Month: April 2019

Era defining weekend of League of Legends

In one weekend we saw the confirmation of the Team Liquid era by winning their third LCS title in a row. The coronation of G2 as the undisputed Kings of the LEC, and a stark warning to the world that SKT are back, with Faker claiming his 7th LCK title.

The 2019 MSI is looking to be a huge tournament with these regions in such dominant form. It will be fascinating to see if the western teams can keep their nerve and play the way that has given them regional success. In sport across the world the temptation against big teams is to change the way you play, out of fear your own style isn’t good enough or the ‘correct’ one. However, all this does is confuse and muddy the decisions that have become automatic in securing regional victory.

While the SKT and G2 wins were impressive, neither for me carried the weight of narrative of the LCS final between TSM and Team Liquid. It may just be because I have been a fan of the personalities of the LCS or the fact that Bjergsen and DoubleLift have played together as well as been the fiercest of rivals.

In defeating TSM, DoubleLift has claimed his 6th LCS title, more than anyone in the league. His team have also claimed their third LCS title in a row. Jensen however, has finally been able to step out from Bjergsen’s shadow and claim his first LCS title. DoubleLift has said before that the joy comes from him helping his teammates to lift the trophy and the image of Jensen lifting it alone on the stage was echoing that sentiment. What a moment from the ultimate professional to understand the magnitude. League will always be a team game, but celebrating individual achievement like that was awesome in the true sense of the word.

What a fantastic weekend of league with huge congratulations to all, but specifically the production of the LEC. Everything about the final was huge except the result. The crowd, the stadium, the talent, the crew made the event seem really special, fitting of a final.

Tlaxtlan Soothsayer wins Everchosen Invitational IV

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In a thrilling best-of series that went all the way to its 5th game, Tlaxtlan Soothsayer becomes the first ever two-time Everchosen champion by defeating ECL Season One winner Felkon. In his previous path to the title Soothsayer only lost one map, and never the first map in a series, this win was far more difficult for him to secure, showing the impressive growth of the scene.

The final map was a thrilling use of terrain as Karl Franz and the Empire managed to form up in a small copse of trees before the wolf based Norscan horde could intercept. There they held, using the small formation to make the most value of buffs to repel charge after charge. As the spears and halberd walls began to break, Franz and his Royal Altdorf Gryphites managed to catch Throgg off guard and kill him. Had Soothsayer not utilised the map like this, it was likely the high-mass mobile wolves and cavalry would have isolated and destroyed the value targets and could well have claimed the series.

The two-day tournament was a huge step up in competition from previous iterations. Newcomer KingoftheDead defeated veteran Romulan Dawg to claim 4th place and even made history by beating Soothsayer on the first map. This new blood shows the health of the scene and hopefully encourages other players to keep trying new things improve to maybe get themselves a place in future tournaments. For the first time 4th place had a prize, furthermore the prize for first place was double what Soothsayer took home last time he was crowned the Everchosen champion.

The first day suffered some technical difficulties but they were covered expertly. Newcomer to the couch Loremaster of Sotek filled time heroically with insight into both the lore and the game, and Turin with ItalianSpartacus created segments out of nowhere. This is a great test of a live broadcast when a desk has to fill an unknown amount of time, they succeeded.

Loremaster and JanetonOccasion also showed themselves as another casting team for the future, they have rapport and a good balance of insight and mechanical knowledge. Not that Turin and Spartacus showed any fatigue but having another casting team is a great sign of a healthier scene and to allow a rotation. I could write for pages about my adoration for Turin and Spartacus as I am constantly learning and kept entertained, suffice it to say they were on top form yet again.

The tournament was a showcase of the new DLC; The Prophet and the Warlock. We saw most of the new units in all their glory and some great strategies to go along with them. The fascinating mind games of trying to guess what a player will bring and then countering that guess still boggles my mind. The Skaven have certainly gone up in terms of strength with the new weapons on offer, especially the Jezzail teams.

I really hope Creative Assembly continue to invest in the potential of the esports side of their product. The game could well claim the void that Starcraft has left, a high intensity, high level of micro-management game. The tactical depth is seemingly unending as the interplay between races and the meta continue to evolve, and new DLC will carry on adding new units or leaders that shift the balance of power further.