EU LCS W2D1: Recap and Standings

Fnatic vs Gambit Gaming

Fnatic played the map very well and at the 28th minute mark they were up seven turrets to one. Huge map pressure from Xpeke and crew, but Gambit did a good job maneuvering around it and negating most of the gold difference by taking four consecutive dragons. As the game approached it’s later stages, the Russians managed to keep themselves in it and were never more than 2k gold behind.

32 minutes in, FNC spot Edward recalling and Genja in the bot-lane and decide to start off Baron Nashor. It took them more than expected to down the objective though and GMB collapsed on them with five people, killed two of them and turned their attention towards Nashor. With the baron buff on, GMB simply pushed down the mid-lane and got themselves two towers before recalling. This was the beginning of the end for Fnatic, because Gambit had successfully stalled out the game long enough for their champions to hit their respective power-spikes and there was nothing stopping them from winning this game. It took another 10 minutes, two downed inhibitors and one baron kill for Genja and crew to finally be able to down the enemy Nexus, but they did it and it was a grandiose win for them. While GMB received a huge morale boost with this victory, FNC looked pretty much crushed at the end of the encounter. They did not expect this defeat, especially after how well the early game went for them.

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Copenhagen Wolves vs Supa Hot Crew

SHC are the ones who get the early advantage by punishing CW when they overstay in the enemy jungle 10 minutes in and get themselves three easy kills without losing any member. In the aftermath of that skirmish, SHC take the dragon down and get themselves an early 2k gold lead.

Even though CW managed to slowly get themselves back in the game, SHC was always one step ahead of them and kept finding picks on Cowtard and Airwaks and taking objective after objective. At the 35 minute mark, SHC make a risky call to go for Baron and they finish it off fairly quick, right in time to turn on the enemy team, getting themselves three kills and ending the game shortly after. Well deserved win for Selfie and crew, who manage to get their first victory of the week. On the other side, the CW hope to regroup and have a better showing in tomorrow’s game versus Roccat.

 

Millenium vs Alliance

Alliance dominate the early game, building up a very quick 5k gold lead by 12 minutes and  by the 20 minute mark, ALL were up six towers to one, two dragons to zero and three kills to zero boosting their gold lead to 9k.

Millenium did not have an answer to Alliance’s almost flawless game and after killing the baron as well, Froggen and crew systematically took down the enemy base. It was a very one sided game and Millenium should not read too much into it and try to forget this game as soon as possible. On the other side, Alliance looked very strong and they are hoping to show the same devastating objective control in tomorrow’s game vs SK Gaming as well.

 

Roccat vs SK Gaming

SK Gaming, despite being known for struggling in the early laning phase, have managed to do a very good job this time around. They did give away the First Blood on an ill-timed level 6 tower dive in the top-lane and lost the first tower as well, but thanks to their good rotations and an on-point dragon control (three dragons killed in the first 18 minutes), they managed to secure a humongous 6k gold lead before the mid-game.

33 minutes in, SK Gaming down the baron and look for their first inhibitor in the mid-lane. While they do get it eventually, they lose Lee Sin and decide to back off. Nidalee’s spears make CandyPanda and crew’s life a living nightmare, but they do manage to get down one objective after another and barely escaping with their health bars blinking at the end of each siege. Eventually, they manage to win a team-fight in the enemy base convincingly and end the game. Great win for SK, who are now tied with Alliance in first place with 4 wins and 1 loss as the two teams will face-off tomorrow in the first game of the day. On the other side, Roccat did not get a chance to see their late game team composition in action, as they were constantly behind a huge amount of gold and could not trade successfully with SK Gaming.

 

Standings after Day 1 of Week 2

Here is how the standings look like, after 4/4 wins for the red side. Four ties in Europe? Shocking, right?

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SK – GMB: The come-back was almost real

First game of Day 2 features SK Gaming versus Gambit Gaming. On the blue side, SK want to prove that the victory against FNC yesterday was not an accident, ban Thresh, Trundle, Kassadin and pick Aatrox, Lee Sin, Yasuo, Vayne and Morgana. On the other side, Gambit want to forget yesterday’s disappointing start as fast as possible, ban Leona, Twitch, Jax and pick Irelia, Evelynn, Kayle, Lucian and Gragas.

2′ – Standard 1v1 and 2v2 lanes for both teams. A bit surprising that SK decided to not go for 1v2 lanes to give Vayne a safe laning phase.

6′ – CandyPanda and nRated are getting pushed out of the lane

9′ – GMB want to capitalize on the dominance of their bot-lane and start the dragon, but SK try to contest it and in the skirmish that resulted from it, SK give up first and second blood without getting anything in return.

10′ – CS count shows a clear dominance from Freddy in the top-lane,93 – 77, an even fight in the mid-lane 79-86 and Genja being miles ahead of the opposition down in the bot-lane, 51-81

11′ – SK secure the top outer tower after a kill on Irelia, but GMB reply by killing the dragon.

15′ – Freddy keeps up the pressure in the top-lane and as a result of another gank, SK take down the inner tower as well

16′ – GMB group as 5 in the mid-lane, take the outer turret down and find a kill on Aatrox

17′ – Second dragon of the game goes to GMB as well, as SK did not fancy contesting it, thus giving the Russians a 3.5k gold lead.

24′ – Third dragon also goes in favor of GMB, while SK seem a bit disorientated. After securing the objective, GMB venture into the enemy jungle and find themselves two more picks which allows them to get both turrets down in the mid-lane, only an exposed inhibitor now left for SK.

27′ – GMB are on fire and due to better vision, they are able to take advantage of every positional mistake from SK and they find one more kill in the bot-lane on Morgana as Aatrox ran for his life and finally managed to suicide without giving up a kill. The Russians immediately rush for the baron, but SK were looking to contest it. That decision proved to be another wrong one, as GMB easily secured themselves two more kills and the baron buff and are now 8k gold ahead.

28′ – With the baron buff on, GMB have no trouble getting the top outer and inner turrets down, before rotating to the mid-lane and destroying the exposed inhibitor. As SK make an attempt to stop them, Morgana dies and that meant that the Russians could take the top inhibitor tower and the inhibitor itself down as well. On their way back to the base, GMB secure another dragon, boosting their gold lead to 12k.

32′ – GMB have their eyes set on the bot-lane and are determined to get that inhibitor tower down as well before closing out the game, but SK had other plans. As GMB engaged on them, a very nice Last Breath from Yasuo catches Lucian who almost instantly goes down and SK manage to 4-0 their opponents. Mind-blowing start to what looks like a great come-back. Sadly for SK though, they lost both their Nexus turrets to the super-minions.

35′ – Following another skirmish, this time in the mid-lane, SK find themselves 3 kills for 0 and take the baron down as well. The come-back looks real. Sadly for CandyPanda and crew, they can only down the bot inhibitor tower while having the baron buff on,as there is still a 9k gold lead for GMB and SK Gaming does not have the confidence to tower-dive them.

37′ – Dragon for SK, who manage to reduce the gold difference to 8k.

43′ – Baron was up again and the two teams begin the dance anew. The inevitable team-fight occurs and SK win it barely, 3-2 because Yasuo’s Last Breath only caught Edward this time and they could not blow up a target instantly, which was what guaranteed them the victory in the previous skirmishes. With 3 people up, SK attempt the baron but the 2 remaining Gambit players contest it and manage to ACE the opposition, even though Lee Sin took the baron with his dying breath. But these were big death timers and GMB were trying to end the game. It was only CandyPanda and Nyph alive for SK and while they did manage to kill Darien, they both died to Genja and GMB finishes the game. What a spectacular thriller! There were many mistakes on both sides and this is what made the game so spectacular, but if GMB ever needed a win, it was today and it doesn’t matter as much how they obtained it, but the fact that they did. On the other side, CandyPanda and crew looked devastated as they almost came back into this after being so far behind, but failed due to small mistakes here and there.

