All-Star Day 1 Recap

Riot·5/8/2014, 11:00:34 PM·2 votes·3,316 views

After months of climbing through the ranks of their respective leagues, five champions stood ready to challenge each other for the All-Star crown. These teams would have a chance to prove that not only were they the best team in their own corner of the Earth, but that they were the best in the world. Five teams represent their home regions for bragging rights that will last until the World Championships later this year. Who would rise to the occasion? Who would fall flat? Find out what you missed on an action-packed All-Stars Day 1.

All-Star Challenge: Ultra Rapid Fire

In the first of the All-Star challenge matches, teams Ice and Fire would take on the Ultra Rapid Fire. The fans demanded Ezreal - and they got it. After a brief 5-on-5 poke fest in the mid lane, Doublelift (Jayce) was caught out, giving up first blood to Team Fire. For a few minutes, as players retreated to their respective lanes, all seemed relatively quiet. Then, after winning a duel against Froggen (Evelynn) in mid, Bjergsen (Ezreal) took over. TSM's star player was all over the map picking up double and triple kills. By the time Team Ice was able to get CaoMei’s Urgot going, Bjergsen was deep into his item build, and there was no escape. In an explosive, very short match, "The NA Faker" introduced himself to the world, and Team Ice will not soon forget his name.

Reportedly, Team Fire captain Diamond has been spending time with his team, attempting to develop strategy for these challenge matches. His efforts were rewarded with the first win of the series. Team Ice captain Froggen will need to pull his team together if they hope to pull back even with their opponents in tomorrow's Hexakill match.

Group Stage

Most every match was a landslide, with teams taking 25 minute barons, camping fountains, and taking wins after destroying only one inhibitor. Without their leader and mid laner, Hai, Cloud 9 showed promise in their win over Fnatic, who suffered an equally disappointing loss to Chinese powerhouse, OMG. However, Cloud 9 looked to be sorely missing their captain when the SKT hype train rolled right over their nexus. As the dust settles on a day one full of convincing wins, two teams stand tall above the rest of the competition.

Match of the Day

OMG vs Taipei Assassins

In a day full of landslide victories, OMG vs TPA was the most impressive. While TPA took first blood in a fantastic fight at level 1, that would one of the few highlights for the GPL champions in this game. While TPA would pick up a few kills around the map in very close skirmishes, OMG's carries got out of control too fast for TPA to recover. Xiyang (Syndra) landed maximum range stuns with Scatter the Weak over and over while Twitch rained death down on anyone he found. With great rotations and vision control, OMG caught out TPA members each time the ventured away from their towers. With so much raw power, OMG were able to force their way into TPA's base. In finish reminiscent of the U.R.F match that began the day, OMG camped at TPA's fountain, taking kill after kill. The Taipei Assassins were unable to force OMG out of their base, and OMG took the impressive win.

Top Performers of the Day

Xiyang

Fans of the LCS have seen very little of Syndra, and when they have, it has left much to be desired. Against the Taipei Assassins, Xiyang showed exactly what a truly talented player can do with a difficult champion. Everywhere he went, Xiyang landed long range stun after burst combo after group stun. When so many kills set up for them so perfectly, OMG had an easy time racking up gold, leading to an impressive victory.

SK Telecom T1 K

The reigning champions returned to the world stage as if no time had passed since the domination of the Season 3 finals. Faker added to his already incredible legend, but each player on SKT got a chance to shine in two of the most one-sided matches of the day. The Korean hype train is chugging along, picking up momentum, and if OMG cannot slow down the champs tomorrow, they may just prove to be unstoppable.

Day 2 Preview

With another exciting Challenge match to kick things off, fans will be salivating in anticipation of the two clear contenders facing each other in the first group stage match of the day. The winless Fnatic and TPA will try to break out of their tie for last place, while Cloud 9 hopefully finds some respite against a struggling TPA before they face a potentially perfect OMG. With top and bottom teams facing off against each other, Day 2 will likely prove a bit more evenly matched than Day 1.