New mid laner Morning's international debut at IEM Katowice couldn't have gone any better. His very first game against Gambit Gaming was a literally explosive success, piloting a Ziggs where every bomb seemed to be targeted.
Every subsequent game after was a total slaughter, too – just not in the Assassins' favor. Even Gambit got their revenge, finishing off the Assassins in their rematch. The rigor of international competition was still somewhat beyond the second generation Assassins – though, with that first game, they demonstrated a promise wholly nonexistent in the previous year.
The strengths they managed to demonstrate in Katowice were forged within the GPL itself, rather than as a carry-over from their heydays in Season 2. For a year and a half, the sheer mechanical difference between TPA and their GPL rivals had given them an easy path to the top of SEA. But the circuit's expansion, and the inclusion of other Taiwanese teams, quickly closed that gap; a GPL champion is no longer just the one with the faster Shockwave.
A NEW IDENTITY
There were two stages of development for the new Taipei Assassins. First and foremost, they had to polish their macro-level strategies to a bright finish. The most notable aspect of both the Snipers and Assassins over the course of the winter split was their total and absolute command over the map: smart and precise lane-to-lane rotations ground down the hopes of their GPL rivals game after game – the so-called "buffet style" of play, as described by the GPL casters, where they focus almost solely on "eating" everything in sight until the last thing standing on the map was the opponent's nexus.
While it might sound like something that every other team should be doing anyhow, the intensity of focus was distinct to the Azubu teams, at least in context of the GPL. Hometown rivals AHQ were better known for turning games around in single dramatic fights – similar to how the old Assassins would win off Toyz's perfectly executed Shockwaves. The rest of the GPL would also bet heavily on Baron exchanges – in many cases, as with the rest of the world circuits, their attempts to do so would turn a slowly won game into a smashing rout.
In the end, "suffocation" might better describe the Azubu strategy than "buffet." While everybody else was using Lucian and Annie for their powerful burst damage, the Assassins and Snipers were increasingly reliant on Sivir and Karma: their mobility maximized map-wide control instead. Speed was flexibility: they could either quickly take down an objective while behind, sneaking it during an opponent's recall and return to lane, or stifle an opponent's attempt to do the same, cutting them off at every advance.
But despite TPA going 10-0 during the spring Group Stages, the strategy was still short of perfect. Halfway through spring, it was clear that the rest of the GPL had caught onto other teams mimicking TPA's strategy.
Yoe Flash Wolves, the reformation of Gamania Bears after their former sponsor's dissolution, had two notable characteristics during their first month of GPL play. First was that they would burn through turrets like wildfire through dry kindling. Second, that despite the gold lead from doing so, they would lose seemingly
every single fight.
Their team compositions, and occasionally that of the Snipers, were well-optimized to take objectives, but notably poor against direct engagements. Furthermore, it was increasingly easy to catch them – the Wolves' rotations might have been like clockwork, but clockwork is
predictable, making for a dangerous combination of factors. Though the lower-ranked teams were still losing on mechanics alone, teams of similar caliber were increasingly able to flank the Snipers and Wolves, overturning their meticulously crafted advantages.
WINNING BEFORE PLAYING
Ironically, though AHQ built their Group A domination off the back of relentless aggression, their average game was significantly longer than that of the superficially more passive Assassins. Their win fight/take turret play pattern, though dramatic, also meant they were dependent on finding fights in the first place – something that their rival teams were increasingly reluctant to allow.
But however long it took, AHQ was winning. Few would contest that they were the most challenging team to play out a head-to-head skirmish against. Though they failed to match TPA's undefeated streak, they were favorites to reach and win the GPL Championship after TPA's weaknesses were exposed at IEM Katowice.
In hindsight, something was clearly going on when both Taipei Assassins and Snipers used back-to-back Twitch bot lanes in the semifinals, or when Bebe smashed Insidious Gaming with a previously unused Draven pick. Though speculative, it definitely seemed as if the Azubu teams were also expecting AHQ in the grand finals, and were taking steps to emulate their erstwhile rival's particularities... and find a weakness.
Though the final 3-2 set between TPA and AHQ was anything but easy, even relying on a near-miraculous turnaround by Bebe in Game 4, it was clear that the Assassins' research and preparation was their key to victory. Thus their second stage of development became evident: analytical prowess. AHQ was broken down point-for-point - stealth-based ambush tactics neutralized their head-to-head advantage in fights, and late-game carries exploited their inability to cleanly shut out games.
JOKERS WILD
With back-to-back GPL titles, and an upcoming All-Star Invitational appearance, TPA once again holds reign over Southeast Asia. But everything about how they arrived here suggests a far more tentative rule than in Season 2. Though weakened over the spring split, their siblings on the Snipers are on a fast track to recovery: their 3rd Place set against the Saigon Jokers revealed another nuance in the Azubu playbook that was overshadowed by the TPA vs AHQ clash of titans.
The Jokers, it seems, were actively
baited into defeat. The Snipers played a confident game against them: their first two team compositions were near-identical siege strategies, reliant on Nidalee, Caitlyn, or Kog'maw to whittle turrets down while fending off reprisals. OhReal's stubborn insistence on Nidalee, despite a bad first game, suggested that the Snipers were unwilling to meet the Jokers in a direct fight. This naturally led to the Jokers using a tanky hard-engage tactic: Renekton, Gragas and Lee Sin were their first three picks in the third set, allowing them to close in swiftly and safely despite the Snipers' poke.
Then the Snipers revealed their trap: a brawling composition that buried SAJ under Draven, Ryze and Kha'zix's raw damage. SAJ quickly responded with a fighting team of their own the next game – something that they've practiced and sharpened well against AHQ – only for them to find their punches uselessly aimed against a Pantheon and Sivir team that was everywhere they
weren't.
However, the seeds of unease lay within the Jokers' defeat. Though they were a step behind the Snipers' cunning, they showed a champion and strategy pool on par with the Taiwanese teams, as well as the execution required for it to succeed. And they weren't the only threat.
Last year, the Saigon Fantastic Five were a total non-factor. They were, at best, a step above last-place Bangkok Titans, and only by a few games. This split, they placed second and came out ahead over the defending world championship representatives Yoe Flash Wolves. Only TPA proved beyond their capabilities. But for how much longer?
Once a mid-tier backwater region, even in the GPL, Vietnam is now on the verge of a major breakthrough. The Snipers leveraged more cunning and deception against the Jokers than they had against fellow Taiwanese teams in the Nova League – they simply had no choice. As the summer split approaches, the Taiwanese teams find themselves under siege by an ambitious and ascendant Vietnam – and with the Jokers now twice a semi-finalist, it takes only one upset for them to steal the world championship seed.
Now, as has been before, the Jokers are the wild card.
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