Groups
Singapore/Malaysia has always been floating around the middle of the pack, with the Singapore Sentinels being the most successful. As for the Philippines, teams have always been struggling hard with finding success. With new incoming teams for each country, how will this shake up the dynamic of the GPL?
| Group A | Group B |
|---|---|
 ahq e-Sports Club | Azubu Taipei Assassins |
| Azubu Taipei Snipers | yoe Flash Wolves |
 Imperium Pro Team | Manila Eagles |
 Insidious Gaming | Singapore Sentinels |
 Bangkok Titans |  Saigon Fantastic Five |
| Saigon Jokers | Full Louis |
Qualifier Record: 7-3
Most Picked in Qualifier:
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Yuuki "Yukz" Tsuchiya
Elvis "Knut" Zhao
Marvin Dan "Chock" Mansilungan
Josef Adrian "H4T3" Cabero
Gerald Gianne "Tgee" Gelacio
With the exemption of the Winter Season, the Manila Eagles are up there with SGS as pioneer members of GPL. Though the roster turns in and out like a revolving door, the brand has become a symbol of the Philippines trying to make a mark in the competitive LoL scene in Southeast Asia. That is, of course, until Mineski qualified in the National Tournament due to another team being unable to travel (this bit is important). Now that Kaigu and co. have tasted what MLE strived to do all this time, their identity as The Philippine Team has been compromised, and they would have to do something big for the Eagles to make themselves known once more.
As for the roster, there were a few changes when compared to MLE's lineup the last time we've seen them in the GPL. The AD Carry, Neil "VYY" San Juan leaving the team, moving jungler Josef Adrian "H4T3" Cabero to ADC. Judge Gideon "Astarte" Cruz was traded for Gerald Gianne "Tgee" Gelacio of Mineski, a move that would prove fatal for Cruz. Elvis "Knut" Zhao comes in to fill up the empty jungler position.
The Philippine qualifier for GPL Spring 2014 was quite interesting. Instead of a long-running tournament that ends in a bracket, what happened was the top six teams from the Season 3 Qualifiers would fight in a double round robin. The top two teams with the most wins would represent the country. MLE dropped only three games: once to CMStorm, and twice to Imperium Pro Team.
This iteration of the Manila Eagles focuses a lot on the laning phase. They prefer farming up for quite some time, making small advantages slowly happen. The big plays only come out when they are confident in their core items. However, as seen during their last performances in the GPL, this makes them highly predictable. MLE becomes highly vulnerable to hyper-aggression and early dives, rattling the team's morale right before the rotations begin.
While the three "original" members play solid, there are two big issues right now for MLE. One is newcomer Knut, and the other (which I think is more important) is Tgee. Astarte was well-known in SEA to use high-risk champions such as Blitzcrank, meaning Tgee would have to fill some big playmaking shoes if he wants MLE to win. While his synergy with former partner Eric Allen "Exo" Gubatan was stellar, he needs to repeat that performance, even top that.
Expected Placement: 5th-8th
Qualifier Record: 10-0
Most Picked in Qualifier:
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Jordan "Hero" Pamintuan
Kurt "Rebengga" Cristobal
Roybie "Light" Segovia
Jyro "Fear" Pascual
Zherluck "Hatred" Tolentino
While virtually unknown outside the country, many fans consider them to be the best team in the Philippines right now. And while "Imperium Pro Team" might sound new, "Team Exile", their former name, definitely isn't. This is the team that should've been the Philippine representatives for the Season 3 SEA Qualifiers. They were the ones who swept that tournament without dropping a single game. Now, they finally have the chance to prove their mettle against the best Southeast Asia and the Taiwan/HK/Macau region have to offer.
They qualified for their spot by repeating their stellar run: sweeping the competition away 10-0 in the double round robin. This team started out as a band of free agents. In fact, "Exile" originated from the fact they they were from different teams before getting together. Those who know their GPL history might be familiar with Kurt "Rebengga" Cristobal, who played for the Manila Eagles before. The roster barely changed since the team's six-month run, with only the addition of Rogie "Shadow" Dela Cruz.
One of the team's biggest strengths is the mid/jungle combo of Roybie "Light" Segovia and Rebengga. Light has proven to be one of the most versatile midlaners out there, able to adjust his pick to whatever the team needed. During the qualifiers, he has picked Nidalee, Gragas, Orianna, and Riven, and has shown immense skill with each of them. Rebengga, leaning towards strong ganking champions such as Jarvan IV and Elise, compliments Light by allowing him to snowball with ganks, which in turn would be able to help other lanes. Another strong player to look out for is Jyro "Fear" Pascual. While he is an AD carry with a big champion pool, he plays a mean Draven. He is able to decimate his opponents for as long as he gets to attack freely. Of course, getting free hits might pose a problem if his opponents decide to dive him.
While we are on the subject of dives, this is a possible chink in their armor. In the current Philippine meta, teams prefer a long, or at least decent laning phase and standard laning. If lane swaps occur or teams go super aggressive early on, IPT might have a rough time bouncing back in the game. While they have shown great coordination, they lack the experience their fellow SEA opponents have, which might prove to be a disadvantage. Still, their solid mechanics and stable roster could just be enough for them to at least survive their group.
