4 Takeaways from Quarterfinals

Riot·Oct 17, 2016·2 votes·16,583 views

If you blinked, then you might have missed the Quarterfinals' one-sided affairs!

On the Rift, the meta seemed to stabilize even more as teams demonstrated mastery over how they want to play the Worlds meta. While the likes of Maokai and Poppy made appearances, by-and-large it's damage dealing champions that are more valued right now. It's Korean teams who've figured it out the best, and they may be as dominant as ever -- these are your Semifinals matchups:

Oct. 21 at 6:00 pm ET - ROX Tigers vs. SK Telecom T1
Oct. 22 at 6:00 pm ET - Samsung Galaxy vs. H2K

Here are the takeaways from the 2016 World Championship Quarterfinals:

1. The 2016 ~~LCK Fall Semifinals~~ World Championship Semifinals will feature three teams from Korea.

Let’s think about that for a second.

Okay, I’m done thinking. The LCK region is really freaking good. They’ve now won the last three World Championships and are the heavy favorite to win it again. In the last two weeks, Korean teams went a combined 18-3. Even when their opponents can stand toe-to-toe in the lane phase (which isn’t often), the Korean teams just move together as a unit better than anyone else -- so the mid to late game decisions generally swing in their favor. They can disengage together to stall out a game when behind, and they can corral their opponents into a tight trap when they’re ahead. The most compelling storyline going forward might be whether or not SK Telecom T1 can be the first team to win back-to-back Summoner’s Cups.

In Korea, there’s a saying: “You must construct additional Pylons!” Alright, that’s actually from Starcraft (what is Starcraft but Korean, though), but imagine how much more scary Korea would be without a supply cap? If they could build another Pylon and bring a few more teams?

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2. There’s always next year.

This one goes out to you, NA fan -- you from the House of Boos (featuring the Crest of Great Expectations). And to you, China, who continue to prove, year after year, that individual talent is not the most important thing in a team game. And to the LMS, for looking very good until it matters -- may the holiday season bring you a solution to your end game woes.

And finally, to all the International Wildcard regions who aspire to stand atop the world’s premier stage for League of Legends. Albus NoX Luna’s accomplishments are a testament to your growth. I am excited to see you return next year -- hopefully with even more fervor.

(Bonus shoutout to pessimistic Cubs fans).

3. There’s also this year.

Europe’s H2K heads into the Semifinals riding a seven game win streak. Honestly, some teams could have taken a hint from them: just don’t draw any matchups against Korean teams. It’s that simple!

H2K’s appearance in the Semifinals is like transferring to a new school. They are the new kid and they were a great baseball player at their old school. But this new school is a renowned baseball powerhouse. And its three best players are ROX, SKT, and SSG. H2K now steps up to the plate for the first time. Everyone is watching.

H2K have dominated en route to the Semifinals. They’ve looked unstoppable the past two weeks, especially in their 3-0 dismantling of Worlds darling ANX. The same ANX who took a game from the ROX Tigers. H2K’s laners look like they can compete against the best in the world. This coming week, Samsung Galaxy will test their ability to secure leads not just in the early game, but in the mid and late game where teams must out-maneuver their opponents.

(Bonus shoutout to optimistic Cubs fans).

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4. Lee Sin is in the meta again.

Let’s talk about why this matters:

This might not mean much to you, or maybe you even hate it, but let me say that Lee is my favorite champion, and I will throw a Sonic Wave at you (and probably miss) if you have a problem with that!
Right now, the meta favors a lot of champions who like to poke and disengage -- the likes of Karma and Zyra dominate supports, for example. And with top laners playing heavy damage champions like Jayce, Kennen, and Rumble, engage options are very limited. They are also all very susceptible to being picked off, but their disengage and zone control makes it difficult for enemies to follow up when a champion hard initiates (like Malphite, for example). This makes Lee Sin particularly fun to watch -- he can start fights on these squishy champions thanks to his ability to close gaps (at least someone’s closing gaps). A good Insec initiate from Lee Sin will remove those priority targets from their disengage zones. He can then follow up and escape the fight.
You’re going to get a lot more Lee Sins in your games, and a lot of them are going to make you scratch your heads. “Don’t try this at home” is more applicable to Lee Sin than maybe any other champion in the game.

