Intel Extreme Masters World Championship Preview

Finally, after all of the LCS action we are back to our first international tournament in what seems like ages, and what better event than he Intel Extreme Masters World Championship? If there's anything that this long pause of international competition has given us then it's definitely the underdog potential. Expect the unexpected and for results to go haywire. Commonly, those participating in leagues may have more tournament practice than their opposing teams, but they don't have the time to study and focus exclusively on the event like some of the non-LCS teams are privileged with.

Group A

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Gambit Gaming are still riding as high as ever -- IEM Season VI Champions and have yet to lose an IEM event they attended recently Their dominance is such that the community cries ‘slump’ after a single dropped game. They are currently 9-2 and topping the ranking in LCS EU, their last IEM event saw a 2-0 against what is now CJ Frost, then another 2-0 against CJ Blaze to take 1st.

However, GG’s dominance might be their downfall. They are the team to beat - especially for their opponents in group A - and weekly LCS matches squeeze their ability to innovate dry. The Korean teams in group A, LG-IM and CJ Blaze, have yet to show their hands since their last IEM event, and they are sure to bring their best strategies to advance to the playoffs.

Fnatic has been a dominant force in the European League of Legends scene since the end of Season 2. What was once a team with much performance to be desired has now since erupted after their weak period and relives their former glory from Season 1.

However, with preparing full force for the LoL Championship Series, it’s very possible that their lack of focus on study into the IEM teams may be their demise. If any team is capable of innovating on the fly versus any opposing force, it’d have to be Fnatic. If Fnatic doesn’t win the tournament outright, you can expect to see exciting teams, never knowing what sOAZ might pull out in the top lane with a chance of xPeke teleporting into the opposing base and wreaking havoc.

CJ Entus Blaze, formerly Azubu Blaze, are an incredibly strong team which basically debuted the dawn of Korean teams into the eyes of foreigners. Though statistically slightly weaker than their brother team on an international scale, they are still widely feared on a broad scale.

Blaze, with the exception of their top laner, has remained a static roster with strong and noteworthy players in every lane. Their bottom lane, often not so noteworthy, has improved drastically in a relatively short amount of time. Their jungler ‘Helios’ often does not get the attention he deserves and is definitely one of the playmakers and highlights to the team’s dominance.

Incredible Miracle enters the brawl after taking 1st place at IEM Sao Paulo against Anexis Gaming. Having only lost one game in the entire tournament, LG-IM is certainly not out of their league and can contend among the rest. Typically being regarded as weaker than some of the other top teams hailing from Korea, they will get their chance to either prove themselves worthy to fight amongst the top dogs, or they will falter.

Though they’ve recently lost their jungler “Ring Troll”, they are using Livy, which will either bolster their strength or cause them to be lost in a sea of unfamiliarity. EIther way, we’ll be seeing a Korean underdog play against some of the top teams in the world to see if they can stabilize themselves into the A grade professional world.

paiN Gaming is the only team in the tournament representing and hailing from Brazil. Though they failed to make it out of the Group Stages at Sao Paulo, they are statistically the strongest team in Brazil. Not only that, but they are one of the few recognizable names that players can relate to internatonally

Crushing all opposition in the Go4LoL championships, paiN strikes fear in the heart of their local comrades. They also have the advantage of not loading preparation into the LCS. Will they be able to strike fear in the hearts of enemies on an international scale as well?

Finally, we have Millenium. Millenium has displayed a strong performance in the European LCS qualifier, only narrowly not making it into the official LCS. Don’t let their lack of qualification deceive you, though, as they’ve shown time and time again they can compete consistently with the top teams.

Millenium is another team that has the advantage of avoiding any consistent leagues, which will lead them to a deceptive advantage against the other participating teams. While others have practiced for the LCS, Millenium has been most likely studying all of the teams to a T.



Group B

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SK Telecom T1 hails a team full of legends with a long stream of players and home to
the world famous SlayerS_`BoxeR`. Sporting many renowned gods from the Brood War saga, they look to continue with the same prestige in League of Legends. Taking first at IEM Cologne, SKT1 is a force to be reckoned with.

Introduced most recently to the line-up is top lane powerhouse Reapered. Assuming SKT1 makes it through the group stage, CJ Entus Blaze may just heavily regret the loss of Reapered as his flexibility and strength knows no bounds. However, with the likes of many other powerful teams in their group, they’ve got a handful to deal with to ascend to that point.

MeetYourMakers may have dropped the ball in qualifying for the EU Championship Series, but they are still a very strong Polish team that cannot be counted out. Sporting an entirely Polish roster, Meet Your Makers made it to the IEM World Championships by taking first at IEM Singapore, beating the then-existing Absolute Legends NA team.

MeetYourMakers has participated in just about every Intel Extreme Masters tournament available, giving them an edge in experience and knowledge over many other participating teams. Despite not being in the LCS, they still represent themselves in the top 20 of our rankings surpassing teams like Royal Club and Team Solomid. Keep your eyes out for these guys to make a comeback, with the burning vengeance of failing to qualify for LCS backing them.

CJ Entus Frost is by far the most consistent and arguably the most powerful team in all of Korea, only really being compared to NaJin Sword. Frost is a team that has sealed their weak points and has coveted a solidified roster full of strengths with little faults. Once a widespread problem, Woong has improved his map awareness and is now a very strong AD Carry paired up with one of the most dangerous supports in the world, Madlife.

IEM success aside, Frost is also 2nd place in the most recent OGN championships as well as placing second in the Season 2 World Championships. If anything, they want vengeance on Gambit Gaming after taking the title from them at IEM Katowice.

SK Gaming has had its shortcomings but have more than redeemed themselves with recent performances. Although they’ve only participated in one Intel Extreme Masters tournament in Season 7 and dropped out of the group stages, SK gaming has redeemed themselves with recent LCS performance and has shown one of the largest performance growths in a short amount of time.

Like Fnatic, SK gaming is looking to relive its long former glory, having placed 2nd place and only dropping the final game to Counter Logic Gaming at the World Cyber Games in 2010. Though some fans have lost faith in SK gaming and feel its credibility has dropped with every roster swap, the current line-up seems to show a clicking and working atmosphere for the team and they have found the most success now out of several years of play.

Anexis E-Sports falls deaf to the ears of most LoL e-sports enthusiasts, However, this is a team that really should not be underestimated. Considering teams like MeetYourMakers and Millenium participated in IEM Sao Paulo and Anexis still managed to take 2nd place, losing shamelessly to Incredible Miracle, is a feat in and of itself.

Even if Anexis doesn’t make it into the playoffs, do not expect them to wither easily into defeat and submission. They will put up one hell of a fight if they do end up going down. But who knows? We are overdue for a massive upset.

Evil Geniuses needs little to no introduction. Sporting some of the most prolific players in E-Sports history, Evil Geniuses plays consistently exceptional and very rarely shifts far from their dominance. Essentally full of role models and celebrities, EG drives itself to victory with the fuel of its massive fanbase time and time again.

Bearing one of the first slumps in a long time, Evil Geniuses has dropped momentum in the LCS but are still far from removed as a top contending team. With other top teams in the world contending as well as it being an international tournament, Evil Geniuses has potential to redeem themselves and pick the pace back up.