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GMB – ROC: Humongous lead for the Poles

The last game of Day 1 features Gambit, on the blue side and without Alex Ich, who ban Elise, Thresh, Kayle and pick Irelia, Lee Sin, Nidalee, Caitlyn and Gragas. On the purple side, Roccat, ban Kassadin, Jax, Twitch and pick Aatrox, Evelynn, Twisted Faith, Lucian and Leona.

2′ – “Standard lanes” for the second time today, as we will see 1v1 and 2v2 lanes in the top and bottom lane

3′ – First blood goes to ROC as Jankos makes his first visit in the bot-lane and finds a kill on Genja’s Caitlyn, who had no summoners because he face-checked a river bush at level 1. A few seconds later, Diamond gets caught and killed in the enemy jungle.

10′ – GMB secure the first dragon of the game, as ROC was recalling, but the Poles answer with two outer turrets in the top and mid lane.

12′ – 4-0 for Roccat following a skirmish in the bot-lane which involved the two duos, both junglers and both top-laners using their teleport. Gambit decision’s making crumbled and they ended up paying with their lives and their bot outer turret for it.

14′ – Another skirmish in the mid-lane, another clear victory for ROC, 2-0. The engage and crowd control of Vander and crew are stronger than the disengages of the Russians.

16′ – Gambit finally get their first kill of the game, as Diamond roams top and helps Darien get a kill on Xaxus’ Aatrox.

20′ – Roccat kill the dragon, despite Gambit’s best efforts to prevent it. Meanwhile in the top-lane, Darien was looking for a 1v1 vs Xaxus and as it seemed he finally found it, Twisted Faith teleported in and assisted in killing Darien. ROC immediately follow up on their kill with the top inner tower.

24′ – ROc find themselves two more kills in the bot lane and down bth the inner and the inhibitor tower before backing off.

27′ – Second dragon of the game goes down for ROC, out of a total of three. Gambit did not even bother contesting this one as they are 15k gold behind.

30′ – Roccat find a pick on Darien and rush baron down before GMB can react to it. With the baron buff on, ROC finally down the exposed bot inhibitor and take down the mid inhibitor turret as well before recalling to their base.

36′ – Having a massive 19k gold lead, ROC is toying with their pray and after downing the last inhibitor turret, the one in the top-lane, they finally commit to a fight, but no one on Gambit dies, they all retreat with low health bars to the fountain and ROC destroy the two Nexus turrets, but are unable to finish the Nexus although it would have fallen down if every member of the Polish team would have hit it twice. Instead, they back off, and two minutes later, Overpow uses his ultimate to teleport next to the Nexus and finish it off. Finally, Roccat manage to close out the game, highlighting a big problem for Europe as a region, which is closing out games when they have a considerable 6k+ gold lead. Nevertheless, a win is a win and Roccat will be happy about it. On the other side, Gambit payed the price of their early game mistakes and are faced with a very slow start to the new split. We will have to see if the old saying “be wary of facing Gambit on Day 2 of a competition when they lost on Day 1” holds true or if they will continue their downward spiral tomorrow against SK Gaming.

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CW – GMB (Game 2): 53 minute Pentakill

On the blue side, CW ban Nidalee, Irelia, Evelynn and pick Ryze, Xin Zhao, Lulu, Varus and Morgana to face off against GMB, on the purple side, who ban Jax, Lucian, Karma and pick Pantheon, Kha’zix, Ziggs, Caitlyn and Thresh.

2′ – CW invade the red buff from GMB as both teams rotate their duo in the top-lane

7′ – Double kill for the bot-duo of CW in the top-lane with the help of Xin-Zhao

11′ – Kill in the top-lane for Kha’zix and Pantheon on Ryze and as the duo take the outer turret down, the CW kill the dragon

13′ – Xin Zhao and Ryze tower-dive Pantheon, but they only trade 1-1 as Pantheon manages to get a kill

15′ – Xin Zhao and Ryze try to tower-dive Pantheon one more time, but do not manage to get a kill, instead Darien kills Amazing.

18′ – GMB take the dragon uncontested, as Ryze takes the top outer turret in return

19′ – Cowtard gets caught off in the river and killed by Kha’zix and Pantheon

24′ – With a better position around the dragon pit, CW get a 2-0 win in the skirmish around dragon and down the beast as well to extend their gold lead to 4k

31′ – The next time dragon would re-spawn, GMB would finally manage to win a skirmish, 3-2 because of a very good engage from Diamond and they take the drake plus the mid outer turret down on the back of that small victory

38′ – The game was so incredibly slow paced, that outer turrets were still up around the 30 minute mark and the only action that would happen was around the dragon pit. It was CW’s turn to win this next team-fight, 2-0 andget the drake for themselves to regain their 3k gold lead

44′ – The crowd were on their feet as 44 minutes in CW managed to take down the first inner tower of the game, the bottom one, but because they showed too many people in the bot-lane, GMB took the baron and the dragon in quick succession to restore the balance.

49′ – In an epic skirmish in the mid-lane, GMB take down Ryze, but can not take any objective on the back of that and the rest of CW recall to safety.

52′ – Another epic skirmish in the mid-lane, in which AlexIch managed to Zhonyas the Varus ultimate and Lulu was forced to use her ultimate to keep Xin Zhao alive and as it seemed that both teams would back off, the CW decide to have a go at baron. GMB interrupts their recalls and contest the baron call. In the fight that followed, CW were not on the same page for a split second and Xin Zhao charged in the enemy team and instantly died, much to the surprise of his team-mates. What followed can not be described in words, but at the end of the skirmish the screen showed 9 letters everyone want to see P-E-N-T-A-K-I-L-L!!! Genja was the lucky receiver of that one despite Darien and Diamond’s best efforts to kill secure. After a 53 minutes slow-paced game, the Russian Overlords manage to down the Nexus and push this series in the decisive 3rd game.

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GMB – CW (Game 1): Rolling Thunder stopped in its tracks

On the blue side, GMB ban Yasuo, Karma, Jax and pick Renekton, Volibear, Ziggs, Caitlyn and Thresh to face off against CW, who ban Nidalee, Evelynn, Ryze and pick Vladimir, Kha’zix, Kassadin Lucian and Leona.

2′ – Both teams go for a ‘standard’ laning phase, 1v1 in the top-lane and 2v2 in the bot-lane

6′ – FB goes to CW, as Kha’zix does a repeat visit in the mid-lane.

14′ – Vladimir takes down Renekton with the help of Kha’zix and CW take the first turret of the game

17′ – GMB take the dragon, but lose the team fight that followed 3-0 and lose the bottom outer turret as well. Disastrous start for the Russians who are 0-5.

19′ – YoungBuck gets caught off and killed in the river. First mistake of the game for the Danes.

21′ – Diamond and Darien kill Kha’zix in the top-lane in a 2v2 skirmish between the 2 junglers and top-laners, while in the river, Ziggs and Thresh find and kill Kassadin

23′ – In a skirmish around the dragon pit, Gambit get a kill on Leona and take down the beast. Because CW were too low to fight, GMB decide to push their advantage and manage to destroy the mid inner turret as well before backing off.

