Knock Out/Quarterfinals are done for Worlds, here is a catch up if you haven’t watched.
Origen vs Flash Wolves was a great match up compared to the other 3 days. In my eyes, I saw this one going down to the five games and being a 3-2 in favor of Origen. My suggested bans were Mordekaiser and Gangplank (For every game and round on every day) for sure. Lulu had to be banned by Origen, and it was banned in two games, and picked by Origen in two game when they were on the blueside and could first pick it. Kalista was banned in 2 games, picked by Origen in one game and then left uncontested in another. While Rek’sai and Lee Sin weren’t as contested as I thought. FW loved to pick Rek’sai, but found Rek’sai being picked in almost every game (FW 3 times, OG 1 time). The ban that I shouldn’t of been surprised by but was banned multiple times was Twisted Fate. Flash Wolves did not want xPeke to get that global dominance that he gets with Destiny. That didn’t seem to matter as xPeke picked Anivia in the three games that OG won in.
Niels on the other hand picks up Sivir and Jinx for his wins against NL’s Kalista and Caitlyn, who was played for the first time in Worlds. Caitlyn is a great sieger and can easily clear waves with her Piltover Peacemaker. Her range alone makes her a great pick against Jinx, but you have to hit three to four items and pass that midgame lull that she has. Jinx just steamrolls through that when she gets excited after kills and towers. Even though it was a tough loss for FW’s, they did pull one game off of Origen making the series go to the fourth game. Maple did great, even if it was a tad late for him to show up, but Karsa and Steak made it hard to catch up to the great team fight groups of Origen. Origen win 3-1 in the series.
Bans:
Twisted Fate x4
Mordekaiser x4
Gangplank x4
Kalista x2
Elise x2
Lulu x2 (All Origen against Flash Wolves when Blue side for the next 3)
Leblanc x2
Darius x2
Varus x2
Was this a surprise to anyone? SKT has been dominating the whole Worlds scene since they were announced. Bang was riding on a 71 KDA going into this and Faker was keeping up with him in kills. Bengi got the junglers he wanted, while MaRin and Wolf kept their ends of the bargins as well. Poor ahq didn’t really stand a chance. I saw the bans as Lulu, Ryze, Darius and Rek’sai ontop of the two forever bans. It seemed neither team really cared if Darius was picked or not. Ziv got him in all 3 games and lost with it. Rek’sai was banned once… Mountain got it twice and lost with it. Ryze got banned once… then picked up by Faker in game 2, going 7/0/3 winning the game. Lulu wasn’t banned in game 1, given over to Faker who went 1/0/6 on it for the win as well, then banned again in game 3. The only champ that was a surprise to me was the Jinx ban. Usually she is left up for one team or the other to grab. Azir was a surprise. Maybe against Faker, but Westdoor is more of an assassin player, not a controlling type. Westdoor got Fizz, and did work, just couldn’t get the rest of his team with him. You just can’t seem to win against SKT even with the champs you really want. They always seem to have the edge against any comp. I can’t wait to see what happens in Semi-Finals against Origen.
Bans:
Mordekaiser x3
Gangplank x3
Jinx x3
Azir x3
Lulu x2
Diana
Fizz
Ryze
Rek’sai
Another day that went the way I expected. Fnatic has just been on top of their game this year at Worlds. Febiven plays 3 different champions in three different games and wins all three. Huni brings out Jarvan in game one and then get Riven in game 2 and 3. Surprisingly Kennen gets picked or banned in all three games. First time you really see Tahm Kench get a priority pick and multiple bans. It was just a flip into a different meta all around. Rekkles showing what an AD Kennen can do with some attack speed and a Hurricane helped Fnatic win game one. Deft brought out the ADC Jayce as well in that game… which did well early, but fell on it’s face mid to late game. If Koro wasn’t doing as well as he did, it would of ended well before 38 minutes I think.
Game 2 came along and we see a Kennen ban, which allows Rekkles to get Jinx and Yellowstar to get Tahm Kench. That is a Jinx that isn’t afraid of anything as long as her catfish friend is nearby. With Reignover on Gragas, no one was going to get to Jinx. Leaving two spots open for Huni to grab Riven and Febiven to pick up the Leblanc for some assassinations. Riven gets camped early, but turns into a split pushing beast. EDG had to either split 2-3 or lose objectives to Huni on Riven. Febiven gets an early 3 kills on LeBlanc just snowballing her into a 9/0/2 end game score. Game ends at 28 minutes after FNC gets a Baron after two inhibitors are already down sealing the game. Game 3 pretty much goes the same way. We get to see our second Kassadin game of Worlds and it’s played by PawN. They lost from team select though. You can’t counter Rekkles/Yellowstar by picking up Sivir/Kennen. They’ll just pick a better snowbally champion like Jinx and Alistar to keep her safe, since Tahm Kench was banned by EDG. Huni gets Riven once again against Koro on Darius. Febiven picks up Azir after Kassadin is locked in. It pretty much goes the same way as Game two, except Huni is the snowball running through EDG. This in turn gets Rekkles in a killing spree that ends him at 9/1/6. Winning the game at the 34:50 mark.
EDG did have some good plays. They did very well with their teleport plays, but they just couldn’t capitalize on it afterwards because they got behind early and couldn’t keep the pressure up afterwards. FNC played very well, and will need to keep it going to get to the Finals against the winner of the next day.
Bans:
Mordekaiser x3
Gangplank x3
Kalista x3
Lulu x3
Elise x3
Tahm Kench x2
Kennen
This day didn’t go out as I guessed. KOO Tigers and KT Rolster both played amazing games bringing it to a 3-1 win in KOO Tigers favor. My suggested bans were even off. Olaf was never picked or banned, which might of changed it for KT honestly, and the only ones that were constantly banned were the permabans of Gangplank and Mordekaiser. All four games were back and forth, with both teams taking advantages of slight misplays.
Game 1 went to KT as they got both their Kalista/Thresh combo and a Leblanc. Nagne knew how to play it against a Veigar and did extremely well. Game lasts 34 minutes. Game 2, 3 and 4 all go over to KOO Tigers which lets them win the series, but the last 2 were pretty rough.
Smeb played an awesome Fiora all four games. Hojin played Runeglaive Elise in the last 3 games as well. I think once they got into their groove of a protect the PraY comp that they are really good at, they got their determination and confidence back. It was a lot of back and forth in the last two for sure. It was also our first time seeing Cassiopeia in Worlds (even if she lost) but Nagne’s Viktor and PraY and Smeb being on these hyper carries was too much. KOO was even down 6k gold by 20mins in Game 3, and came back to being ahead by 6k gold 20mins later. Great picks and great turn arounds. A poor Baron attempt by KT sealed the last game to secure the turn around for KOO.
Bans:
Mordekaiser x3
Gangplank x3
Lulu x2
Kennen x2
Tahm Kench x2
Darius x2
Lee Sin
Elise
Azir
Viegar
Our top 4 for Worlds are Origen, Fnatic, SKTelecom1 and KOO Tigers. Two European teams and two Korean teams. I still see SKT winning over Origen. Bang did finally die, but I don’t think that’s going to stop them. Unless Origen plays a really great games next weekend, I don’t see them winning. Fnatic vs KOO though is going to be interesting. I thought for sure KT Rolster would of won. See KOO do well enough to beat out KT makes me kinda waiver in my decision, but I now see Fnatic winning. Fnatic had a dominating presence against EDG. They were, for the most part, always ahead of EDG. If Fnatic can do that again with KOO, I don’t see KOO catching up on minor errors like they did in the games against KT. My predictions are SKT vs FNC in the Finals.
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