go straight for Tristana, pushing her back out again as SHR just, tank under the turret. With the help of the turret, and without Tristana being able to fight, as her front-line is all distracted, SSW are able to go 4 for 1. SHR just got slightly too close, and just slightly away from Tristana. That was an oops. But the game is still in hand for SHR, they just need to make sure to stop Fizz with their tank wall.

SHR head back to SSW's base and take both inhibitors again. SSW make a fight, but this time SHR are able to lock down Fizz, and there is just too much tankiness for SSW to deal with while Tristana fires away.

End Game Notes -

I love this version of the protect the ADC composition. I'm going to call it Protect the Quarterback, the permutation of this composition. Instead of using a lot of shields and buffs to give your ADC safety, you instead create this massive front-line that just holds the other team back and allows the ADC to free-fire from behind. Such a NA football team.

This game was just, a strong showing for SHR. They pulled out a super solid composition and played it really well into the composition that SSW chose.

What Samsung White should have done -

Woo! Second time I get to say this.

SSW chose a composition to show off, have a little fun. Rumble would have been such a great pick into SHR's composition, but Looper wanted to play Singed. SSW thought they could win this off individual skill and team play, even though they were play a losing composition into some losing lanes as well. But hey, that's what you get when you let your guard down just a little bit.

In the game, SSW didn't make enough plays, they should have hard pushed a lane in a 2v1 at the start, opening up the map, and then taking another turret somewhere else as well. This would have let deeper wards and more opportunities for picks in the jungle and in rotations with Twitch/Fizz.

SSW kinda of just let this game go, though they did try in game, they could have done more in the early early stages to secure them a much stronger chance.

League of Legends Worlds Analysis, Finals - SSW vs. SHR Game #2

Samsung White vs. Star Horn Royal Club Game #2

2v1 Lanes, SSB Top

Bans

Lucian Alistar

Lee Sin Zilean

Maokai Ryze

Picks

1. Rengar 2. Thresh

3. Twitch 2. Jayce

3. Janna 4. Khazix

5. Talon 4. Corki

5. Rumble 6. Mundo

Lane Match-ups – Samsung White

Top -

Rumble should be fine, if not stronger in this lane match-up, but it will be close. Rumble can bully Mundo early, getting good slows and flamethrowers, however as the lane progresses it will be harder for Rumble to bully Mundo, especially when Spectre's Cowl comes into play. Rumble should look to bully as much as he can, and transition into a stronger mid-game before Mundo can take over the lane.

Mid -

Talon is a great pick against Jayce, able to get in and deal a ton of burst damage, circumventing the poke of Jayce and forcing the fights. On top of this, Talon deals almost all his damage up front, preventing Jayce from stopping the engagement with his knock-back. Talon will have to wait until level 6 to really hit solid trades/all-ins, however with his general build of Crystalline Flask, he should be safe to farm in lane and sustain through the poke of Jayce. At 6, Talon should be looking to all-in and use his ultimate as often as possible against Jayce, even if it only gets him some damage and not the kill, it should be plenty to push Jayce out of lane or put him on the defensive.

Bot -

Twitch/Janna are going to want to look for the 2v1, as they will lose the 2v2. Twitch's harassment ability is much weaker than Corki's while just one Thresh hook or flay can really push SSW's duo out of the lane. If SSW do try to fight the 2v2, Janna is going to need to be on her game with protecting Twitch. Using shields to block some of Corki's harassment and well timed Tornado's to stop Thresh from creating engagements. SSW will come out behind in the 2v2, but at the very least they should be able to get some CS to stay alive.

Jungle -

Rengar should once again look to heavy farm and reach level 6. In this match-up however, Mundo presents a juicy target, especially with the damage potential of Rumble. If possible, find the gank or even the tower dive onto Mundo around the level 2/3 mark and keep him down, letting Rumble get an item or two before Mundo picks up his MR. At 6, Rengar should switch his attention to mid lane, taking out Jayce with Talon, or alternately looking to help out the weaker bot lane, now that Twitch has his strong ultimate.

Lane Match-ups – Star Horn Royal Club

Top -

Mundo is going to get a bit bullied early one, Rumble having high sustained damage from the get go. Mundo however, should be safe enough to get his farm, or even just cleaver farm if necessary. As the lane progresses, Mundo will have an easier and easier time, especially when level 6 and first items come into play. Spectre's Cowl and Spirit Visage will give Mundo an edge against Rumble and he will then be able to start bullying Rumble in the lane.

Mid -

Jayce is in for a rough time against Talon. While Jayce can poke Talon and hit him from range, Talon's damage is completely front-loaded so that Jayce will be unable to prevent any of it with a knock-back. Up until level 6, Jayce should still be able to fight Talon, and even win some trades, but once Talon get's 6, his damage is just going to be too quick and too much burst for Jayce to be able to deal with. At this point Jayce should just give up the lane and long range farm with Shock Blasts while stacking up his tear and preparing for team-fights.

