LoL World Championships Semifinals: SSW vs SSB .

This morning’s grudge match between Samsung White and Samsung Blue was one of the most intense matches in the 2014 League of Legends World Championships. In case you missed it, here is a recap of the event.

 

GAME 1

Nope.

Draft

Bans:

SSB:

Tristana

Alistar

Ryze

 

SSW:

Rumble

Maokai

Thresh

 

Picks:

SSB:

Acorn: Kaylee

Spirit: Lee Sin

Dade: Yasuo

Deft: Varus

Heart: Zilean

 

SSW:

Looper: Akali

DanDy: Rengar

PawN: Jayce

Imp: Twitch

Mata: Janna

Samsung Blue drew a risky roster in the first match. Spirit and Dade picked up Yasuo and Lee Sin in the second and third rounds, hinting at a strong mid-late game push. There was no ban on Zilean, so Heart took advantage of him. Samsung White, unlimited by bans, continued to abide by their winning formula. Imp and Mata chose Twitch and Jana again (their strongest champions), and Looper and PawN rounded out the draft with Akali and Jayce.

While Samsung Blue armed themselves for a long, taxing grind, Samsung White prepared for a quick, merciless victory.

 

The Game

Both teams opened the match with great ward placement. If anything can be said about Korean teams, their awareness of the field and their use of wards are second to none. Samsung White began to pursue all three buffs at around 2:00. An exchange between PawN and Dade at 4:00 proved fruitless for either team; PawN wanted a solo kill, and Dade denied him of it. Samsung White killed a dragon at 6:11 and finished picking up all of the buffs. Imp downed a bottom tower while Dade downed a top tower at 7:00. Even though Samsung White possessed more buffs and gold, Samsung Blue did a great job managing lanes and denying kills. It was a very close game for the first couple of minutes.

After the tower exchange, the field fell silent for almost five minutes. Both teams finished laying down their wards, blue laying defensive wards and white laying preparational wards.

First blood came at 11:55. Dade and Acorn both fell. A dragon spawned a little after 12:00, and White killed it at 12:18. 0-2 SSW. White had begun to take the lead, and, with 3k less gold, things began to look grim for Blue.

White began using Twitch to bait opposing players in the early phases of the tournament, exhausting his cooldowns and using him to pull players deep into enemy territory; the tactic worked very well against Blue. Imp killed Heart at 14:00. Acorn fell at 14:57. Spirit and Dade both died at 15:10. Spirit died again at 18:17, and Imp died at 18:18. 1-6 SSW.

White killed another dragon at 18:43, and they picked up another blue buff at 18:58. They picked up another Blue turret at 20:25. Looper killed Acorn in exchange for Mata at 20:40. With wards everywhere in Samsung Blue territory, White was beginning to dominate. They took the Baron at 22:10. 2-10 SSW.

Acorn downed a turret at 22:25 and Deft assassinated Imp at 23:20, but it was too little too late. White aced blue at 23:34, and Mata destroyed a middle turret at 23:50. Dandy killed Heart at 24:35, but White killed their third dragon at 25:20, extending their massive gold lead even further. 3-16 SSW.

White pushed hard into Blue’s base at 26:00. They aced Blue again at 26:05. Looper achieved godlike kill status. The middle turret and inhibitor fell at 26:26, and PawN destroyed the bottom turret. 3-21 SSW. Another exchange resulted in domination for DanDy, legendary for Looper, and godlike fo PawN. The bottom inhibitor fell at 28:30, and the Nexus fell at 28:45.

 

Summary

The first match between Samsung White and Samsung Blue was a bloodbath. Blue was unable to control the early and mid game, and White punished them for it. Without the proper amounts of experience and gold, the Yasuo/Lee Sin combination failed. And, with a final kill score of 3-24 and a total gold differential of 58k to 33.7k, Blue stood no chance of making any sort of comeback in the closing minutes. It was, easily, one of White’s most dominant performances in the tournament. Blue needed to find a new strategy. And they needed to find it fast.

 

GAME 2

DanDy is the magic man. Now you see him. Now you don’t.

Draft

Bans:

SSB:

Zilean

Alistar

Tristana

 

SSW:

Thresh

Rumble

Twitch

 

Picks:

SSB:

Acorn: Galio

Spirit: Kha’zix

Dade: Ryze

Deft: Lucian

Heart: Janna

 

SSW:

Looper: Maokai

DanDy: Rengar

PawN: Jayce

Imp: Corki

Mata: Morgana

The second draft was very odd. Samsung White banned Twitch; Acorn picked Galio, hoping to produce a game changer; and Imp drafted Acorn, one of his weakest champions. Samsung Blue once again prepared for the late game by drafting Ryze and Lucian.

 

The Game

Dade died at 1:05. Samsung Blue pursued the dragon at 3:00, but PawN stole it from them, picking up two kills. Looper picked up a double kill, too. Imp had a hard time adjusting to Corki, and his lane coverage suffered at the start. Blue tried again for the dragon shortly after it respawned. They claimed it and threw down pink wards. A big exchange at 11:00 ended 8-7 in White’s favor. As 13:00 apprached, Blue began to feel much more comfortable.

