Relive the surprises from the 1 vs. 1 tournament
Going into All-Star 2015, most of the All-Stars thought that the solo laners and ADCs would have a serious advantage going into the 1 vs. 1 tournament.
Several supports and junglers even said they were dead on the spot. But as we've seen, there have been some major surprises and innovations in the tournament so far.
Battling the Legend and Unleashing the Doge
The most hype match of the first round came between EU LCS mid laner Froggen and LCK mid laner Faker, where the two agreed to an Anivia mirror. This match was especially important as players from both Team Fire and Team Ice thought the winner could advance very far in the tournament. "He missed a few CS early, so I got a small lead due to that," Froggen said. "I felt I was in control of the game from the start. I didn't have to do much. Anivia is really hard to kill, especially when the levels go on and you get Catalyst."
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Taking down Faker was a huge enough accomplishment, but the real excitement lay in Froggen's match against LPL top laner Koro1, where Froggen picked AP Nasus.
Yes, that's not a typo: AP Nasus.
"I talked with my old analyst on Elements, and we were like 'okay let's think of something fun I can play that can possibly work,'" Froggen said. "So he mentioned AP Nasus and I was like, 'okay we can try it,' because if you get to Level 5 you can use Spirit Fire (E) to wave clear and no one can counter-push it that fast."
Froggen's Nasus Build:
- Ability Power Quintessences
- Attack Damage Marks
- Flat Health Seals
- Flat Ability Power Glyphs
The innovation didn't stop at Champion Select. Froggen went for Corrupting Potion followed by two Doran's Rings and a Dark Seal after recalling. "[I went] for Dark Seal to have more sustain from the pots. I found it pretty good."
Despite the unorthodox pick, it was still a photo finish of a pretty exciting CS race at the end. "During the last wave I was like 'ok I already won, I just need to hit the Spirit Fire (E) to get the last three ranged minions and they will die instantly.' But the base damage that happens on cast with my E didn't get applied to the first minion since it was slightly out of range -- that made it pretty close."
Froggen won that match, and then did his best to put us to sleep with a no-spell-no-item-farm-only Zilean mirror match against NA LCS support Aphromoo. Despite the snooze fest in the Quarterfinals, Froggen lets us know that he has something up his sleeve for the Semifinal battle against NA LCS AD carry and tournament favorite Doublelift.
"I have one champion I think I'm going to use against Doublelift," he said while grinning. "I don't necessarily think it's that good, but I think it'd be fun to try."
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IWC is not a free win
If the most surprising champion award goes to Froggen (so far!), the most surprising player award goes to CIS AD carry LeX. As an ADC main, success in the 1 vs. 1 tournament comes easier to him anyway, but as he explains it, he felt pretty comfortable in his matches, despite the pressure of playing in front of (and against) some of his idols.
In his first match against LMS mid laner Westdoor, he thought he had the match from Champion Select. "When I saw LeBlanc, I thought that she doesn't work in 1 vs. 1 that well -- just because ADCs have so much sustain and auto-attack power," LeX said. "After the first recall, an ADC gets Hexdrinker, and there's no way LeBlanc can do anything. So when I saw the pick I thought I could win easily."
On Kindred, LeX cruised to a pretty easy victory over the LMS Assassin specialist, but his next match was against one of the best mechanical players in the world -- LPL mid laner Rookie. "The second match was much harder," LeX said. "I know Rookie is a midlaner, but he played a good Kalista in the first round. I was sure he'd play Kalista, so I was ready for mirror matchup."
LeX's Marksman Build:
- Attack Speed Quintessences
- Flat Attack Damage Marks
- Flat Armor Seals
- Flat Attack Damage and Magic Resist Glyphs
Even though LeX thought he was outmatched mechanically in general, he thought he could get an edge in the mirror. "I was like, he's one of the best Korean players, but I'm ADC, and he's not so let's try it!"
"I just tried and it went well," LeX said.
A Level 1 all-In by RooKie went poorly, and LeX was able to pull out the win -- to everyone's surprise, including his own. "I knew whoever pressed Exhaust first would lose, so when he did, I knew he lost," LeX said. "So I just didn't pull the trigger, and just waited to press Exhaust and Barrier, so it worked out."
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His two wins put him against PraY in the Quarterfinals, where LeX was slightly less confident. "Going into the match vs PraY, [after practicing against him], I knew I had chances, but I was really nervous," LeX says. "I was sure I couldn't beat him in a mirror matchup, so I wanted to do a cheese pick or something."