Bot -

Corki/Thresh can dominate this bot lane and should use early wards to find their duo opponents. In the lane, Corki can offer strong harassment against Twitch while Thresh can put on the kill pressure. Level 2 will offer the greatest strenght for them and should be rushed, with Thresh immediately going for the flay/hook on either Janna or Twitch. Follow them around the map and force the 2v2, using the early/mid game power to keep SSW's duo behind.

Jungle -

Khazix should look to farm till 6, picking up his spike rack so that his team has an easier time spotting out Twitch and Rengar and stopping their engagement. Early on Khazix should look to protect Mundo as he is a very juicy target for SSW. When Talon hits 6, it might be wise to wait mid for him to try to all-in Jayce and then counter-gank, however he must be wary of Rengar if he is 6 already. Even if Mundo does not get ganked, he will be able to provide solid support against Rumble, so long as Khazix/Mundo are not low and can kill Rumble through his damage.

Team Composition/Strategy – Samsung White

*Win Condition – Take the huge mid-game power-spike to Dragon control and force through SHR. Outside of dragon, find picks and skirmishes in the mid-game, especially in the jungle. Hard engage if SHR try to siege.

SSW have a great team to fight against the siege/wall power of SHR. SHR try to play the composition that SSW have been dominating on, but SSW already know how to destroy it. Talon and Rengar will dive in to hard engage, Twitch will unload from a distance, and Rumble ultimate will tear through and cut off SHR's team. SSW have countered this siege wall composition with massive hard engagement. On top of the hard engagement, their team is able to have great dragon control and great ability to find picks in the jungle or in rotations and assassinate targets. SSW will be looking to do these three things, and throw themselves at SHR whenever possible

Team Composition/Strategy – Star Horn Royal Club

*Win Condition – Siege down SSW's team during the mid-game and the late-game, disengage from SSW's hard engagement.

SHR are playing a composition very similar to the one SSW has been running and SSW are ready for it. SHR are going to have to play extremely well to be able to overcome the hard engagement that SSW is playing with. SHR should be ok in lane, minus Mundo, and can transition into the siege/wall composition that SHR have. SHR will have to play to their siege composition, however I would recommend that Khazix hold onto his W whenever they do not have vision on Rengar, as that wide area slow will be necessary for SHR to be able to disengage. Also key will be vision on the sides of whatever area they are pushing as a team.

Game Notes -

The ward that SSW walk over allows Twitch to pull off a lane freeze where as Corki does not. Does not really lead to anything.

SHR are able to get Twitch into the 2v2 lane after a bit of work.

Rumble sense tingle and he checks the lane bush, saving his life.

A ward spots Talon out, and it lets SHR's duo escape, and then go aggressive right after, pushing Twitch away from lane.

Not much has happened so far, but now the ultimates are going to come in.

A 3v3 starts in bot lane, both top laners moving down and both mid laners having to run to the fight. The whole fight goes 5 for 4 in SSW's favor but First Blood to SHR.

From Start to Finish -

Talon is in the river before Jayce, Jayce cannot really fighting Talon 1v1 right now, so Talon has the lead.

Rengar opens up on Khazix, stops the counter-gank, but I think it would have been a better opener on Corki or Thresh, closer to Rengar's duo lane.

Both TP's come in, and Janna/Twitch get pincered.

Rumbles ult goes across four and deal a lot of damage

SHR chase, get the 2 kills onto the duo, but now Talon is here.

Talon ultimates for the speed, flashes and then does his silence port, allowing his ultimate to come spinning back into all 3 members of SHR. (very key)

SSW are able to get 3 kills here, but are now low themselves.

Jayce comes in and they get Talon, Rengar gets away because of creep blocking.

SHR split targets instead of focusing Rumble. They do get Rengar, but Rumble gets 2.

The two major points are, Rengar starting on Khazix is bad. And then the second is SHR splitting the focus at the very end.

SSW make a very sloppy dive on Mundo up top, and Mundo is able to delay for a kill, but Rengar beats Khazix top and the fight goes 2 for 1 in SSW's favor. Misplay by SSW not killing the turret, and by SHR for chasing too far.

A great Janna ultimate heals up Twitch and separates Corki away from Thresh. Prevents a ton of damage onto Twitch and heals back so much.

SSW are starting to take over and are creating skirmishes. SSB should not be fighting them, but should be turning into the team-fight at this point in the match.

Janna for the super save again.

SSW are just running away with the game now, constantly creating small fights and never letting SHR move to play their team composition properly.

One thing to really take from this, is that SSW are ganking the strong lane. Rumble gained a lot from the first big fight, and SSW return to it shortly after as 3, not just 2.

The Rumble ultimate on top totally missing Mundo was a little over confident, cutting Mundo off but doing no damage.

SSW are going to take a few towers, take baron, and then just hard dive down middle with their hard hard engage team.

End Game Notes -

It was going well for SHR, however the moment that SSW hit their ultimates, they make a huge play in the bot lane and do not let up. They transition the strength that Rumble gained into the top lane and the jungle and continue to find picks and skirmishes in the jungle and lanes and grow a lead that cannot be stopped.

What Star Horn Royal Club should have done -

Their team composition was good, but it was one that SSW has been playing for several games and they know the hard engage counter and play it well. SHR needed a stronger disengage to stop them, say Nami or Janna instead of Thresh.

