4 thoughts going into Semifinals

Riot·Apr 13, 2017·2 votes·6,676 views

Here's this week's 6 thoughts from @MeanMisterKien!

Only four teams remain -- two are organizations new to this stage, and two are perennial faces. Will FlyQuest or Phoenix1 force a changing of the guards atop the NA LCS, or will C9 and TSM meet again?

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32 Comments

TrollFan01Apr 13, 20178 votes

TSM will win without too much trouble but I think C9 and P1 will go all 5 games. TSM/C9 final coming up.

HelmightApr 13, 20177 votes

Whomever you've got writing these, give them a raise. I've never laughed so hard reading an esports article.

ReaxetionApr 14, 20172 votes

Pretty sure this was Kien Lam (Hai's ?older? brother). His articles are always a delight to read, and also look much more composed and error free than others.

Yes. I agree, he deserves a raise.

Lil Lewd WitchApr 13, 20174 votes

Im pretty sure that C9 will beat P1, and while Im a TSM Fangirl, FlyQuest will be a tough Best of 5 as we now have seen them reverse sweep a team.. Im confident that TSM's game to game adaptability will let them beat Fly, though.

PaquayApr 13, 20177 votes

I actually think C9 is going to have a tougher time than TSM. I expect C9 and P1 to go to game 5, and after a shaky game 1 loss to FLY I think TSM will figure it out and take the next 3.

Miror BApr 13, 20171 votes

{quoted}

I actually think C9 is going to have a tougher time than TSM. I expect C9 and P1 to go to game 5, and after a shaky game 1 loss to FLY I think TSM will figure it out and take the next 3.

See, I entirely disagree with that idea. While TSM is (on paper) a better team than flyquest, the clash of different styles could pose a bigger problem to them and thus force a bunch of closer games. Looking at C9/P1, you could argue that both teams are mirror images of eachother with C9 being slightly better at all roles (toplaner who can play tanks but would rather be playing carries, high-tier jg, imported mid who is usually forced onto control mages, high-tier adc with a new-ish support that has the rest of his team cover his mistakes). P1 will either have to pull out something crazy or beat C9 at their own game/outdo their peripherals in order to win even one game in the series, making me think that we could see something like a 3-0 C9/3-2 TSM.

PaquayApr 13, 20172 votes

Very interesting. I'm not saying I think TSM will have a cakewalk. Their game 1s have been pretty cringeworthy at times and FLY has the ability to make some very good (risky) macro plays, that are surprising and can change the game. However, FLY is up and down and other than early on and with Doublelift humbling, TSM has been very consistent. I don't see FLY staying hot through 3 games and being able to outplay TSM at the macro level for 3 games.

Hauntzer should win, Bjergsen should win, Sven should contribute enough that both his solo laners will be able to take over and I expect Turtle and Biofeost to again take on that supportive (team fight) role that they often have. I also think the bot lane could go either way depending on 1) how much time Sven stays top side, and 2) how often they can punish Lemonation for being out of position.

I think the big questions for C9/P1 are 1) who shows up top lane for C9: good Impact, bad Impact, or Ray. Will we see early split Contractz or non-existent late split Contractz, and will P1 be able to protect Arrow late-game so that he can continue to take over the game. Zig is pretty consistent at what he does and I wouldn't expect him to carry, but I also don't see him being a non-factor either.

I think Ryu will have to do a very good job at containing Jensen. Ryu is so used to hard pushing that if he gets caught out and allows Jensen to start getting ahead early, he will snowball the game out of control. I think Jensen is fantastic at making smart roams And if he gets a bit of gold will start punishing other lanes. The bot lane is P1s to win I feel like, but Arrow isn't typically an early game carry that gets quick leads. He becomes a late game nightmare since his positioning and team fighting is so good. I also really, really like how he played with Stunt. If Stunt can continue to perform how he did against DIG, I think we have a future support star on P1's side. Sneaky and Smoothie will do well, they almost always do and are very consistent, but I don't feel have as much late game carry potential as P1's bot lane.

Those are just my (long-winded) thoughts on why I think the C9/P1 matchup will be closer than the TSM/FLY matchup. Let me know what you think. Have a good one!

EDIT: I thought P1 was crazy to go with Inori over Meteos given how well Meteos has performed for them, but felt Inori did fairly well. I think he looked a little rusty and hopefully got the jitters out and can be a little bit cleaner with his ganks against C9.