As they say, when the Q lands…

69 Comments

ErikShonnOct 17, 201619 votes

Once again NA will get hated on for not getting to semifinals. Somehow everyone will gloss over how NA still went 2-4 against Korean powerhouses while their EU counterparts went 0-4. Somehow NA going 9-9 in groups will be overshadowed by EU going 7-12 (or 10-12) and making the semifinals. Somehow NA will still be trashed and H2K praised. Somehow G3-13 will remain EU gods. Somehow not playing a Korean team gives a chance at a semifinal birth. Somehow there will be an all Korean final. Things may change, but the larger picture remains the same.

TrollFan01Oct 17, 20163 votes

Don't forget drawing a IWC for a quarters opponent.

p0psiclesOct 17, 20166 votes

I seem to remember a certain NA team that could have been playing H2K in the semi-finals if they just beat that aforementioned IWC team a single time.

TrollFan01Oct 18, 20162 votes

difference between best of 1s and best of 5s.

p0psiclesOct 20, 20162 votes

They were up 2-0 in Bo1s against CLG and down 0-3 in the Bo5 against H2K. Your point?

What they did worked twice against CLG. Never worked against H2K.

ChymaerusOct 18, 20162 votes

To be fair, ANX seemingly performed way above their level for two or three games, and then looked like more what one would expect from an IWC team in their last two games of groups and all three of their games in quarters. INTZ did not play to the level of ANX.

Count BuffonOct 18, 20161 votes

That Olaf bush play early in Game 1 hurt to watch. First he walks into needless damage from Jayce turning a good trade into a 0 for 1, and then their top laner goes in hard and attacks the wrong target, turning what could have been a 1 for 2 into a 0 for 2. The whole series was pretty bad from there.

DraqoneOct 17, 201610 votes

CLG had that very same IWC in their group and got 0-2'ed.

TrollFan01Oct 18, 20162 votes

In best of 1s not best of 5s

andingOct 18, 20163 votes

but CLG should (and definitely could) have done better in the second Bo1, if not in the first one. There's literally no excuse for underperforming against an IWC team

Mister FisheyOct 17, 20168 votes

I'm not hating on NA. They tried their hardest, same as everybody else, and that's all that really matters. It was fun seeing a mix of old favorites and new faces, and I look forward just as much to seeing SKT defend their title as I do to seeing ANX return next year. All jokes aside, the gap IS closing as all the regions try their absolute hardest to improve so they can bring a great show to us fans. NA didn't make it past quarterfinals this year, but that's fine, that just means they'll be even more motivated to try harder and improve so that next time Worlds will be even more competitive and even more entertaining. It's all in good fun. :)

PKThunder247Oct 19, 20161 votes

NA has always been a region that is good at mimicking Korea and other regions, but never innovators. The problem in NA is that the NA talent pool is so bad that most of the best teams in the region have strong imports, which works well against weak NA LCS teams, but fails to defeat the stronger teams of other regions primarily Korea.

Mister FisheyOct 24, 20161 votes

While I don't think the skill gap between Korea and other regions is as vast as people like to believe, I do have to agree that Koreans do tend to innovate far more. Most of the big meta-shifting changes are always picked up by Korea first, or at least that's what it seems to me. Copying Korea is all fine and dandy, especially if you're good at it, but if NA, or any region for that matter, really wishes to match Korea, they are going to have to start innovating themselves. Copying Korea will always leave them one step behind.

KingSnakeThe1stOct 17, 20166 votes

Well deservedly NA should be trashed on. No need for the hate in EU, G2 was awful and so was Splyce. The same goes for CLG and an underperforming TSM. C9 escaped all thanks to SKT but H2K has played as well as the Korean teams so far, bar week 1. If this stupid NA v EU bullcrap can stop, that would be great. But still whomever booed SSG needs to be banned from League due to being toxic.

SloreDemonOct 17, 20167 votes

I dont think TSM underperformed, except against RNG. I think they played about to their level overall and just narrowly got eliminated off of a head to head in the death group. All things considered that's pretty good. I don't think H2K has played as well as the korean teams. SSG came from a death group, SKT went on a tear and (more or less) had a very decisive, relatively clean victory over RNG, and ROX pretty much almost smashed EDG entirely. H2K's biggest testament is a 4-0 2nd week and having 2-1 record against EDG. However, ROX beat EDG harder than H2K did, as H2K's wins were both 44+ minutes long. H2K is in an uncomfortable position as playing better than every team except the korean teams. Maybe you could say they played as well as SSG. They'll have a lot to prove in the upcoming match. If they get rolled by SSG we know it was cus of weaker group stage and semi-finals boosting. If they put up a good fight or even win then we know they're legit.