In the game, after that big first fight, SHR needed to come together and start their 5 man siege, catch SSW off guard by sending all 5 middle right after that fight and start the push/siege. You have to pull SSW into your composition and not let them tear yours apart.

Going forward, I'd like once again, to see jungle mass bans and Insec pull out something crazy. Outside of that, pick a more aggressive team. Tried the late-game, tried the siege, but they need to make a team composition that can bring the hurt from 6 minutes on. Get out of that lane as soon as possible.

League of Legends Worlds Analysis, Finals - SSW vs. SHR Game #1

Star Horn Royal Club vs. Samsung White Game #1

Reverse Lanes

Bans

Alistar Rengar

Zilean Lee Sin

Rumble Lucian

Picks

1. Ryze 2. Maokai

3. Khazix 2. Twitch

3. Janna 4. Jarvan

5. Tristana 4. Thresh

5. Orianna 6. Jayce

Lane Match-ups – Star Horn Royal Club

Top -

Ryze should be able to easily farm and scale up in this lane, while applying some pressure to Maokai. It is unlikely that he will be able to apply enough pressure early on to matter though, and the same goes for Maokai. This lane will be an even farm fest unless the jungler's intervene. Ryze must be wary of the gank from SSW, while knowing that Maokai must be far down the lane for Ryze and Khazix to secure a kill onto him.

Mid -

Orianna has to be careful in this match-up. It is one that she can win, or even dominate, however its quite fragile. Orianna's ability to duel and to respond to trade damage is strong, and against Jayce, as long as she can survive his trade/burst, she can put out much more sustained damage and win the 1v1. The counter to this, is that Jayce has great poke and can get Orianna into kill range with 1 or 2 good shock blasts. Orianna will have to hide behind creep waves while farming with her ball. Ball movements are going to be a little tricky, as Orianna will want to try to harass Jayce with it, however when the ball is far from her, Jayce will be able to have a safer all-in or trade damage. In the end, Orianna should focus on farming, and wait for an opportunity to capitalize on Jayce making a mistake. Carrying Exhaust will really drain the kill potential from Jayce as well.

Bot -

I feel like this is a fairly even lane. Both are pretty bad at harassment early on and want to farm. Tristana/Janna can get off a few pot shots with her shield, but Tristana has no AD ratios to make real use of the shield. Janna shield can block Twitch damage, and the trades should go even. Thresh hooks can make a difference, but a well placed Janna Tornado and shield will be able to stop anything major. All in all, a fairly even lane that will be defensive for both.

Jungle -

Khazix should be looking to farm this match-up, as with all match-ups. He will end up out-scaling Jarvan, but his early-game ganks will be weaker. While farming, it would be best for him to keep an eye primarily on Ryze, looking to gank Maokai if he is pushed near Ryze's tower and protecting him from a Jarvan gank during other times.. When Jarvan is nearing 6, it would be a good idea to keep an eye on Orianna, as Jarvan will most likely seek to gank her with the power of Jayce.

Lane Match-ups – Samsung White

Top -

Ryze vs. Maokai will be a fairly farm centric lane. Maokai will sustain through Ryze's harassment while being unable to apply solo kill pressure against him. Both champions will be picking up Rod of Ages and will begin to scale up slowly. Maokai however, has great item pathing ability with SHR's team having a double AP comp. Gank pressure will be stronger for Maokai, with Jarvan they will be able to put kill pressure onto Ryze, alternately, Maokai should only be under threat of a gank if he is pushes up to Ryze's tower.

Mid -

Jayce will have a slight bit of control in this match-up, even though he may lose trades or all-ins. The potential for Jayce lies in his poke and his lack of need to engage onto Orianna. Just farming and trying to get Shock Blasts onto Orianna will be enough to control the lane, or at least keep it as a farm fest. If Jayce is able to get enough poke down, and/or Orianna or her ball are in a bad position, Jayce can head in for more harassment and trade damage. If Orianna's ball is in bad spot, Jayce can hop in and knock-back Orianna, getting mostly free damage due to the travel time of Command: Protect. At 6, Jayce will have to be more careful, but will still be able to safely farm and keep control.

Bot -

A pretty even lane, both just want to farm and maybe get off some harassment. Twitch will lose alone, but not by much, and if Thresh can get in for a hook for flay, will come out on top. Both sides will only come out on top in trades by a little bit. Mostly this will just be farming, and looking for an opportunity to capitalize on a misplay of the other duo. At 6, Thresh can try to bait a fight while Twitch gets into position to attack Tristana, needs to be aware of the knock-back though.

Jungle -

Jarvan has a stronger early-game than Khazix and much better gank potential, especially with his top/bottom lane. Using the double CC of Jarvan/Maokai or Jarvan/Thresh, SSW should be able to pull of successful ganks in either of the two lanes. Once level 6 comes into play, Jarvan will have to look to top or mid for ganks, as he will be much less effective against Tristana/Janna at this point. Locking up Orianna will provide Jayce the window he needs to kill her, while the long duration lock-down on Ryze with Maokai will give SSW enough time to get the kill.

Team Composition/Strategy – Star Horn Royal Club

*Win Condition – Play safe, do not get far behind, and scale into the late game.

