The Breakdown - Counter Logic Gaming vs LMQ

During the 2014 spring split, LMQ made waves in the Challenger Series. Not only were they winning consistently, but their carries were hitting impressive CS numbers and kill counts. In their opening Super Week in the NA LCS, LMQ continued to impress, most of all in the mid lane. XiaoWeiXiao displayed his skill on Yasuo despite a slow start against CLG, as he became a one man wrecking crew in the late game.

Assembling the team

Champion Select

• CLG bans: LeBlanc, Soraka, Kassadin
• LMQ bans: Lucian, Thresh, Elise
• CLG picks: Jax, Lee Sin & Lulu, Sivir & Nidalee
• LMQ picks: Morgana & Twitch, Shyvana & Nunu, Yasuo

Going into champion select, LMQ and CLG had very different approaches. CLG's bans were targeted specifically at XiaoWeiXiao and removed three high impact champions from his repertoire. LMQ's bans were more broad spectrum, aimed at very notable champions for Doublelift, Aphromoo, and dexter. While CLG focused on getting Seraph his comfort champion with a Jax first pick, LMQ's attention and priority was given to their bot lane. As CLG filled in their lineup with an array of champions armed gap closers and high mobility, LMQ quietly waited for the last pick before finally locking in Yasuo for XiaoWeiXiao. Although not heavily equipped with crowd control to be considered a pick based team composition, CLG's strength was definitely built around poke, wave clear, and repositioning in team-fights. LMQ, on the other hand, had very distinct roles cast for their players. While Mor and NoName provided peel and protection, ackerman was the primary frontline champion allowing XiaoWeiXiao and Vasilii to clean up team-fights with their double AD based carries.

A talented supporting cast

The start of the game was brutal for LMQ. A level 1 power play by CLG in the bot lane resulted in both Vasilii and Mor dying, with kills going to dexter and Doublelift. While LMQ's carries were heavily focused on farming, LMQ's early game was highly dependent on their top lane and jungler. NoName picked Nunu for this match, a champion rarely seen in LCS anymore, but what the Yeti Rider brings to his team is quick and efficient jungling along with a myriad of utility in team-fights. As seen later on in the match, NoName's Blood Boil was a welcome attack speed and move speed buff for LMQ's solo laners. Right place, right time Independent of the Nunu pick, NoName found a balance between jungling and ganking. Although slightly behind dexter's Lee Sin in farm, NoName helped Vasilii pick up a kill on Doublelift, equalizing the power in the bot lane. XiaoWeiXiao also benefited from NoName's prompt timing to counter-gank dexter. The kill for XiaoWeiXiao allowed him to secure a firm foothold in mid lane. Already ahead of Link in CS, XiaoWeiXiao's Yasuo continued to progress equally, if not faster, than Link's Nidalee. In the top lane, the situation looked rather grim for ackerman. Seraph's Jax had not only taken a small lead in CS but he had also been a part of all four of CLG's kills at the time, with a KDA of 2-0-2. But what was impressive here is despite looking behind on the scoreboard, ackerman used Dragon's Descent on Seraph aggressively; he singled-handedly forced Jax to return back to base, despite being behind. No kill but still an objective secured NoName's rotation to top lane appeared late but Blood Boil and additional basic attacks from the Yeti was exactly what ackerman needed to secure LMQ the first turret of the game. If ackerman wanted to continue playing aggressively against Seraph in lane, he would benefit greatly if Seraph didn't have an outer turret to retreat to. Also, the early destruction of the outer turret reduced CLG's vision in top lane, giving ackerman the ability to push his lane heavily with Shyvana's Burnout and roam to mid lane while Seraph was left to push the lane back.

Hardened steel resolve

From the Challenger Series earlier this year, XiaoWeiXiao had already made a name for himself as an amazing mid lane who could put up monstrous CS numbers and this game was no exception. By 15 minutes, he already had a 20 CS lead over Link and this continued as the game progressed where XiaoWeiXiao led by as much as 70 CS over CLG's most farmed player. With his ample farm, XiaoWeiXiao's item build was standard for most Yasuo players: Statikk Shiv into Blade of the Ruined King, followed by Infinity Edge. With these core items, XiaoWeiXiao had the necessary wave clear and move speed from Statikk Shiv, the additional attack speed and sticking potential from Blade of the Ruined King, and the brute AD damage and increased critical strike damage from Infinity Edge. Probably not what dexter expected Not only was XiaoWeiXiao effective at farming and incredibly potent with his item build, he exhibited great precision with Steel Tempest. Even against Dexter, who is a veteran player on Lee Sin, XiaoWeiXiao eliminated any possibility of a Dragon steal by knocking up Dexter midflight and picking up a free kill on top of LMQ's first Dragon of the game.