KingSnakeThe1stOct 18, 20162 votes

Maybe it's true that H2K got a super easy run to semis and if they beat SSG, they will still be called out for having an "easy" run to the finals due to not playing SKT or ROX. But almost every NA fan and a ton of shotcasters called TSM making it out of groups and at least to semis. They definitely underperformed this worlds.

ChymaerusOct 18, 20161 votes

C9 didn't make it out of groups because of SKT. Their road was shorter because of SKT. If SKT had lost their match, C9 wouldn't have been out, they just would have had to play one more game.

ReaxetionOct 18, 20163 votes

Exactly. Its worth noting that C9 positioned themselves to advance. SKT's win prevented a tie-breaker, but to say that SKT got C9 into Quarters would be like saying ROX got ANX into Quarters since they beat CLG and G2. NO, ANX earned their way in, and so did C9, RNG and EDG.

PKThunder247Oct 19, 20161 votes

C9 owes flash wolves a huge thank you for blowing two games. If flash wolves is able to close out against IMay and/or C9, it would've been Flash Wolves as the team to escape that group and not C9.

ReaxetionOct 19, 20161 votes

But they couldn't. That is a flaw with their team. If that is a weakness - the inability to close games - that holds them back from winning, it makes sense that they don't advance.

FR0GMANOct 17, 20165 votes

well to be honest I think both regions NA and EU need some major re haul on team coaching.................I feel like yes Korean teams are great mechanically, but they are just coached way better IMO......NA and EU both have great talent yet, no real chance if they continue on this path.......positive not tho for NA a lot of money is going to this sport in the US so that maybe hope for the future

Worst On TeamOct 18, 20166 votes

Exactly. I think the NA and EU players are all super talented. It's the coaching that makes the difference. I mean, CoreJJ was the adc for Dignitas and they got relegated. Now he's probably going to win World's. >.>

ChymaerusOct 18, 20163 votes

I completely agree. I think both this year and last year specifically really drove home how poorly NA prepared for their week 2 opponents. As just a couple examples, last year a team who's name I wont call out went 0-4 in week 2 largely because they came to worlds with literally only one strategy that they only tried to change in their final game of the tournament. This year Uzi described why SSG had a sudden change in effectiveness as they correctly identified exactly how RNG win their games and dismantled them in week 2 by targeting RNG's recurring win condition (something that TSM did not do in either their team comp or in game strategy).

KR teams rose in effectiveness sharply as the tournament progressed. That speaks largely to their coaching and analytics imo. Its not like the players suddenly got better after 1 week of playing against 'inferior' international competition. They were better prepared and had a clearer idea of how to beat their specific opponents. I feel like there are also gaps in breaking down what champions are new meta, when they're good and how to play them. For example understanding that certain champions are really good...only if a team comp is built around them and team play revolves around them (Olaf? Jayce?)

Darwin AwardOct 18, 20161 votes

Implying that NA doesn't suck just because someone else floundered isn't very sound logic. In fact, you're just pandering to the trolls and giving them the fire to feed.

Great bait, I guess?

ReaxetionOct 18, 20162 votes

NA dropped the ball, and definitely needs to improve. But to say they suck while going 9-9 on a world stage is a bit of an exaggeration. They went even on the world stage. Korea (3 teams) and China (2 teams) did better while EU and NA both preformed well enough for one team each to advance. NA doesn't "Suck" for going even and making an appearance in quarters, they just aren't the best.

Count BuffonOct 18, 20162 votes

EU has looked like they haven't recovered from sending half their talent from FNC to NA last year. It was just sad to watch them this year.

BiggJOct 18, 20162 votes

War, War never changes...

Flash WardOct 18, 20163 votes

ONCE AGAIN..... SALTY TEARS [slayer-jinx-wink]

FableBlazeOct 19, 20161 votes

{quoted}

Somehow G3-13 will remain EU gods.

Nope, they are considered GFail by most.

And NA 9-9 is nice, but results matter. And the fact is that both TSM and CLG were likely (more likely than c9 imo) to get out of groups, but failed. Excuses such as "H2K weak group", "but-but NA took a game off Korea" are just a lazy cop-out.

And H2K gets praise, because they improved a lot in week 2 and exceeded the expectations of many.