Not much to this composition that hasn't been said about it before. It's a very late game focused composition, however it has good protection in Orianna and Janna to try to prevent the mid-game weakness and dives. This is going to be a long game for SHR. They will have to just, be safe and scale, get early wave clear and ward up the jungle, never run through it without vision knowledge. This composition will be all about how long SHR can hold off, and what they can take in trade. If they team-fight or even skirmish early on, it could go very badly.

Team Composition/Strategy – Samsung White

*Win Condition – Win the mid-game. Snowball into a lead. Siege with the full team using Thresh/Jarvan/Maokai to protect.

SSW have a very strong mid-game team with pick, siege, and assassination potential. They are going to need to win by the 35 to 45 minute mark though, otherwise SHR will out-scale them. Knowing SSW though, that's pretty likely. They know how to pick about late game compositions. Look for early dragons, forcing SHR to give it up or fight. Take an early turret or two to open up the map and make pick and/or assassination potentials more likely. Once a lead is generated, SSW can siege turrets and slow whittle down SHR while keeping them confined.

Game Notes -

Ooo, Orianna has Teleport. I like, but she is going to have to play safer than normal.

SHR look for a 5 man invade, but they are sitting directly on a ward. SSW move around and cut off SHR's escape route, but SHR do muscle one. SHR almost kill Jayce, but he barely gets away, and then SSW are able to kill Janna. Super super close, and way too risky for either to actually do, but it does work for SSW. First Blood and a starting Spirit Stone to Jarvan.

Both duo lanes now swap to the bottom lane.

Look at how much vision is in SHR's bottom lane before the turret dive in mid goes through.

Thresh and Twitch move together after shoving in to go look for wards and ganks.

Jayce is destroying middle.

SSW make a great plan to dive top as 3, and have it timed to the wave, to Jayce having pushed his wave in, and having Jarvan there. There is a 30s to 1m of ahead of time planning going into this. SSW play it so well, get the kill on Ryze with almost no HP loss, when Orianna TP's in, they kill her as well, but only because of the Exhaust from Jayce, otherwise Orianna would have gotten 2 kills.

SSW already have a very solid lead in gold, and a massive lead in pressure. I'm sure it feels bigger than it is for SHR. SSW are going to have an easy time turning this early lead into a much bigger mid-game lead.

SHR's duo are able to take the bottom turret of SSW, but in their retreat they are cut off by SSW, behind their bottom turret. SSW get 2 kills, and the bottom turret. SSW are just all over the place, moving from objective to objective.

Jayce/Twitch explode Khazix.

SSW dive so deep into SHR's base, but they come out with 2 kills for 1.

SSW are just, dominating, they are not letting SHR's late-game team have any chance.

The plan – Focus Top/Bot, ignore Tristana as she will be irrelevant the whole game, never having the time to become relevant.

SHR should run as 5 to the top lane during dragon. Retreat and then charge bottom as 5. Run away from SSW and try to take objectives. Otherwise SHR are too behind to come back. SHR have already broken the T2 turret line, before 20 minutes.

Thresh says, Hey look at me! And dives into 4, and all 4 run. SSW just have too much power at the moment. Aegis/Giant's belt on Jarvan for example, against Athene's on Orianna.

SSW play so well with Jayce, able to hit the long range snipes while locking down the opponent's champions with another of SSW.

Fast close out by SSW.

End Game Notes -

Don't play a full late-game composition against SSW. You will get crushed.

What Star Horn Royal Club should have done -

They just picked a way too late game composition and allowed Jayce into Orianna, a very very bad match for Orianna, in terms of power-spikes. Jayce is one of the few champions that really keep Orianna from having an in game effect anywhere except the late game. Picking Tristana, Ryze, Orianna, was just too much late-game and too little early and mid-game power.

If they wanted to play this same composition, they have to ban Jayce, and potentially Twisted Fate.

I still want to see them completely throw the jungle into chaos during pick/bans.

League of Legends Worlds Analysis, Finals - SSW vs. SHR, Post-Game

  SHR vs. SSW Finals

Top

Cola vs. Looper

1. L – Ryze 0/4/1 1. W – Maokai 3/0/8

2. L – Mundo 4/3/3 2. W – Rumble 7/0/10

3. W – Maokai 7/1/10 3. L – Singed 2/4/8

4. L – Ryze 0/2/1 4. W – Kassadin 3/1/7

Jungle

InSec vs. Dandy

1. L – Khazix 0/4/0 1. W – Jarvan 5/0/9

2. L – Khazix 0/6/2 2. W – Rengar 6/1/10

3. W – Rammus 1/3/14 3. L – Jarvan 3/3/6

4. L – Pantheon 3/6/1 4. W – Rengar 5/0/13

Mid

corn vs. PawN

1. L – Orianna 1/4/0 1. W – Jayce 7/0/7

2. L – Jayce 1/7/3 2. W – Talon 3/2/13

3. W – Ryze 5/5/11 3. L – Fizz 3/6/7

4. L – Lulu 0/2/1 4. W – Orianna 7/1/9

ADC

Uzi vs. Imp

1. L – Tristana 0/2/1 1. W – Twitch 1/0/7

2. L – Corki 1/5/4 2. W – Twitch 9/3/7

3. W – Tristana 6/3/7 3. L – Twitch 3/4/8

4. L – Tristana 2/4/0 4. W – Corki 3/2/8

Support

Zero vs. Mata

1. L – Janna 0/2/1 1. W – Thresh 0/1/11

2. L – Thresh 2/5/4 2. W – Janna 1/2/15

3. W – Braum 0/2/12 3. L – Thresh 3/2/9

4. L – Braum 0/5/2 4. W – Janna 1/1/16

End Series Notes -

Congratulations Samsung White.

