Worlds: Group A preview and predictions

Worlds 2015: Group A – Preview and Predictions

Group A – Survival of the Fittest

One may argue that this group is the weakest among all the groups. Nonetheless, one can also argue that this group is the most dynamic group of all. Generally, the group’s largest competition will fall to the three teams: Counter Logic Gaming, YoE Flash Wolves, and KOO Tigers. Pain Gaming, as the underdogs, must exponentially step up their game in order to show that they also have something to show at the world stage.

The Teams

Photo: LoL eSports Flickr

Counter Logic Gaming (CLG)

About

If you have no faith, why are you guys here? – HotshotGG

The inspirational words from the owner of CLG have taken dreams into reality during the 2015 Summer Split Playoffs as CLG stripped Team Solomid of their reign. CLG fans were filled with emotions as they finally witness the “Golden Age” for CLG. Darshan “ZionSpartan” Upadhyaha and Eugene “Pobelter” Park have shown high aptitudes in their laning phases. Not to mention, the bottom lane duo packs a punch or two during well executed team fights. In addition, CLG demonstrated their talent for controlling objectivesl, which will be instrumental for their fight at Worlds. It is safe to assume that CLG has found their identity as a team, but Jake “Xthimie” Puchero’s visa issue will reap the team with very delicate problems. JaeHyun “Huhi” Choi will fill in Xthimie’s role as a jungler.

Player to Watch

The player we need to observe is, of course, Huhi. Although he is a substitute, Huhi is not a bad player by any means. He is a confident middle laner who did, in fact, play against the best players in Korea in the Challenger ladder (solo queue). The problem is the wet fact that he did not train extensively as a jungler before Xthimie’s announcement of his absence. The major factors that will dictate over Huhi’s performance are the following:

Huhi’s adaptability to jungler champions and jungle routes.
Huhi’s adaptability to team fights and ganks as a jungler.
Huhi’s communication and map vision provision.

Although it won’t be completely Huhi’s fault for the potential disappointments that CLG might create, he holds a large portion of the team’s fate.

Photo: eSports Inquirer

YoE Flash Wolves (YFW)

Coach: Ju-Chih "WarHorse" Chen
Top: Chou "Steak" Lu-Hsi
Jungle: Hau-Hsuan "Karsa" Hung
Mid: Yi-Tang "Maple" Huang
ADC: Jong-Hoon "Kkramer" Ha
Support: Shuo-Jie "SwordArt" Hu

About

The YoE Flash Wolves (YFW) have been infamous in the Southeast Asian eSports community. It goes without saying that they are consistently the second best team after AHQ, a team that demonstrated how relevant the LMS is in the international scene. The team is notorious for being an aggressive team. Jong-Hun “Kkramer” Ha and Shuo-Jie “SwordArt” Hu have been centerpieces of the team. In addition, Yi-Tang “Maple” Huang has been stepping up as a carry every game, showing us just how serious he is when he wants to carry. It is safe to assume that YFW will be one team that CLG and KOO Tigers must watch out for.

Player to watch

The player we should look forward to is SwordArt. Not only one of the best supporters in the LMS, he has shown that he has been crucial to every winning team fight. Teams will probably look to either ban or steal the Alistar pick, which SwordArt favors indefinitely. SwordArt is one of few players who actually influence other lanes consistently as a supporter. It will be interesting to see how SwordArt scales to Aphromoo, the supporter for CLG.

Photo: LoL inven

KOO Tigers (KOO)

About

Our goal is to win. – Pray

The rebuilt team of what seemed to be the “fusion of Najin and Incredible Miracle” had a very interesting ring to it. In fact, even the coach, No-Chul “NoFe” Jeong, is an ex-Najin member. Both teams were known to have talented players during the year 2014. The (HUYA)* Tigers did not look amazing, but the team did show promises of improvement during the winter promotion league. However, it was the spring split when (GE)* Tigers reached their height of success. Learning to ban and pick the meta champions according to the patch, the Tigers reached to the first place of the ladder on top of SKT T1 by utilizing the draft phase to their advantage. The summer split was more or less lackluster compared to the feat the Tigers performed during the spring split. Fortunately for the Tigers, they showed that they are still at the higher end of the food chain in the LCK with their powerful late game presence and team fight potential.