27′ – The Russians found Kassadin out of position and killed him around the Baron pit. The game has shifted from a 0-5 kill lead for the Wolves to a 6-5 lead for GMB.

30′ – 2-1 for CW in a fight around the dragon pit, but Renekton downs the bot outer turret and after the Wolves recall, GMB manage to take the drake and keep their gold lead

32′ – Having a better positioning around the pit, GMB start the baron, but following a pretty sloppy fight, the two teams draw 2-2 and back off from the pit.

37′ – 2-1 for CW in a fight around the baron pit forces GMB back and an uncontested baron goes to the Danish Wolves

38′ – GMB take dragon down as a small consolation prize

41′ – With the baron buff on, CW rotate top but do not have the best siegeing composition and can not use the buff to it’s full extension. Instead, due to a good split-push they take down the bot inner turret after barely disengaging from the top-lane skirmish.

45′ – Baron respawns and following a 3-2 skirmish around the pit, CW manage to get the both the baron and the dragon and bring the gold lead back in their favor. The fight started well for GMB, but they over-extended and Lucian could permanently fire his guns from the back-lane and turn the fight around.

48′ – With the baron buff on, CW start the siege anew, but are forced to stop as Kha’zix is killed outside the base of GMB

51′ – Volibear gets caught off in his own jungle and this becomes the catalyst for the last team-fight of the game, which CW win convincingly, 5-1 and proceed to down the mid inhibitor, the Nexus turrets and the Nexus itself. CW win the first game of the series and are 1 match away from sending GMB in the Summer Promotion Tournament. Unbelievable!

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GMB – ROC (Game 2): The unkillable birthday-boy

On the blue side, GMB ban Ziggs, Karma, Ryze and pick Irelia, Evelynn, Lulu, Lucian and Kayle. On the purple side, ROC ban LeBlanc, Renekton, Nidalee and pick Jax, Elise, Orianna, Jinx and Thresh.

2′ – Roccat initiate the lane swap and send their duo in the top-lane

4′  – GMB get FB on Jax as both teams down the respective outer turret

5′ – Mind-blowing turn of events as GMB underestimate the damage that can come out from Jax and Elise and their 4 man push in the bot-lane comes to an end as one after the other, Darien, Diamond and Edward fall to the Poles. The decision making from GMB is simply not there. Meanwhile, in the top-lane, Darien dies a second time, but Diamond manages to get a revenge kill on Jinx, but then ends up dying to Jankos’ Elise.

7′ – Darien dies again in the bot-lane trying to defend the outer turret and ROC get an uncontested dragon on top of the bot outer turret

9′ – Darien dies one more time in the bot-lane, following a bait from Roccat, but almost gets a kill on Vander’s Thresh

10′ – CS count shows remarkably close lanes: 35-35 79-81 54-53

11′ – The bot inner tower gets destroyed by a 3 man push from ROC, who then rotate mid to take the outer turret down. Gambit can not answer to the aggression from the Polish squad.

13′ – Lucian, Evelynn and Irelia get a kill on Jax and destroy the outer turret in the top-lane, but as soon as they show themselves in the top-lane, Roccat takes the dragon. Given the circumstances, that was a good trade for GMB, but Diamond over-extends and tries to steal the enemy red-buff, but gets caught out and killed by Orianna.

17′ – In a 4v4 skirmish in the top-lane, ROC find a kill and down the inner and the inhibitor turret, as the rest of GMB barely get out and manage to recall

20′ – Uncontested dragon for ROC to boost their gold lead to 8k

21′ – Baron goes down uncontested for ROC, as GMB arrive too late to the party and too afraid to engage after Nashor went down.

24′ – With the baron buff on, ROC destroy the exposed top inhibitor and back off

26′ – ROC get dragon down and find a kill on Diamond, not giving the Russians any chance of coming back in this game. With the baron buff on, ROC try to push in the mid-lane and get a kill on Evelynn and down the inhibitor turret, but also lose Jax in the process and decide to retreat.

31′ – Baron re-spawns and although Gambit put up a very good fight and only lose Darien, they are too far behind and can do very little damage to ROC, as the poles get Nashor down after chasing GMB out of the pit. Vander and crew take both the top and the mid inhibitor before backing out and spending all the recently earned gold.

34′ – With the baron buff on, ROC return to the bot-lane and following a last skirmish between the two teams, the Poles destroy their opponents, 4-0 and finish the game. That was it! The crowd is astonished and the Russian Overlords are out of the play-offs and need to fight for their lives in tomorrow’s game versus the CW. The loser of that series will be sent to the Summer Promotion Tournament alongside MIL and SHC to fight for their LCS spot against the three best Challenger teams. Meanwhile, ROC move on to face SK Gaming in the semi-finals and Overpow, the birthday-boy seems pretty happy with the gift he received.

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ROC – GMB (Game 1): Luluminating performance!

On the blue side, ROC ban LeBlanc, Renekton, Nidalee and pick Jax, Elise, Lulu, Jinx and Thresh to face off against GMB, who ban Ziggs, Ryze, Karma and pick Irelia, Kha’zix, Kassadin, Lucian and Nami.

2′ – Both teams rotate their duo in the top-lane

5′ – GMB find a kill in the top-lane, as Nami picks up FB, following a roam from AlexIch

10′ – CS count: 68-66 in the top-lane, 77-67 in the mid-lane and 64-85 in the bot-lane

10′ – 2v2 skirmish in the bot-lane between the top-laners and the junglers ends with Irelia getting a kill on Elise

13′ – Uncontested dragon for GMB, traded for the top outer turret by ROC, who choose to move around as a 5 man unit

15′ – ROC rotate as 5 in the bot-lane, find 2 kills on Darien and AlexIch and get the outer tower down. That was the last outer turret for the Poles, the map was now completely open.

17′ – ROC win a 3v2 in the top-lane, 1-0 as Lulu aids Jax and Elise in getting a kill on Irelia

19′ – Alex helps Darien in the top-lane to get a revenge kill on Jax and they barely succeed, but ROC responds with a dragon-kill

21′ – GMB want to dive Jinx in the top lane, but it goes south very fast due to the Lulu ultimate and the teleport from Jax, who manage to turn it around and kill Irelia. Roccat then rush baron, get it, but GMB decide to go in and actually win the skirmish, 4-2, as Irelia’s ress timer was very short and he managed to teleport inside the pit, just to die one more time.

25′ – With both teams roaming around the dragon pit, GMB decide to start poking the beast, get it down before Elise could steal it, but get destroyed in the team-fight that followed, 4-0

26′ – After such a convincing win, ROC have their eyes set on the mid inner turret, but they can’t really get it down before he rest of GMB collapse on them. However, the Poles manage to get themselves another 2-0 win and down the inner tower, the inhibitor turret and the inhibitor itself to boost their gold lead to 6k.

31′ – Having better vision around the objective, ROC start baron and Kha’zix tries to steal it but goes down and lets GMB defend 4v5 as the baron goes down and ROC immediately push in the top-lane. They get the inner turret down and begin the siege on the inhibitor turret, with Jax split-pushing in the bot-lane

33′ – GMB finally decides to engage on them 5v4 in the hopes of getting a kill in the 3 second window until Jax would join his team, but all the members on ROC are very tanky and following a 2-0 victory in the skirmish, the Poles end the game. 1-0 for ROC and the Russian Overlords are looking very shaky, despite their renowned boot-camp training.