League of Legends Worlds Analysis, Finals - SSW vs. SHR, Pre-Game

  Star Horn Royal Club vs. Samsung White

Pre-game notes on SHR and SSW can be found here:

- SHR Quarterfinals

- SHR Semifinals

- SSW Quarterfinals

- SSW Semifinals

Everything mentioned about these teams in the above links apply to these matches as well. Read them for major notes about the teams.

Notes I made before the Finals -

I really expect SSW to dominate the finals. A white wash with SSW winning all the matches is not unexpected. They have the strongest individual skill and as such all the other regions have been playing to the Korean meta-game the entire time of Worlds. It's a little bit unfortunate that no one has been trying to play around, or completely bypass the style that SSW has been playing. Instead, they've been trying to beat SSW at their own game.

TSM is the only team who has taken a game off of SSW, and while it can be said that SSW was messing around, TSM played great in game 4 as well while totally doing nothing in game 1/2. This entire worlds, every region has decided to "play the Korean meta-game" instead of playing to their own strengths. It's been very unfortunate.

I expect Star Horn to be toppled by Samsung White, because their regions are so close. In my mind, TSM had the best chance to topple SSW, and now that that is over, SSW are going to clean sweep the Finals, with SHR playing the same game as SSW, but having weaker individual skill.

Having said that. I would love to see SHR take a page from Kabum! and play a team focused composition and style, focusing on synergy and team play to topple individual skill. Kabum really are the heroes of this Worlds.

Anyways, the Finals are in the hands of SSW, and its up to SHR to come up with ways to win, and honestly, there are not many of them. They play the same style as SSW, and are outmatched in individual skill. However there is one strategy that I'd love to see SHR try. Ban out all the junglers. It will require baiting out at least one jungle ban from SSW, but if SHR can get Elise/Jarvan/Lee Sin/Khazix/Rengar banned, Insec has shown that he has a huge jungle pool, and this could give SHR the advantage. I feel that this is the only way that SHR can win, and they should be able to pull it off at every blue side pick.

Updates from Semi-finals -

The above is pretty much entirely true. I don't know what SHR could even be able to do. I feel that they have to hit some pretty “gimmicky” pick/ban phases to even tickle SSW. Ban out nothing? Or Ban out all junglers. There really is no other role to target.

There's, not much SHR can do. I'd really try some crazy jungle bans/pick phases.

League of Legends Worlds Analysis, Semifinals - SHR vs. OMG Game #5

Star Horn Royal Club vs. OMG Game #5

2v1 Lanes, OMG Top.

Bans

Alistar Rengar

Jayce Lee Sin

Twisted Fate Twitch

Picks

1. Ryze 2. Janna

3. Lucian 2. Khazix

3. Maokai 4. Rumble

5. Pantheon 4. Corki

5. Thresh 6. Orianna

Lane Match-ups – Star Horn Royal Club

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 Jarvan 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 -

Ryze can look to bully Orianna in the mid-lane, but he will have to be careful when running in, as Orianna's ball has better range and can be used to zone Ryze. If Ryze can get in to Orianna, particularly when her ball is far away from her, then he can get off some good trade damage before Orianna is able to fully capitalize on his aggression. As the match goes one, Ryze can become an even stronger bully, once he gets some tankiness and his level 6. He must be vary of Orianna's sustained damage before Ryze is able to move into his own powerful sustained damage.

Bot -

Lucian/Thresh will have a slight advantage in this lane able to get good bully damage and if Thresh is able to land a hook or get in for a flay, this will only increase. Lucian dodging Corki's Q will be huge in winning the lane, as it will be a lot of missed damage for OMG, especially when Janna's shield is on Corki. At 6, they will have to watch out for Corki missiles and be wary of the disengage from Janna if they try to go all in.

Jungle -

Pantheon has strong early-game, even more so against Khazix and he should be looking to use it. Every lane has great follow-up to a Pantheon gank, with CC and solid damage in each lane. Pantheon has tons of options of where to go, be it pre or post level 6, even when tower diving.

Lane Match-ups – OMG

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 -

Orianna is going to have a difficult time against Ryze, not because she is at a disadvantage, but because she has to use her ball well to keep Ryze from getting off his easy damage combo. Proper ball zoning will be essential, and Orianna should look to use the ball more as a zoning tool than anything else, farming with her auto attacks and keeping Ryze's down because of his short range. As some AP comes into the picture for her, Orianna can look to fast clear waves and then roam or pick up extra CS in the jungle.

