CS:Go: Na’Vi  crowned champions at ESL One Cologne 2018

In what proved to be convincing fashion, Na’Vi defeated newcomers to the scene BIG 3-1. While BIG put in some…big performances they just could not stand against the firepower of the Ukrainian super-team. With s1mple and electronic consistently winning rounds, Na’Vi got ahead and were able to stay there.
Huge credit must go to BIG who have only been together for a month. They got themselves to the final and lost to the best team in the world. There is no shame at all in that and at times they put Na’Vi under pressure which in itself is a huge accomplishment.
The storyline going into the tournament was whether anyone could stop the tactical dominance of Astralis. In their semi-final however, it was Na’Vi that was able to stamp their authority on the game. Na’Vi’s aggressive playstyle with numerous force-buys kept Astralis from being able to build their economy and strangle out their opponents. Unable to play their game, they looked vulnerable, and cracked.
The evolution of Na’Vi is great for CSGO, making the contest for best team in the world a three-horse race. Na’Vi have clearly worked hard on strengthening their weaknesses, there are far fewer unforced errors in their game meaning opponents don’t get free rounds against them. Furthermore they are now a team. Na’Vi have been known for having the best player in the world but little else. They had to become more than a 1-threat team, and with electronic and Zeus both putting in huge performances in the tournament, they have done so.
The moment of the tournament for me was s1mple getting the enthusiastic German crowd to chant for Smooya, the young British talent. In the moment of his greatest win he decides to applaud the effort of a newcomer to the scene. That spectacle of showmanship was fantastic to see.
The narrative now, with three powerful teams, is who can be the most consistent team through the rest of the year. Bring on the Majors!

LoL: My experience at EU Masters 2018

Friday was a pretty normal day at work until I saw a tweet from a website I’ve written for asking for freelancers to go to the upcoming tournament that weekend. I jumped at the chance and found out I’d be attending as a member of the press for http://www.esports-news.co.uk.

The event was awesome, I was emailing back and forth between the head of the press team for ESL UK who asked me if I wanted to do any interviews. Having never done anything like that before, I thought I may as well aim for the stars so I said “sure why not I’d like to interview Quickshot.”.

The interview happened on the Sunday. He was doing another interview before mine and was sat about 10ft from me. I introduced myself and he came over to chat for a good 15 minutes before doing the other interview. In the time he was away, PiraTechnics and Excoundrel came over and sat down. What I thought was a short interview with Quickshot turned out to be me interviewing all three. Several of the questions I’d had prepared were for Trevor, so I had to adapt somewhat. All in all it was a great opportunity and experience. They were great to interview and really nice people.

Getting to watch Origen play live was awesome and I managed to steal a selfie with Forgiven who has been one of my favourite players since I started watching LoL, again he was super nice. This was the second live event I’ve been to, the other being SKT vs AHQ in the Worlds 2015 superfinals and I much preferred the EU Masters. It’s true I had a bit more VIP access being press but the small, passionate crowd made it a much better atmosphere.

I think the tournament, with its regional focus and structure is far more exciting that the Challenger Series. Origen definitely brought more fans to the tournament but now the first one has been a success I can see it really becoming a unique spectacle.

CS:Go: Astralis beat Na’Vi to win DreamHack Masters Marseille

Danish CS:GO Team Astralis have won the DreamHack Masters Marseilles, beating Natus Vincere 2-0 in the final on Sunday 22nd April 2018. This tournament marking Astralis’ first title since IEM Katowice in February 2017.

The pick and ban phase suggested we, as fans, were on for a 3-map thriller. Astralis and Na’Vi had picked Nuke and Inferno, respectively, almost guaranteeing themselves victory on their own pick. The decider being on Train. 

Astralis were expected to win Nuke. Few teams really put time into it and Astralis are probably the best in the world on the unpopular map. What pundits and experts may not have expected was the brutal 16-4 domination. Na’Vi wanted to make the game messy for Astralis and stop them building an economy, unfortunately for them they were unable to do so and were blown off the map. 

Before map 2, talk was about Na’Vi resetting and winning their comfort pick; Inferno. It started out well enough with them taking a lead. Astralis however, we able to win some key rounds to get themselves in the game. Once they built up an economy, giving themselves multiple rebuys and starving Na’Vi of funds, they strangled the Ukrainian team out of the map and out of the tournament. 

A special mention must go out to my tournament MVP Oleksandr “s1mple” Kostyliev in this match. I can’t imagine someone putting up higher stats and still losing. He was top-fragger in both maps (22, 41) and close to 93 ADR on Inferno. He had some fantastic, shots such as out sniping Device’s AWP with a Deagle, and was trying to carry the rest of his team to victory.

Astralis were able to enforce their will on the game, keeping it a tactical affair and not getting drawn into 1v1 duels. Whenever Simple was beginning to unleash he was cut down and stopped from racking up multiple kills. Na’Vi showed flashes of their fierce firepower but Astralis did well in keeping those rounds to a disconnected minimum to prevent any build-up of momentum. 

It’s exciting to see this style of play achieve results. If even Na’Vi cannot find a way to fight through that, could we be on the cusp of the Era of Astralis? 

