Group Stage Day 4: Paradigm Shift
That’s it. Toss your power rankings out the window. Rethink everything you know about professional League of Legends. As we reach the halfway point of the 2015 World Championships Group Stage, we’ve seen more upsets over the course of 4 days than we have over the entire year.
Prior to the tournament, if you told any analyst in his right mind that:
- LGD Gaming, China’s #1 seed, couldn’t pick up a single game
- Cloud 9, who placed 7th in the LCS, would beat out Fnatic to top their group
- A Wildcard team would pick up a solid win against a major region
Then you would be called crazy. Any of the above scenarios would have looked like the ramblings of a madman. Except now, they’re all true. Worrying trend? Positive trend? At this point, there is no trend anymore.
It means that this tournament is now officially the most exciting Worlds event we’ve ever seen. The power of the western teams shouldn’t even come as a surprise. Everything outside of Group C is a Bizarro World.
Origen on the Rise
Out of all the teams out of the west, Origen have looked like the complete package in all the games they’ve played thus far. All their players are clicking together and performing better than anyone could have predicted, especially their perceived “weakest link” in team captain Enrique “xPeke” Cedeño Martínez who people are saying receives an all-powerful Worlds Buff as soon as international competition rolls around.
Their wins against the floundering Team SoloMid and an LGD Gaming that looks utterly lost were one thing, but now they hold a decisive victory over KT Rolster. The Korean squad had been looking on point in their own right, with the best vision control of perhaps any team in attendance, and a support and jungle synergy that seemed unmatched.
Origen’s response? Twisted Fate and double summoner Teleport. The added mobility combined with accruing massive farm leads for xPeke and rising AD Carry star Jesper “Niels” Svenningsen led to Origen keeping on pace with gold despite dropping kills to their opponent.
A few Baron calls and key picks later and Origen would lay waste to KT’s nexus, standing toe to toe with the likes of SK Telecom T1, an overall tournament favorite, in terms of wins. A smart pick and ban bolstered by a deep champion pool (xPeke’s Anivia, anyone?), high level play from all 5 members and a square lead ahead of everyone in their group—things are looking good for Origen.
Cloud 9 and the Diamond 2 Penta
By now, everyone’s talking about the Cloud 9 vs. Fnatic game.
On paper, you have the 7th place North American squad on a Cinderella story run versus the dominant European powerhouse that claimed 2 LCS titles this year and amassed a 21-win streak. In game, you have An “Balls” Le, a player criticized for his inability to climb out of Diamond 2 on the Korean solo queue ladder scoring a game-winning pentakill on Darius.
Balls jokingly attributes ‘all that Diamond 2 practice’ to his success… but is it really a joke at this point?
There isn’t really much to say that hasn’t already been echoed by the community. Having Hai “Hai” Du Lam back on the team is doing wonders for Cloud 9. Their confidence is peaking, their synergy is the best its looked all year (yes, even before their Summer Split slump) and most importantly their legendary shot calling is back. This could very well be the return of the championship level team we fell in love with.
If you haven’t seen the game yet, it is a MUST WATCH. And even if you have seen it—watch it again! I know I am.
More Shenanigans
Team SoloMid were a team that was slated to be last in their group despite being the proverbial favorites for North America in terms of fan base alone. Though they did lose their first two games, they came across a team so thoroughly on tilt that they were able to execute an unorthodox team composition with Mordekaiser on Jason “WildTurtle” Tran.
CLG may have started the Faith Age, but Cloud 9 is reaping the benefits now as Yiliang “Doublelift” Peng and co. were utterly dismantled by a resurgent KOO Tigers. A questionable style pick in Zacqueri “Aphromoo” Black’s Blitzcrank was ineffective against counter picks such as Morgana and Kennen. In the end, CLG scored an embarrassing 4 kills to the Tigers’ 23.
The North American fan bandwagon right now.
Brazil’s paiN Gaming completed the circle of ‘upsets’ by snatching a win away from the yoe Flash Wolves, who themselves were looking to ride the momentum of a win over KOO Tigers. A hyper aggressive Matheus “Mylon” Borges relentlessly dove at the Wolves with Gnar, while the Brazilian Faker, Gabriel “Kami” Santos cleaned up team fights on Twisted Fate to lock in the victory.
paiN’s win marks the first time a Wildcard region team hasn’t been the sole last place team in their group, proving that the growth of the non-major regions is indeed real.
We have a few days until Group A runs the entire day on October 8, so until then, stay tuned for more Worlds action on our results page.
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