Bot -

Corki/Janna can go even with Thresh/Lucian, as long as they play offensively and use Janna's shield for it's damage and not as a defensive tool. Janna will also have to be on point with her Tornado's to deny Thresh's engage if he gets a hook, and to just disrupt Lucian when he tries to harass. Mostly this lane will just go even, with skill determining the winner. At level 6, Corki can sit back and get poke onto Lucian and Thresh, but they must be ready and wary of Lucian going for the all-in fight as soon as he is able to.

Jungle -

Khazix is going to have a rough time against Pantheon, not because he cannot fight him 1v1, but rather because Pantheon has such strong ganks, and has great follow-up in every lane. Khazix cannot predict where Pantheon will go and will have a tough time finding his own ganks or counter-ganks. It may be the best of a bad situation to just protect Rumble, and then use his power to take dragon and other objectives.

Team Composition/Strategy – Star Horn Royal Club

*Win Condition – Phalanx, forward march! Show a strong early-game with Pantheon and transition in the mid/late-game with brute force of this massive 3.5 man front-line. Get picks with every lane.

I really love SHR's team composition here. They are such a beefy front-line on top of having solid damage in Ryze and Lucian, burst in Maokai's ultimate, and huge huge huge pick potential. SHR went from 1 hard CC last game, to a potential 4 hard CC's. There are tools to catch people out and lock them down on SHR that just were not present last match. SHR have everything they need to win this match. Their strategy should be, look to get a strong early-game with Pantheon, as it moves to the mid-game, vision control and pushing multiple lanes will allow them to catch OMG in rotations and get kills. With the early gold lead, SHR can move this into dragon fights. As long as SHR do not dive deep onto Rumble/Orianna before solid MR comes out, SHR should be fine. If OMG try to engage on them, SHR can simply engage right back and move out of the Rumble ultimate that was used for engagement. With enough of a lead, SHR can just brute force their way to anything they want.

Team Composition/Strategy – OMG

*Win Condition – Poke and disengage. Desperately try to use the power-spike of Corki/Rumble to get a mid-game lead at dragon.

I'm unsatisfied with the OMG team. They are a little scattered in their plan, though they have good disengage. Unfortunately, that will require SHR to make the dives, and OMG do not have enough poke to really force SHR to make that move. If they can bait SHR into an engagement, then Orianna/Rumble ultimates can create huge damage, allowing Corki and Khazix to clean up. OMG have to play defensively and wait for SHR to make a mistake. I wish OMG had picked up Ziggs in the mid lane, or even Xerath/Jayce. They need some way to deal with the brute force and pick potential of SHR, without getting near them, and that still allows them to play aggressive. OMG could have had great poke and disengage with a different mid lane champion. As it stands, OMG are going to have to rely on SHR to put themselves in a bad spot, rather than creating one. The best hope is going to lie at the early dragons, and in potentially just, taking over one side of SHR's jungle and committing everything to forcing them through there.

Game Notes -

I wish Orianna was Ziggs. Ziggs has great long range AoE against a dive/death-ball composition as well as providing wave clear and zoning.

Remember how last match OMG had all the CC and the tools to make plays. Now the roles are reversed and OMG is on the back foot.

Ryze trades ghost in mid for Orianna Flash. This gives a huge gank opportunity for Pantheon in mid now.

SHR's duo push Rumble out of lane, making sure that he cannot get ahead of Maokai.

Rumble returns to the bot lane, even though OMG have 3 and 1 mid to the guaranteed 2 bottom, and the possibility of 4. Rumble ends up giving First Blood to Pantheon.

With the lane pushing towards OMG's top lane, Pantheon looks to protect Maokai up top. Maokai is able to escape, but has to burn Flash.

Corki moves to the 2v2 lane with an unfinished item, where as Lucian returns with a pick-ax. Bad timing for OMG.

SHR make a 4 man dive onto the bottom turret, they get collapsed upon, but because of their timing advantage, and all of their lock-down, SHR come out ahead with 3 to 1. CC vs. no CC coming up huge.

A great setup from SHR earn them the kill on Khazix. Watch where Pantheon ultimates, cutting off Khazix.

SHR are able to turn this into dragon, OMG move to fight and it goes 2 for 2, but SHR do get dragon.

All the cards are in SHR's favor now, and its up to them to win or throw the game, not up to OMG anymore.

Not sure what more is going to be worth commenting on from this point, but lets see.

Rumble ends up pushing the top lane too far and gets picked off by SHR. As SHR move to middle from top, OMG do get a quick kill on Thresh, and back out.

SHR make a dive on top, which does cost them Thresh, but they get 3 kills and the turret out of it. Thresh should have flashed up, not down and away. I don't think it would have made the difference though, but it would have been close.

SHR play the game well, rotating for towers, looking for picks, and just growing into the point where they have enough defenses to ignore OMG's damage.

If I was OMG, I'd say its time to just, make a super desperate and unexpected move. Find a point in the match, where you can rush bottom as a 5 man team. Say when the lane is already slow pushing. Dive into the jungle of SHR, ward up, take the bottom turret, and the force SHR to either fight in the jungle or the T2 death turrets, or to just simply trade objectives. They can't simply do nothing, or they are going to lose 100% guaranteed.

