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These finals were better than last years, but...

John Berserk·10/19/2014, 10:50:57 AM·18 votes·4,461 views

That's not saying much, considering how disappointing last year's were.

And it was only better than last years because it went more than 3 games.

Seriously, two years in a row now the Group stage and the Knockout stage are exponentially more entertaining than the Finals. Sure there's the large stadium and the live shows and entertainment, but as far as the main event goes, it was anticlimactic at best.

Im not sure what can be done really to "fix" this without straight up telling the teams to throw games and make it go to 5 games. Maybe you can hold the semi finals and the Finals on the same day? Or at least within the same weekend? I know allowing the Finalists a lot of time to prepare is paramount, but as entertainment, I feel the Finals these past two years have really been lacking. :( I think a change in format is needed in some way for the 2015 World Championships, but that's just me.

64 Comments

Earl Eulrich10/19/2014, 11:02:57 AM17 votes

Well yea, I´d prefer them to make it a double-elimination-tournament instead of the K.O.-System to make sure the 2 absolute best Teams reach the finals. (and i really would like to see a 3rd-place match somehow)

DrunkenSparrow10/19/2014, 11:07:34 AM8 votes

Riot Games has done an incredible job to be honest.
I mean at the very start of LoL who would've imagined that there would be an All-Star game or a World Series for that matter? They've done a fantastic job at making it as professional as possible and have made it into a big deal for esports just like the World Series is for baseball or the Stanley Cup for hockey.
With this in mind, it's only expected that some finals won't be as exciting as the games that were in the early stages of the tournament. Not every game is gonna have a fantastic jaw dropping ending like a buzzer beater at a basketball game, a walk off homerun at a baseball game, or even as exciting as Xpeke backdooring at IEM. We as fans just have to appreciate the effort that Riot and the players have put into this game and be grateful for what we have.

PL5510/19/2014, 5:18:43 PM6 votes

Also do something about the spoilers on lolesports.com...please!

Xonra10/19/2014, 8:31:29 PM5 votes

The problem this year was also what was best about it, which was how the draws and groups were set up. Once the groups were finished it was already apparent there would be one Korean and one Chinese team in the final, and from what we saw just in groups that wasn't going to end well.

TSM was meh in groups and SHRC was the best in their group but a decent margin at least.

EDG barely got out even WITH the easiest group by far and White wasn't even challenged a little.

Blue and OMG really didn't have that great of a group when you really look at it as all of the not first place teams limped to the finish with OMG not losing compared to winning

To be blunt, White Shield shouldn't have won their group and cloud 9 was going either way but would have faired much better in the other side of the bracket.

Once the brackets were set and SSW and SSB ended up on the same side it was already GG. We all know both NA teams would lose to both Korean teams sadly, and all 3 chinese teams were on one side with the (by far) worst of the Korean teams. There was no way the final was going to be good because even compared to TSM and C9 the other bracket wasn't super great and really only SHRC I really think could have beat C9 even from the non white and blue side of the bracket.

So it was sadly destined to be a bad series no matter who got through from both sides.

BlazingSalvo10/19/2014, 5:36:54 PM5 votes

Having a 6 week tournament with over 100 games just to culminate in a 3-0 or 3-1 in a few short hours is pretty stupid.

windwhispers10/19/2014, 12:42:41 PM5 votes

I only saw game 4 live...it's hard to get excited about a 23 minute game that you already basically knew the outcome of at the halfway point. LoL has become so snowbally that one or two mistakes early in the game and you know it is over with no chance whatsoever for a comeback.

Mediocre Joe10/19/2014, 11:12:22 AM4 votes

I would like to say that the music performance was much better than last years and would hope they can reach the same bar they set for themselves next year

CeresX10/20/2014, 2:07:35 AM3 votes

There really is not anything you can do if one single team is just that many levels better than everyone else. Its not Riot's fault that nobody can equal up to SSW.

soulbanana810/19/2014, 11:03:27 PM2 votes

Last 4 should be a round robin, not a tournament style.

ShadowGlaive21310/20/2014, 6:58:00 AM2 votes

I feel last year's World's wasn't wrapped up well. Not much happened at the end, which they fixed a bit this year by having ImagineDragons perform, but I felt they ended up making it feel dragged because they did 3 songs, the last 2 of which weren't really lyrically relevant and highly repetitive. Should've just sang the first closing song and call it quits. Since it was in Korea maybe throwing one Kpop song in would've made things more interesting. I also missed the Kog'Maw cannons from last year, but that's hard to do with a stadium that large. All the empty seats behind the giant screen was also kind of an eye-sore even if it doesn't make any sense for people to sit back there. I'm not sure how necessary the "pre-game shows" are, since it's just listening to the analysts for a half hour (something we already have to do after every game only none of the information is new) before the whole thing is supposed to start.

