Who saw this coming?
C9 and Origen are 3-0. TSM and Fanatic are 1-2. CLG was close to being 3-0 too but KOO completely destroyed them. I wonder who is going to go against STK in the finals?
4 Comments
Well, being a c9 fan, I saw/hoped it was coming. And, being a real sports fan, I understood the power of the gauntlet run. If you watch real sports, what C9 is doing is not out of the ordinary. Any team that faces that kind of adversity, and comes out on top, generally go on to over-perform. Red Sox doing a reverse sweep off 9th inning heroics over NY, Miracle on Ice, wildcard football teams backing into the play-offs, Tebow's run, etc. Like the 8-8 Giants who beat the perfect Patriots team. They backed into the play-offs with 2 wins. They were 6-8. Picked up steam, and beat on of the best teams ever put together.
So, honestly, to not expect these Gauntlet teams, OG/C9, to do better than the teams who sort of just stagnated(H2k/TSM), is a bit of an oversight. I didn't think OG was that strong, I'll admit. I also think, some of my bias creeped in. I'm glad they are doing well.
But you cannot discount the power of what OG/C9 did to get to worlds. Especially with the talent levels far more even and dispersed this year. There are no real super korean teams, or super korean orgs, with top tier sister teams to scrim/practice with, and the talent is dispersed over far more regions. And, when the talent is more equal, teamwork and shotcalling shines through. OG and C9 are like well-oiled teamwork machines. And, they have that always come back attitude right now. Esp. C9. If you just listen to them talk after games in interviews, they believe so much in Hai's calls, that they dont care if he makes a bad one. I think Incarnation mentioned that he feels they can always come back with Hai. That is a very strong mindset. Its one that allows Hai to make ballsy calls and them to continue playing with confidence.
I'm actually really happy about both of them doing well. Its NOT really a surprise, if you follow traditional sports, but for the most part Esports was never on the same level as far as talent distribution. It is now, and we are seeing these correlations happen now.
I believe it will be me soloing SKT in the finals.
CLG could still get first in their group so there is hope (they will essentially be 3-0) but it is not likely since they are tied with koo tigers and will have to beat them.