The Breakdown - Dignitas vs Counter Logic Gaming
Riot·6/12/2014, 11:58:03 PM·0 votes·2,219 views
There are very few team compositions that can stand against a late game Kassadin, Kayle, and Twitch. Between Kassadin’s high mobility, Twitch's long-range DPS, and invulnerability from Kayle’s Intervention, Dignitas assembled a dream team of late game scaling and team-fighting. However, Dignitas' team comp came as no surprise to CLG - in fact, they predicted it. Instead, CLG focused on playing to their strengths.
Never allow Dignitas to engage and poke them to death: this would become CLG's recipe to success.
Although CLG assembled a poke composition, they were incredibly low on crowd control. If Dignitas ever found a window to jump onto CLG, Aphromoo’s Morgana would be CLG's only means of disengage. On the other hand, KiWiKiD's Nami was well equipped with a tons of utility. Plus, Dignitas had additional catch potential from Crumbzz's Cocoon and Imaqtpie’s Ambush to catch out their opponents.
The classical conundrum: Baron or Inhibitor?
The game-defining moment came when CLG chose to trade Baron for Dignitas' mid inhibitor. It highlighted the fact that even though Dignitas already had the stronger team-fight threat, CLG was content in avoiding fights, opting to look for objectives and out-rotate their opponents. In CLG's eyes, the five Exalted buffs on Dignitas would be rendered moot if they never engaged an open team-fight. Once the middle inhibitor went down, Super Minions applied enough pressure in the mid lane while the rest of CLG mobilized to the side lanes to siege. This tactical decision reinforced CLG's plan to put Dignitas on the defensive, even when Dignitas possessed the better team-fight potential.
KiWiKiD under a barrage of light and spikes
Consistently proving why he is considered best support in the NA LCS at the moment, Aphromoo's early game Dark Bindings not only placed Doublelift ahead of Imatqpie in kills but gave CLG complete control of the bot lane. With Bloodthirster already assembled before Imaqtpie even finished his Blade of the Ruined King, Doublelift had plenty of breathing room to finish his Trinity Force by 22 minutes, which was critical for executing CLG's midgame plans.
The Dark Binding that resulted in two inhibitors
Never missing an opening, Aphromoo landed a Dark Binding on Crumbzz from behind the fog of war and this enabled CLG to successfully take out the Dignitas jungler for free. With a forty second death timer for Crumbzz, CLG held a 5v4 advantage over Dignitas and took both bot and mid inhibitors with minimal loss.
1-2-3 spears and a free turret
Before each creep wave arrived, Link took every opportunity possible throwing spears in hopes that they would connect with a Dignitas target. The first successful hit against Crumbzz's Elise was blunted by KiWiKiD's Ebb and Flow. But what eventually forced Dignitas to abandon their bot inner turret was Aphromoo's Dark Binding on Crumbzz which allowed Link to land a second, max range Javelin Toss. With less than a third of Crumbzz’s health remaining combined with the fact that Imaqtpie was also impaled by one of Link's spears, Dignitas had no other option than to retreat back in order to heal and concede the skirmish.
Another poor trade for Dignitas
The second siege in the bot lane highlighted an error on Dignitas' decision-making and how CLG correctly applied pressure to take down the inhibitor turret. Seeing ZionSpartan split-pushing alone in mid lane, CLG opted to stay in bot lane and force a 5v4 situation. Before Dignitas could react appropriately, Doublelift was razing the inhibitor turret and making maximum use of his Lightslinger passive with Trinity Force proc. KiWiKiD attempted to fend off CLG with a Tidal Wave, but Aphromoo's Black Shield countered its effects. What made this Black Shield cast notable was that not only did it prevent Doublelift from getting knocked up by the Tidal Wave and negate the slow but it allowed Doublelift to continue attacking the turret uninterrupted and enabled him to retreat freely if Dignitas decided to engage immediately.
While Kayle can be an exceptional split pusher, ZionSpartan's item build was not conducive at all to the task. Had ZionSpartan gone the popular Korean Kayle build of Nashor's Tooth, Berserker's Greaves and Runaan's Hurricane, Dignitas might have been able to trade bot inhibitor for mid inhibitor. But with ZionSpartan focused on AP and Magic Penetration, he didn't have the Attack Speed required to match CLG's push and Dignitas lost the trade as a result.
Dignitas fall short of defending their top lane and nexus
The final siege in top lane reaffirmed CLG's sound approach on how to demolish Dignitas' base. Doublelift continuously attacked the turret, but always at a safe distance. Although he was eventually caught by a Tidal Wave after Shiphtur’s Kassadin broke through the Black Shield, Doublelift waited until the Tidal Wave had hit him before using Relentless Pursuit to remove the slow debuff. CLG eventually took down the final inhibitor turret in the following creep wave and Dignitas had zero opportunity to initiate with CLG's minions pounding at their nexus turrets. The net effect of the siege was extremely positive for CLG: two turrets, including a nexus turret, at no cost to them. Dignitas' base was ripe for the taking and all it would take was one final team-fight.