EDIT: I'm all Korean final is likely unfortunately. H2K is too likely to throw in mid/late game.

woodvsmurphOct 20, 20161 votes

Um no, clg was not "more likely than c9" to get out of groups. They were playing like trash most of summer, almost every comp revolved around Stixay as the solo carry -- with Huhi contributing a minor secondary role (making them very punishable and predictable). Basically if Stixay ever got in a game where he couldn't solo kill 5 people, CLG were doomed to lose. Why? Because the 3-5 champs that huhi plays at a World Class level are either banned or picked away by the enemy team or made unplayable due to the enemy having a strong counter-pick combined with the ability to camp him into uselessness in laning. You can't intelligently claim a team with the SAME 1 win condition every game is more likely to make it out than c9 was. As for TSM, I've already explained how much Bjerg's illness impacted their entire team: jungler, shotcalling (for everyone),solo performance in lane, teamfight performance. If TSM had everyone healthy, they'd be standing in H2K's place I have no doubt -- or one of the other semi-finalists. And you can't honestly claim this is a lazy cop-out. If H2K had lost a primary shotcaller who was also one of the biggest carries on their team, they wouldn't be sitting in the semi's either. I mean imagine Forgiven only being able to play at half his peak ability due to illness. Does H2K still make it to semi's in this scenario? Do they even make it out of groups in this scenario? No. Same for TSM.

FableBlazeOct 20, 20161 votes

CLG was playing in a group of one wild-card and GFreeWin.

woodvsmurphNov 2, 20161 votes

A wildcard team from Russia. Like m5/gambit was from russia -- clearly the russian scene has no world class talent before this season lol. Add in that clg has 1 win condition unless given aurelion sol and that their wild-card opponent has multiple win conditions and you see that it isn't really like clg ever had it in the bag. If you state this before group stages began, then we didn't know g2 was still so bad and they were actually predicted to come out ahead of clg. If you state this after wk 1 of group stages, I could have easily told you clg needed a miracle to not throw vs albus nox. Obviously you may think differently and that's fine. I'm just telling you how I saw it. Not everyone sees the same details, the same level of details, or gives the same amount of credit/weight to a specific detail that may inform you how a game or tournament is going to play out. And that is fine. If we all thought the same, life would be boring.

woodvsmurphNov 2, 20161 votes

I may was the weakest team from China and had no world's/international experience as a team to my knowledge before this worlds. Flashwolves were much weaker than their former selves and tend to do better vs Asian teams than they do against western (Na, Eu) teams for some reason. You could just as easily sub "i may" with "albus nox" and "flashwolves" with "g2" and say c9 and clg had much the same group going into the tournament without seeing a game played. Again -- my opinion; yours may differ.

FableBlazeNov 3, 20161 votes

While ANX played well, they were nowhere near M5/Gambit glory days. And M5/Gambit did play in the LCS, not in the wild-card. So that comparison does not stand imo.

Before week 1 is was 50/50 on whether CLG or G2 will make it out. (I was confident that G2 is not as strong as people liked to think) After week 2 i was 100% sure that CLG will get 2nd place in the groups. Did not expect them to go 0-2 against ANX.

woodvsmurphNov 5, 20161 votes

I never said anx played as well as m5. I know they didn't. I merely point out that m5 came from Russia -- where anx is from. Thus it is not the same as a team from Australia or South America making it out of groups. You yourself support that a formerly very good EU LCS team came out of the same region as anx ( And M5/Gambit did play in the LCS, not in the wild-card. So that comparison does not stand imo.). I agree with your pre-wk 1 assessment of g2 and would have said so even if they got 1st in the group. I disagree with your assessment going into wk 2: clg was 1 dimensional and showed shaky play at best while anx showed confidence and the ability to play around more than just bot lane. Sure you can claim Huhi's aurelion sol game to argue clg isn't 1 dimensional, but it is a weak argument at best. Easily banned, counterpicked, planned for, etc. Remove aurelion sol and remove clg's adc and u win game unless you are outclassed in every lane to begin with. That's how I saw it going into wk 2. And that is how it played out more-or-less.

Lv100 ZapdosOct 19, 20161 votes

The reason NA will get hates was because of the simple mistakes made such as overstaying, not backing off etc. Yes other teams did worse but you don't base it off others, it's based off individual performance. Just like how grading is based off performance and not a bell curve. "Well, EU did worse" doesn't change the fact NA had a chance and just didn't match up. What's next is to dust it off, accept it, and learn instead of doing it over again.