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EU LCS Final Standings & Play-off Bracket

The EU LCS Spring Split has come to an end and despite many 6 or 7 way ties conspiracy theories, the rumors are true and Europe has managed to dodge all dooms-day scenarios and achieved the unthinkable: there will be no ties in Europe, as clearly shown in the picture below, courtesy of @Zerglinator.

The tie-free standings show SK Gaming and Fnatic in 1st and 2nd, who are guaranteed a first round bye in the play-offs and thus secured their spots in the Summer Split of the EU LCS. With their win against CW in the last game, we find ALL in 3rd, just ahead of ROC, who finished 4th with 15 wins and 13 losses. One game behind the Poles, we find GMB, with 14 wins and 14 losses, representing the ultimate equilibrium. In 6th spot, clenching the final play-off spot, are the Wolves from Denmark, who end the split with 13 wins and 15 losses, while SHC and MIL are eliminated from the race and will take part in the Summer Promotion Tournament. Too illustrate how close the competition was in Europe, you can see that only one win separates the first team from the second, the second from the third and so on. What a great competition it has been…

…and what magnificent battles still await us in the play-offs, kicking off on Tuesday, 15th of April with ALL vs CW and ROC vs GMB. The winner of the play-offs will be crowned Spring Champion and will get the honor to represent Europe at the All-Star Invitational in Paris, to face off against the champions from the other 4 regions.

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ALL – GMB: Double bubble, just means more trouble.

On the blue side, ALL ban Evelynn, Lulu, LeBlanc and pick Shyvana, Kha’zix, Zed, Lucian and Nami to face off against the Russian Overlords on the purple side, who only ban Nidalee, because they were denied a ban following an unauthorized pause during their last game and they just decided to not use their 3rd ban. GMB chose Renekton, Lee Sin, Ziggs, Caitlyn and Thresh to end the season on a high note.

GMB initiate the lane swap and steal the blue buff as well, as Kha’zix repays the favor on the other side of the map, standard 1v2 lanes from both teams, getting a tower down and rotating to their “usual” lanes. FB comes after 9 minutes for ALL, as Zed and Kha’zix bait Ziggs into an engage he can not possibly win. The CS count at the 11 minute mark, shows winning lanes for GMB, 56-77 in the top-lane, 78-94 in the mid-lane and 75-89 in the bot-lane and just as I was counting the CS, GMB secure themselves the first dragon of the game. Three minutes later in a 3v3 in the mid-lane between the junglers, supports and the mid-laners, the two teams trade even, as Zed and Lee Sin go down, but GMB secures the bot outer turret thanks to Genja’s remarkable split pushing abilities. The second dragon of the game would also go in favor of the Russians as ALL was no where near it.

The mid-game kicks off with Darien being chased by various members of ALL, at first Froggen tries to kill him, but presumably miss-plays and returns to his shadow before getting the kill. One minute later, the same fight would go down again as this time the two junglers get involved, but no blood is shed. GMB groups in the mid-lane, down the outer turret and start siegeing the inner turret, but ALL does a good job to fend off their attacks. The next dragon goes to GMB again as ALL want to trade it for the inner turret in the top-lane, but are too slow to get it down and only get rewarded with a kill on Thresh, as the “Prince” gets caught out. 29 minutes in, ALL take GMB by surprise as they spike their aggression level and get a very good initiation on the Russians. Froggen and crew, win the skirmish 2-1, but since GMB are so low, they are forced to concede 2 turrets and the dragon. Diamond thought he could steal it, but ended up paying with his life, as ALL get another 2 kills when they contest the blue buff, after they are done with dragon. Game-changing fight for ALL who were down 1k gold and are now up 3k.

Three minutes later, Froggen manages to pull 4 people in the top-lane, dies in the end but his team manages to find a revenge kill on Alex in the mid-lane and down both the middle inhibitor tower and the inner tower in the bot-lane. GMB pay the price for their increasing number of positional mistakes 36 minutes in, as Renekton gets caught off and instantly killed around the baron pit. The rest of his team are unable to respond to the onslaught of ALL and get ACED without finding one single kill. With 50 second death timers, this game is over, as ALL tank the turrets and end the game. Breath-taking performance from Froggen and crew of the back of a very poor showing from GMB as they lose their last game of the split and await the other results to find out where they position themselves. ALL had a perfect game, with 3 of their 5 members being unkillable and Nami pulling off the perfect supp score 0/0/11.

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GMB – ROC: Poke-bit works!

On the blue side, GMB ban Ziggs, Ryze, Gragas and pick Renekton, Kha’zix, Nidalee, Caitlyn and Morgana to face off against ROC, who ban LeBlanc, Evelynn, Lulu and pick Shyvana, Lee Sin, Yasuo, Lucian and Thresh.

ROC go for the late invade as they rotate their duo in the top-lane to back up Jankos in getting the enemy blue-buff. Meanwhile, Shyvana and Yasuo were taking their own blue buff to secure a 3 buff start for ROC, they got spotted out by Morgana though who forced the flash of Shyvana. 5 minutes in, Renekton decides to stay as ROC’s duo push to his turret and FB goes to ROC. GMB would take the bot outer turret down and rush to the defence of their own outer turret and following a 1-1 trade, they successfuly defend the objective. A couple of minutes later, Shyvana teleports in the top-lane and finally finishes off the top outer turret, while GMB push the middle outer turret with 3 people. Darien looks like he is alone in ROC’s jungle, as Lee Sin and Shyvana try to engage onto him only to find Kha’zix there as well and GMB come out ahead, 2-1 with a double kill for Diamond. The Russians immediately capitalize on the small win with an early dragon, before rotating mid and taking down the outer turret.

GMB are trying to make quick work of this game and rotate top to down the last outer turret and although they find a kill on Lee Sin, the rest of ROC comes in and the Russians are forced to retreat. Three minutes later, GMB return to the top-lane and take the turret down for an early 3k gold lead. A lead that will soon become insurmountable, as Alex and crew push down the mid-lane, get a kill on Shyvana, destroy the inner turret, take an uncontested drake and  find a pick on Lee-Sin as well, punishing him for the attempt to steal dragon. Two minutes later, having better ward control in the enemy jungle, GMB out-rotate their opponents and manage to down the mid inhibitor turret and the inhibitor after securing 2 kills on Lee Sin and Lucian, who were trying to defend their base.

The Poles still believe they can take GMB in a 5v5 and engage in their own jungle with Xaxus teleporting inside the enemy team. The trade goes into GMB’s favor, as they trade their support for the enemy mid-laner and while the rest of ROC are forced to retreat, the Russians systematically take down the top inner turret, the inhibitor turret and the inhibitor itself before recalling to base with their 8k gold advantage. When they return, they set their eyes on the bot-lane downing both turrets and the inhibitor as well, getting a few more kills and ending the game in under 25 minutes. Very convincing win from the Russians as GMB seems to be in a very good form today.

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CW – GMB: Raise your Doge

On the blue side, CW bans LeBlanc, Nidalee, Kha’zix and picks Heimerdinger, Evelynn, Gragas, Caitlyn and Karma to face off against the Russian Overlords, on the purple side, who banned Lulu, Ziggs, Lee Sin and picked Ryze, Udyr, Zed, Lucian and Morgana.