The feeling did not last long. Imp sacrificed himself for a double kill by Looper. With the experience boost, Looper became a killing machine. White extended their score to 11-8 at 14:30.

Looper began farming the top lane and downed a turret at 16:00. Imp killed Heart twice in a row, first at 16:19 and later at 17:20. White killed another dragon at 17:41, extending their solid gold lead over Blue. DanDy killed Spirit, Acorn, and Dade at about 18:40. White destroyed another turret at 19:00. Acorn fell at 20:29 resulting in a rampage for Looper. White killed the Baron at 21:10, further extending their lead. Pawn toppled a turret at 23:20, but White claimed a dragon twenty-five seconds later. Deft downed a top turret at 24:20. Samsung White was cleaning up wards and turrets at will.

Pawn downed the middle inhibitor and turret at 25:25, and a big exchange at 26:40 ended in a huge 22-11 lead for Samsung White. Blue’s middle inhibitor fell at 26:56, spawning super minions. White retreated. They killed the Baron at 28:48 to pick up momentum, and pushed the base again. Spirit fell at 28:58, DanDy went on a killing spree, Imp killed Acorn at 29:27, and another inhibitor fell at 29:59. White retreated again. They killed a dragon at 30:18 and mDe their final push. The top inhibitor fell at 31:54, DanDy went in a rampage, and the Nexus fell at 32:29. The crowd exploded. Blue covered their faces to hide their tears.

 

Summary

The second game between Samsung White and Samsung Blue was, despite its slow beginning, just as bloody as the first game. At this point, Blue felt defeated. They had exhausted all of their tricks. Galio had proven to be a failure, and Imp had shown that he could play almost any character. DanDy played a great game with Jayce, appearing to be almost everywhere at once. And Looper played extremely well in the late game. At this point, there was no stopping Samsung White. Blue had been dominated and demoralized. They needed a miracle to keep them alive. Unfortunately, that miracle never came.

 

GAME 3

Nope.

Draft

Bans:

SSB:

Zilean

Alistar

Jayce

 

SSW:

Rumble

Maokai

Thresh

 

Picks:

SSB:

Acorn: Ryze

Sirit: Rengar

Dade: Twisted Fate

Deft: Lucian

Heart: Sona

 

SSW:

Looper: Kassadin

DanDy: Lee Sin

PawN: Fizz

Imp: Twitch

Mata: Janna

Samsung Blue was desperate. Dade, out of desperation, chose Twisted Fate. Deft picked up Lucian again, and Heart picked up Sona. Imp and Mata played into their strengths once again with Twitch and Janna. PawN made a potentially foolish choice in picking Fizz, and DanDy picked up Lee Sin. The line ups looked string for both teams.

 

The Game

Acorn died first at 3:48, giving Samsung White an early advantage. The crowd gasped. The gank left Acorn with an experience deficit that hindered him for the rest of the game. Spirit fell at 5:40. 0-2 SSW.

From there, White began to play it safe, blocking the river and managing lanes. They gained a blue buff at 8:50. Imp and Mata fell at 10:00, evening the score at 2-2.

Samsung Blue pushed the dragon near 11:00, but White stole it from them. The exchange ended in a triple kill for White, giving them the lead again. 3-6 SSW.

Now, with a big experience and gold edge over Blue, White began to push. DanDy killed Dade at 12:17, Acorn fell at 13:00, and the teams exchanged turrets at 13:15. Imp killed Dade at 13:55, and PawN gained a triple kill shortly thereafter. DanDy killed Dade at 15:00. Imp killed Heart at 16:25 White toppled a middle turret at 16:40 and slayed a dragon at 17:35. Spirit died 17:56, Looper went on a rampage at 18:20, and Imp went on a killing spree at 18:21. PawN killed Spirit at 19:00, gaining godlike status, and DanDy went on a killing spree at 19:20. 3-20 SSW.

White destroyed the middle inhibitor at 19:40. PawN killed Spirit again at 19:59, and he killed Deft at 20:25. Imo went on a rampage. DanDy killed Dade, furthering the lead to 3-24. PawN gained legendary status, and DanDy and Looper became unstoppable. 3-28 SSW. White pushed the Nexus and toppled it a couple seconds later at 22:27. Samsung White defeated Samsung Blue in one of the fastest matches in tournament history.

 

Summary

The crowd was shocked. Both teams erupted from their chairs and embraced each other. Blue hugged members of White through tears, and Dade removed his infamous general’s jacket. The members of Samsung Blue looked genuinely happy for Samsung White. It was incredible to watch, and the audience loved it.

Although this is the the end of the road for Samsung Blue, Samsung White will be moving on to face an unnanounced team in the finals on October 19. That said, Samsung White is at the top of their game. They play hard and fast, and they appear comfortable with every roster they choose. They are a powerhouse. They will be hard to beat.

The front runner of this year’s Worlds. Can they keep it up?

Until then, though, stay tuned to MMOGames.com for more news and articles on the 2014 League of Legends World Championships.