EpikFeederOct 20, 20162 votes

Like you are glossing over the fact that H2K is the only non korean team in the semis? Excuses is all I see. EU got further than NA.....AGAIN....this isnt anything new.....

woodvsmurphOct 20, 20161 votes

Yeah just like in season 4 where... o wait NA went even in groups with the Chinese team making the finals, but got knocked out in quarters due to facing the top 2 teams from Korea (and taking games off them) who roffle stomped the Chinese team making finals. And EU made it to semi's right? Nope -- that was 2 chinese teams on 1 side and 2 korean teams on the others. Well EU at least tied NA and made quarter finals for sure... no that's right, they got Kabuum'd out of the tournament in group stage. Now what is your point? Let me guess... EU has made it farther more often. Wow congrats. Did you play on their team or something? No? So what are you bragging for. And if you want to pull all that up, then go back to season 1 where one of the best teams from NA got knocked out due to having connection issues for FULL MINUTES of the game back in the day when there was no pausing the game -- you just had to keep playing 4v5 while your teammate fixed the issue. Yeah wonder how it ended up being an all EU final there? Clearly luck had nothing to do with it.

woodvsmurphOct 20, 20161 votes

very true

PurdooOct 17, 201610 votes

You can't forget that H2K is one of only 3 teams in the tournament to not have faced a Korean team just yet (3 teams including AHQ and INTZ ---) and they have rode their stroke of luck all the way to the semifinals. I'm seriously an NA sadboy fan but what ultimately needs to be cheered from here on out in the future is Western teams overall who have always found a power struggle against the dominant Koreans. NA v EU can still exist but ultimately fans of EU and NA should focus on East v West.

JuicypikaOct 17, 20168 votes

uh the korean teams haven't faced a korean team yet ;) so its 6

College DebtsOct 19, 20161 votes

Same brother, but EU fanboys are fking annoying, I still hope H2K beats SSG though.

woodvsmurphOct 20, 20161 votes

So you are saying to promote a "cold war" with the Koreans?

NoobGoesBoomOct 17, 20164 votes

To be fair, Kingsnake, didn't splyce join LCS in spring and barely avoid relegation, going 5-13... A split where basically no one but G2, H2k and Vit were playing well at all (so they were losing against mostly very weak opponents)? Even making it to worlds was amazing. They weren't awful. They were just a young team that was outclassed. I'm excited to see if they show up next split.

Mister FisheyOct 17, 20163 votes

Bro! You are absolutely savage! You must construct additional Pylons?! Just don't draw any match-ups against Korean Teams, it's that simple?! At least someone's closing gaps!!!?!! Dude, they already lost the Tournament, don't set their corpses on fire and dance around them like . xD

But for real, this was hilarious. GG WP! [slayer-pantheon-thumbs]

StarrvaldOct 19, 20161 votes

with clg getting in here with their points from spring, it really kills it for me. I feel like the people should be able to vote who they want to represent their 3rd seed, or atleast some form of allowing US to hint at who we want and why. IMT would have done a better job then clg did, though with korean teams still dominating I would not have expected them to go too far.

SloreDemonOct 19, 20161 votes

You. Can. Not. Complain. About. Rules. After. The. Fucking. Fact. That's why it's more important to do well in playoffs spring and summer than it is to just have good regular season records. Both splits they did poorly in Bo5's, which is what really matters at worlds. Exhibit A being ANX getting rolled in quarters like you'd expect an IWC team would. Bo1's offer no incite at how good a team is at adapting, and it shows in week 2 of group stage. IMT would've been trash like CLG let's face it. Best case scenario they escape groups as 2nd seed and get rolled by H2K

woodvsmurphOct 20, 20161 votes

except that summer split in Na and Eu was all bo2 and bo3. aside from that and your claim h2k would roll them, your points are valid.

woodvsmurphOct 20, 20161 votes

Immortals had their chances -- but they made the same mistake from spring split playoffs. Picking squishy carry toplaners who got outscaled by their opponent top in terms of teamfight presence without managing to snowball lane hard enough. They picked overly risky comps and paid for not delivering/getting a big enough lead early. I seriously had hoped Huni had learned from spring split, but apparently either he or the team didn't. I mean if you are really that good of a toplaner, show you are better than the other guy by beating him with a champ that should go even or lose lane rather than one that should win and still requiring your jungler to camp and snowball you early. No, as much as I like immortals and wanted them to do well and make worlds, they probably would have ended up much like clg this year if they did make worlds. They gotta learn better to focus other lanes and not just top with their ganks. They did this for awhile this season, but then went back to "camp for huni". Meanwhile their other lanes are free to be camped and snowballed on because they don't know if they will be ganked equally or if one will be focused -- but they know there will be no backup for them. It prevents some potential aggression and ability to snowball from pobelter, and it makes adrian and turtle extra vulnerable in a lane/role that traditionally is the most ganked lane in NA lcs (every bot lane).