Worlds 2016 Recap #3: Brace for Impact! C9 Seizes Victory Against Flashwolves in a 70 Minute Game
Baron steals, stunning reversals, a three-way tie in the Group of Death and The Unkillable Demon King Faker gives up first blood. Here’s the rundown of Day 3 of the 2016 League of Legends World Championship – Group Stage.
Group Stage – Day 3 Results
Group Stage – Day 3 CLG vs ANX
Game 1 – Licked to the Ground
The short summary for this fight: a wildcard team defeats the #2 seed of the NA LCS.
For the most part, ANX was in control of the game despite PvPStejos losing his advantage of having faster jungle clear times. They tried an early invade and he stayed too long in CLG’s jungle in the first minutes of the game. A big part of this win also stems from ANX’ very aggressive support, Likkrit. He’ll constantly use his ultimate to roam, wreak havoc and literally devour CLG’s backline. In fact, he dealt so much damage, he has the biggest percentage of damage dealt for a support player. Just look at that graph! His damage isn’t too far off from those of his teammates.
Group Stage – Day 3 ROX vs G2
Game 2 – The Perfect Smite
Before Peanut joined the ROX squad, ROX is known to fumble in the early stages of the game only to gain their footing in the late game. When Peanut joined, this weakness was remedied and that’s one of the reasons they’re the #1 seed from LCK.
But, in this game, Peanut’s Nocturne was overshadowed by Trick’s Olaf. Trick almost single-handedly steamrolled ROX out of the game in the early parts of the game. Repeatedly ganking a lane and abusing their summoner cooldowns allowed G2 to gain an almost 6k gold lead at the 22-minute mark. It didn’t help when ROX gave away 3 kills allowing G2 to ALMOST secure Baron.
Peanut’s game-changing Baron steal.
Peanut makes a desperate, but brilliantly executed, Baron steal despite being heavily out-manned 2 to 5. In the post-game interview, he admits that, if not for that steal, they would most likely would have lost the fight.
Smeb’s ultimate melting G2’s lineup.
After that Baron steal, it was Smeb’s turn to show why he’s the current #1 player. After a beautiful Kennen ultimate that led to an Ace, ROX took control and closed the game.
Group Stage – Day 3 FW vs C9
Game 3 – The Baron Steal
Like their match against I May, Flash Wolves had a consistent gold lead throughout the whole game. Despite having supposedly losing lane match-ups, Karsa’s ganks helped a lot to put FW ahead. Meteos, again having difficulties playing Lee Sin, had little to no impact in the lanes. Yes, he was able to secure jungle objectives but in terms of picking off FW champions, he hasn’t really performed well.
With 3 inhibitors down, FW had a lot of time to finish the game but again, just like their match against I May, they failed to hammer the last nail in C9’s coffin. They failed the last push and gave up 3 team members to C9. C9 was quick to head to the Elder Dragon and secure it for themselves. Almost 1 hour into the game, Jensen steals the Baron and further slows down FW advances.
Jensen and Meteos’ great Baron play that lead to a steal.
With the team relying on Meteos’ kicking someone into their death, there were certainly a lot of pressure for him to perform. Thankfully, he does and lands not just one but two of the most significant kicks in the last team fights. After the second longest game in Worlds history, C9 was able to do what most people think is impossible: winning a game after losing 3 inhibitors at the same time.
Group Stage – Day 3 IM vs SKT
Game 4 – Choked Off
“The Unkillable Demon King” gives up first blood.
Other than that headline, it was a game that SKT dictated from the beginning. Yes, they gave up some kills but all throughout the game, they slowly but surely pushed I May out of the game. By constantly stealing jungle buffs, contesting almost every jungle camp and claiming objective after objective, SKT showed IM their strength and took the game with very little competition.
Group Stage – Day 3 SPY vs TSM
Game 5 – Finishing the Fight
Just like Flash Wolves, Splyce had the upper hand most of the game but failed to close things up.
In this fight’s case, it all went down to who’s got the guts to pull the trigger and the capability to execute. TSM comes out on top thanks to their experience and better shot-calling. Despite Doublelift being picked off several times wandering off on his own, in the end he was able to snipe SPY members down and, as always, the Svenskeren + Bjergsen duo helped a lot in carrying TSM to victory.
Even though SPY is currently 0-3, they’ve had two close games and they still could snag a win or two from the group. They could even be the ones to decide who makes out of their current group if they manage to get a win in any of the other teams in their group.
Group Stage – Day 3 RNG vs SSG
Game 6 – Pick and Score Part 2
Right after the pick and ban phase, doubts have already been expressed about RNG’s lineup. With no tank to soak up damage and Ambition on Skarner, it was obvious that RNG will have trouble in the late game.
With an early double kill on Mata and Uzi, Ambition just became more and more of a monster that RNG had no real answer. From then on, Ambition just keeps on waltzing in, picking someone from RNG and just deleting them. With a clean score of 5/0/2 on Crown and an 88% kill participation on CoreJJ, SSG really did came back from their lose against TSM yesterday.
Just Day 3 of the Group Stage of the 2016 League of Legends World Championship and we’re seeing explosive clashes, stunning reversals and back-to-back Baron steals! Keep it here in eSports INQ as we cover the tournament and follow the stories of these 16 teams.
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