LPL Week 4 Preview
Riot·3/17/2014, 7:18:46 PM·0 votes·384 views
Last week saw World Elite crumble in four of six games in their stacked schedule. This week, OMG faces a similar gauntlet, and they'll have to hold their flawless win record through three two-game series. One series pits them against LGD Gaming, the other team to take down WE last weekend. Edward Gaming has also continued their rise, securing third place, but they have a chance to take first this week. At the bottom of the pack, the dog fight continues with Royal Club and Energy Pacemaker striving to avoid the last two spots currently occupied by Invictus Gaming and Positive Energy.
Jian "JoJo" Yao-Tao stepped up his performance last week, pulling his team back from the brink against IG. A less favorable pick by Peng "Canines" Zhen-Ming into his matchup against Tong "Koro1" Yang could easily bait Ming "ClearLove" Kai to the top lane he tends to favor and give JoJo free reign of the bottom half of the map. Even then, however, EDG's specialty seems to be coming back from behind, and PE might not be able to rely on NaMei and company making the same casual mistakes committed by IG last week. If PE wants to springboard a winning streak off their series against EDG, they'll be looking to pull out something spectacular.
Not, of course, to undersell the other players. In propping up their bottom lanes, the rosters of both teams have performed their roles well. ClearLove and Ouyang "bigpomelo" Wei-Qi have taken to the assassin jungler trend, and we expect Kha'Zix and Evelynn to be contested picks, though bigpomelo ran Nunu last week to great success as well. The crux of the series may come down to mid lane. EDG's Ceng "U" Long may favor utility based mid laners, but he has still managed to out-lane most of his opponents. OMG's Hu "xiyang" Bin, on the other hand, has shone less in 1v1 matchups, and if U can set him behind, the rest of the teams are evenly matched enough that OMG could see their first loss.
That doesn't mean that OMG can't answer LGD's play-making. When Positive Energy attempted to shred through OMG's first and second tier towers in a lane swap in the first week, OMG answered by knocking on their top lane inhibitor turret at just over four minutes. As the game progressed, OMG dove past nexus turrets and terrorized PE's base like their Season 3 selves. If any team can answer LGD's early pressure, it's OMG. Expect a series full of action to close out Week 4.
For future updates on 2014 LPL Spring, check out lolesports.com. Tune into the stream on March 14th 1:00AM PDT for the fourth week of games.
POSITIVE ENERGY VS EDWARD GAMING
When: Friday, 3/14, 1:00AM PDT / 4:00AM EDT Both teams are riding the highs of a recent win. PE found their first victory last week in the second game against Invictus Gaming, and EDG dominated their set against Energy Pacemaker. This series is charged with storyline, as many attribute PE's early losses to the absence of Zhu "NaMei" Jia-Wen, who has picked up the most MVP points of any member of his new team, EDG. It'll be hard not to feel the tension buzzing in the bot lane as PE's AD carry, Huang "LovC" Qing, strives to prove himself.
Jian "JoJo" Yao-Tao stepped up his performance last week, pulling his team back from the brink against IG. A less favorable pick by Peng "Canines" Zhen-Ming into his matchup against Tong "Koro1" Yang could easily bait Ming "ClearLove" Kai to the top lane he tends to favor and give JoJo free reign of the bottom half of the map. Even then, however, EDG's specialty seems to be coming back from behind, and PE might not be able to rely on NaMei and company making the same casual mistakes committed by IG last week. If PE wants to springboard a winning streak off their series against EDG, they'll be looking to pull out something spectacular.
OMG VS EDWARD GAMING
When: Saturday, 3/15, 4:00AM PDT / 7:00AM EDT OMG and Edward Gaming have both come out victorious through perseverance and superior coordination this split. Their games have been some of the longest in LPL so far, and this may have something to do with the AD carry-centric compositions they run. Yin "Lovelin" Le and Feng "Fzzf" Zhuojun have picked somewhat unpopular support champions and had success, while both NaMei and Guo "san" Jun-Liang have performed as capable backbones for their team. This bottom lane showdown alone, will be worth tuning in.
Not, of course, to undersell the other players. In propping up their bottom lanes, the rosters of both teams have performed their roles well. ClearLove and Ouyang "bigpomelo" Wei-Qi have taken to the assassin jungler trend, and we expect Kha'Zix and Evelynn to be contested picks, though bigpomelo ran Nunu last week to great success as well. The crux of the series may come down to mid lane. EDG's Ceng "U" Long may favor utility based mid laners, but he has still managed to out-lane most of his opponents. OMG's Hu "xiyang" Bin, on the other hand, has shone less in 1v1 matchups, and if U can set him behind, the rest of the teams are evenly matched enough that OMG could see their first loss.
OMG VS LGD GAMING
When: Sunday, 3/16, 4:00AM PDT / 7:00AM EDT In Season 3, OMG blew the LPL competition out of the water with early aggressive plays and dives that began at level 3 and never let up as the game continued. As the team's focus has shifted more to propping up san for the late game, a new team has appeared on the scene to make fast-paced games their calling card. By securing early dragons, forcing lane swaps, and constantly forcing ganks, LGD Gaming took a game off EDG and defeated World Elite twice in a row in under twenty seven minutes.
That doesn't mean that OMG can't answer LGD's play-making. When Positive Energy attempted to shred through OMG's first and second tier towers in a lane swap in the first week, OMG answered by knocking on their top lane inhibitor turret at just over four minutes. As the game progressed, OMG dove past nexus turrets and terrorized PE's base like their Season 3 selves. If any team can answer LGD's early pressure, it's OMG. Expect a series full of action to close out Week 4.
For future updates on 2014 LPL Spring, check out lolesports.com. Tune into the stream on March 14th 1:00AM PDT for the fourth week of games.