Looks like Koo versus SKT

StoryDuck·Oct 25, 2015·5 votes·1,272 views

and honestly...it's disappointing and boring. Yeah SKT was going to win no matter what but at least it wasn't going to be Koreans versus Koreans. It is more interesting to see two different cultural play styles duke it out rather then 2 of the same. Fanatic are playing terrible in the Semifinals, they are playing so bad it's hard to watch. They have constantly been getting caught out of position and I've watched multiple fights where they try to 2v3 or 3v4. Getting clumped up to get hit by major AoE's not one but multiple times. Hell, they walked in 1 at a time into a 1v5 each thinking they could "clean it up" only to feed Koo more kills...that's...like bronze play 101. They are getting baited repeatedly and they are no longer taking into account double teleport plays! Fanatic played far better then this when against EDG and the second half of group stage...so what the hell happened over the week? I don't feel like Koo is playing better then before it's just that fanatic are tilting hard and are playing worse, way worse, then before.

16 Comments

NiaphimOct 25, 20153 votes

If it's KOO vs SKT I couldn't care less about the outcome. Sure, it will be quality games, high skill level and such, but nothing that can't be seen in the regular LCK season.

StoryDuckOct 25, 20151 votes

Indeed, I can just watch LCK matches to get a pretty good idea how this is going to end.

HiemdolOct 25, 20152 votes

I am not sure what you are saying. In what way does the nationality of a team in the finals of an _international _ tournament effect the excitement for a viewer? You say that two teams being Korean makes the games 'boring', but any more so than knowing who will win? Would including a more nationally diverse set of teams improve the level of play?

Given that in order for two Korean teams to make it to the finals all the others had to fall by the wayside I would say we are going to get the best games we can because the two best teams, as winners, are going to be playing. Sure it is not the most hyped. I think the story of S1 champs vs S3 champs would have been a better hype match. Clearly though Fanatic did not have the polish to make it that far.

You say that in essence Fanatic under performed against Koo, but are you really the better team if you can under perform three games in a row when you need to step it up more then ever?

StoryDuckOct 25, 20151 votes

Koo versus SKT already fight each other in the LCK all the time. Fanatic versus SKT is something that can only be seen at worlds or other special events. Hench, not as entertaining. I can go watch past matches of SKT versus Koo if I want to see how this is going to end.

Also, if you think that their performance was on par today as their games against EDG...well...I don't really see how you could. I wanted to see Fanatic at their best play against SKT at their best. Hell, I would have been happy if fanatic lost to Koo but only if it was a close best of 5. The bottom line is that Fanatic did not play to the best of their abilities and it was very obvious they were on tilt after the first game. The first game was very good and i enjoyed it. They made some mistakes though that cost them the game. I was hopeful they would make a comeback in the following match but...no...instead it was...painful to watch.

HiemdolOct 25, 20151 votes

I did not claim that this series was the best performance from Fanatic. Nevertheless it was the performance that they gave and as such I feel that that level of inconsistency does not need to be in the finals.

More to you point though, if you watch old LCK vods you can see how they end, but not worlds. In the spring Koo (at the time the GE Tigers) were a super dominate team. If you watch those videos you might think they are primed to win.

In NA for example TSM makes it to the finals and ultimately worlds year after year. Does their consistency devalue the experience of seeing if they can do it again? In the EU LCS Fanatic won game after game after game. Did that make their unprecedented run as a new roster any less impressive because they were expected to win?

I do not see how it could. So despite SK T and Koo being teams that have played each other before I will be watching to see how this series ends not how history went. Sure I think Koo will lose, but then again, I think Fanatic would have lost as well.

I can see how if one was a fan of Fanatic the loses, particularly game three could be painful. But saying the finals are not worth watching because there is a favorite to win just sounds salty. Yes they lost because of mistakes, but frankly that is why nearly all games are lost. That is more a matter of fact in how games end not a valid reason why they would make the finals better than watching the team that out performed them.

StoryDuckOct 26, 20151 votes

Oh, I'll still watch the final but now it is not as exciting. I just wish there was more of a show then just stomps and lets be honest, SKT is going to stomp KOO because SKT will not let them get back into the game if they get behind early. Fanatic playing at the level they did when against EDG would have been a much closer match. I concede that they have been playing very inconsistently at worlds and earned their loss but it will not change the fact that they can play better then what they showed today. In a perfect world Fanatic didn't tilt in the semi-finals and made it to worlds at their best state of mind. Instead we have SKT against Koo...and yeah... KOO are not going to win.

EPIKONOct 26, 20151 votes

{quoted}

Koo versus SKT already fight each other in the LCK all the time. Fanatic versus SKT is something that can only be seen at worlds or other special events. Hench, not as entertaining. I can go watch past matches of SKT versus Koo if I want to see how this is going to end.

Also, if you think that their performance was on par today as their games against EDG...well...I don't really see how you could. I wanted to see Fanatic at their best play against SKT at their best. Hell, I would have been happy if fanatic lost to Koo but only if it was a close best of 5. The bottom line is that Fanatic did not play to the best of their abilities and it was very obvious they were on tilt after the first game. The first game was very good and i enjoyed it. They made some mistakes though that cost them the game. I was hopeful they would make a comeback in the following match but...no...instead it was...painful to watch.

Right, just like MSI where SKT beat FNC in the semi-finals.

Unreal.

YCitizenSnipsYOct 25, 20152 votes

So your mad that they performed better as a region than anyone else. If you want to blame anybody blame your own region for not preparing their teams enough to be able to compete with the best region. After all we have heard all year how China was supposed to be the best and how EU had "caught up" to the Koreans. Now that both of those theories have been proving wrong you can't go blaming the better region like some salty hater, you have to take your loss and hope your region does better next year.

