Back for redemption: Flash Wolves
The Flash Wolves were a breath of fresh air in the 2015 LMS.
With the addition of their stellar jungler Karsa and dominant Korean AD carry Kkramer, the Flash Wolves brought superior strategies and a deeper understanding of the game compared to their LMS counterparts. Cruising through the regular season in Spring, they finished in 1st place with an impressive 19-2 record. Then, they clinched 2nd place in the Spring Playoffs, losing only to a resurgent ahq e-Sports Club, who would prove their international pedigree just a week later at the Mid-Season Invitational.
But during the LMS Summer and Playoffs, the Flash Wolves faced several issues, including a weak pick-and-ban phase and an over reliance on late-game scaling team compositions. Fortunately, the team managed to fix their flawed pick-and-ban ideology when it mattered most. It led to a vast improvement in their performance and ultimately, their triumph over Hong Kong Esports in Taiwan's Regional Finals, netting them the second berth at the 2015 World Championship for the LMS.
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The Play
The Flash Wolves are known to be a team greater than the sum of their parts. Relying on excellent macro strategy, the Flash Wolves are always looking to outsmart their opponents. By placing a heavy emphasis on gaining and denying vision, they aim to out-rotate opponents and quickly pressure objectives.
Their match against Hong Kong Esports in the final game of the Taiwan Regional Finals gauntlet is a perfect example. Possessing a huge 8K gold lead after just 26 minutes, the Flash Wolves accelerated their lead by clearing out vision from the enemy jungle. Afterwards, they executed a 4-1 split push, with AD carry NL (who shares AD duties with Kkramer) shoving the mid lane while the rest of the team pressured the top turret. As the waves of minions in mid pushed out towards HKE's base, the Flash Wolves walked towards Baron and abused the lack of enemy vision to set up a bait. Their setup was successful, allowing FW to take down three members of HKE and secure Baron.
Karsa: Stepping out of Winds’ Shadow
Always in the shadow of the Taipei Assassins' former jungler Winds, the Flash Wolves' new jungler Karsa had a stand-out performance this split, leading the team to success in international tournaments and qualifying for Worlds in only his second year of competitive League of Legends.
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Undisputedly the best jungler currently playing in the LMS, Karsa is famed for his mechanical skills and early game control. Utilizing more efficient jungle pathings than his peers, he's always one step ahead, farming more and pulling off that crucial First Blood before his opponents can react. This resulted in the Flash Wolves’ impressive First Blood rate, netting the first kill in 68% of their games.
Another strength of Karsa is his priority on vision control. By channeling most of his vision resources to the mid lane, Karsa keeps his mid laner Maple safe to pressure and play aggressively, giving him the opportunity to force opposing mid laners to play passively. Due to their one-man advantage, the Flash Wolves often take dragon, and averaged three dragons per game over the course of the Summer Split.
A good performance at Worlds will allow Karsa to prove to himself and all his doubters that he is indeed the best jungler to have ever graced the LMS region.
Talk of The Rift
Rewind back to the start of the year, when no one expected the Flash Wolves to perform like they did during the IEM World Championship. Facing off against NA powerhouse Cloud9, they outplayed the team that's internationally renowned for their late-game shotcalling and pulled off a 45-minute comeback victory. In the next match, they proceeded to steamroll a Forg1ven-led SK Gaming, who was coming off a hot streak in the EU LCS. With the Wolves finally achieving international success in a major tournament, fans around the world were starting to get excited about their potential.
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And the Flash Wolves did not disappoint. By beating Hong Kong Esports in the Taiwan Regional Finals, the Flash Wolves now get another chance to perform on an international stage at the 2015 World Championship.
“I can’t wait to play against Faker again. Because till now, no one has been able to take over his mantle as the best player in the world," says Maple.
“I think LMS is as good as the western regions, and hopefully our performance will show that the LMS deserves three slots at Worlds in the future.”
Back in the spotlight once more, the Flash Wolves will be looking to improve on their previous Worlds appearance. Taiwan has surprised us once before, should we hope for a repeat?
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Interested in learning more about the other teams competing at Worlds? Check out the whole lineup, now.
Images from Garena eSports