LoL: DoubleLift: A true Pro

With the Spring split of the 2018 League of Legends season now behind us, I just wanted to take a moment to single out one player DoubleLift. Not only is he one of the most experienced players in the League but recent events have shown him to be by far one of the most professional.

It will be news to few who follow the scene, that the weekend before the NA LCS Finals, Yihong Peng, his brother, murdered his mother and hospitalised his father. In the face of internet rumours DoubleLift announced the news via Twitlonger to say that he would be away from social media and with his family.  A swift and professional response. A mere two days later Team Liquid owner Steve Arhancet unveiled the news that DoubleLift will compete in the finals.

It’s pure speculation, but I would guess it was DoubleLift making the contact and confirming his intention to play. DoubleLift said in the wake of victory, that he derives more pleasure helping his team mates achieve titles than from winning them himself. It must have been this drive that made DoubleLift get on that flight and put his undoubtedly immense emotional turmoil to one side and compete, and not only that, dominate.

The roars of the crowd in support of DoubleLift when his name was announced on stage were heartwarming. As a player he has cemented his place in League history by winning the NA LCS with three separate teams. An achievement no one else has and possibly no one else may attain.

When I initially started watching LoL I followed teams, then I got to know personalities and now I’m far more interested in the players. It will be great to see DoubleLift at MSI against the best of international League and from there hopefully secure a spot at Worlds. If DoubleLift can perform on the highest stage, the one thing that has so far alluded him, it really would be great to watch.

Rugby Union: 2018 Six Nations

The 2018 Six Nations has ended, and it was quite a strange one. Wales finished second having beaten Scotland, Italy and France at home, and losing to England and Ireland Away. Despite finishing second, there wasn’t a great deal to celebrate and it feels a disappointing tournament.

I think a part of the disappointment has come from the way Wales played in the first game. An inaccurate Scotland were swept aside by a Wales team taking the ball to the line, and putting runners into space with offloads.

Across the remainder of the tournament Wales seemed to flounder back into old patterns, showing glimpses of brilliance within a frustratingly dull play-style.

For the life of me I cannot understand the strategy Wales employ when their first team are all available. Wales constantly kick possession away. As soon as they are anywhere near the 10m lines, the strategy is to kick an up-and-under and hope to regain possession 20 yards further up the field. Far more often than not however, all this does is give the ball to the opposition. Alongside this, Wales never kick to touch, constantly allowing teams space and time to attack. Gatland will say it’s because he believes in the fitness and defensive prowess of his team. However, without the ball you can’t win the game.

It may work against poor teams, but if Wales want to beat the best then they can’t practice a strategy that won’t work against them. If you constantly give possession to the All Blacks you will lose. They know how to retain the ball and grind out penalties, while also playing with their heads up and grasping every opportunity they get to score.

Wales play a style reliant on perfection of execution and they aren’t good enough to do it. So we end up as fans watching a team starving themselves of possession and then making mistakes when they get it.

One positive is that through injuries, Wales have given experience to a host of new players. These players took their chances well and played a fantastic style of traditional Welsh rugby. When given the chance however Gatland returned to form.

It’s great that Wales finished second, though no team was really setting the tournament alight and Ireland thoroughly deserved their Grand Slam.

LoL: My Journey to Gold

Not too long ago I finally had my victory on the fields of justice by being promoted to Gold V, something I have wanted since starting my ranked journey. It is also the completion of said journey. I just thought I would share some of thoughts along the way.

 I am a Bot lane main but probably close to 99% of the games I played were at Support, which is my favourite position anyway. I find it the role that can best set a team up for success. Whatever lane you aren’t in can feed, but with Support I found that I was predominantly focused on the game as a whole.

In the void that having to cs left me, I had my time free to watch the minimap to call every missing player and every time the enemy jungler appeared. Transitioning out of laning phase, I would ping waves that pushed beyond halfway and try and herd the suicidal lemmings of SoloQ to take objectives and snowball a game to victory.

This is all fine in theory, but the nature of SoloQ is that between the feeders and afker’s and games you just get smashed in, there is roughly 30% of games you simply cannot win. It was about accepting those losses without allowing them to tilt me and focus on the games where a victory is possible. Also in those losses, to not change your game or champion, my highest win rate was with Morgana, the temptation to change to a champion I’m worse at after a loss or two really was tempting but would have only increased the likelihood of mistakes and more losses.

One thing I have found about Silver is that people do not know how to win. Or rather, they know the theory but are unable to remember and act upon it in the heat of the moment. The temptation to chase kills and tower dive almost always overwhelms the need to gather the unpushed wave so we can take towers and inhibs, fill their jungle with wards, back and go to Baron.

I will not be trying to grind my way through Gold to Diamond. The nature of the ranked system means you are punished for so many things that are out of your own personal control. I never really understood why my personal MMR falls when I lose a 4v5 because someone AFK’s.

League of Legends is probably my favourite game. League of Legends played with 4 friends over Discord is a beautiful game. SoloQ however is far more like counselling children to not give up or be mean to each other.

Good Luck of the Fields of Battle.

