Personal Intro
Hey guys! I'm Daxian, the writer of the short Getting to Know Royal reddit post a while back. Unfortunately I never finished the rest of that series due to a heavy workload in my life. From now on I will be writing a lot more coverage of League of Legends with a focus on the Chinese competitive scene. I would love comments and feedback!
Introduction to WCG China
Though missed by much of the Western LoL community, WCG China was an extremely telling tournament. With a full group stage and brackets, WCG China was reminiscent of IPL5 (unfortunately not double-elimination). This format allowed for an incredible breadth of games between many of China's top teams. The performance and even composition of Royal after Season 3 Worlds, the reign of OMG, and the placement of the old guard WE and iG were all on the line.
Groups
Courtesy of Leaguepedia
Group A:
Royal shows that they are still a top tier team, even with a weird roster and many career issues on their minds since they beat Positive Energy (a very good team).
PE is still very close to the top level, a trend shown throughout LPL summer.
Group B:
OMG blasts through the group, though 2-0 from such a powerhouse is expected. RisingStars showing they are a very good amateur team, and definitely one of the most interesting amateur teams in China's vast scene. LMQ suffers from another poor showing, in tune with their 8-13 (#6) placement in LPL summer.
Group C:
IG performs like they should in a very weak group, even in the realm of amateur Chinese teams these teams are not well known. Kx has participated in a few small online tournaments.
Group D:
Livemore comes up big with an upset over WE. Livemore is definitely one of the top teams outside of the LPL, and look a lot better than the Livemore that got relegated after LPL spring (admittedly the roster has seen dramatic changes anyways).
WE looks a bit shakey in groups. While a single game isn't representative of a team's performance, it definitely does not help the reputation and morale of a team that once went 6 months without losing a single set (against any team). Fans of WE were definitely looking forwards to a more forceful showing from China's most beloved team in the rest of the tournament.
Brackets
?Courtesy of Leaguepedia
Quarters:
The first set played is one that is simple but very interesting. Royal gives RisingStars their ticket home in a convincing 2-0 fashion. Coming off of a consistent group performance Royal is looking very flexible.
The second set is a real grudge match. iG and WE have traditionally had the biggest fanbases in China and an intense rivalry. Overall, the match is akin to a Eastern version of CLG vs TSM. WE manages to pull off a close 2-1 win over iG, proving that they are back in form and making up for their rather lackluster standing in group stage.
Positive Energy puts up a good fight against OMG, arguably the best team in China. There's not much to be said other than applauding PE for their innovativeness and cohesion in winning one game.
Livemore stomps Kx.Happy away in a lopsided 2-0 -- an unsurprising result after LM revealed their strength in the upset victory over World Elite.
Semis:
Royal and WE both give their all in a brutal 2-1 set in favor of WE. This is perhaps the most influential set in all of WCG China. It directly pits WE, the old guard, against Royal, a team that until recently has always been cursed with standings around 4th. Royal bans Sion against WE in all three games, and this is only one of the many unorthodox picks and bans between these two titans.
OMG quickly sends Livemore home in a mechanical 2-0 series. Again, like LM winning against Kx, there's not much to be analyzed or reported other than LM simply getting outmatched by OMG, a team that is always at the top of their game.
Third Place:
Livemore and Royal face off in the 3rd place match. Neither team really played at peak potential because the 3rd place match does not offer anything important at stake. Royal wins 2-0 even with Uzi jungling and a sub (quiet) on ADC. I found this a very strange choice that when they used a sub to cover for Lucky's absence in the jungle, instead of directly sending the sub to the jungle, they chose to put the sub on ADC and have Uzi, one of the best ADC's in the world, move to jungle. Uzi actually plays a very potent Elise, and GoDLiKE's consistent Shen play help propel Royal into a victory.
Finals:
OMG stomps the best China has to offer in a quick 2-0 set against WE. Similar to the 3rd place match, this match was not really important as top 2 seeds go to WCG, so perhaps neither team played their hearts out. WE played well despite huge early plays by OMG creating a commanding lead. OMG's early game strategy has definitely not lost any of its sharpness. WE responds appropriately with a rather well executed turtle and survives another 4-5 skirmishes (creating even trades overall) despite being down by 3k gold at 10 min. Finally though, after a few slightly misshapen fights by WE would ensure that OMG never truly lost the driver's seat, OMG was able to get a good fight off, grab baron and a tower, and then steamroll through WE's base. However, beating teams like iG and Royal shows that WE has come from looking like just another "top" team to solidly right behind OMG, one step closer in their mission to regain the crown of China -- and the world.
Thoughts:
The line-up of OMG and WE as top 2 in China in many ways signals a return to normalcy, as OMG has long since dominated the LPL (spring + summer), and WE was the undisputed king from S2 Worlds to S3 (especially IPL5). Royal again becomes just another of the periphery teams of the Chinese crown, though this is still a huge improvement from the Summer and especially Spring splits, and even more so since Uzi is jungling and their ADC (quiet) is a sub. Teams like iG and PE show that they are ever ready to give the top few a killing for their spot if they waver in the slightest.
Interesting Picks:
Quarters WE vs iG Game 3 (WE picks Sion)
Semis Royal vs WE G1, G2, G3 (RYL ban Sion)
Finals OMG v WE G1, G2 (sion ban by OMG)
Semis OMG vs LM G1 (OMG pick Olaf)
Finals WE vs OMG G1 (OMG pick Olaf)
Quarters Rstars vs Royal (Royal last picks Akali)
GosuGamers' Focus on China:
Much of the crew of GosuGamers has noticed a lack of coverage on the incredibly diverse and complex Chinese scene. So, in an holisitic format spearheaded by myself and the rest of the League of Legends crew, GosuGamers will be featuring Chinese content regularly in the near future. This will include both weekly recaps of developments in the scene as well as deep-level analysis of tournaments, sets, and trends. We hope GG.net will be the place for the Western League of Legends community read about the mammoth Chinese scene and increase the exposure of the scene in a huge way.