Player to Watch

Kyung-Ho “Smeb” Song is probably the player we should be looking carefully at. This season, he did not play many solo queue games where his highest tier was Master with around 100 League Points. He is shrouded with mystery that only his teammates and his scrim opponents are more or less familiar with. Teams will try to watch every game Smeb played during the LCK season to identify what champions he will try next or what his habits inside the Rift are. However, they will have little to no clue what Smeb will prepare for Worlds. He did play Maokai, Rumble, and Gnar the most, respective to numbers of games he has played with them, but Smeb will have that element of surprise that the western teams will not have.

Photo: LoL BR

Pain Gaming

About

Kabuuuum! – Brazilian LoL Fans (2014)

The Brazilian LoL community is one of the most passionate (if not the most) among the minor regions in the League of Legends community. The passion has driven the players to the best for their fans. Pain Gaming (PG) is no exception. Their participation at Worlds is a major feat already for the Brazilian team. According to Nic Doucet’s article about Pain Gaming, PG has a solid team with the middle laner, top laner, and the ADC leading as the team’s carries. However, as Nic as mentioned in his article, the triple-threat team will need to face problems including gold distribution. By no means, Pain Gaming is a poor team. They have the least experience compared to the other three big fish in the group. As previously mentioned, PG will need to play much better than they did during the Wildcard Tournament.

Player to Watch

Gabriel “Kami” Santos, the Brazilian player dubbed as “the Brazilian Faker,” is the player we will need to look forward to. He has been one of the best players in the high-end NA elo ladder during the first season of League of Legends. His was rated as the “most complete Brazilian player” in the scene. It will be exciting to watch how much of what people have mentioned weigh in Kami's performance as he steps into the world stage.

Predictions:

KOO Tigers 5-1
YoE Flash Wolves 4-2
Counter Logic Gaming 3-3
Pain Gaming 0-6

KOO Tigers do, indeed, look the strongest, having both the experience and the talent to pull it off. They will be the highest priority among all the participating teams in Group A, meaning that they will be scouted against. They will probably play with great confidence, but the reason why I believe that they may lose a game is because of the fact that the other teams are not far off in regards to their level of teamwork and talent. In fact, CLG and the Wolves have outstanding team synergy that have led them this far into the world stage. This, consequently, defines KOO as a team that is not impossible to beat. Teams against the Tigers must look to aggress in the early game to have the leverage to win the late game and objective fights.

I may get a thrashing from my viewers to think like this, but I do, in fact, think that the Wolves will pull it off this year. The Flash Wolves are great at preparing for difficult games. Similar to the Tigers, the Wolves are especially good at preparing for the drafts. If Maple and SwordArt participate in effective roams, they will greatly change the tides of the games. I do think that CLG have a good chance against the Wolves, but I want to also put Huhi into account for my prediction why the Wolves will advance to the Knockout Stage.

Counter Logic Gaming is by far the most hyped team into this group. As I have said earlier, Huhi will be the deciding factor to CLG’s success. CLG is, definitely, not a team to dismiss. They have the talent and synergy to make magic in team fights and objective controls. So far, I am not convinced that Huhi will bring the similar amount of impact that Xmithie offered during the NALCS Playoffs. If Huhi plays with confidence and wit, he can help CLG advance to the Knockout Stage. Since it will be his debut match off the bat at Worlds, I don’t think that Huhi will play as confident as he would for any match that he has ever played.

Genuinely, I am happy for Pain Gaming and their players. They have found the opportunity to participate in the biggest League of Legends stage against some of the best teams in the world. With that said, it will be a difficult journey for the Brazilian team, for their inexperience will be tested. Their best chance at going to the Knockout Stage is to play as aggressive as possible, forcing teams to play without order. It is imperative to learn from their opponents each and every game for both competitive and development reasons.

And there! Do you agree with the predictions? Let us know in the comment section below. Tomorrow, Group B predictions will be posted so stay tuned!

Notes:

*KOO Tigers: changed names from HUYA (2014) to GE (spring 2015) to KOO (current) due to sponsorships
*Drafts: Ban/Pick phase
*Elo: Currently known as MMR. Tool for scoring players in a system.
*Meta: Proficient choice for efficiency

Author

Gosu "GosuGamers" Gamers