League of Legends Worlds Semi-Finals Summary and Predictions .

If you are into the LoL eSports and haven’t caught up to the current Semi-finals… don’t read the rest of this.

NA did great in the first week. Then blew in the second week. You can’t go 0/10 (Among 3 teams) and think people are still going to like your teams. Cloud9, Team SoloMid and Counter Logic Gaming did fine at the start, then didn’t adapt to the Worlds Meta. They didn’t adapt to the other region’s metas. Unlike Origen and Fnatic who adapted to the situation and pulled out of bad situations with picks.

EU came out with their guns blazing. Origen and Fnatic showed up with pride while H2K got a little squashed. Still Fnatic, Origen and H2K came in 1st, 2nd and 3rd in their divisions respectively and 2 of them are moving on. With NA out of the running, I’m really hoping that these two teams can upset the asian teams. We’ll have have to see.

LCK pretty much ruled the group stages. SKTelecom T1 and KT Rolster came out on top of both of their groups. KOO Tigers came in second to another asian group. If this isn’t a strong showing of what is to come, I don’t know what to say, doesn’t help that they currently are the inventors of the meta being played out at Worlds.

LPL could of done better. Invictus Gaming came in last, LGD came in third, and Edward Gaming came in second. They have one moving forward into the quarterfinals and even then they went 4-2 only losing to SKT T1, their Korean counterparts. We’ll have to see how far they go.

Going to talk about the LMS and the Wildcards together. Flash Wolves from the LMS did amazing. Winning their group and moving onto the next games. Then we had ahq who got second in their group and moved on as well. Amazing for both Taiwanese teams. The wildcards are a different story. Bangkok Titans… only team going 0-6 makes you wanna think how they got here in the first place and which teams could of been here that would of done better out of any region of the LoL spectrum. PaiN also didn’t do well going 2-4 tying with CLG from the NA but having shorter wins and longer losses let them beat them to grab third.

 

Overall Stats:

Group A: Flash Wolves 4-2, KOO Tigers 4-2, paiN Gaming 2-4, Counter Logic Gaming 2-4
Group B: Fnatic 4-2, ahq e-Sports Club 4-3, Cloud9 3-4, Invictus Gaming 2-4
Group C: SKTelecom T1 6-0, Edward Gaming 4-2, H2K 2-4, Bangkok Titans 0-6
Group D: KT Rolster 5-1, Origen 4-2, LGD Gaming 2-4, Team Solomid 1-5

 

Going back to the discussion on teams now that we can see their scores, I’m surprised with how bad the NA teams really did do. Going 1-5, 2-4, and 3-4 is not a good showing for the most hyped group of players. EU came out with a two 4-2s and a 2-4 taking two of eight spots in the quarterfinals. No wildcards made the top eight with them going 0-6 and 2-4. The LMS has both their teams going with a 4-2 and a 4-3 after winning a tie-breaker that knocked out C9 and kicking NA out of the top eight while LPL has one going by a 4-2. LCK made out like Bandits. All 3 of their teams qualified with a 6-0, 5-1, and a 4-2.

 

My predictions for Semi-Finals?

Origen beats Flash Wolves. Origen just plays a better game. Even if they have the same score going into this game, I think Origen will either out pick them, or just out play them. The power behind xPeke and Soaz, and their versatility when it comes to champion pool, is amazing. No, not their jungler, but Amazing is great in his own ways. Niels really stepped up in the prior two weeks and Mithy did well on Thresh. On the other hand, we have NL doing wonders for Flash Wolves. Give him Jinx and the team will defend him for days. Maple never showed up in the Worlds like he did in Qualifiers, so we’ll have to watch him as well. Bans? I’d have to say Mordekaiser, Gangplank, Lulu, Darius, Kalista, and Rek’sai/Lee Sin.

SKT T1 will destroy ahq. SKT T1 have done it all season so far, so I don’t see why they won’t continue the trend. With SKT T1’s Bang having a 71.0 KDA (27 Kills, 1 death) from the group stages and literally dying once in 6 games…. He’s a big fulcrum for their team. With that out of the way… Faker is the mid-laner to watch. If ahq doesn’t ban Ryze I don’t know if they should even play the game. I see the bans as Mordekaiser, Lulu, Ryze, Gangplank, Darius, and probably Rek’sai.

Fnatic will win against EG. Edward Gaming have been hit and miss. Fnatic have been doing really well as long as Febiven and Huni can keep it going. They have the same record of 4-2, but if Reignover can counter jungle Clearlove (who is most likely going to pick Elise unless she’s banned… and she most likely won’t be) he won’t be able to get PawN rolling on the assassin he will most likely take. Give Niels Kalista or Tristana or even Kog’maw and keep him safe… well Fnatic just have a better team playing. The Bans will most likely be Mordekaiser, Gangplank, Darius, Kalista/Lulu, Rek’sai and Viktor/Elise… depending on who is on which side.

KTR will win against KOO Tigers. KT Rolster have been showing a great run so far. I don’t think the Tigers can keep up. This is the only matchup where it’s two teams from the same division. KTR will most likely pick a dive comp… that can double as a protect the ADC comp. Do not give Ssumday Olaf or Darius. Piccaboo can’t have Thresh, and Arrow will do what ever because he’s that versatile. KOO Tigers on the otherhand Pray and KurO have been performing pretty well. Smeb also can’t get Darius. I see the bans going as this… Mordekaiser, Gangplank, Darius/Thresh, Olaf/Azir, and Rek’sai once again depending on who is blue and who is red side.