GPL Spring 2014 Quarterfinals: TPA vs ISG

Thus far, the quarterfinals have been a series of one-sided matches, and the very last match seemed fated to share that trend, with rookie team Insidious Gaming matched against reigning GPL champions Taipei Assassins. However, unlike fellow rookies Imperium Pro Team, Insidious has proven a tenacious opponent in Group A, with a solid understanding of the mechanics and strategies needed to compete at the top, if not necessarily the same level of execution. The Assassins, notably, have not played them before either, presenting an unknown factor to the current top team. ISG looked to pull an upset – a rebellion against the rulers of the GPL.

TAIPEI ASSASSINS VS INSIDIOUS GAMING

Game 1 Bebe pulled out Draven – a rare pick for him, as the last two splits were dominated by his prolific usage of Sivir, Ezreal and even Vayne. But it was clearly not an unfamiliar champion for him: Jay kicked off a strong laning phase with a play onto Crazypine and Vera, allowing Bebe to take First Blood. It left Vera healthy and Bebe and Jay near death, but Jay deliberately sacrificed himself to let Bebe get in the finishing blow for a strong double-kill start. Their momentum carried forward and secured the win for TPA. Game 2 Once is happenstance, but two dominating Draven games in a row spelt trouble for Insidious Gaming, though it should be acknowledged that Bebe's success was due strongly to his team's synergy. Case in point: Achie's Lee Sin was at temptingly low health in mid lane, and his Sonic Wave into what seemed like a 2v2 scenario was too much for Windowlicka. He charged in for the bait, only for Achie to safely Safeguard onto Jay while Windowlicka was snared by a Death Sentence, forced to trigger turret fire, and was finished off by Bebe's Whirling Death. Game 3 Windowlicka's suffering did not cease in Game 3, Though Draven was finally banned away from Bebe, all that did was focus the spotlight elsewhere for TPA. DinTer didn't just feed Achie a fast First Blood at the enemy blue buff, he took full advantage of the enemy jungler's mishap to mercilessly stalk him throughout the game. Windowlicka died 11 times before the game ended while DinTer took flight with a KDA of 14-1-7 in the victory.

MVP

Cheng "bebe" Bo-Wei King Bebe is not about to relinquish the GPL crown now that his team's gotten their hands on it again. He has aptly demonstrated how he earned the title all split, dominating game after game even on champions otherwise considered out of favor in the current competitive environment.

Related Articles

• The Recap: TPS vs YFW
• The Recap: SAJ vs SF5
• The Recap: AHQ vs SGS