Gogoing: Pride of the Top Lane
Riot·10/9/2014, 8:25:09 PM·0 votes·12,677 views
Throughout the 2014 League of Legends season, the top lane has come under scrutiny for simply becoming the isle of tanks and sacrificial lambs. Now, at the endgame of the year with the World Championships taking place in South Korea, OMG's Gao "Gogoing" Di-Ping stands above all with a message for anyone who opposes him: The top lane is his territory.
Through it all, Gogoing was the constant that kept OMG intact. More of a family than simply a team, OMG prides itself on the teammates doing everything together from eating to hanging out. Gogoing, as the leader, took it upon himself to be the carry that the team needed to bring themselves back from the brink of darkness.
OMG started off well in the spring split of the LPL, finishing first in the regular season. But the wheels came off when the playoffs rolled around. Gogoing lost to Invictus Gaming and their legendary top laner PDD before salvaging a third place finish against World Elite. Cool took time off for medical reasons, replaced by Hu "xiyang" Bin. The replacement performed admirably under a difficult situation, but the LPL MVP made his return at the end of the season. Cool, rusty from the long layoff, alongside Gogoing weren’t strong enough to topple the new giants of Edward Gaming.
The chaos would continue into the summer split where Allen decided to return to the jungle. The support position became a spinning wheel of players and OMG had to rely on Guo "San" Jun-Liang’s inexperienced friend, Fang "Dada777" Hong-Ri, to play in the starting spot.
OMG’s new bottom lane failed against other high caliber duos in China, putting them at a distinct disadvantage. Relying on their solo lanes, Gogoing tried to rebel against the nature that the top lane had become -- one of meat shields and lambs for the slaughter -- but it wasn’t enough to lead OMG to victory. His aggressive style and tendency to play carry-focused top laners had a hard time fitting into a meta focused heavily on huge, tanky champions.
OMG rounded out the season with a worse overall record than EDG and Royal Club, putting them at a loss in the playoffs. They were able to fight off Royal twice in two 3-2 victories, but fell to EDG and their signature bottom lane of Zhu "NaMei" Jia-Wen and Feng "Fzzf" Zhuo-Jun. The Chinese Regionals were even more disappointing for the promising OMG -- falling to Royal Club 0-2 and barely advancing as the third seed with victories over PDD’s iG and the upstart LGD.
The tournament started out rough for OMG, dropping their first two games to LMQ and Samsung Blue. Not only was Dada777 lagging behind the rest of the competition, but OMG’s team fighting and communication was overwhelmed by their opponents. Gogoing, getting put on Maokai and Kayle in the first two games, was given more of a utility job instead of carrying. On Maokai he was the first line of defense as a gigantic wall of hit points. On Kayle it was his role to save San’s Tristana from certain death with his Intervention ultimate.
Finally getting his hands on Irelia during their first game against Fnatic, Gogoing came alive. Given the chance to carry, Gogoing didn’t let his brothers down and steamrolled the Season 1 World Champions to an impressive victory. Building on that, he would get his hands on Ryze in their next game and leave no one in his wake. He finished at a startling 5-0-15, crushing Paul "sOAZ" Boyer in lane with over 200 more CS, and declaring OMG’s solo lanes were not to be looked down upon. The spark that Gogoing had lit carried over to their final deciding game against LMQ. OMG didn't let their captain down, with Allen and Cool performing up to their carry potential and grabbing the all important win.
The Quarterfinals -- the place where, last season, Gogoing felt his most devastating loss -- was next. Baek "Save" Young-Jin, the player heralded as ‘The Last of the Top Carries’ was Gogoing’s opponent to get into the Semifinals. For the match, OMG strategically replaced Dad777 with Hu "Cloud" Zhen-Wei and everything else fell into place for the Chinese team. Shield challenged Gogoing head on, giving him Irelia and Ryze three straight games in a row. This would be their undoing. Gogoing went a combined 24-7-22 and left Save in the dust. With everything riding on the battle between NaJin White Shield’s main carry and the heart of OMG, the Chinese top laner left his mark in Busan and lead his team to a 3-0 victory.
Now, once again, Royal stands in OMG's way from challenging Samsung for the Summoner's Cup.
This time, Gogoing believes that he and OMG have what it takes to not only take down Royal once and for all, but to stand in front of 40,000 fans in Seoul as the League of Legends 2014 World Champions.
