How the underdogs can take victory in the Quarterfinals
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Whether it’s Star Horn Royal Club, NaJin White Shield, Samsung White, or Samsung Blue, the top teams coming out of the Group stages are looking incredibly strong. How strong? Well, in 25 games, these four No. 1 seeds have lost a grand total of four times, combined.
By contrast, the No. 2 seeds have logged an uninspiring 10 losses between them. Harrowing as these stats may be, the second seeds aren't without options when it comes to continuing their trek to the Finals.
The weakest of the three Korean squads at Worlds, NaJin White Shield is the most likely top seed to be upset. Not only did they lose to Cloud9 in a game while holding a gold lead, they got outright decimated by Alliance in the first-ever perfect game on the Worlds stage. With such glaring weaknesses shining through in both games, Shield looks the most vulnerable.
That doesn’t mean it’s going to be easy for OMG. Shield is known for their impeccable vision control and taking swift advantages off of the resulting picks. OMG, on the other hand, isn’t exactly known for their ability to keep vision up around the map. They’ll have to greatly improve their warding in the coming series. If they can’t see where Shield is, it’s going to be near impossible for them to stop the Koreans’ signature rotational play.
The one thing they do have over Shield, however, is their team-fighting. Cloud9 managed their incredible comeback through strong engages and even better team coordination in 5-on-5 fights, and OMG is arguably even better at brawling. Coming from the LPL, they were forged in the land of the teamfight, and will be looking to take them to Shield swiftly and often. Win enough, and they’ll be well on their way to the Semis.
Edward Gaming and Star Horn Royal Club know each other quite well, as the players on both squads been facing off for years in the LPL. In their last four meetings, Royal Club has had the upper hand, taking a 3-1 record over Clearlove and company. And with a far stronger performance in the Group stages, Royal Club remains the favorite in this quarterfinal matchup.
This one will be decided in the jungle. Clearlove and inSec are two of the best junglers in the world, and whoever gets the lead in the woods will likely carry their team to victory.
In order to give themselves the best chance of victory, EDG will have to make sure inSec doesn’t get his favorite champions. If they take Rengar and Lee Sin away from inSec in champion select, they can give Clearlove the tools he needs to succeed. With inSec losing his two favorite -- and most aggresive -- champions, it will free up EDG’s jungler to focus on getting star AD carry Namei ahead of the ever-terrifying Uzi. If he focuses his sights on the bottom lane, EDG may just be able to get the momentum they need to take down their LPL rivals.
Cloud9 finds success in North America by being one of the most strategically sound teams in the region. Samsung Blue is known as being the best at just about everything. They’ve got the individual skill, the incredible vision control, the impeccable rotations. There’s a reason they’re the top seed coming out of Korea.
So how does Cloud9 take them down a peg? Luckily for them, they have a perfect example in Fnatic’s win over Blue. Put simply, they have to at least go even in the laning phase and beat Blue to objectives. Blue relies on their laners to outskill their opponents, snowballing games to the point where they can freely rotate and take objectives all over the map. If Cloud9 can slow that roll, as Fnatic did, they may have a chance to take them down.
Hai will be central in that strategy. The brains behind the Cloud9 operation, his success as a shotcaller is central to Cloud9 victories. His calls will need to keep his team safe, but not defensive; willing to take advantages while they can, but not forcing them to the point of risking losing their lives. The best-of-five series may work to Cloud9’s favor, as their smart play style will allow them to adapt as the series goes on.
This is the big one. The undefeated Samsung White is looking like the favorites to take the whole tournament by storm, and TSM is just the latest team to be standing in their way.
Much like their sister team, White looks near-perfect on paper -- and off it, for that matter. Imp and Mata are possibly the best bottom lane around, while Dandy is one of -- if not the -- best junglers in the world. And it’s not like Looper and Pawn are slouches either, especially with their respective KDAs sitting above 10 after Groups.
Needless to say, TSM has a serious challenge ahead of them. No team came anywhere near taking down White during the Group stages, and White never showed any signs of slowing down. It looks dire for NA’s No. seed.
Here’s how they do it, though: avoid White at all costs during the laning phase. Lane swap to get WildTurtle and Lustboy the hell away from Imp and Mata. Let them farm as much as possible. Dyrus needs to play safe, not letting White’s duo get going. Meanwhile, Amazing has to -- and we mean has to -- get Bjergsen ahead of Pawn. If executed perfectly, they might just be able to out-teamfight White and take victories -- just as Blue did back in Korea. All that’s left is to pull it off.
[ed. note: In the EDG vs SHRC segment, we implied that the two teams had been facing off for years. That's impossible, as EDG had not existed for that long. Clarified to explain that the players on both squads had been facing off for years, not the teams themselves.]
Taylor 'Riot RoboTayCo' Cocke is a Web Content Coordinator for Riot Games. He only goes all-in, preferably on Leona or Alistar. You can follow him on Twitter, where he will talk your head off about supporting and bands no one has ever heard of.