Around the 4 minute mark, AlexIch seems caught out of position, as Evelynn tries to gank in the mid-lane, but Udyr is right there and turns the fight around granting AlexIch FB and double-buffs. Five minutes later, Darien gets ganked in the top-lane as the rest of GMB take dragon down, one of GMB’s trademark strategies. The CS count after 10 minutes showed even lanes in top, 79-74 and mid 86-88 and a huge advantage for CW in the bot-lane 82-64. One minute later, Diamond pays a visit in the top-lane and tries to collapse together with Ryze on Heimerdinger, but the Brain manages to get 1 kill before dying but his turrets almost nail him a second kill. By the 15 minute mark, GMB would have lost all their outer turrets as CW was playing a very objective focused game, taking the next dragon as well, uncontested, due to the zoning potential of Heimerdinger’s turrets and the only response that GMB could come up with was a split-pushing Zed. AlexIch gets a kill on Evelynn under her bot outer turret and rushes to help the rest of his team defend against the Danish onslaught.

18 minutes in, CW were pushing in the top-lane looking for the inner turret, as Zed tried to assassinate Heimerdinger, but failed to deliver and CW found a kill on Ryze instead. One minute later, the siege seemed to come to an end as the tower got destroyed, but  the Wolves would have other plans in mind. They rotate mid, find a kill on Evelynn and take down that inner turret as well and manage to also kill the dragon for the early 4k gold lead. Alex desperately tried to make plays as he found Karma, killed her and managed to escape . His team could not capitalize on it though and it is the Wolves who would take the next objective. As Zed was split pushing in the top-lane, CW got a 1-1 trade in the mid-lane and downed the mid inhibitor. Zed also did a really nice job, downing all three turrets in the top-lane and making quick work of the inhibitor one minute later. He would pay for it with his life and CW start off the baron. GMB, with only 3 people alive, were looking to contest it, but were efficiently zoned out by Heimer’s turrets and forced to give it up.

Having the baron buff on, CW push and down the mid inhibitor again, after catching Darien out and killing the swag-lord. As CW retreat towards the dragon area, GMB want to engage 2v4 and end up dying immediately, costing their team one Nexus turret, the bottom inhibitor turret and the next dragon. The gold lead that Wolves had at this pointwas gigantic, 11k  gold separating the 2 teams. While waiting for the baron to re-spawn, the Wolves push in the top-lane, manage to down the inhibitor there, before rotating mid and destroying, for the third time, the exposed inhibitor. Baron re-spawns and after catching Edward out of position and killing him, the Wolves make quick work of baron and recall to the base. With baron buff on, Heimer and crew, push down the bottm-lane, get a pick on Edward again and finish off the game, as GMB could not hang on 4v5. What a disturbing loss for the Russians, but a great victory for the Copenhagen Doges, as they wanted us to call them today. YoungBuck had a wonderful game on Heimerdinger and hopes to bring the SoloQ trends in the LCS more often.

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SK – GMB: Command and protect first place

In the battle for first place, SK, on the blue side, ban Evelynn, Lulu, Kha’zix and picked Renekton, Fiddlesticks, LeBlanc, Jinx and Vel’koz (support!). On the purple side, GMB ban Ziggs, Annie, Lee Sin and pick Aatrox, Xin Zhao, Orianna, Lucian and Thresh.

All the attention was focused towards the bottom-lane where Nrated’s Vel’Koz would turn a lot of heads. Sadly for him, Candypanda and the SK fans, they managed to give up first and second blood in straight up 2v2 duels. Each time great hooks from Edward’s Thresh secured the kill. The immobile duo lane from SK really showed it’s weaknesses early on. In the 10th minute, SK put themselves on the board with a kill in the mid-lane on Xin Zhao, very good execution from Fiddlesticks and LeBlanc. Darien did his usual thing in the top-lane, pulling 3 people over and kiting them around before finally dying, to enable his team would take a very easy uncontested dragon.

The mid-game was all about GMB winning small skirmishes everywhere around the map, two times 2-0 in the bot-lane in 3v3 skirmishes and one time in the top-lane as Renekton and Fiddlesticks died with both teams retreating afterwards. Gambit also never let up the pressure and got every dragon in the game to increase their gold lead to 5k at the 21 minute mark. The fights that followed would make the crowd wonder, how did that escalate so quickly. First off, a very good fight from both teams in the GMB’s jungle broke out and after some great moves from both sides, GMB’s tankiness and phenomenal engage potential with Xin Zhao and Aatrox provided superior as they won the fight 3-2 and both teams recalled. One minute later, Fiddlesticks is slightly out of position at the next dragon fight, gets killed very fast and GMB wins that skirmish as well 3-1 and get themselves another dragon before rotating to baron. It looked like the Russians would take it uncontested, but SK insisted on fighting again, however they miss-time their abilities by one or two seconds, the baron goes down to GMB and they turn the fight to SK, winning one more time with 3-1. Both times, the only casualty on GMB’s side was Edward, but he did not seem to mind it as his team increased their gold lead to 11k.

The next fight would happen in SK’s jungle as they thought they caught Genja alone, initiated on him, but the rest of GMB were having his back and turned the fight around for yet another 3-1 win, a dragon and a tower. This game had a lot of kills but very few towers were downed, the last one was only the 3rd of the game for the Russians. 33 minutes in, GMB take the next baron uncontested and with their 17k gold lead, manage to end the game with ease following a push down the mid-lane. SK seemed always one step behind the Russians and are forced to relinquish the first place position. Every single member of GMB stepped it up and it was through a team-effort that they manage to get the win over their rivals. Very well done!

Edit: The game result has been voided, due to a bug on Aatrox and the referee not informing SK about the option to remake the game once they noticed a bug and reported it. The game will be played again after the conclusion of the other games, on Friday 28th of March. SK Gaming won the rematch and Svenskeren summed it up very well on his FB page: “I am very sorry for Gambit Gambing, but I am happy we won” as it was RIOT’s decision to organize a rematch and not SK’s request.

 

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EU LCS standings after W9D2

As the League action comes to an end this week, it’s time to have a look at the standings. It wouldn’t be the EU LCS if the teams were not tied. In first place, GMB and SK remain tied up after this week as well, with both teams going 1-1. In 3rd place we have a three way tie  between ALL, FNC and ROC with 12 wins and 10 losses, while CW is in 6th and the last 2 places, the ones that no one wants to be in, are occupied by SHC and MIL. 6 games to go in Europe and the Internet is already buzzing with a terrific scenario, a possible 7-way-tie, that would require 21 tie-breaking-games. That would be a real treat, wouldn’t it?! 🙂

GMB – MIL: The Swag-Croc

Gambit banned Ziggs, Caitlyn and picked Renekton, Kha’zix, Ryze, Lucian and Thresh. Only 2 bans allowed for GMB, but they pick such an incredible composition with Eddie back to the champion that gave him the nick-name the “Thresh Prince”, a scary Diamond in the jungle and AlexIch bringing out the Ryze in the mid-lane. To face the Russian onslaught, on the purple side, are MIL, who ban Kassadin, Lulu , LeBlanc and pick Trundle, Lee Sin, Gragas, Ezreal and Leona. Very good synergy in the bot-lane for them, plus Araneae on a carry jungle should be good enough reasons for a spectacular game.

Explosive start to the game as Ryze catches a rune prison on Gragas 3 minutes in, followed up by a flash+jump+slow from Kha’zix would surely mean the death for Gragas, who tries to escape in his jungle but eventually dies to the ignite. Lee Sin also came to the aid of his team-mate, but because he had only half of his hp bar, he couldn’t prevent the death, but instead gave up double buffs and a double kill to Ryze. Disastrous start for Millenium. Morale of this story? Whenever you clear the jungle, keep chugging those health pots guys, they are in your inventory for a reason.