Rugby Union: End of the Lions Series

Lions 15 – 15 New Zealand

Lions 2017 Series Tied

Two facts that on the surface seem dull and boring, especially in a sport so driven by results and one in which a draw is so unusual. That game was one of the most nerve wracking games I can remember watching, the closest parallel being Wales vs France in the World Cup Semi Final. The match truly had a World Cup Final feel to it, watching the two best teams in the world throw everything they had at one another.
Once the final whistle blew there was an unease about how to feel, but in that atmosphere emerged a celebration of rugby itself, of sportsmanship and of the Lions as a concept. The sight of Kieran Read and Sam Warburton holding the trophy aloft, and both teams sat together, a mix of black and red shirts, provided an advertisement for Rugby that will last in the memory.
Some have questioned the Lions as a concept, I’m not really sure why with the 2009 Lions coming agonisingly close to victory (My Father still has not forgiven Ronan O’Gara). Then the fantastic series in Australia leading to the Lions roaring to victory in dramatic fashion, to now. The 2017 Lions had been together for a matter of weeks, and they have drawn a three test series with the New Zealand All Blacks.
The Lions had no right to perform so well, they are a group of fantastic players, plucked from their international structures and combinations and asked to perform together against the most dominant sporting team in history.
A quick final point, there were numerous articles about how Scotland is under-represented in the Lions. My own opinion is the Lions has to remain the best of the home nations. Stuart Hogg would have been a major figure in the test side had he not been injured but aside from that Scotland is not good enough. The Lions will not continue to achieve greatness if the concept is marred by quotas from each nation.

Rugby Union: New Zealand 30-15 Lions

In the wake of the fantastic, but disappointing, first game of the series, a whole plethora of articles and commentators have dissected the game. I won’t repeat that but I do want to focus on one particularly worrying thing. The sheer power of the New Zealand game.

Going into the game the story was going to be Lions power versus All Black flair, the reality of the situation however proved to be quite different. Flair was evident on both sides with the magical 80m try finished off by Sean O’Brien. Power however, was lacking from the Lions and overwhelming from the All Blacks, which proved the critical difference.

The All Blacks dominated the contact area, they were more aggressive in defence and almost always secured an extra metre or two in attack. They defended their rucks with few men and on two occasions secured turnovers with only one defender in the ruck, which simply should not be allowed.

With ball in hand the All Blacks defied all expectations by playing a pure power game, playing off 9 and sending powerful ball carriers around the fringes of rucks time after time. The Lions defenders were simply unable to hit the All Blacks back and slow down their game. With quick ball secured and metres gained, New Zealand were their usual ruthless selves in finishing off the opportunities they created.

This was certainly a victory in strategy as well as execution and the Lions players and coaching staff were comprehensively beaten. Going forward into the second test the Lions need to increase their physicality.  The Lions to a man need to smash players backwards, slow the All Blacks down, prevent their offloads.

Finally, one gripe I had with the strategy was a hangover from “WarrenBall” the style of play that Gatland uses for Wales. Whenever the Lions had the ball between the 10m lines the strategy was to kick for an up and under (hence the pick of Conor Murray over the far more lethal Rhys Webb). In my opinion this is a lack of ideas and reliance on chance to get the ball back. Most of the time the only result was handing possession back to the best team on the planet, who can hold onto it with patience and force you into mistakes.

LoL: TSM ADC tryouts.

TSM has announced that FNC substitute MrRallez is to be given a tryout for the squad. The organisation has its mind set on fielding a six man roster and in the light of the WildTurtle departure, they are seeking a replacement.

A substitute player in traditional sports is there to cover injury and also to change the play style of the team.

Looking at TSM though, we have a situation where the substitute is not changing a great deal. What they have already in DoubleLift is the best ADC in NA. He is a star player, a strong laner and a decisive shot caller. So even if it was true that MrRallez was offering a totally different style of play, the overall loss of the team would make the team objectively weaker.

Another reason to have a substitute is to bring a different flavour to pick ban. SKT fielding Benghi and Blank brought a totally different emphasis to pick ban and added an extra element of strategy. Again with TSM however this is not impactful. ADC is not a role with as dramatic a difference as the Tank/Carry in Top or the Control Mage/Assassin of Mid.

Looking at TSM with WildTurtle (Who is surely a better player than MrRallez) it removed the bot lane as a threat from TSM, with DoubleLift however, teams have to split their focus to more potential threats. While the viable ADC pool is not expansive, DoubleLift on the same champions may draw a ban that Wildturtle or MrRallez would not.

There is one interpretation that does carry some weight which is that perhaps DoubleLift has had some conversations with TSM owner Reginald about his competitive future having not played for the majority of last split. In that instance it would be wise for TSM to get a replacement in and have him learn from DoubleLift, even if he doesn’t play much but is just there learning from him. TSM have gone as far as they can go with WildTurtle really and it is probably wise for them to seek an alternative.

If that is true, it does put a time limit on TSM’s international window to prove they belong. Reginald has always said the aim of the organisation is to win World’s. Even with DoubleLift, it is highly unlikely but without him, its impossible.