Predicting the 2017 ASE winner
The 2017 All-Star Event is set to conclude with a clash between the LMS All-Stars and the LPL All-Stars in the regional 5v5. Meanwhile, the 1v1 tournament will conclude after a slugfest that saw 2015’s 1v1 winner Bjergsen rise to take on the defending champion -- Uzi.
In a tournament that saw the best of the west flounder, it was the stars from Asia who shined the brightest. But western faithful can perhaps find some solace in the fact that not even Korea managed to reach the Final this year. Instead, the LMS remains undefeated at 5-0 and the LPL enters the Finals with a 5-1 record. But only one of these teams will secure the trophy. And only one of them can be considered the favorite.
The rules are simple for this highly scientific analysis: the first Dream Team to reach 3 points wins and is thus your ASE Finals favorite.
Question 1: Which team had the more impressive road to the Finals?
Both the LMS All-Stars and the LPL All-Stars reached the 2017 ASE by defeating the pre-tournament favorite LCK All-Stars. The LMS knocked them down in the Group Stage, and the LPL knocked them out in the Semifinals. However, because the LPL team had to win twice, they get the edge.
LMS: 0
LPL: 1
Question 2: Which team has a coach named Steak who also has an afro?
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LMS: 1
LPL: 1
Question 3: Which team passes the gut check?
By which I mean which team appears to be better? They haven’t played against each other yet, and the volatility of the pre-season means there isn’t really a well-defined meta. This wildly contrasts Worlds, where we saw teams play on the same patch for almost two months.
My favorite thing about this patch is that you can make meaningful adjustments on the fly based on the compositions of the team. My other favorite thing about this patch is that I’m a dirty pre-rework Nidalee main who loves poke champions. One way to think about a poke meta is that it’s about spacing -- you need to be able to move in order to juke. And in order to have the freedom to move, you need good zone control. The TLDR of this is simple: ban Zoe.
And the team that’s done that better? Technically, the LPL has banned it more -- the LMS hasn’t banned it once (though they’ve picked it twice, and it’s never been picked against them). The LPL has let Zoe slip through twice and they paid the price for it one of those times. The LMS, on the other hand, actually hasn’t even had to ban it because other people ban it against them. They seem to have the better mastery of Zoe. And as such the nod goes to them.
LMS: 2
LPL: 1
Question 4: Which team has the perpetual second place finisher?
At a glance, you would say Uzi, who has never managed to win a domestic or international title with his team. But if you slow down, you would realize that the Flash Wolves actually win everything in the LMS, and there are 3 not-Wolves on the LMS team. Which means the LMS team has three perpetual second place finishers. Which means the LPL has the edge here.
LMS: 2
LPL: 2
Question 5: Which team wants it more?
The LPL has made it clear they want to win this event -- they’ve been practicing for weeks already. In contrast, Bebe told me, “So the previous ASE, we tried hard and practiced and everything but it didn’t come with a good result. So this year we changed it up to be more relaxed and have more fun to have less pressure. So we’ve performed a lot better.”
I don’t think either are necessarily the correct approach for an event like this. Even with practice, it’s not like you’re going to develop some insane synergy in a couple of weeks. So how do you quantify “want?” For that, I look to the fans. The studio in Los Angeles is filled with Chinese fans (it’s probably way over half the audience) rooting for their team. And they definitely want the win.
LMS: 2
LPL: 3
The LPL All-Stars are thus the favorite to win the 2017 All-Star Event.
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Bonus Question: Which player will win the 1v1 Tournament?
In my seriously not serious 1v1 tournament power ranking, I had Uzi topping the ranking primarily because he won it last year. I had Bjergsen at 11, which might seem like a low number, but those of you with astute observational skills will note that in order to be rank 11, you need to have two 1s. And two 1s is more than one 1, which means Bjergsen will win the 1v1 tournament.
Bonus Shout-out: To Kra, who had to request leave from the police force to come to LA
SEA’s support Charles Teo “Kra” Yaowei said this to me about his journey to the ASE: “To be honest, me coming to All-Stars was quite a struggle as well. I had issues with my work because it was so last minute. I work in the police force, so applying for leave last minute is nearly impossible. I had to pull quite a lot of strings to get here. But ever since I started competitive about 3 years ago, I’ve been wanting to play in a Riot event, so I tried very hard. I asked my colleague to swap dates with him and fortunately he said okay.”
This, to me, makes Kra the ultimate winner of the 2017 ASE event.
The 2017 All-Star Event concludes today at 3:00 pm PT. Be sure to tune in to see who wins!
Kien Lam is a content producer for Lolesports. You can find more awful great jokes and commentary on his Twitter @meanmisterkien.