Najin White Shield challenged by OMG
The weakest of the three Korean squads at Worlds, NaJin White Shield is the most likely top seed to be upset. Not only did they lose to Cloud9 in a game while holding a gold lead, they got outright decimated by Alliance in the first-ever perfect game on the Worlds stage. With such glaring weaknesses shining through in both games, Shield looks the most vulnerable.
That doesn’t mean it’s going to be easy for OMG. Shield is known for their impeccable vision control and taking swift advantages off of the resulting picks. OMG, on the other hand, isn’t exactly known for their ability to keep vision up around the map. They’ll have to greatly improve their warding in the coming series. If they can’t see where Shield is, it’s going to be near impossible for them to stop the Koreans’ signature rotational play.
The one thing they do have over Shield, however, is their team-fighting. Cloud9 managed their incredible comeback through strong engages and even better team coordination in 5-on-5 fights, and OMG is arguably even better at brawling. Coming from the LPL, they were forged in the land of the teamfight, and will be looking to take them to Shield swiftly and often. Win enough, and they’ll be well on their way to the Semis.
EDG looks to stop SHRC’s rise
Edward Gaming and Star Horn Royal Club know each other quite well, as the players on both squads been facing off for years in the LPL. In their last four meetings, Royal Club has had the upper hand, taking a 3-1 record over Clearlove and company. And with a far stronger performance in the Group stages, Royal Club remains the favorite in this quarterfinal matchup.
This one will be decided in the jungle. Clearlove and inSec are two of the best junglers in the world, and whoever gets the lead in the woods will likely carry their team to victory.
In order to give themselves the best chance of victory, EDG will have to make sure inSec doesn’t get his favorite champions. If they take Rengar and Lee Sin away from inSec in champion select, they can give Clearlove the tools he needs to succeed. With inSec losing his two favorite -- and most aggresive -- champions, it will free up EDG’s jungler to focus on getting star AD carry Namei ahead of the ever-terrifying Uzi. If he focuses his sights on the bottom lane, EDG may just be able to get the momentum they need to take down their LPL rivals.
Cloud9 sets their sights on Samsung Blue
Cloud9 finds success in North America by being one of the most strategically sound teams in the region. Samsung Blue is known as being the best at just about everything. They’ve got the individual skill, the incredible vision control, the impeccable rotations. There’s a reason they’re the top seed coming out of Korea.
So how does Cloud9 take them down a peg? Luckily for them, they have a perfect example in Fnatic’s win over Blue. Put simply, they have to at least go even in the laning phase and beat Blue to objectives. Blue relies on their laners to outskill their opponents, snowballing games to the point where they can freely rotate and take objectives all over the map. If Cloud9 can slow that roll, as Fnatic did, they may have a chance to take them down.
Hai will be central in that strategy. The brains behind the Cloud9 operation, his success as a shotcaller is central to Cloud9 victories. His calls will need to keep his team safe, but not defensive; willing to take advantages while they can, but not forcing them to the point of risking losing their lives. The best-of-five series may work to Cloud9’s favor, as their smart play style will allow them to adapt as the series goes on.
TSM looks to find the cracks in Samsung White’s armor
This is the big one. The undefeated Samsung White is looking like the favorites to take the whole tournament by storm, and TSM is just the latest team to be standing in their way.
Much like their sister team, White looks near-perfect on paper -- and off it, for that matter. Imp and Mata are possibly the best bottom lane around, while Dandy is one of -- if not the -- best junglers in the world. And it’s not like Looper and Pawn are slouches either, especially with their respective KDAs sitting above 10 after Groups.
Needless to say, TSM has a serious challenge ahead of them. No team came anywhere near taking down White during the Group stages, and White never showed any signs of slowing down. It looks dire for NA’s No. seed.
Here’s how they do it, though: avoid White at all costs during the laning phase. Lane swap to get WildTurtle and Lustboy the hell away from Imp and Mata. Let them farm as much as possible. Dyrus needs to play safe, not letting White’s duo get going. Meanwhile, Amazing has to -- and we mean has to -- get Bjergsen ahead of Pawn. If executed perfectly, they might just be able to out-teamfight White and take victories -- just as Blue did back in Korea. All that’s left is to pull it off.
[ed. note: In the EDG vs SHRC segment, we implied that the two teams had been facing off for years. That's impossible, as EDG had not existed for that long. Clarified to explain that the players on both squads had been facing off for years, not the teams themselves.]
Taylor 'Riot RoboTayCo' Cocke is a Web Content Coordinator for Riot Games. He only goes all-in, preferably on Leona or Alistar. You can follow him on Twitter, where he will talk your head off about supporting and bands no one has ever heard of.
Ahri has been a big pickup for the European teams that were able to beat Korean teams I feel that if Hai picked her up and played that matchup right the potential for picks as well as the relative safety of an Ahri pick would do wonders for him. And as we've seen, if Hai does well C9 does well. Hoping for a C9 vs TSM semis :D
and act like thats enough to win, these two NA teams live off of upsets. All i'm saying is don't completely count them out just because they got the terrifying Samsung teams. Play Poppy for me :) 