I think the primary problem both last year and this year is that the winners were so far ahead of the rest of the competition, which really can't be helped aside from all the other teams getting their act together. More inter-regional competitions might help regions learn quicker from each other and close the gap. For the most part regions have just been battling themselves year round, which limits how much they can learn. Double elimination may or may not help, it's something to try I suppose. I do think the format for seeding the brackets was better this year than last year. I think a 3rd place match would actually detract from the hype of the finals because you have 4 teams that get the privilege of playing on the final stage rather than just 2.

Just my take.

Boswick10/20/2014, 4:59:38 PM2 votes

I'm inclined to agree with the OP. Worlds weren't worth watching after groups. Everything after was super predictable. I tuned in to watch the NA teams in the quarters and that was it. I took one look at the bracket and said, "yep, SSW vs <insert chinese team> in the final."

It's not Riot's fault SSW was so much better than everyone else, but they could at least make the brackets more balanced. I also think 4 round robin or double elimination would be more entertaining to watch.

Garlyle Wilds10/19/2014, 11:37:18 AM2 votes

I definitely feel like doing the Semifinals -> Finals would be the best way to do a climactic weekend - even if it was a two or three day event stretched out.

PRKcMakC6a10/19/2014, 3:01:00 PM2 votes

I have to say that watching the Worlds this year was fun. BUT, (A HUGE BUT) it was so, so, so annoying to hear continuous pings from a team like SSW. I just want to watch the game and enjoy it. At least in game I can adjust volume levels, but not while spectating worlds. They do everything (choose where to focus, and on what players). Riot, why not make Worlds spectate the same way spectate is now? O wait, lemme guess...money. Need those ads, and not to mention the commentators. I want to watch only certain players the entire game sometimes. Why not figure out how to make a spectate mode, that allows me to choose who to watch and adjust specifically the ping volumes, still be able to listen to the commentators, and get inundated with ads? Please think about this for next season!

Flemman10/19/2014, 7:32:27 PM2 votes

Some exibition game (6v6, 3v3, dominion) the day before (or in the morning of the final) will help to avoid to see only a stomp the final day

AKL ZCX10/19/2014, 11:08:48 AM2 votes

The victory was well expected so noone feel excited

prozak8210/21/2014, 1:14:29 AM1 votes

they need to drop the number of teams at the world championship to 10 and get rid of the stupid group stage format. that is what screws up the brackets. have every team play every other team once and then you have a solid top 2 seeds , put them on opposite sides of the brackets and you should get a good 1 vs 2 seed finals. also do the semis and finals in the same weekend theres no reason to drag the damn thing out so long it kills the hype.

2pudge1cup10/19/2014, 2:39:52 PM1 votes

Their production value is good for sure, but the games themselves still need more. It's too snowbally that you know the winners at 10-15 minutes. It has been the folly of the game since its inception but has never been fixed.

The week to prepare just made this problem even worse since players already know each other so well. It was too much time that both could capitalized on the most trivial mistake and snowball that to victory.

Again, another worlds feels like it had great bells and whistles but poor substance. But at least it wasn't DDOSed or have rampant cheating like S2 and at least the finals didn't suck completely like S3 so there's some improvement.

dialMARK4acti0n10/19/2014, 9:58:48 PM1 votes

eSports is still evolving but I 100% agree. Finals are very lackluster compared to the build-up. Seriously, group stage was so much more exciting than the final showdown. Maybe change the way matches count towards Victory?

RoMz10/20/2014, 1:59:57 AM1 votes

Still wasn't as good as Season 2 imo

GingerBeardMan10/20/2014, 6:49:29 PM1 votes

How do you think the people who watched the last super bowl felt? They tried to throw in the towel and it got intercepted, it was so bad...

Rhlax10/21/2014, 12:35:26 AM1 votes

I AGREE!

The final absolutely felt anti climatic even though it was very very good.

The semis should be the day before the Final...

Poorly Dressed10/19/2014, 11:01:18 AM1 votes

I had really fun watching group stages and quarter/semi finals, but the finals really feels awkward and staged! Mainly due to the lack of winner emotions and people leaving the stadium right after the win. The crowd at ALL-Stars was way better and hyped! Very sad tbh :(