After that horrible start, Araneae wanted to redeem himself and stuck around the mid-lane, but Ryze just farmed safely. Lee Sin would roam bot and try to get his duo going, but after a miss-play from him and a great hook from Edward, the Spaniard ends up dying yet again. One minute later, Darien would get caught proxy-farming up in the top-lane and with the help of Lee Sin and Trundle, Gragas would secure an easy kill to help him stay in lane with Ryze. 11 minutes in, the trio would do a repeat gank on Darien, but as they were unsure to who they should give the kill, the sneaky crocodile manages the first of several epic escapes. Meanwhile, down in the bot-lane, the rest of GMB killed the first dragon and would eventually find a pick on Leona as well. CS count after 12 minutes would show a big advantage for Renekton 112-93, a smaller advantage for Gragas in the mid-lane 79-90 and an even bot-lane 95-95.

Sadly for him, Araneae would keep under-performing through-out the entire game, as he first gets caught and killed at his red-buff and then at the dragon a few minutes later. MIL group as five and go to the bot-lane, where they find themselves a double-kill on Genja and Edward, to stay in the game. Next drake would go to GMB again, as MIL trade it with a turret in the top-lane. Kha’zix gets a kill on Ezreal, as he sneakily waited in the lane bush for him and in the top-lane, Darien makes another great escape. Having lost vision control over the baron area, MIL find it hard to group around that objective and GMB do not hesitate to go for a 20 minute baron. As Lee Sin approaches he gets hooked and insta-killed. GMB stop the damage on baron just in time because Gragas came from the other side to try and sneak it with a barrel and an explosive casket. The damage wasn’t enough and another great hook from Thresh seals Gragas’ faith and GMB finish off the baron.

From this point on, the game is very one-sided and everyone is invited to the Darien show. It hardly maters that Edward lands another great hook and gets GMB 2 more kills and the mid inner turret when Darien buys Morellonomicon on Renekton and baits for his team, providing two more kills for the Russians. Gambit take the dragon and return to pushing the mid-lane. The next skirmish would also go in their favor, 4-1 and the mid inhibitor goes down. At this point AlexIch and crew are up by 14k gold and Darien has many more tricks up his sleeve. He buys an Ohmwrecker, as Gambit go 5-0 in the next team fight and they destroy the top inhibitor tower, the two nexus turrets but do not have enough hp to end the game. As there were hardly any turrets on the map left, Darien sells his Ohmwrecker and buys a Zhonya’s Hourglass instead. The crowd goes wild as Gambit march down the mid-lane to get a few more kills and end the game with a golden crock in the enemy fountain. Spectacular performance from GMB, enabled in part by MIL under-performing a lot and only a miracle would get them out of the 8th place at the end of the season.

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GMB – KTB (Game2): Four for the back-door

GMB on the blue side banned Gragas, LeBlanc, Nidalee and picked Shyvana, Lee Sin, Kha’zix, Lucian and Thresh. On the purple side, KTB banned Evelynn, Lulu, Aatrox and picked Renekton, Elise, Kassadin, Annie and Jinx. Very solid pick and ban phase for both teams, the Koreans surprise everybody as they pick Kassadin, who in their opinion was not nerfed that much.

Gambit show they are not about to go down without a fight and in the 3rd minute, Diamond is already ganking bot and gets himself a kill on Jinx. Insec tries to do the same three minutes later but KTB end up trading kills after that gank, because they tanked the turret for too long, 1-1. Same thing would happen again two minutes later at the next gank in the bot-lane, when they trade 2-2. The Koreans are obviously not accustomed to the “feed to win” mentality of Darien as he kites them for a long time through their base 11 minutes in, before finally dying. In the mean-time though, GMB win a 2-1 skirmish and get the first dragon as well. Same thing would happen two minutes later, as the swag-lord gets chased down in the enemy jungle, while bot-lane secure the outer turret for GMB.

KTB show up better prepared for the next dragon-fight and with the help of better vision and a great Annie Flash-Tibbers engage, they manage to secure a 4-2 win and take down the drake. AlexIch was looking to influence this game as early as possible and gets a solo pick-off kill on Jinx 19 minutes in. GMB fought hard for the next drake and although they managed to win the skirmish, 3-2 they lose the dragon who goes to KTB. The Koreans look very strong in the mid-game and win fights all over the map. A skirmish around the blue-buff turns out bad for GMB who lose it 2-0 and have to concede their mid inner turret. This also meant that KTB could secure better vision around the baron-pit for the upcoming dance, but GMB do not waste time and Kha’zix finds a great engage on Jinx, gets the kill, but the enemy team collapses on him and the Koreans would turn the fight around and win it 5-2, but could not capitalize with a baron. They did benefit from their superior ward placement and following a great bait inside the baron-pit, they would get another two kills on the Russians and hurry to down the mid inhibitor before returning to Nashor, closely followed by GMB who manage to interrupt their baron attempt.

The next minutes were very entertaining for the crowd as KTB would barely win the skirmishes without taking the baron and GMB would look stronger than before in every single one of them. The first time, Darien gets caught and killed which lead to a 4-2 win for the Bullets, but they back off. The second time, KTB wins the skirmish 4-3, this time around the mid-lane, but without capitalizing on any objective, only to see the entire game being turned on it’s head as the Russians find a pick on Kassadin and then demolish the Koreans who came to his aid. 3-0 GMB wins this fight, secure the baron and the dragon 2 minutes later, evening out the gold difference. KTB play very defensive in the next minutes and with a very good wave clear they wait for the baron-buff to time out and then engage on the Russians as Genja’s Lucian gets deleted from the map. At this point, it looked like the game was over, but GMB end up getting an ACE, thanks to the fed Kha’zix who kept getting reset after reset and shredding the entire enemy team. With the 40 second death timers, it seemed nothing could stop the Russians, but not having their adc slowed the demolition-process very much and they only managed to get the mid-inhibitor down, before they would have to go back.

Things were looking good for the Russians though and after the next team-fight they could surely end the game. However, the Koreans had different plans, they saw GMB pushing in the top-lane and sneaked a 4 man squad through the lower part of the jungle, targeting the exposed mid-inhibitor. Renekton was sent in the top-lane to distract GMB and prevent their recalls for as long as possible as the 4 man death-squad ravaged the inhibitor and the only remaining Nexus turret before finishing off the Nexus itself. What a crushing defeat for the Russian champions, there must be something in the air here in Katowice that favors back-doors. The whole crowd was on their feet and chanted “Gam-bit, Gam-bit” for seconds, sympathizing with AlexIch and crew in a very emotional moment. But that was all she wrote, Gambit is out of the competition and the KT Bullets advance to the final tomorrow, where they will face off against another European power-house, Fnatic.

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KTB – GMB (Game 1): Vicious InSec(t)

On the blue side KTB ban Evelynn, Aatrox, Annie and pick Shen, Kha’zix, Gragas, Caitlyn and Karma. Very innovative composition, first time we see the Karma support and the Shen top as a counter to Renekton. On the purple side, GMB ban Thresh, Lee Sin, Lulu and pick Renekton, Nocturne, LeBlanc, Varus and Leona.

