Worlds 2015 – Group D Analysis & Predictions

A special thanks to Josh "cuppycakes" Paras for his help in creating this article. Cuppy, as his friends call him, is a Conqueror of Kitties and slayer of teenage girls' hearts. Also, a stand up guy who's really into League of Legends. 

Group D is a very exciting group as far as this year’s Worlds goes. The Group of Death, ‘D is for death’, ‘Dyrus’ Demise’—there are a lot of names already being thrown around for this group, and it’s easy to see why when we look at which teams landed here together. This group is damn well competitive!

The Teams

LGD Gaming

KT Rolster

Team SoloMid

Origen

The Breakdown

When we look at Group D, we can’t help but pay attention to the most popular team in League of Legends history—Team SoloMid. It’s not all clear skies for TSM, as they were grouped up with some of the harshest competitors for the group stage. LGD Gaming and KT Rolster ended their respective splits looking at the top of their form, while TSM’s own regional performance was questionable.
Coupled with the eastern hype though, we have Origen gaming. This ‘rookie’ squad is actually composed of veterans such as Enrique “xPeke” Martinez and Paul “soaZ” Boyer of Fnatic fame. Though they come in as the 3rd seed of their region, they’re unanimously considered to be the 2nd best team out of Europe.

Origen

Origen entered the LCS like an electrical surge, slicing through the EU scene like a maelstrom after their more than convincing Challenger Series performance. They were the squad that showed that even Gods can bleed, giving Fnatic gaming their first two losses of the season during the Finals. They finished off the split second place and managed to nab away a spot at worlds through the Regional Qualifier.

Though they did manage to end the split at the top of the pack, they’ve received some criticism for their faltering performance. Though xPeke is a legend in his own right, he hasn’t been picking up the slack lately. Yes, it’s true that Origen don’t typically play as a mid-centric team. Jasper “Niels” Svenningsen has proven to be a top AD Carry in Europe, and is a force to be reckoned with when paired with Alfonso “Mithy” Aguirre Rodriguez.

However, the fact remains that xPeke will be facing stiff competition in the mid lane, most notably in the form of…

LGD Gaming

Nobody expected LGD to make it to Worlds the way they did. The team put itself on the map by coming second to Edward Gaming, then China’s  undisputed #1 team, in Spring. For them to actually sweep EDG in the semifinals of summer was unheard of.

LGD are the prime example of evolution for a Chinese team. Gone is the identity of China as a perpetual dive and teamfight region. Their map movements are aggressive, yet crisp and well planned. They have Wei “GODV” Zhen manning the mid lane, who many consider to be the best ‘Chinese’ mid laner in the world right now (other top mids in China are in fact Korean). His roam pressure and laning prowess straight out overwhelmed most of the competition in his region.

The team can also boast having a former world champion in their ranks. Gu “Imp” Sung-bin is as sharp as ever, and still spoiled in terms of lane partners. He moved from being with the best Korean support in the world at the time to arguably the best support China has to offer in Chen “Pyl” Bo. Pyl’s role as shot caller and mediator ground the team, and it is under his leadership that LGD swarms the map and smothers their opponents.

KT Rolster

Many may remember KT’s days of being headlined by superstar players such as Ryu “Ryu” Sang-wook and Lee “KaKao” Byung-kwon. But that isn’t the KT Rolster that made it to Worlds this year. KT is now a team grounded on synergy and vision control, a style of play that got them 2nd place overall in Korea’s LCK Champions Summer.

Many will be quick to pinpoint Lee “Piccaboo” Jong-Beom as the mastermind behind KT’s success. A true top tier support and perhaps the most on form in his role coming out of Korea at the moment, Piccaboo has transitioned his time in the prestigious SK Telecom organization into being the primary force behind KT’s objective control, especially with his uncanny coordination with jungler Go “Score” Dong-bin netting the team objective after objective.

KT also have all the right wards in all the right places for a reason. and that reason is Kim “ssumday” Chan-ho. 14 game MVP points puts ssumday ahead of even Faker in MVP points and cements ssumday as the premier top lane carry in Korea. KT’s love of the ward-littered map is to allow ssumday the best possible angle to enter for a teleport play. With other top laners in the group (apart fro soaZ) not being known for their lane presence, and assuming LGD doesn’t run Lee “Flame” Ho-Jong, ssumday will have the opportunity to run hog wild in Group D.

Team SoloMid

With their lackluster performance during the latter part of the split, and never ending wave of internal issues. I feel as if Team Solo Mid needs to bring something completely different to the table to be able to get them out of the funk that they had towards the end of the split.

Mid laner and shot caller in Soren “Bjergsen” Bjerg is regarded as the carrying force in the squad, but will the classic “solo mid” style be enough? Can TSM support Bjergsen enough to punch through the legendary GODV? Definitely a mid lane matchup I won’t miss out on, and something everyone should have their eyes on.

A huge question that critics have been pressing on TSM, is if their Marcus “Dyrus” Hill can stand his own against other world-class top laners. From his performance during MSI and the regular season, he has a lot of expectations riding on his shoulders as his current form leaves much to be desired. Then we have Jason “Wild Turtle” Tran, who entering worlds had received a lot of heat for bearing worse average scores than his one time sub. 

Shaky individual performances aside, TSM also finished 5th in the Regular Summer Split season, their lowest in LCS history, and got swept by a surging CLG in the finals. Everyone else in this group looks far more on point than TSM is now. Despite their popularity, it’s going to be a steep uphill battle for TSM if they want a chance of making it out.

The Prediction: LGD and Origen make it out of group stages with KT Rolster contesting. RIP TSM.

Needless to say, the match to watch will be KT Rolster vs Origen to see who makes it behind LGD. Or you could watch all of TSM’s matches, if you’re one of the few competitive LoL fans that don’t like them.

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Pictures taken from liquidlegends and theScore.

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