Counter Logic Gaming
Sieging 101
What has essentially become a signature of the team, CLG has always been able to draw strength from poke compositions. While Link and Doublelift were key components to a successful siege, the rest of the team played a crucial role in helping propel their mid and bot lane to carry status or running interference to protect the carries from harm.
Dignitas
On the losing side of trades
Ahead in kills for the majority of the match, Dignitas was unable to convert their kill lead into any form of advantage in the game. Choosing poor trades that resulted in giving CLG free turrets and eventually inhibitors, meant Dignitas spent much of the game defending their base without any clear openings to initiate a team-fight.
Jack is a freelance writer for Riot Games. What champion do you think is best at dealing with an enemy poke comp? You can tweet him your thoughts @NeoIllusions.
We mistakenly printed that Dignitas played Kog'Maw in the opening paragraph, while the match featured Twitch. We've corrected the mistake and apologize for the confusion. - Ed.
Assembling the team
Bans & Picks- DIG bans: Thresh, Yasuo, Lulu
- CLG bans: Jax, Lee Sin, Ziggs
- DIG picks: Kassadin, Elise & Twitch, Kayle & Nami
- CLG picks: Shyvana & Lucian, Morgana & Kha'Zix, Nidalee
Although CLG assembled a poke composition, they were incredibly low on crowd control. If Dignitas ever found a window to jump onto CLG, Aphromoo’s Morgana would be CLG's only means of disengage. On the other hand, KiWiKiD's Nami was well equipped with a tons of utility. Plus, Dignitas had additional catch potential from Crumbzz's Cocoon and Imaqtpie’s Ambush to catch out their opponents.
Art of indirect combat
The Dignitas team composition was something CLG never wanted to deal with head-on. If KiWiKid could land his Nami’s AoE disruption, Imaqtpie's Twitch would be perfectly set up for a optimal Rat-Ta-Tat-Tat followed by a flanking Force Pulse from Shiphtur's Kassadin. Fearing the heavy initiation, and understanding that Dignitas would eventually outscale their team in the late game, CLG placed a priority on whittling down Dignitas before fights with their array of poke so Dignitas could never fight on equal terms. Once CLG had the upper hand, they could push map objectives and maintain control of the game with their health lead. From Link's Javelin Tosses to Doublelift's Piercing Light, CLG attacked Dignitas health bars from afar which they converted into a turret advantage and then eventually applied pressure directly onto Dignitas' base.Only get one shot
In order for CLG’s midgame siege strategy to work, it was dependent on several factors in the early game. First, it was vital that both Doublelift and Link had enough CS for two major items as CLG's AP and AD carries held the team's offensive potency. Link's Nidalee needed enough AP to guarantee his Javelin Tosses would deliver a devastating blow whenever they landed. On the other hand, Doublelift required enough AD to become a one-man wrecking crew against turrets. In tandem with Lucian's Lightslinger passive, he could deliver a structural haymaker to Dignitas' turret with each creep wave. However, the glue that held CLG's plan together would ultimately be Aphromoo's Morgana. In sole possession of the team's crowd control abilities, Aphromoo was essential in not only helping Doublelift exert dominance in lane but to also ensure Link had windows to land free Javelin Tosses on rooted targets.Siege warfare
Much of CLG's success this match came from how coordinated they were when it came to sieges. As an essential prerequisite to utilizing poke compositions, all five of CLG's players knew their exact role in how they would collectively apply a stranglehold on Dignitas.Wrapping up the match
Key moments for each team
Counter Logic Gaming
Sieging 101
What has essentially become a signature of the team, CLG has always been able to draw strength from poke compositions. While Link and Doublelift were key components to a successful siege, the rest of the team played a crucial role in helping propel their mid and bot lane to carry status or running interference to protect the carries from harm.
Dignitas
On the losing side of trades
Ahead in kills for the majority of the match, Dignitas was unable to convert their kill lead into any form of advantage in the game. Choosing poor trades that resulted in giving CLG free turrets and eventually inhibitors, meant Dignitas spent much of the game defending their base without any clear openings to initiate a team-fight.
Jack is a freelance writer for Riot Games. What champion do you think is best at dealing with an enemy poke comp? You can tweet him your thoughts @NeoIllusions.
We mistakenly printed that Dignitas played Kog'Maw in the opening paragraph, while the match featured Twitch. We've corrected the mistake and apologize for the confusion. - Ed.
