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Having clinched first and second place, Azubu Taipei Snipers and Assassins try out new strategies. Meanwhile, Ozone Taiwan gains its first win and HKA takes the lead in the race to secure the final slot into GPL.
Garena began qualifiers for the first season of League of Legends Nova League, the regional professional League of Legends league for Taiwan, Macau, and Hong Kong, in September. This will be the first competitive league specifically for the region. The top seven of twelve teams in the preliminary round robin will qualify for the Nova League. The top three will qualify for the Southeast Asian Garena Premier League. Because Gamania Bears placed first in the spring regional tournament and participated in the Season Three World Championships, they have already secured themselves a slot in both the next season of GPL and Winter LNL.
For the past four weeks of qualifiers, Azubu Taipei Snipers and Azubu Taipei Assassins have proven their dominance over the region, the Snipers accumulating a 9-0 win-loss record, and the Assassins losing only one game and winning the other nine. As a result, they have clinched slots in the Nova League and Garena Premier League. Week Four of the qualifiers saw both teams taking advantage of their position to experiment. Azubu Taipei Snipers ran Karma support for the first time against Hong Kong's You Can't Stop Me, and Kog'maw, a less popular marksman, in their game against Taiwan's GIA, picks they have not ran in the qualifiers so far. Azubu Taipei Assassins, meanwhile, played a three man smite, triple bruiser composition, with their marksman and Season Two Champion, Bebe, on AP Nidalee in an objective-focused strategy. While neither of these compositions were perfectly executed, they still resulted in victories.
Both Team Ozone Taiwan and Energy Peacemaker.Fearless began the week without a win under their belts. While neither team can hope to place into the Nova League, their faceoff proved an opportunity to avoid the very bottom of the bracket. Team Ozone defeated Fearless handily with a final score of 24-6, taking their first win.
While the Azubu teams have secured spots in Garena, the third slot is still hotly contested by HK Attitude, You Can't Stop Me, and ahq. HK Attitude brought themselves to the top of the pack by winning all three of their games this week, and they have their eyes on the prize.
There is still one week of the qualifiers for LNL remaining, and you can learn more on the Nova League website and watch them duke it out in vods on the Garena Youtube channel.
Source: Nova League Taiwan