MelvearApr 13, 20171 votes

If Balls plays a tank, Moon plays Rengar / Khazix and Hai plays an assassin, Fly has a chance. While Hai did get a penta on Orianna , I feel he plays much better and more consistently on champions like Zed or Talon . Moon tends to be fairly aggressive too and needs something he can carry on, not a bruiser or tank. Bot lane can go either way, depending on jungle and mid interactions. In my very humble opinion, if Balls can keep his head out of the water to be relevant mid to late game, and if Moon can help get Hai and Altec ahead, Fly has a chance to win this. All this said though, TSM tends to be more stable with their performances, and I believe that potential is usually trumped by consistency.

Here's to hoping both series go to 5.

AlchemyOverlordApr 13, 20173 votes

Apologizing for the long comment ahead of time. TL;DR: I expect to see C9 vs TSM in the finals. C9 vs P1 should be a close series. If TSM loses another game 1, it would prevent a reverse sweep from occurring, but would also set them one step closer to losing the series.

I think P1 vs C9 will be the closer of the two sets, quite possibly going all 5 games. I think if Meteos plays, P1 would have better chances, not to say that Inori is a worse player or anything, but I feel that C9 would be better able to exploit and control Inori's aggressive nature. Having the option to put Ray in may help C9 to contain Zig. Two other questions would be: 1. does C9's botlane smack P1's as they did in week 9, and 2. does Ryu have another world-class mid performance, or does the old Faker vs Ryu Zed outplay meme rear it's head again? For TSM vs FLY, I feel TSM should be able to take it, as I believe they have a lot of great players that could really cause trouble for FLY. I think the best chances for a FLY victory lie with Moon and Altec being able to carry, since those seem like TSM's weakest roles in comparison. If TSM gives up yet another game 1, FLY may be able to punish them enough to force a game 5. If it comes down to that, the series could go either way. Although, then again, if TSM loses game 1, they bar any chance of a reverse sweep, so perhaps they've been practicing for this all season? All said, I expect to see a C9 vs TSM final.

Fujibayashi00Apr 13, 20173 votes

"It doesn't matter what the stakes are, he [Bjergson] always seems to show up and preform-" Except for at worlds...or IEM...Or the 2015 Final Against CLG...

SpooApr 13, 20173 votes

FLY all the way.

Hauntzer's overrated. Balls vs. Hauntzer should go even. (Give him a team whereby he actually has to worry about mid lane getting crushed and he'd probably look a LOT worse).
Moon, have to keep him off of carries, if you do its Sven, if you don't advantage moon.
Hai vs. Bjergsen - Both are honestly about even. Hai plays meticulously so he's not just going to give up kills. All those that think he'll just stomp Hai are just stilly. That being said his pool is rather small at the moment. One thing that Bjerg does play well which has been FQ bane is Zilean. I wouldn't be surprised to see that come and counter Rengar if the series goes long. Neither should honestly be solokilling in lane. But as we know Hai/Moon is definitely a better looking combo when they're rolling.
Wildturtle always seems to suffer from a case of the jitters come playoff time. I can't say much about FQ, but keep Altec on Caitlynn and I think FQ has a good chance. LEMONATION NOTEBOOK RULES ALL!!!

SteefnessApr 14, 20172 votes

Care to share what you're smoking? I'm a C9/FLY fan, and I'm sick of TSM dominating, but I'm not expecting much other than a TSM victory. FLY is outclassed in this one, I'm sure they'll put up a fight but in the end, TSM will be in the finals........ again.

FR0GMANApr 14, 20171 votes

While I don't completely agree with this....Haunzter, is on team, where it is easy to look good. there are no problem children in any lane of TSM. I will say this tho, if he was on one of these "bad" teams he would still be a great player with less success. MVP should be a player, who has to perform every single game to win basically carrying his team................................ TSM success relies on Haunzter but doesn't live and die by it Talon .

SulranaApr 13, 20172 votes

Someone other than TSM needs the number 1 seed into worlds, they always just go there and embarrass us.

WhiteFireKirinApr 13, 20171 votes

this isnt to worlds and we all know c9 was always the true number 1 seed at worlds, cuz they always have a better showing. except for last year though, too bad tsm got placed in the group of death.

xJLx MCHammerApr 13, 20171 votes

Fly vs TSM; I think Fly will have a very hard time. Hai was never the best mechanical player. Bjerg will make it hard for Hai to keep up in lane and shotcall correctly. Like the casters have said, Moon will have to perform well and outshine Sven. Also, Wildturtle did not have thee best last 3 weeks of play so maybe Altec can outperform there too.

