Vote for the best game of 2014

Riot·12/8/2014, 8:16:17 PM·2 votes·29,165 views

What was the game of the year? We've seen a lot of exciting games over 2014, and a lot of changes -- both to teams and to Summoner's Rift itself. While there will be plenty of time to see what the future holds, we want to take a look back and see what the best games were from 2014. Vote for what you think was the game of the year. Here are the nominees that you selected on Twitter:

AHQ Esports Club vs Edward Gaming -- Game 2

If not for a certain Brazilian team, this would have been the biggest upset of the year. Though Samsung White made it a virtual race for second place in Group A, EDG had beaten all other opponents and had just one match left to clinch their spot into the Quarterfinals. After being beaten to submission by a EDG poke composition all game, Greentea hooked NaMei, not once, but twice in crucial moments, the second of which ended the game in a remarkable suicide mission for the EDG nexus. This game, along with AHQ's overall performance, and flashes of brilliance from TPA, legitimized the Taiwanese scene (finally), and put Westdoor on the map as an elite mid laner.

Fnatic vs OMG -- Game 2

Sometimes, it really is that close. Going into the match, it was a do or die game for both Fnatic and OMG after losing a few early matches in the Group of Death (Group C). Fnatic and OMG battled back and forth for over an hour, with 100K gold on both sides and 30+ kills. Fnatic was having trouble fighting OMG in the late game, but managed through attrition to take down two of OMG's inhibitors, but lost their entire team save for xPeke after going for the third. OMG went for a rush for the nexus up the middle, but xPeke's poke on Syndra and CC forced OMG off. Seizing a moment of opportunity, sOAZ Teleported into the OMG base to try to backdoor the base, while the rest of Fnatic tried to stop the recalls. Loveling and Gogoing managed to get back and stop the trio of sOAZ, Cyanide and xPeke from finishing off the Nexus, with one hit remaining on it. OMG managed to finish off the game and eliminate Fnatic from the groups, and secure their own spot in the Quarterfinals after a win over LMQ later that day.

KT Arrows vs Samsung Blue -- Game 4

With their backs against the wall, down 2-1 to the reigning OGN champions, the KT Arrows had to pull out all the stops to prevent Samsung Blue from repeating. Led into battle by their captain KaKAO, the always aggressive Arrows team went for a strong team fighting composition with heavy engage from Maokai and Nocturne. Backed by KaKAO's perfectly timed Nocturne ults and clean-up ability in team fights from Rookie's Yasuo, the Arrows clawed their way back into the series in one of the most highly competitive, and most well played, matches of the 2014 Season.

Team Coast vs Team SoloMid

After Bjergsen's much hyped arrival to North America, TSM was 11-1, only losing their first game of the season. Shiphtur, who previously could make claim to being the best mid laner in NA had something to prove going against the de facto king of mid in NA. Shiphtur played masterfully the entire game and managed to outplay Bjergsen in their showdown. But it was his clutch performance that made this game among the most memorable of the Spring Split. After Coast grabbed hold of the game behind Shiphtur's Ahri DFG + Charm combo in the midgame, they struggled to break down TSMs base after repeatedly sieging and gaining minimal advantages. Finally, after a TSM Baron attempt, Coast managed to win a 4:2 fight and pushed for the win. TSM was able to kill everyone before the Nexus fell -- except Shiphtur. His use of Spirit Rush and Lich Bane procs on the Nexus narrowly gave Coast the win, ending a TSM win streak of 11 games.

KaBuM vs Alliance

After Alliance completed their perfect game over Najin White Shield, they were all but locked into securing their Quarterfinal spot. All they needed to do was defeat the winless KaBuM Esports. While no one expected KaBuM to win over Alliance, the Brazillian squad had shown dramatic game to game improvement -- more so than any other team at Worlds. What followed was the biggest upset in the history of competitive League of Legends. KaBuM completely and systematically dismantled Alliance, behind their great pick composition of Ryze, Elise, Ahri, Morgana and Jinx as well as the near perfect play of mid laner TinOwns. Miscommunication problems plagued Alliance throughout and the great objective oriented style by KaBuM (frequently behind in kills but way up in gold) pushed them over the top and effectively eliminated Alliance.

Cloud9 vs Team SoloMid -- Game 5

No game on this list had more implications than this one. The best two teams in the Western Hemisphere facing off in their regional finals in Game 5. Prior to this series, TSM had never even taken a playoff game from Cloud9. In this game, it was close the whole way. Cloud9 looked to grab control of the game finally by 30 minutes in, but was never able to press their advantage to end the game. TSM pressed towards Cloud9's base and managed to win an incredibly close fight to end the game.

Dignitas vs Team SoloMid -- Game 1

Going into this game, Maokai top lane was becoming the marquee pick for every team. While usually teams alternate who plays blue side (because of the blue side advantage), Dignitas chose to play red side every game. Dignitas chose to give Maokai to TSM, and then counter-picked Nasus. Both teams were unable to get an edge as the splintered into two games: a 4v4 and Dyrus vs ZionSpartan. Maokai was ill-equipped to deal with Nasus's split push, and ZionSpartan wore away all of TSM's defenses one by one. It ended climactically with ZionSpartan Teleporting into the TSM base and ending the game single handedly.

Roccat vs Fnatic -- Game 4

Roccat came into the Summer Split hoping to improve on their third place finish in Spring. Going into Game 4 against Fnatic, they were down 1-2 in a very close series. This game had among the highest level play we've seen in any single game, and this series was one of the closest we've seen as well. With great flanks by Celevar, a mechanically perfect Vayne from Rekkles, the return of Shen by sOAZ and a DFG Kassadin by Overpow, this game had surprises, playmaking, great team fights, and brilliant rotations. In the end a great assassination onto Rekkles by a 10-2-7 Celevar lead to Roccat tieing up the series 2-2. Now we ask you: What was your favorite game of the 2014 Season? Make sure to vote to make your voices heard, and sound off on Twitter and in the comments below!