Chaos Reigns
Eliminated. After a year of ascension, Gogoing and OMG were knocked out of the Season 3 World Championship by Chinese rivals Royal Club. The LPL title and countless fans he had won with his play through the group stages was moot -- his season was over. Reevaluating his performance along with his close knit teammates, they knew that the road to get back to the World Championships wouldn't be easy. The 2014 season for Gogoing could be categorized in one word: chaotic. Cool, the star mid laner of OMG and multiple time LPL MVP, had to take an extended leave of absence due to eye problems. Allen, the jungler that had made a huge impact during last year's Worlds, swapped back between the jungle and support position. And their bottom lane duo, which would go through a plethora of supports in 2014, was a constant headache for OMG to manage.
Through it all, Gogoing was the constant that kept OMG intact. More of a family than simply a team, OMG prides itself on the teammates doing everything together from eating to hanging out. Gogoing, as the leader, took it upon himself to be the carry that the team needed to bring themselves back from the brink of darkness.
OMG started off well in the spring split of the LPL, finishing first in the regular season. But the wheels came off when the playoffs rolled around. Gogoing lost to Invictus Gaming and their legendary top laner PDD before salvaging a third place finish against World Elite. Cool took time off for medical reasons, replaced by Hu "xiyang" Bin. The replacement performed admirably under a difficult situation, but the LPL MVP made his return at the end of the season. Cool, rusty from the long layoff, alongside Gogoing weren’t strong enough to topple the new giants of Edward Gaming.
The chaos would continue into the summer split where Allen decided to return to the jungle. The support position became a spinning wheel of players and OMG had to rely on Guo "San" Jun-Liang’s inexperienced friend, Fang "Dada777" Hong-Ri, to play in the starting spot.
OMG’s new bottom lane failed against other high caliber duos in China, putting them at a distinct disadvantage. Relying on their solo lanes, Gogoing tried to rebel against the nature that the top lane had become -- one of meat shields and lambs for the slaughter -- but it wasn’t enough to lead OMG to victory. His aggressive style and tendency to play carry-focused top laners had a hard time fitting into a meta focused heavily on huge, tanky champions.
OMG rounded out the season with a worse overall record than EDG and Royal Club, putting them at a loss in the playoffs. They were able to fight off Royal twice in two 3-2 victories, but fell to EDG and their signature bottom lane of Zhu "NaMei" Jia-Wen and Feng "Fzzf" Zhuo-Jun. The Chinese Regionals were even more disappointing for the promising OMG -- falling to Royal Club 0-2 and barely advancing as the third seed with victories over PDD’s iG and the upstart LGD.
The Heart of OMG
With their placement secured, OMG’s hopes at the Summoner’s Cup were looking less likely by the second. In a tournament that was bringing the best bottom lanes across the world, OMG’s stuck out like a sore thumb. Gogoing, having been beaten by Royal during Regionals and EDG countless times during the LPL, would need to be at his top shape for his team to have any chance at Worlds.
The tournament started out rough for OMG, dropping their first two games to LMQ and Samsung Blue. Not only was Dada777 lagging behind the rest of the competition, but OMG’s team fighting and communication was overwhelmed by their opponents. Gogoing, getting put on Maokai and Kayle in the first two games, was given more of a utility job instead of carrying. On Maokai he was the first line of defense as a gigantic wall of hit points. On Kayle it was his role to save San’s Tristana from certain death with his Intervention ultimate.
Finally getting his hands on Irelia during their first game against Fnatic, Gogoing came alive. Given the chance to carry, Gogoing didn’t let his brothers down and steamrolled the Season 1 World Champions to an impressive victory. Building on that, he would get his hands on Ryze in their next game and leave no one in his wake. He finished at a startling 5-0-15, crushing Paul "sOAZ" Boyer in lane with over 200 more CS, and declaring OMG’s solo lanes were not to be looked down upon. The spark that Gogoing had lit carried over to their final deciding game against LMQ. OMG didn't let their captain down, with Allen and Cool performing up to their carry potential and grabbing the all important win.
The Quarterfinals -- the place where, last season, Gogoing felt his most devastating loss -- was next. Baek "Save" Young-Jin, the player heralded as ‘The Last of the Top Carries’ was Gogoing’s opponent to get into the Semifinals. For the match, OMG strategically replaced Dad777 with Hu "Cloud" Zhen-Wei and everything else fell into place for the Chinese team. Shield challenged Gogoing head on, giving him Irelia and Ryze three straight games in a row. This would be their undoing. Gogoing went a combined 24-7-22 and left Save in the dust. With everything riding on the battle between NaJin White Shield’s main carry and the heart of OMG, the Chinese top laner left his mark in Busan and lead his team to a 3-0 victory.
Now, once again, Royal stands in OMG's way from challenging Samsung for the Summoner's Cup.
This time, Gogoing believes that he and OMG have what it takes to not only take down Royal once and for all, but to stand in front of 40,000 fans in Seoul as the League of Legends 2014 World Champions.
