The Recap: LPL Playoffs
Riot·5/27/2014, 8:35:27 PM·1 votes·445 views
In the long playoff weekend, Invictus Gaming followed the formula laid out by Edward Gaming at International Esports Tournament in order to win by targeting xiyang. World Elite showed signs of innovation, but apparent inexperience. And then EDG crushed iG in the most convincing set of the playoffs, making NaMei the first player to take home two LPL championship titles.
Though his Kog’Maw game in the grand finals wasn’t a shining point, Kid’s positioning and damage output were a big part of iG’s victories over OMG. OMG often falls behind, but their late game control is usually unrivaled, allowing them to get back in it. Kid would have none of that, as he consistently found better positioning than san and allowed iG to retain their leads.
ClearLove
When the official approached Fzzf to hand him the playoff trophy, Fzzf pointed to ClearLove, letting his captain take the prize. ClearLove certainly earned it. He has made massive strides since the beginning of the split, finding lanes to gank and placing wards. Though EDG’s quality of wards needs some work, the awareness and quantity has improved, and that’s a huge part of what allowed them to win this weekend.
NaMei
NaMei is now the only person to take the stage as an LPL Playoff champion twice. Against iG, NaMei acquired hefty farm advantages, found solo kills, and managed to stay alive even when he had two tanks zoning him away from the rest of his team. His second win could just be a coincidence, but his presence has seemed like a massive contributing factor to his team’s success two splits in a row.
Throughout most of the split, Edward Gaming has been LPL’s comeback kings. They’ve had the longest average game time of any team in LPL and have struggled to find their footing in the early game, giving up key objectives and only claiming wins off Baron fights. This weekend, they not only adapted well to WE’s new composition, but they destroyed iG three times in a row. Though iG has never taken a game from EDG, the matches in the regular split were always close. This weekend, EDG forced a surrender vote a little more than twenty minutes in.
After losing to mid lane targeting in IET and at All Stars to SK Telecom T1 K, one would hope OMG would have enough time to fix some of their problems—or at least help out xiyang with a mid lane ward. Once again, however, iG was able to abuse OMG’s newly-exposed weakness and knock them into the third place match. Against WE, they showed some signs of life and didn’t fall for the same stunt again, but they still lacked their former control. OMG has some work to do before the summer split begins.
For updates on 2014 LPL Summer, check out lolesports.com.
HIGHLIGHT GAMES
OMG vs Invictus Gaming 1 Taking a page from EDG’s book after they defeated OMG at IET, iG focused xiyang in Champion Select by banning two of his trademark mid lane champions. Then, they made him the center of attention in game by sending both illuSion and Kitties to gank the mid lane. An intelligent laneswap also prevented Gogoing’s Kha’Zix from getting going, and OMG crumbled. Though iG lost the second game due to carelessness, they employed the same strategy in the third game to send OMG packing and continue the tradition of regular season winners failing to take the playoff title. Edward Gaming vs World Elite 1 Though Edward Gaming ultimately won this best-of-three with superior Baron control and a smart adaptation to World Elite’s composition, WE showed the initial results of their new Korean coach in the first game. They ran a disengage-focused composition and relied on controlling areas and finding picks early. Without a strong engage tool to turn the tides, EDG looked helpless as WE found kills and objectives for free. Unable to modify their composition when EDG brought long range engage tools and their own disengage in the next game, WE revealed they still have a lot to learn. Edward Gaming vs Invictus Gaming 3 Despite some hints of frustration from Invictus Gaming’s end, this game went very similarly to the first and second of the series. ClearLove, showing that he’s a strong contender for most-improved player of the split, zeroed in on the escape-less Kog’Maw in the bottom lane and placed a fair amount of pink wards to keep control for return visits. Everywhere ClearLove went, resulted in a kill and NaMei’s positioning allowed him to stay alive even when he was separated from his compatriots.TOP PERFORMERS OF THE WEEK
Kid
Though his Kog’Maw game in the grand finals wasn’t a shining point, Kid’s positioning and damage output were a big part of iG’s victories over OMG. OMG often falls behind, but their late game control is usually unrivaled, allowing them to get back in it. Kid would have none of that, as he consistently found better positioning than san and allowed iG to retain their leads.
ClearLove
When the official approached Fzzf to hand him the playoff trophy, Fzzf pointed to ClearLove, letting his captain take the prize. ClearLove certainly earned it. He has made massive strides since the beginning of the split, finding lanes to gank and placing wards. Though EDG’s quality of wards needs some work, the awareness and quantity has improved, and that’s a huge part of what allowed them to win this weekend.
NaMei
NaMei is now the only person to take the stage as an LPL Playoff champion twice. Against iG, NaMei acquired hefty farm advantages, found solo kills, and managed to stay alive even when he had two tanks zoning him away from the rest of his team. His second win could just be a coincidence, but his presence has seemed like a massive contributing factor to his team’s success two splits in a row.
SURPRISE OF THE WEEK
Edward Gaming’s dominance
Throughout most of the split, Edward Gaming has been LPL’s comeback kings. They’ve had the longest average game time of any team in LPL and have struggled to find their footing in the early game, giving up key objectives and only claiming wins off Baron fights. This weekend, they not only adapted well to WE’s new composition, but they destroyed iG three times in a row. Though iG has never taken a game from EDG, the matches in the regular split were always close. This weekend, EDG forced a surrender vote a little more than twenty minutes in.
DISAPPOINTMENT OF THE WEEK
OMG hasn’t adapted
After losing to mid lane targeting in IET and at All Stars to SK Telecom T1 K, one would hope OMG would have enough time to fix some of their problems—or at least help out xiyang with a mid lane ward. Once again, however, iG was able to abuse OMG’s newly-exposed weakness and knock them into the third place match. Against WE, they showed some signs of life and didn’t fall for the same stunt again, but they still lacked their former control. OMG has some work to do before the summer split begins.
For updates on 2014 LPL Summer, check out 