Twin Dragons: ahq and Flash Wolves dominate the LMS
In the Spring of the LoL Master Series' (LMS) first year, four kingdoms were established, each with it's own prince vying for the throne. The strongest teams in the LMS’s inaugural split were characterized by a particularly strong class of mid laners. Hong Kong Esports announced Kurtis "Toyz" Lau's return to the professional scene, Xing Lei "Chawy" Wong spearheaded the third generation of the Taipei Assassins, and Yi-Tang "Maple" Huang held court with yoe Flash Wolves.
Finally, there was Shu-Wei "Westdoor" Liu of ahq E-Sports Club. Though between ahq's rough post-Worlds form and support star Shang-Ching "GreenTea" Sa's retirement, criticism quickly mounted against Westdoor as the team found itself stuck in fourth place. An obsession with Fizz suggested a limited champion pool, and his questionable mid lane alternatives like Karthus and Cho'gath cemented that assumption.
By the end of Spring, Cho'gath was acknowledged worldwide as a counterpick against spell-reliant assassins like LeBlanc, and the rest of Taiwan bowed before Westdoor's greatness. He entered the Summer Split as the emperor of the LMS -- and now, only Maple and the Flash Wolves are left to challenge his rule.
Two to tango
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ahq's path to dominance was expected much earlier on, when they nearly took China's Edward Gaming out of contention during the 2014 World Championship last October. GreenTea's eerily prescient Death Sentences threaded the needle on AD carry Jia-Wen "NaMei" Zhu repeatedly -- a performance that seemed to suggest they’d be returning home at the height of their power.
Yet that domestic leadership didn't materialize like they expected -- analyst and former top laner Kuang-Feng "Prydz" Chen retired soon after Worlds, and ahq spent most of the Spring Split lagging behind the other top teams. Without analytical support, they could only handle Logitech Snipers and the rookie teams, and were even the first to drop a game to the newcomers in the process.
Local commentators were favoring the yoe Flash Wolves instead, notably off the rock-solid stability of their roster -- with one exception. Though the Taipei Assassins took an early lead at the top of the standings, Flash Wolves' newest jungler Hau-Hsuan "Karsa" Hung blazed a path to glory. The early-game dominance of his Lee Sin and Rek'sai was a worthy challenge to even TPA's Peng-Nien "Winds" Chen, the same inspiration for Karsa's jungling philosophy in the first place.
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Notably, the Flash Wolves had their own secret weapon at the time. Analyst Yi-Hao "Fluidwind" Shih has never been a pro player in his esports career -- but has always been found at the top of the circuit anyhow, formerly coaching the Taipei Assassins. The fact that Flash Wolves went from mid-tier GPL team to top-level LMS threat makes for further acclaim.
Yet by the end of Spring, a plot twist hit the LMS. GreenTea's retirement was supposed to sink an already ailing ship. It was hard to believe that there'd be anybody skilled enough to replace him in the bottom lane. But his shift to analyst, and Chia-Wei "Albis" Kang's surprisingly smooth transition from jungle to support, instead revolutionized the team.
If Fluidwind was a great analyst, GreenTea was nothing short of a revolutionary. ahq's Playoffs and Mid-Season Invitational performances were nothing short of a total turnaround, and their as-yet undefeated Summer Split continues to prove it.
Their most recent match against Flash Wolves cements the importance of analysis -- Flash Wolves dominated most of Spring with a map play oriented strategy that made up for individual weaknesses, whereas ahq used to specialize in pick comps that abused their individual strengths and covered up for weak overall strategies. But their June 12th game had them play each other's specialities instead -- with ahq coming out on top to stay undefeated in the LMS.
Cutting in
The spotlights are all on the two-team tango between Flash Wolves and ahq, but other teams are plotting to drag the attention away. The examples set by the two teams have prompted yet another wave of roster changes in the LMS -- though, after a month into the Summer Split, the successes have been conditional at best.
The Taipei Assassins have superficially emulated ahq, with Winds stepping down and signed on as analyst. And Machi 17’s recruited former Taipei Assassins captain Hui-Chung “MiSTakE” Chen in hopes of elevating their odds as the season progresses. But TPA struggles for relevancy this split, and Machi’s announced that both jungler Yung-Sang “Fiesta” Lee and mid laner Geun-Tae “Republic” Bong are headed home to Korea.
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The one hope the community has to turn a two-team tango into a three-team throwdown seems to lie with Midnight Sun Esports, coached by former TPA jungler and world champion Alex “Lilballz” Sung. They’ve also acquired TPA’s oft-forgotten original mid laner Po-Chieh “NeXAbc” Chiu as analyst. Though still technically in their rookie year, the comparatively raw and unpolished MSE was nonetheless the very first of the bottom four spring split teams to take one off a top four veteran -- off ahq, no less.
Can Lilballz and ABC polish five newbies into an LMS-winning threat? It would be a feat worthy of Zhuge Liang himself, if so. And it is indeed their hopes, and that of LMS fans across the island, to turn a two-team cold war into a budding romance of the three kingdoms. Until then, the LMS dragon dance stays dominated by the ahq and Flash Wolves duo.
