(Photo courtesy of lolesports.com)
These two Chinese heavyweights face off against one another in what is sure to be a hyped up LPL Finals matchup. We give our insight on the series and how each team is primed to succeed.
(Photo courtesy of lolesports.com)
The last game Edward Gaming played was in Round 2 of playoffs, as they swept Snake Esports rather convincingly, showing their towering second place finish (12-4) in Group B on the back of an impressive second half of the regular season was no fluke. In fact, the last time they lost a Best-of series was all the way back in Week 6, when they were defeated by the Qiao Gu Reapers. But in the semi-finals, the last team to defeat EDG was unable to field a full roster due to reported issues with their starting and backup mid laners and was forced to forfeit the match.
As such EDG is coming into these finals with all of their players well rested and ready to take the fight to the rift. They have shown great proficiency at following the meta, playing super tanks in the top lane with carry junglers such as Graves and Nidalee, even throwing in the occasional Lulu in mid to complement the style further. One thing, however, stands out. Tank Ekko in the top lane has been a monster on this patch, but some teams have thrown their opponents for a loop by flexing it to the mid lane, where he’s been built tank by some and full damage by others. That ability to flex such a power pick allows teams to adapt better to the enemy team composition and, in some cases, to counter pick the top lane matchup. EDG is one of those teams. As such, Ekko could very well be a contested pick and might even be ban-worthy against them.
(Photo courtesy of leagueoflegends.pl)
Let’s look at Royal Never Give Up. They secured the first seed in playoffs with a very strong regular season that saw them lose only three Best-of series. Unfortunately for them, one of these losses came to EDG in Week 9 and the meta has not changed much since. While a close series with a 2 to 1 score line, EDG showed better vision control, catching out stray members of RNG multiple times in Games 2 and 3, and better teamfighting, even against RNG’s very strong teamfight compositions.
In their semi-final match against World Elite, we saw them play the meta game just as well as EDG. Where they failed against WE was when going up against the incredible pick potential of the Bard-Twisted Fate combo in Game 3. WE did not even use it to its full potential, using straight teamfights to outplay their opponents. Game 4 saw RNG back in control, barring a great WE baron steal that lost them the game. RNG quickly rectified that mistake, ending their semi-finals against WE with amazing objective control, netting themselves Aspect of the Dragon twice and the lone Baron Nashor in the game to finish off the series.
Verdict
This final is most likely going to come down to teamfighting. Both teams love to pick these amazing compositions that thrive on brawling and smashing themselves into the enemy squad. These teams will make for an amazing final with the winner getting to represent the LPL at the Mid-Season Invitational taking place in China between the 4th and 15th of May.
