GPL Spring 2014 Quarterfinals: SAJ vs SF5
Riot·3/23/2014, 3:28:07 AM·0 votes·369 views
The GPL quarterfinals continued as sister teams Saigon Jokers and the Saigon Fantastic Five squared off on Summoner’s Rift. This series was all about the junglers, who were able to set the pace early, and make incredible plays to initiate fights or to set up teammates who could then take control of the game.
It isn't the tanky Gragas top lane or the wildly unexpected support picks that have made the Vietnamese teams so impressive this split. It's definitely been their junglers. Safety's Pantheon was the deciding factor in half of the quarterfinal games played against the Fantastic Five, landing on their heads with deadly accuracy, and leading his team on a charge to the semifinals once again.
SAIGON JOKERS VS SAIGON FANTASTIC FIVE
Game 1 Jungleology defined the first game, starting off impressively in the very first four minutes as Safety and Optimus went in on Nixwater. Initially, it seemed as if they simply forced Nixwater to Flash early and recall, resulting in lost experience and gold – instead, the Jokers were severely punished as Jungleology's Lee Sin took both Jokers down to kick off a dramatic game. Game 2 Just as Jungleology took the lead in Game 1, Jokers jungler Safety assume command in this game. He was involved in 15 out of 19 of SF5's deaths, executing a 21-minute Grand Skyfall perfectly in synch with support player Vigoss' Death Sentence to lock down two players for mid laner Optimus to clean up. Game 3 N0kTPuN8SAg SAJ was riding the previous game’s momentum well into this one, but not without taking bruises from SF5. They were 10-7 respectively at 22 minutes, neither side giving ground. But SF5's unfortunate decision to secure Dragon gold allowed the Jokers to take Baron completely uncontested, tipping the game in the Jokers' favor. Game 4 Safety was making amazing rescues and plays starting with his save on Optimus three minutes into Game 4, but it came at the cost of attracting the Fantastic Five's ire. He was the first to be taken out during the Dragon fight 15 minutes in – but this meant that the rest of his team, including an incredibly dangerous Renekton with Black Cleaver and Hydra, was left untouched as they aced SF5.MVP
Huynh "Safety" Van Tan
It isn't the tanky Gragas top lane or the wildly unexpected support picks that have made the Vietnamese teams so impressive this split. It's definitely been their junglers. Safety's Pantheon was the deciding factor in half of the quarterfinal games played against the Fantastic Five, landing on their heads with deadly accuracy, and leading his team on a charge to the semifinals once again.