Gambit initiate a lane swap, sending their duo in the top-lane and stealing away KTB’s blue buff in the process. In response, the Koreans send Gragas in the top lane and their bot in the mid-lane. In order to stop the turret pressure in the mid-lane, Eddie roams there and they force a flash and a barrier from Caitlyn, but no kill. FB goes to KTB, 9 minutes in, as InSec roams bot and gives Shen the kill over Renekton. A few minutes later, Nocturne is caught out near drake and killed. As a result of that KTB takes away blue buff as well, but lose the next skirmish 3-2 and GMB takes dragon. CS count at the 12 minute mark shows a small advantage for GMB overall, 90-78 top, 69-77 mid and 102-118 bot.

The mid-game is where KTB out-shined their opponents. First off, 16 minutes in, Gragas would take a solo-kill on LeBlanc and although GMB win the next skirmish around dragon, 2-1, KTB walks away with the drake. AlexIch was desperately trying to find a way to get back in this game and managed to get a solo-kill on Shen up top, but when he tried to do the same thing again, Kha’zix was there and finished him off. The next dragon would go uncontested over to KTB, as GMB were simply out of position and unable to fight. Two minutes later, InSec finds Alex all alone in the top-lane again and kills him a second time. Meanwhile, in the bot-lane, a small skirmish breaks out and ends in a draw 1-1, while KTB take the top inner turret.

As KTB get a third uncontested dragon, the action moves to the baron pit and following a prolonged Baron-dance, KTB manage to out-play their opponents, winning the skirmish 4-2, but being to low to stick around they recall. Two minutes later, they come back, get an easy pick, kill the baron and push down the mid-lane. Being ahead by a substantial margin and wearing the baron-buff, the Koreans easily get a 4-0 win in the next team-fight and end the game. 1-0 for the Bullets and Gambit would have to win 2 games in a row now in order to defend their title. InSec would come out huge, 7/3 in this game, being always at the right place, at the right time.

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GMB – TPA: RR stands for Russian Revenge

On the blue-side GMB ban Ziggs, Gragas, Thresh and pick Shyvana, Lee Sin, LeBlanc, Lucian and Sona. TPA ban Aatrox, Renekton, Lulu and pick Jax, Evelynn, Zed, Sivir and Leona. A bit surprising that Eddie did not go for the Morgana pick who is not played in China and SE Asia at all, but instead picks the Sona.

Diamond showed why Lee Sin is one of his signature champions as he got FB 3 minutes in after a very well timed gank in the top-lane. Down in the bot-lane, Genja manages to get a revenge kill after his lane-partner got killed following a lane gank from Evelynn. Early game started to look a bit shaky for the Russians yet again as Eve gets another kill bot and Jax manages a solo-kill on Shyvana. CS count, 10 minutes in, was also slightly in favor of TPA, 74-73 top, 65-69 mid and 56-75 bot. GMB decides to turn it all around though as they get the drake (10′) and a 3-1 victory in a 4v3 skirmish down in the bot-lane.

The story of the mid-game would be Jax split-pushing top as GMB focused their attention in the bot-lane, they trade the top outer turret for a kill in the bot-lane and a dragon. Jax actually manages to get a solo-kill on LeBlanc, the most fed GMB member and TPA make a risky decision to burst baron down. GMB catch on to it, challenge the baron call and obliterate the SE Asian team, 3-0, you can simply not do such mistakes against the Russians, who go on and win another skirmish in the enemy jungle, 2-1 and also secure the next dragon. Jax’ split-pushing days are over 27 minutes in the game as he gets caught out and killed by Lucian with the help of Shyvana. A failed crescendo from Eddie two minutes later would trigger a kill switch in TPA’s heads as they completely wreck Gambit in the upcoming skirmish, 4-1. They can not take any objective on the back of that, but they keep themselves in this game, reducing the gold lead to about 4k in favor of GMB.

35 minutes gone by and TPA look like they want to fight, but the Russians come out ahead once more, 3-0 win after a skirmish in the mid-lane and although they had a good chance of ending the game, they decided to play it safe, take the baron and go back. Although, the game looked pretty much over, GMB had a steady approach towards ending it. First off, after a 2-1 skirmish-win they get the mid-inhibitor down, get a nexus turret and a dragon as well before retreating to the shop with a massive 14k gold lead. When they return, they decide to siege the top-lane and even-though they get 2 kills, they are all very low and their hp-bars are blinking so they are forced to go back once again. With the baron almost re-spawning, TPA knew that this was their last chance to turn the game around and they go for one final fight, but GMB blows them to smithereens, 4-1 won team-fight and they close the game even thought hey lost their 7/0 adc, Genja in that fight. Huge win for GMB who manage to qualify for the semi-finals where they will face the KT Bullets in a best of three series.

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GMB – WE: Man-build Genja

On the blue-side, GMB ban Ziggs, Caitlyn, Thresh and pick Aatrox, Evelynn, Lulu, Varus and Morgana. On the purple side, WE ban Annie, Lee Sin, Elise and pick Renekton, Vi, Gragas, Lucian and Leona. Both teams got crushed yesterday in their first game and this is their last chance to stay in this game.

The game starts out as usual for the Russians with Darien giving away FB in the 4th minute. Early Chinese aggression also showed two minutes later as Vi roamed mid for a kill on Lulu. Another two minutes go by and Vi tries to dive Aatrox in the top-lane together with Renekton, but the Chinese-duo get a bit unlucky and Aatrox passive comes off cool-down just as the dive happens which allows Darien to get a 1-1 trade with the help of his faithful turret. At the 10 minute mark Vi sneaks the first dragon of the game for WE, as the CS count looks overall even, 57-77 in the top-lane, 80-80 mid and 86-65 in the bot-lane.

Sadly for GMB the mid-game would not go that much better for them as they first get out-smarted up top and both Darien and Diamond go down in a 2v2 skirmish and then continued to get tower-dove, especially AlexIch in the mid-lane who was the victim of 3 or 4 man ganks repeatedly, following one of those ganks, WE would secure the dragon as well. The Russian fans were putting all their hopes in the GMB duo-bot who came out ahead two times in 3v3 skirmishes, the first time they got a 1-0 and the second time it actually looked Team WE will get a 1-0 but Genja turned the whole fight around with a perfect Varus snipe, terminating the life of two people. The same scenario would repeat itself two minutes later as Team WE push the bot-lane, get a kill on Morgana and the outer turret, but then try to kill Evelynn as well in the enemy jungle without any ultimates up and GMB punishes their greed, destroying them in a 4-1 trade. At this time Genja is 5/0 and adds a Zephyr to his IE, classic Genja build coming up with something interesting in a high-pressure situation.

At the next dragon fight, GMB felt they were right back in this game and decided to challenge WE’s dragon supremacy. The skirmish that followed was perfectly executed by the Russians, getting a swift 5-1 win, plus the dragon. ACE for Gambit and they look stronger than ever. Team WE doesn’t see it that way and are still keen on engaging with Vi and Leona on the first opponent they spot, but Edward’s Morgana pick starts to pay dividends as the Russians turn the fight on it’s head, get two kills and the baron shortly after due to the Black Shield – Varus’ Ultimate combo. By now, GMB were in full control of the game, managing to come from behind and get a 5k gold lead. With the baron buff on, they push down the mid-lane, get a clean 4-0 win in the next fight and force the surrender from WE. That is it for the Chinese team, they are out of the competition and GMB will play their long-time nemesis TPA for a spot in the semi-finals. Great come-back from GMB with Darien and Genja in the spot-light!

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TPA – GMB: S2 champions are back!

TPA on the blue side ban Renekton, Aatrox, Elise and pick Lee Sin, Wukong, Ziggs, Sivir and Thresh to face off against last year’s champions Gambit Gaming who ban Gragas, Leona, Lulu and pick Trundle, Evelynn, Karthus, Lucian and Annie.