LeX's unfamiliarity with Quinn post-Level 6 led to his demise, but LeX is still pleased with his run in the tournament. "I won two of my first matches, I was really happy. I had never played 1 vs. 1 before other than [one game at IWCA]. So I was really happy, I defeated two great players."
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Junglers have game too!
Going into the 1 vs. 1 event, many thought that junglers didn't stand a chance. After all, it isn't the most mechanically intensive position on the Rift. But LPL jungler Clearlove has proven that sometimes, hard work, and a good mind, can do what natural mechanics can't. "I did a lot of preparation and practiced a lot with my teammates," Clearlove said. "I also scouted champions that my opponents were practicing with, so that was the key to my victories."
In addition to practicing a ton and putting in due diligence, Clearlove used a fact that not all fans may know about him. "I used to play AP mid, so the champions I played I'm pretty familiar with," Clearlove said. "I think going into 1 vs. 1 matches like this, you really need to use something you're familiar with to get that kind of confidence."
His first match was against Worlds MVP and LCK top laner MaRin. His plan revolved around an all-in at Level 3 with Brand that he successfully pulled off. "I just went full AP to all-in," he said about his build.
His next match was less cheesy, but had an even more exciting ending against LMS jungler Karsa, who some (including pros on the ASE analyst desk) have recognized as one of the best mechanical junglers in the world. Clearlove was able to use Ziggs' Satchel Charge to knock Karsa's Ezreal into the turret to secure the kill, and the win.
In the end, Clearlove wasn't able to defeat NA LCS mid laner Bjergsen (who was on Lucian) with Malzahar, but his run still marked the best one by a jungler in the tournament -- and certainly more than anyone expected by the most blamed position.
(Seriously though, it's the junglers fault.)
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"I have no idea what I'm doing"
Perhaps the surprise of the tournament comes not because of an unskilled player, but because of the quality of his opponents. EU LCS support KaSing gave himself literally no chance of winning a round in the 1 vs. 1 tournament when we interviewed him before the event. "I'm gonna lose in the first round," KaSing said. "Even if I win, I'm gonna have to play Uzi! I think Uzi will win the whole thing!"
Oh KaSing... So little faith!
His first round was against LMS superstar top laner Ziv, where he played Lucian against Ziv's Quinn. KaSing looked to be in trouble, but an overextension by Ziv led to him taking a tower shot, and KaSing was barely able to take the duel.
His next match was against one of the tournament favorites -- LPL AD carry Uzi. KaSing said there was no way he could possibly win. But he did.
Uzi's Lucian took a horrid fight at Level 1 against KaSing's Kindred, that killed Uzi with the last tick of Ignite. KaSing looked more surprised he won than Uzi was that he lost. Rekkles, who was setup next to KaSing, gave a look of disbelief. "Rekkles was like 'What the f***' and I was like "'What the f***!?'" KaSing said.
It was like something out of a joke. A support main defeats perhaps the most mechanically talented ADC in the history of League in a 1 vs. 1. What?
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But still… KaSing wasn't done.
"On Karma I didn't care about CS, I was just going for trades," KaSing said about his follow-up match vs. Doublelift. "I just wanted to kill him."
From one superstar ADC to another, KaSing's Quarterfinal match was against Doublelift, where he ran a very aggressive Karma build that he concentrated on trading with against Double's Kalista.
KaSing's Karma Build:
- Ability Power Quintessences
- Hybrid Penetration Marks
- Flat Armor Seals
- Flat Ability Power Glyphs
KaSing struggled through the first part of the game, but turned the tides when he realized he could outsustain him. "I'd never played Karma before. I was reading the abilities when I got into the game."
The match came down to a fight where KaSing realized he could turn the tides. But he came up just a bit short. "In the last fight, I missed my combo. He was one auto from death. When I went to auto, I cancelled my spell. He should have died there, I calculated it 100%." In the end, Doublelift survived with under 10 HP.
Still, even though KaSing had a small error with mismanaging his Summoner Spells and mistiming his spell weaving, his 1 vs. 1 performance is something any support main should be proud of.
What were some of your favorite 1 vs. 1 moments at All-Star 2015? Make yourself heard in the comments or on Twitter with #AllStar.
And make sure to tune into the Final Four of the 1 vs. 1 tournament, where Bjergsen takes on PraY and Froggen takes on Doublelift at 4:00 PM Pacific Time, right after the Tandem Mode that starts at 3:00 PM Pacific Time, right here on Lolesports.