SHR even make some bold and honestly bad plays that leave them vulnerable, but they are so far ahead that it doesn't matter and gets them an even stronger lead.

SHR are drawing this game out, but it is super safe this way, instead of diving into OMG. SHR could make some riskier turret pushes and dives, but there is no reason for it. They will scale better, they can control the map, and OMG have nothing they can really do.

End Game Notes -

Again we see the strength of picks and CC against a team who has none, and who has not built to avoid them.

What OMG should have done -

They got a bit baited by the Ryze/Maokai picks, expecting to be able to get Maokai. After seeing the picks from SHR, OMG really should picked up a more poke/AoE oriented mid laner. They needed a way to force SHR to dive before they could dive without worry. Without a solid form of siege, the disengage from Rumble/Janna is pretty useless.

League of Legends Worlds Analysis, Semifinals - SHR vs. OMG Game #4

OMG vs. Star Horn Royal Club Game #4

Reverse Lanes

Bans

Rengar Alistar

Janna Ryze

Twitch Jayce

Picks

1. Lee Sin 2. Zilean

3. Maokai 2. Lucian

3. Thresh 4. Khazix

5. Corki 4. Nami

5. Twisted Fate 6. Mundo

Lane Match-ups – OMG

Top -

I feel that Maokai is going to the weaker one in this lane, however, both being tanks it will not matter all the much. Maokai should be able to farm up, even push Mundo into his tower, however he will not be able to kill Mundo and should Maokai go for a trade, he will have less sustained damage than Mundo, who can stick to Maokai with his cleavers. Maokai should look to farm in this lane, and push Mundo back, trying to deny CS at the tower while avoiding any major fights with him. Maokai will scale into his tankiness earlier than Mundo anyways, and should make sure to not give Mundo an advantage.

Mid -

Twisted Fat is going to be looking to ignore Zilean almost completely. Getting to the point of one or two shotting creep waves will be Twisted Fates goal, able to clear the wave and then run into hiding for roams or ganks with his ultimate. If Zilean tries to harass, then TF can stun/Wild Cards to keep him at bay or trade evenly. Should look to lock in a stun card anytime Zilean uses his speed up.

Bot -

An even match-up in the both lane. Corki/Thresh can turn the lane in their favor if Thresh can land a good hook, allowing Corki to guarantee his Q and get off solid damage from his other sources. Corki will have to save his dash to dodge Nami ultimate/bubble though, otherwise the trade will end up in SHR's favor, due to the sustain of Nami. At 6, Corki will need to poke down SHR's duo and watch out for Lucian being extremely aggressive with his burst into ultimate.

Jungle -

Lee Sin vs. Khazix, not much to say about it other than its even, with the difference being more early power for Lee Sin and better scaling for Khazix. Lee Sin should look to gank for any of his lanes really, all of them offering follow up potential. Keeping Mundo down will probably yield the best overall results though and should be focused if possible.

Lane Match-ups – Star Horn Royal Club

Top -

Mundo is actually going to be stronger in this lane, but not by a whole lot. Mostly Mundo will be looking to farm, wait till level 6 and Spectre's Cowl, and then he can start to really bully Maokai, as his regen and magic resistance will be high enough to ignore most of Maokai's damage while Mundo's sustained damage will be high enough to all-in Maokai and push him out of lane. Should really look to punish Maokai as soon as possible, as Mundo will take longer to provide as much benefit in a team-fight, even if he can win the 1v1.

Mid -

Zilean is kind of countered in this match-up, not by getting pushed out or killed by TF, but mostly by being ignored by him. Zilean will be able to farm pretty freely, however he will be unable to keep TF from farming or ganking with his ultimate. Zilean should just look to hard push, going for TF's tower, which will be the best way to keep down TF's options.

Bot -

Lucian/Nami will be running into an even match-up, but one that they will eventually out last with sustain, so long as they don't take uneven trade damage. Lucian will have to save his dash to dodge Thresh hooks, or Corki Q's if he can dash and still keep Thresh's hook blocked by creeps. Nami will want to save her bubble for protection, while helping Lucian get damage off her E. At 6, all-ins will be more effect for them, and they should seek to try to bully OMG's duo before Corki can poke them down.

Jungle -

Lee Sin vs. Khazix, not much to say about it other than its even, with the difference being more early power for Lee Sin and better scaling for Khazix. Khazix is not going to have much opportunity for ganking, unless a lane is heavily pushed forward. With mid most likely playing safe, and bot lane running even, Khazix should farm and look to protect Mundo or gank a pushed Maokai.

Team Composition/Strategy – OMG

*Win Condition – Play solidly. Use Twisted Fate to get picks in the mid-game and turn it into a lead. Picks on bottom lane will lead to dragon and more gold advantage. 5V5 team-fight with a solid lead.

