GPL Spring 2014 Semifinals Recap
Riot·4/5/2014, 8:30:37 PM·0 votes·369 views
Every semifinals match is a major rivalry: the Azubu sibling teams fight for the right to represent the brand on the grand finals stage, while the Jokers have an even weightier demand on their hands. With the grand finals weekend played live in Vietnam, they’re duty-bound to represent their hometown fans at the GPL finals.
Chen "Morning" Kuan Ting
Usually, it's Bebe taking the lead as the team's primary carry. But against their sister team, playing on an even level, Morning's mid lane mastery was the tipping point in the Assassins' favor. He proved indomitable in both of his Lulu games – and was the pinch hitter in the final set. When both comps are geared to fight in the span of explosive seconds, the team with Lulu wins out big, as Morning not only poked the opposition low, but heavily mitigated their attempts to ambush the Assassins.
Sa "GreenTea" Shang-Ching
In every game, two of the Jokers' three bans were targeted at the support player. In all three of AHQ's victories, it was demonstrated clearly why they held such terror for a mere support tank specialist. He is the keystone to AHQ's fight strategies: a powerful playmaker and an enormous power multiplier with a roster of champions that specializes in opening doors of opportunity for delayed-impact engagements like with Pantheon's Grand Skyfall.
AZUBU TAIPEI SNIPERS VS AZUBU TAIPEI ASSASSINS
Game 1 Though Bebe tried to leverage the same Draven that crushed Insidious Gaming's spirits in the quarterfinal series, the real star of the sibling rivalry set was Twitch. The Plague Rat's out-of-nowhere burst was a key factor in every matchup, determining how teams played out their strategies, and what options were available to them. In fact, Twitch only lost one game in the best-of-five set, where his burst power was mitigated by the Assassins' anti-assassins shield comp. GodJJ had a very difficult time chewing through everything that Shen, Evelynn, Lulu and Karma could layer on top of each other. This was especially apparent in Game 2’s Baron dance at 32 minutes, where the shields on Morning gave him the margins to take GodJJ out of the fight, leaving Bebe unchallenged to hunt down the rest of the Snipers. Though the Snipers had beaten the Assassins to the objective, Baron's bonuses weren't enough to overcome the Assassins. Game 5 Lulu played a crucial role yet again in the lynchpin game of the series. Game 5 was blind pick, and both teams were packing heat with Kha'zix and Twitch – a setup that all but guaranteed explosive fights. The key difference between the teams: the Snipers relied on a high risk/high reward Javelin Toss from OhReal’s Nidalee, while Morning piloted the low-risk, all-purpose Lulu toolkit. Unfortunately for the Snipers, it was all snake eyes: the javelins weren't comparable to Lulu's damage mitigations, forcing the Snipers to take crucial seconds longer to take down their targets, seconds they couldn't afford in this specific mirror match.MVP
Chen "Morning" Kuan Ting
Usually, it's Bebe taking the lead as the team's primary carry. But against their sister team, playing on an even level, Morning's mid lane mastery was the tipping point in the Assassins' favor. He proved indomitable in both of his Lulu games – and was the pinch hitter in the final set. When both comps are geared to fight in the span of explosive seconds, the team with Lulu wins out big, as Morning not only poked the opposition low, but heavily mitigated their attempts to ambush the Assassins.
AHQ ESPORTS CLUB VS SAIGON JOKERS
Game 1 With the semifinals played in Vietnam, the Jokers had the home-field morale advantage, and it was clearly on display in the first game. Though AHQ's teamfights and picks kept the game close, the Jokers' relentless map pressure struck AHQ at their weakest point: torn between an exposed bot lane with super minions charging through and SAJ's Baron attempt. Their hesitation cost them badly as the Jokers took the fight 3-1 at 38 minutes and then marched their way to a perfect start to the day. Game 2 Then AHQ took the gloves off. They might not be great at lane rotations and objectives control, but they are arguably the best team in the GPL in picking fights. The "Unstoppable Skyfall" combo was unleashed once again as Greentea picked up Malphite support, and the mid game for Game 2 was entirely theirs. Banning Malphite did nothing to help matters, as Solar Flare was a perfectly apt substitute. Though SAJ pressed AHQ for at least a full half-hour per game, even bringing it close with near-decisive picks of their own, AHQ's tight rotations netted them three wins in a row, confirming their place in the grand finals.MVP
Sa "GreenTea" Shang-Ching
In every game, two of the Jokers' three bans were targeted at the support player. In all three of AHQ's victories, it was demonstrated clearly why they held such terror for a mere support tank specialist. He is the keystone to AHQ's fight strategies: a powerful playmaker and an enormous power multiplier with a roster of champions that specializes in opening doors of opportunity for delayed-impact engagements like with Pantheon's Grand Skyfall.