A tale of two Barons

What ultimately brought LMQ back into the match after a shaky early game was their approach and attack at two different Baron fights. In both situations, LMQ displayed great communication and their timing couldn't have been better. Like in chess, sometimes a gambit, or sacrifice, is necessary for the greater good and LMQ's supporting cast had zero hesitation and maintained complete faith that their carries would clean up. 3v5? No problem. With NoName and Mor caught out of position while trying to ward CLG's jungle, LMQ faced a 3v5 at Baron. If the situation wasn't dire enough already, XiaoWeiXiao was in bot lane when his two teammates were killed. LMQ patiently waited and allowed CLG to whittle down Baron at the cost of their health points. Once XiaoWeiXiao crossed mid lane, that was when LMQ decided ackerman should make the move. Although ackerman was kicked out of the pit by dexter's Dragon's Rage, it was enough time for XiaoWeiXiao to finally arrive. While Last Breath only landed on Link, XiaoWeiXiao's high mobility with Sweeping Blade made it tremendously easy for him to pick off the remaining low health CLG players and netted LMQ's mid laner a Triple Kill and eventually Baron itself. CLG has Baron! But at what cost? In another Baron fight at 29 minutes, CLG had just fended off LMQ and forced the majority of their team to base in order to heal off the damage dealt by Link's Javalin Tosses. For a second time in the match, CLG committed to what appeared to be another safe Baron for them to take. Ackerman dutifully jumped into the Baron pit even after CLG secured the Exalted buff on all five players but his sacrifice was hardly in vain. Attempting a 4v5, take note of NoName's positioning and where he began to cast Absolute Zero. LMQ's jungler had zero aspirations to fully channel his ultimate but instead, he wanted to splinter CLG if possible and he was successful. With Link too far inside the Baron pit, he was unable to retreat in unison with the rest of CLG. This gave Vasilli the window of opportunity to pick off a lone CLG carry while XiaoWeiXiao went after the rest of CLG with his quick dashes and AoE damage. Even though Link survived by Flashing over the pit, the rest of his team was far less fortunate as XiaoWeiXiao picked up an additional kill and Vasilii earned himself a Triple Kill.

The wanderer, redux

This match showed that not only is LMQ excellent at pulling themselves back into the game after falling into an early deficit, but they are keen on capitalizing on mistakes made by the opposing team. Even without the rest of LMQ behind them, XiaoWeiXiao and Vasilii have the capacity to start and finish picks on their own once they have the necessary item advantage. This is the mantra of LMQ it seems. They will use aggression to actively gain an advantage. It doesn't matter if they are behind, trying to bring themselves closer to even, or already ahead and looking to deepen their lead. Aggressive play is a means to an end for LMQ. Cutting through Seraph like paper LMQ had just lost their top inhibitor to CLG's superior rotation. An ill-attempted Teleport by Seraph gave XiaoWeiXiao an easy kill. Even in the face of an impending 2v4, XiaoWeiXiao and Vasilii were confident enough that they could finish dispatching Seraph before he could retreat to the safety of his team. Doublelift only wanted to farm, not fight While this was a flashy play by XiaoWeiXiao, LMQ realized that Baron was resetting soon, so Vasilii and ackerman pushed out top and bot lanes, respectively. Doublelift had the same idea of pushing out mid lane but was woefully unprepared for a wandering XiaoWeiXiao who assassinated Doublelift with a full combo of offensive abilities. With all three lanes pushing into CLG while CLG's ADC down, LMQ had an easy road to their second Baron of the game and eventually into CLG's base.

Wrapping up the match

Key moments for each team LMQ The sword and crossbow The unquestionable two carries for LMQ, XiaoWeiXiao and Vasilii have a remarkable ability to maintain or pull ahead in farm. This translates to a steady item progression which they depend upon for their aggression playstyle. It remains to be seen if other NA LCS teams can predict LMQ's aggressive play style and when, in order to turn the tables on them. Counter Logic Gaming Questionable team-fights and Baron attempts In two separate instances, CLG went for what appeared to be safe Barons only to lose their lead and eventually handing map control over to LMQ. If it weren't for the two Barons, CLG could have possibly capitalized on Seraph's lead over ackerman. Jack is a freelance writer for Riot Games and he is impressed but not surprised that LMQ is the only 4-0 team after Super Week. Do you think LMQ can break into the top three in the NA LCS? You can tweet him your thoughts @NeoIllusions.