Liquid

So I am not a TL fan per-say, but a fan of some of their players. That doesn't mean I am not critical of them though... quite the opposite. If you want someone to do well, you often help them by showing where they most need to improve. I was really excited for the potential TL had to grow this season... especially after falling so flat at MSI. I figured it could be a good wakeup call and a motivator to make them hungry to do better at worlds than they did at MSI. But their recent episode has left me very disappointed and with a grim outlook for their chances to get out of groups at worlds. Here is why:

I saw this team with talent across the board as one which could and SHOULD have grown through the struggles and remembered that winning NA comes secondary to WINNING at worlds. A team that could employ different comps and strats to make any role a carry threat due to individual talent and team synergy. But alas, they struggled a lot in summer, seemingly got scared and lost sight of that goal of being competitive at worlds in favor of focusing on winning NA. And so they reverted to one strategy which worked to win NA multiple times in the past... play around bot, protect the adc, and feed Doublelift.

And it's working here in NA. So why am I upset and disappointed? Because I look beyond NA to the world's stage. When you examine TL's feed Doublelift strat and how that type of strat has played out at world's in the past... it isn't pretty. In NA, TL might have the strongest bot lane... not per-say by themselves, but if they are invested in and given a lead they will reap their team more than perhaps any other duo can consistently deliver. But at worlds... the competition is stiffer and they can't get those same edges over opponents even if given small advantages which would work to snowball in NA. Furthermore, going only on this strategy harms them in 2 ways besides the fact of reducing their skill at other strats and comps.

Problem 1. Counter-ganks and counter-pressure. The best adc's at worlds can absorb enemy jg or even early midlane pressure better than Doublelift can and still come out even or ahead. This is even more true if they know their opponents will do that almost exclusively - due to both team comp and to history of the team's playstyle. So the best teams can more or less neutralize snowball potential barring some massive mess up while absorbing all of TL's jg and midlane pressure. Only they don't have to stop there. They can bring their own ganks and counter-ganks into the mix. Which will often lead to TL being put behind instead. And adc-centric comps don't have much threat if their primary carry is behind the curve. This is further exacerbated BECAUSE it's Doublelift and the pressure he puts on himself... not being able to chill, suck it up, and let his teammates carry him as well as other adc's seem to. Instead it often results in more investment in bot and if it doesn't pay off after a certain time... the creditors are coming for their payment and all you have to pay them with is your nexus.

Problem 2. Snowball everywhere else. I've already explained that the best bot lanes at worlds can absorb focus from the enemy jg and/or midlane with minimal loss and that counter-ganking (even just once or twice) can have them all set to do just fine. So what do you do if you aren't going to counter-gank bot as your primary strategy? Cross-map plays. Ok... you can put our bot lane SLIGHTLY behind, but in exchange... we own your toplane and midlane. Pob wants to play an adc-enabling champ? We play a hyperscaling champ cuz you have no kill pressure in lane... giving us more carry options and when mid gets fed... Pob can't go mid and farm even by tower w/o backup. Pob wants to roam bot a ton? He's not going to be down a mere 10cs like he is when he does this in LCS... he's going to fall irreparably far behind.

Toplane? Well we can pick any carry or tank we want and abuse yours. So if your jg isn't on a tank we're going to 2v1 make your toplaner's life hell. Sure he'll absorb the pressure well, but he will still fall behind. And if you have no frontline... your adc being ahead is nearly meaningless in midgame teamfights because he will get 1-shot and there's nothing you can do about it. Or you'll get splitpushed to death by 1-3-1 with you only being able to pressure with your 3 man squad.

This type of stuff has all happened in the past - including last year at worlds. But instead of learning from that and staying focused on learning to adequately execute multiple types of strats so that they can't be abused like I describe above this year at worlds, TL settled for merely focusing on winning NA. They are capable of being better than that. They already know the feed Doublelift strat from most of spring split. And they saw how that fares at MSI. Instead of improving their gameplan and prepping more strategies at an adequate level of preparedness, they're going into world's only having shown the same strat which they got smashed for doing at MSI. I am disappointed in their short-sightedness and self-doubt. They could have made worlds without reverting to only protect the adc and buff the adc comps and they should focus on the bigger picture. C9 has done that the past 2 seasons at least and while they've run the legendary gauntlet to do so.... they've also made it farther than all the other NA teams at worlds recently. So maybe take a page from their playbook. Stop worrying what everyone thinks of you or expects of you. Don't plaster over the problems just to look good within NA. Look mediocre here. Crawl your way into worlds if that's what it takes. And have your problems fixed and your team stronger than ever for it. So that when you hit worlds you start smashing people out of nowhere and make people wonder why they weren't afraid of NA's "third best" team.

*I am not a C9 fan, but I have to admire this about the way they approached the last 2 seasons. *I am not saying TL cannot win games at worlds or potentially even make quarter finals. I am saying if this is their only strat they can execute at a worlds caliber level, they are sure to be annihilated by the best teams there. I am saying that having more strats practiced and prepared to a worlds caliber level would likely see them go much further at worlds than only having this one strat.