C9 vs P1: C9 destroyed them in the last week of LCS. If they perform the same, the results will stand the same. I hope C9 destroys them

Crokinole AceApr 13, 20171 votes

I would like to see Pheonix1 vs TSM in the finals, and I think it will happen if Pheonix1 camps Jensen endlessly and baits C9 into letting Ray play. The top side of C9's game is greedy and aggressive, and leaves itself open to being capitalized on. Here's hoping Inori can put on a show. I think Ryu is better than Jensen 1v1 in this meta. His Orianna was prime in the quarterfinals, and P1's bot lane is... good enough.

TSM will beat FlyQuest, I'm sure of it. None of the good teams have had any problem dealing with FlyQuest's randomAssShitPlayAndTrollPicks, and if Hai doesn't get to play Corki like at the beginning of this split, they can't win. Also Hauntzer will put Balls in the dirt, while Bjergsen and Svenskeren own everything from the mid to top lane. If Fly wants to win, the pressure is on Moon to start the action in bot lane before TSM has a chance to make any proactive moves on the top side. That means they MUST take Elise or Lee Sin, and not any of these K6 or Rengar picks. I don't think the Graves counter-jungle strategy will help them win. TSM's top side won't allow it.

PellevalVoApr 13, 20171 votes

I'd have to disagree with you on a few points. While I think Ryu is the #3 mid laner in the LCS, Jensen is easily the #1. His Orianna is amazing, and his play on other champions like Ekko and Syndra is a force to be reckoned with. Even if they camp Jensen, Impact or Ray can bully Zig into submission and carry the game from top lane. Bot lane is a winning match-up for C9 as well, yes Arrow is a late game hyper carry, but if Contractz can snowball Sneaky's early game, especially if Sneaky gets Lucian its an easy win for C9.

TSM will beat Flyquest for sure, but I think its gonna be a little harder than people think. Balls will do well enough against Hauntzer, and Hai can snowball against Bjergsen with some tricky plays from Moon, I think 3-1 TSM.

Wifi the RouterApr 14, 20171 votes

The whole point of zig is that he can still do fine while bullied into submission, if they try that he'll just pull out a tank or the GP and still hurt in late game teamfights

Fluff2Apr 14, 20172 votes

Your giving C9 and Fly a little bit too less credit mate

hotarseApr 13, 20171 votes

I had a chance to read the riot script earlier today. Flyquest gets reversed swept. Meanwhile, C9 take games 1,3, and 4 to beat P1. Enjoy the games!

Crokinole AceApr 13, 20173 votes

{quoted}

I had a chance to read the riot script earlier today. Flyquest gets reversed swept. Meanwhile, C9 take games 1,3, and 4 to beat P1. Enjoy the games!

Replying to this just in case you are right so we can lol about it later! [slayer-jinx-catface]

The LexerApr 14, 20171 votes

If you have the script, do you also know which games Ray will play and which one's Impact will play?

MrHaZeYoApr 20, 20171 votes

Well you might as well throw that script in the trash. Both series where whitewashes.

JustJaysonApr 13, 20171 votes

For some reason I think TSM/ FLY will be the closer series. I just hope that we do not have too many games of extremely passive play where a late game team fight alone decides the outcome of every match.

Hey Im BrianApr 14, 20171 votes

I'm sorry, it just bugs me that you have P1 as a 5 seed on the saturday graphic. Other than that, great article! Except Isaiah Thomas > Westbrook.

SteefnessApr 14, 20171 votes

Dude..... triple double, been 50 years since someone did that. Westbrook is running away with the MVP.

ReïnhardtApr 14, 20171 votes

TSM 2-0'd P1 at the end of the season... sure Shady was starting but it's not like missing Stunt made a huge difference, Shady played fine. Minus the support, TSM swept the same lineup that is supposed to threaten C9 this weekend, the same lineup that 3-0'd a dark horse Dignitas team. TSM will easily sweep Flyquest, considering TSM can win a game one against a much better team in P1, and Flyquest lost 22-1 kill score in game one.... to CLG :P

ReïnhardtApr 14, 20171 votes

Also I think P1 will take it in 5, Ryu is playing exponentially better than Jensen was when comparing their last showings. Zig can take pressure top and Inori's relatively agressive style will crush Contractz' nerves. Ray should be subbed in at some point for his more aggressive style into Zig, but I feel like both Impact and Ray will win one game, with Impact losing two. Looking towards bottom lane, if Stunt doesn't get crushed by Smoothie again, then they should be fine bot... Arrow is a possible MVP while being the All-Pro First Team ADC, for a reason.