OMG have a pretty solid team this go around. Strong early and mid-game from Lee Sin/Corki. Great gank ability in the mid-game with Twisted Fate, and tons of pick potential with Thresh/TF/Maokai to follow up snare. Their team-fight is strong with lots of lock-up and CC as well as a solid tank, poke and burst. The sustained DPS is a bit of a problem, however with all the lock-down that they have, it is less important than in game 2. OMG should be able to poke safely with TF and Corki, if SHR try to engage, OMG can easily hold off Mundo and then lock-down Khazix if he goes in. As long as OMG do not get punished early or make mistakes, they should be able to move into a stronger mid-game and take it to the win.

Team Composition/Strategy – Star Horn Royal Club

*Win Condition – Outplay OMG and get a lead to be able to make use of the Zilean ultimate and power through the lock-down of OMG.

I think this is going to be a tough one for SHR. SHR only have Nami to provide any kind of lock-down where as they are going into four champions that have some kind of CC. Zilean ultimate is going to run into the problem of bringing someone back up into a bunch of CC. SHR are going to have to outplay OMG to win. They do have some good tools for this. Zilean speed-up, good disengage, some resets, and a big tank, but it just doesn't seem enough against targeted CC of OMG, and the lack of any poke from SHR. SHR are going to have to be the ones engaging, but they are doing so into so much CC. Mundo is going to have to take the brunt of OMG, once again, and hope that Lucian/Khazix is able to do most of the work, as Zilean is going to have a rough time and probably be stuck bombing Mundo. If SHR can get an early lead anywhere, they should back off and take dragon before Corki's power-spike sets in. Generate some early gold to get Mundo into an item. Honestly, going to be a rough match for SHR.

Game Notes -

I feel that this game is going to be decided by either the top laner or the duo lane.

OMG are able to get a three buff start. SHR did not need to give this up, however they likely assumed that SHR started at their red buff.

SHR's duo is dominating OMG's duo.

OMG move to 5 man SHR's blue when Mundo's TP is down. OMG take the fight, but make a crucial mistake by not killing Lucian and turning on him when he resurrects. Instead of letting it be a 1 for 0 or 2 for 0, the fight goes 2-1 in OMG's favor, but Lucian is able to grab First Blood.

OMG catch out Zilean when he leaves lane, Twisted Fate ultimate coming up huge again.

SHR make a 3 man dive onto bot lane, but with just the Nami bubble, its not enough to quickly secure a kill. OMG TP and ultimate in, turning the fight into a 4v4 when Zilean joins as well. The whole event backfires and OMG are the ones who end up getting a kill.

OMG take a free dragon, being ahead and at a power-spike with Corki.

TF and Maokai get a catch on Zilean, SHR collapse and a small fight breaks out that goes 1 for 1, but it does let Lee Sin steal SHR's blue buff.

OMG are in complete control of this game. With a gold lead and with many more tools in their pocket than SHR.

OMG get some more picks and a small fight near the bottom T2 turret. OMG get 2 kills, and Lee Syndrome kicks in to give SHR 1. SHR do rush and get dragon after this though, a good play.

I was wrong about this game being decided by top/bot. Twisted Fate is the one controlling this game.

OMG start to run their 4-1 split-push, with Twisted Fate working to chip down turrets.

SHR try to engage a fight at the mid T2 turret while Twisted Fate takes bottom, but they can't quite get the fight they want, and OMG disengage and then turn around to take the fight themselves.

Not sure what SHR can do at this point. They don't have any tools to be coming back from behind. I'd almost want to see Lucian pick up a vampiric scepter and just split-push. Otherwise, they just have to hope for a rotation mistake by OMG and a pick, or a team-fight at Baron. Hell even an insane 5 man push on the bot lane totally ignoring OMG and going for a base trade would be worthwhile. Standard play is just going to get SHR a loss at this point.

OMG have the opportunity to 5 v 1 push the middle inhibitor for SHR but instead chase Zilean for days.

The game is pretty boring and has been for awhile. OMG are slowly winning and have almost nothing to fear. There is no more tension in this match.

End Game Notes -

This game was pretty boring. SHR's team composition really dictated their loss. They had almost 0 tools to use in this match. Unlike the previous match where Mundo was great, it was with Lulu, and it was into a team that had little lock-down and no front-line. The plan was no where near as good as it was into OMG's previous team.

What Star Horn Royal should have done -

Not pick Zilean. He's been bad in every role in most games. Having Zilean, as noted by the casters, they picked their mid lane too early and the Twisted Fate counter-pick really made Zilean useless in this match. In fact, if SHR had not prioritized Zilean, SHR could have picked up Thresh.

Inside of the game, SHR had to get an early lead and keep it. Their team had so very few tools for doing anything and only 1 champion who had hard CC. I hate to say it was a loss form champion select, but it really was. SHR set themselves up for failure. Weaker pick potential, weaker poke, weaker engage and disengage, weaker play potential, weaker team-fight. The only thing they have going for them, is some very, very minor late-game scaling potential.

I'd like to have seen SHR say, screw it, we are in trouble, lets do something crazy. Go for the super fast/deep push and 4 man a lane swap all the way to the inhibitor turret from the start. SHR had to do something early, as they really got a bad game from champion select.

Going forward, I'd say ban out Twisted Fate, or at least plan to counter-pick him (a rougher task on blue side). Get rid of him, pick up a strong early-game team in all lanes, and get that early lead that SHR know how to win with.