MSI Day 4: Fighting back
Day 4 of the 2016 Mid-Season Invitational saw teams bounce forward in some cases, and a few steps backwards in others. With only one day to go until the end of the double Round Robin, teams are fighting to stay in control and earn a top 4 seed for their region at the 2016 World Championship.
Korea's SKTelecom T1 win just in time
It’s taken them two days, but Korea's SKTelecom T1 have finally shown signs of life again in their victory over North America’s Counter Logic Gaming at the 2016 Mid-Season Invitational. With their recent run of form, it’s probably the best birthday present that Faker could have asked for.
So, happy birthday, champ!
There was a big question mark hanging over Day 4, and this match in particular. SKT’s unprecedented losing streak caused many to question if the World Champions had tilted to beyond the point of no return, or if there was still a beating heart buried somewhere deep down. CLG was living up to their counter logic namesake, losing to Turkey's SuperMassive and then beating SKT in the previous days.
So if you had asked us who the favorite was going into this match -- we would have struggled to give you a conclusive answer.
“For the past three days we’ve played worse than we have ever since our debut,” Faker said. “Even though I had confidence, we didn’t play good enough.”
It was CLG who exerted the early pressure in the match. Some slick Bard moves from Aphromoo and a great ultimate on Aurelion Sol from Huhi secured the First Blood. Kills were traded back and forth and the game could have easily swung in either direction. Duke edged out an advantage over Darshan, while Stixxay averaged a good 20-30 CS up on Bang.
Though, in the end, it was the birthday boy himself that proved the difference. Faker’s Zilean put in some serious work. It was the first time the Chrono Keeper's been picked at MSI, and Faker used him to zone CLG’s aggression and keep both himself and his teammates alive with some clutch ultimates.
The turning point came when a Baron play from CLG went awry. They secured Baron, but lost three kills and a mid inhibitor turret in the process. Then, instead of consolidating their loss, they went aggressive, pushing bot lane and grabbing another tower. A poorly played team fight from CLG gave SKT all the advantage they needed to quickly run down mid lane and close out the game.
“It was important that we broke our losing streak because if we didn’t, it would jeopardize our chance of getting to the next stage of MSI," Faker said. "We had a lot of support from our team.”
As we get closer to the end of the Round Robin stage, things are getting tight. The only thing that’s certain is that China's Royal Never Give Up will be in the Semifinals, and that they've secured a top four seed for Worlds 2016.
As SKT and CLG now inch closer and closer to the same amount of wins, it sets up an interesting tiebreaker scenario. Depending on how Europe performs for the rest of the Round Robin, it could be a tiebreaker that decides the fate of their regions.
Counter Logic Gaming slays China's dragons
North America's Counter Logic Gaming has delivered the first blow to China’s Royal Never Give Up, beating them in an unbelievable come-from-behind victory here at the 2016 Mid-Season Invitational. With that win, CLG have confirmed their spot in the Semifinals (alongside RNG) and secured a top four seed for North America at Worlds 2016.
For RNG, it’s a small blemish on an otherwise impeccable record. For CLG, it is huge moment in the history of the organization -- and a continuation of their truly counter logic performance here in Shanghai. Today they lost to the underperforming SKTelecom T1 at lunch and beat the undefeated RNG just in time for dinner.
“I think we're all really strong mentally and we knew our loss against SKT came down to a really minor mistake," explains CLG's AD carry Stixxay. "After the Baron, we didn't walk out together and that was literally the reason we lost the game. Then we fought a fight we shouldn't have fought. So, we knew it wasn't a bad game from us, it was just a very small thing that lost us the game."
"Even if it's a really bad game, I don't think any of us tilt at all," he continues. "We're always able to mentally reset for the next game, so it felt like a fresh game.”
It’s not just the fact that they beat RNG -- it’s how they beat RNG. To say that CLG were behind would be a travesty of an understatement. At one point they were 17k gold down. They had two waves of Super Minions on their Nexus turrets and were down four Dragons. Then, after a team fight in their own base and some overly aggressive play by Wuxx on Lucian, the match completely flipped on its head.
“The moment we knew we were winning was in the base fight -- I just remember Lucian Flashed then used E on top of me, and he was super aggressive. We pretty much knew they were getting really greedy, especially with their positioning," says Stixxay. "After that fight, we were able to 5 vs. 5 them and we knew that the only way they could win was split pushing. So we countered that, grouped as five, and they couldn't beat us.”
“It was like wow! They're throwing! Oh thank god, they're actually throwing," he laughs.
From there it was RNG’s game to lose. CLG grouped as five and started working their superior team fight composition. Stixxay's Kalista performance was incredible. He’s also putting a claim on being one of the best players of the tournament -- and certainly the best ADC of the tournament.
“I don't think I'm the best player, but I think I'm the best AD carry in this tournament," says Stixxay. "I think individually a lot of Asian AD carries aren't very good, except for Bang. He's the only good one I've played against. The other ones seem like they get carried by their team.”
“Something just kind of clicked with me this tournament. I don't want to be the reason my team's losing. So I just try really hard to improve. I actively know what I'm trying to improve on.”
And improve he has. So what did his coach say to him at the end of the big win? The same thing we probably all would have…
“He just came up, hugged me, and said, 'good stuff, dude.' And I said, 'I have no idea how we won.'”
Tune in tomorrow to Lolesports for the final day of the MSI 2016 Round Robin when the top four seeds for Worlds 2016 will finally be confirmed. And remember to hit us up on Twitter with the #MSI2016 and show your region some love.