StoryDuckOct 26, 20151 votes

Mad? Who's mad? Where did I say I was mad? i think you're reading way too much into this. I actually don't have a problem with LCK being the dominant force. however, having two Korean teams in the finals is kind of disappointing. Fanatic just didn't perform as well in the semi-finals as they did in the quarterfinals. I won't deny they have inconsistencies but the semi-finals was near their worst performance yet. Also, I'm NA not EU. I just wanted to continue to watch rare pro games instead of common ones. LCK has SKT and KOO fight all the time. however, it is only in worlds and other special events that multiple regions compete. If Fanatic played as well as they did against EDG then they could have defeated KOO but they played extremely poorly and were obviously on tilt after losing that first game and certainly on tilt after they gave away FB in the second game.

YCitizenSnipsYOct 26, 20151 votes

You claim that you wanted to see two different regions play to see how their styles match up, well what do you call this semi's? You saw how EU matched up against KR and it ain't good. If FNC had made it to the finals you would have just seen SKT do the same thing to them that KOO did.

I don't see whats so disappointing in the two best teams in the tournament making it to the finals just because they are from the same region. Or how seeing a stomp from KR onto a team form a different would be more entertaining. Haven't we seen that the past 2 worlds?

MySanctuaryOct 25, 20151 votes

The dumb pros need to stop using close-minded picks. That's when they will win a world tournament.

I'm talking about unorthodox yet very viable picks like Heimerdinger, Amumu, Vladmir, Wukong, etc.

Death VizierOct 25, 20151 votes

You call them dumb pros but look at it this way. They are employees at this point. If these "meta" picks are successful then of course they will try to use it. All businesses do this. That plus the fact that they have limited practice with your non-metapicks, they can't just pull these things out without a team being all on board as far as what needs to be done to fill win conditions with the said champion.

NOW this is a game, and the meta picks become meta because theyre are either over tuned or have obvious advantages, OR they a picked up and used in a way that wasn't thought of before and is hard to counter. Veigar and Tahm Kench are prime examples. Look at what incarnation started. Forget who started Tahn Kench but I believe it was Koo. This isn't the first time Gorilla has pulled this crap off. BUT the difference is, they practiced these non-meta picks in scrims and team games. So it's not just easy as saying I'm going with a comfort pick and possibly throwing the game with something unproven because it's strong. It's a huge gamble, but the tradeoff is possibly huge. Teams don't want to gamble like that. They want consistency. For solo que that would be fine since tbh who cares XD

DediguiseOct 25, 20151 votes

There's a huge difference between playing poorly and being outplayed. The greatest danger any player on any level falls into is falling into a pattern of play. Think about climbing solo que. There are certain playstyles that work better at different levels of play. Devourer carrying through silver etc. On a pro level there are far more subtle patterns that teams begin to rely on. Fnatic giving up fb for the first time in the tournament was a huge swing in Koo's favor. And them getting fb in every previous game showed a playstyle that was predicable and therefore led to them being outplayed. Of course they were going to try to gank the fiora, riven lane. Fiora is as much a tempting target to shut down as Riven is to snowball. And this is only 1 predicable behavior they have fallen into.

As for walking into unfavorable matchups, that's a style of play that frequently leads to upsets. How many times have you died trying to dive someone who has incredibly low HP because they had a kit that could outplay you. That is a staple of fnatic's game stlye. KOO created a line up that countered that style of play.

KOO has obviously done their homework. Fanatic has not played mechanically poorly as much as they have become strategically inflexible.

StoryDuckOct 25, 20151 votes

I do not for one moment think that Fanatic played to the best of their ability. It was painfully obvious to me that they were on tilt after that first lost and the loss of FB in the second match. Everything went down hill from there. Their games against EDG were far superior and I feel a better representation of their playing abilities. They have adapted to may different play styles and this time they didn't. They have proved that they know how to play against double and even triple TP comps but this time they didn't. If that doesn't scream "on tilt", then look at all the mistakes they made. They made more mistakes and mechanical errors in this best of 3 then in the rest of their worlds games put together.

BastionKrossOct 25, 20151 votes

To the Koreans, League isn't a merely a hobby or even a job, it's a lifestyle. When you're not practicing League, you're dreaming about practicing League. And then you wake up and eat breakfast while practicing League. It's like some kind of cult or boot camp. They get more hours in LoL in a single day than a lot of casual players do in a week.

And this isn't just one team, it's also their competition. So now you have multiple teams that eat, sleep, and breathe LoL constantly fighting and honing their skills against each other. And then we put those guys up against teams from NA and EU that don't have that kind of insane training regimen and quality opponents, and it looks like child's play. Fanatic are some excellent players that could wipe the floor with almost anyone in the west, but the Koreans are on another level. And after sacrificing so much, they've earned it.

I think that if some NA or EU teams sparred frequently with (and got their butts kicked by) the Korean teams more often, they'd be better players. Since their opponents are such a higher skill level, even losing completely to them would teach NA and EU some things. It's like a silver playing against a diamond; even if the silver loses, he's going to get a lot better by watching that diamond react to his best moves, or even simply mimicking the diamond's moves. It's not a total fix, but I think it would help a lot.

EPIKONOct 26, 20151 votes

I thought it was going to be KT vs SKT in the finals but it is what it is.

Nothing wrong with LCK #1 vs LCK #2 in the finals when they proved they are the two of the best teams in this tournament.