Expected Placement: 5th-8th
Qualifier Record: 2-3
Most Picked in Qualifier:
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Lim Zhi "Zappy" Ping
Ryan "windowlicka" Wong
Lim "ly4ly4ly4" Yang
Bala Lew Jen "CrazyPine" Wei
Alvin "Vera" Ang
Insidious Gaming Exile is the other wildcard this season. While they are new to the GPL, they certainly aren't in the SG/MY local scene. They have consistently placed high in tournements around their country. The only reason that they aren't seen fighting as the Singaporean representives is that the spots are previously taken by the Singapore Sentinels. Now that the qualifiers for Singapore and Malaysia are merged, ISG finally got their opportunity at a bigger stage to show off their skills at The Legends Circuit Summer.
Taking out KLH right off the bat, they won their way towards the grand finals, managing to dodge SGS along the way due to the team falling down to the loser's bracket in the first round to KTHXBAI. However, even with a one-win advantage, the GPL veterans managed to sweep them in the best-of-five grand finals. Game 1 was a stomp, while the second and third were close matches, ISG losing only through poor teamfights.
What can be said about ISG's run during the qualifier however, is that they have shown potential in various aspects of the game. From the games shown at the TLC Grand Finals, the team has been impressive with objective control. They constantly have good dragon timings, the global gold they get compensating for their occasional laning mistakes. They also adapt well to 2v1 laneswaps, a strategy not as commonly used in SEA in comparison to other regions.
If there were to be a star player I'd consider in ISG, it would be jungler and team captain Ryan "Windowlicka" Wong. He is a great roamer, able to set up ganks all around the map. He tends towards champions with fast clearing such as Nocturne and Lee Sin, even building Wriggle's Lantern on them just to speed up the process even further. He has also proven to be a strong clutch player, able to steal baron out of SGS' Harleluyar's hands during the grand finals. While those games ended in defeat for him and his team, it proved that they could still go toe-to-toe with the best when the pressure is on.
With all that said, there is one big factor that will prevent them from going through the bracket: the roster itself. As of this writing, only Windowlicka and AD Carry Bala Lew Jen "CrazyPine" Wei are the only members who played in The Legends Circuit Grand Finals. The other members came from ISG Exile's sister teams, Legends and Rebirth, and for some reason all three teams turned into a big pool of players. This can be a big detriment to the team's success, as it is basically a newly-formed team going into the GPL. Thus, I am not confident in the team's chances of making it far into the tournament, unless the members immediately get in sync with Windowlicka leading the charge. But with their group composed of mostly veterans and high-ranking teams, it is doubtful whether they will be able to get it together in time before they crumble to the pressure and competition.
Expected Placement: 9th-12th
Qualifier Record: 6-1
2014 GPL Winter Placing: 5th-8th
Most Picked in Qualifier:
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At this point, GPL fans should already know that the Singapore Sentinels will do well. Not great, but not terrible either. Just well. And I am saying that because while SGS has been consistently in the top rankings ever since GPL started in 2012, the highest the team achieved is 2nd. They seem to always lack that one last push that will get them to the top. there is also that "curse" that seems to be happening to them during the World Qualifiers, where they keep losing to the team that they knock to the loser's bracket. But that's a different story.
Nevertheless, the Singapore Sentinels is one of the most well-known SEA teams around the world, having competed in many international tournaments such as IPL. In terms of their local success, while they were immediately knocked into the loser's bracket by KTHNXBAI during the grand finals of TLC, they were able to run it all the way back, sweeping everybody, including the just-discussed Insidious Gaming Exile.
There is no doubt that Wong "Chawy" Xing Lei is glue that holds this team together. Considered one of the best midlaners in SEA, he has also proven to be a versatile player, jumping between mid and ADC during the team's various roster changes. His ability to make plays and his affinity to high impact mages make him a formidable foe. The most dangerous part of him however, is his immense midlane champion pool. While he was having a few picking problems when he was ADC, he is impossible to ban out in mid. Just recently at TLC, he kept pulling out Brand and carried the team with it. Because of this, he is difficult to scout unless the opponent already has a clue what comp SGS is playing.
The Southeast Asian meta focuses a lot on massive teamfights, and SGS excels in that regard. With all the experience they accumulated from past GPLs and various tournaments abroad, they have become a group of battle-hardened summoners that could easily assess and adapt to any situation given, whether it be a fast push, a 2v1 lane swap, or a wombo combo. That said, more than half of SGS' success relies on Chawy getting fed, and when he goes down, everybody follows suit. Although Fan "Kryonics" Kai has proven to help Chawy carry the team, we shall see this season if he becomes as big of a threat.
Similar to ISG, SGS also underwent a roster shuffle. Their jungler, Jason "Harleluyar" Koh Wei Hao moved to support, benching Romulus "Kailing" Tham Yuan Xing in the process. Replacing Harleluyar is newcomer Daniel "DDan" Lua Pin Ren. Whether this benefits them or not is still up in the air. But pased on past changes, SGS has always managed to get by, and with their superstar back in his most comfortable position, you can expect them to do well again this season. Possibly even better.
Expected Placement: 5th-8th
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