GMB want to surprise TPA right from the start and initiate themselves the swap to the top-lane but get spotted by a ward and TPA also switches their bot-duo top. Evelynn shows top and Ziggs gets a free kill on Karthus for the FB of the game. The two duo’s also have a go at each other and after some back and forth action, trade kills 1 for 1, after Lee Sin burns his TP and Karthus burns his ultimate. TPA seems in control of this game and after some great rotations they get the bot and mid outer turrets and also secure an uncontested drake. CS count at the 11 minute mark was also heavily in favor of TPA with 82-76 in the top-lane 101-69 in the mid-lane and 91-71 in the bot-lane.

The game seemed to slip away from GMB as their members kept getting caught in different parts of the map and TPA made sure to capitalize on every single kill with an objective, they got the bot inner turret after a kill on Trundle, the dragon after another kill on Trundle and thus managed to gather an 8k lead, 16 minutes in the game. From this moment on, they would just stomp GMB in every team fight with the help of their star mid-laner Morning who had a very impressive performance on Ziggs. In the 21st minute, TPA win a skirmish 3-1 and get the bot inhibitor down only to rotate mid, win another team-fight 4-1 and get that inhibitor down as well, increasing their gold lead to 15k. The South-Asians had a very methodical approach to the game, they didn’t rush it, but instead systematically took out every objective on the map before finally closing it out after 28 minutes. With only one member remaining from the impressive squad that managed to become World Champions in Season 2, TPA still look incredibly strong as they send GMB in the loser’s game, if they want to still have a chance at defending their title here in Katowice.

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ALL – GMB: 4-0 The dream!

Alliance, on the blue side, banned Evelynn, Lucian, Kha’zix and picked Irelia, Lee Sin, Lulu, Draven and Thresh to face off against Gambit’s Aatrox, Wukong, Kayle, Sivir and Annie. GMB previously banned Kass, LeBlanc and Caitlyn. Both teams managed to pick up their signature heroes, so no big surprises in the two line-ups, no Kassadin being left open for any of the two lucky mid-laners who got to play him the day before. Alex Ich playing the “new” Kayle and Tabzz on Draven were the two big points of interest. Not person, point.

The game starts off huge as every jungler plays a big part in their team’s first blood, Lee helps Lulu in the mid-lane, while Wukong wonders top to assist Aatrox. The action takes a five minute break before exploding again, while Wukong makes a repeat visit up top to secure another kill on Irelia, Draven melts Annie and then ALL take the first dragon. Darien and Diamond keep insisting in the top-lane, kill Irelia a second time in 1 minute, just as she comes back to lane, but they get caught and pay for their overextended visit, Irelia gets one kill, Lulu gets another. The CS count at the 11 minutes mark pretty much sums up the above: 54-78 in the top lane, 105-88 in the mid lane and 98-82 in the bottom lane.

15 minutes in the game, GMB win the skirmish around the drake, but both teams are way too low to take on dragon as well and recall, ALL being able to return faster to the pit secure that objective. Three minutes later, GMB decides to contest the blue buff of ALL and come out ahead as they get 2 kills for nothing. One could detect a bit of carelessness in the GMB line-up though, as both Eddie and Darien get caught and killed, as they manage to secure 1 tower each. Same scenario for the next dragon-fight, 2-1 GMB, but Lee Sin manages to steal away the drake, their 3rd of the game, with the 4th one following 6 minutes after, uncontested.

GMB look for fights and they decide to start the baron and force ALL to react, they do, Wickd teleports right on top of them and barely gets away with the help of Lulu’s ultimate. Draven isn’t so lucky, neither is Lee Sin and both go down, together with Nashor for an overall GMB win. They have the stronger team-fighting composition and take the mid inner turret and their first drake to amount to a 4k lead with Kayle being Godlike. The only reason ALL is still in this game is because they systematically killed dragon, time and time again in the early game. 39 minutes in, disaster spells for GMB as Diamond gets caught and executed with 40 seconds before Baron re-spawns. Game-changing mistake there, ALL take Nashor uncontested and start to siege the mid-lane, they are still in it. Diamond gets caught again around the mid inner turret and a brilliant hook from Nyph secures the kill on Edward plus the mid inhibitor. ALL simply rotate bot and repeat the same scenario, ride their momentum and end the game. Fabulous week for Froggen & co., going undefeated in the super-week, 4-0, the dream comes true.

You can find a link with the full game stats and item builds here: http://euw.lolesports.com/eu-lcs/2014/split1/matches/week-8/alliance-vs-gambit-gaming

ROC – GMB: brilliant game from the nr.1 and nr.2 seed

Although teams are pretty close in the EU LCS and a super-week with a total of 16 games can alter the standings pretty bad, this was the game to watch, the clash at the front of the pack, Poland vs Russia, Roccat vs Gambit. On the blue side, ROC banned out LeBlanc, Lee Sin and Evelynn and chose Renekton, Elise, Gragas, Cait and Thresh to face off against GMB who banned Kassadin, Pantheon and Lulu and picked Shen, Vi, Kha’zix, Jinx and Morgana.

A slow start to the game saw ROC taking the early lead, first blood for Xaxus’ Renekton, with the help of Elise and Gragas, first dragon for ROC after a 3-2 skirmish and the first 2 towers down. By the 10 min mark, the CS was also in ROCCAT’s favor, 87-74 top, 95-82 mid and 77-68 bot. However, Gambit wasn’t about to drop the ball on the “innovative playstyle”, AlexIch evolved his W first on his Kha’zix and Darien built a Static Shiv on his split-pushing Shen.

In the mid-game, small brawls broke out, Roccat winning every single one of them, getting 1-2 kills every time and an objective building a 4k gold lead by the 25th minute and shortly after took the first Baron of the game, while Darien kept split-pushing bot and destroyed the inner turret on that lane. With the Nashor buff on, ROC sieges the inner mid turret and manages to get it down, before catching Diamond in the jungle and capitalizing with another dragon on that kill, 4th dragon of the game for them and a 7k gold lead opened up. The game looked to be going in ROC’s favor, but then after a beautiful engage from Eddie in the top lane, GMB manages to ACE the polish squad, AlexIch coming big after that one with a tripple kill followed by an easy baron and dragon combo and Gambit was right back in this. Inspired by their recent success, GMB take 2 inner turrets and a 44 minute dragon sneaked by Genja brings the Russians for the first time in the lead. This game was far from over!

The never ending cold-ward-war around the Baron pit, seemed to be won by GMB who manages to pick up Nashor by sneakily bursting him down with Vi and Kha’zix who jumped over the wall with the assist of Genja’s rockets from above the baron pit. In the siege that followed, GMB misplayed and Alex got caught and bursted down, followed shortly by Edward. Being 2 man down, the Russians had to concede their inner inhibitor, but the game was not lost yet. 57 minutes into the game, after an extended baron dance, GMB finally decides to start off baron and hope to burst it down fast, but in the fight that followed, Darien, Alex and Diamond would fall, leaving only Genja and Eddie with the baron buff to defend against Roccat’s assault and the polish team closes out the game due to the huge re-spawn timers on Gambit’s side. Roccat kept constant pressure in the Baron pit and it payed off, managing to get GMB low enough and teaching us an important lesson: with 57 minutes on the clock and 75 seconds re-spawn timers, the number advantage is way more impactful than the baron buff. GG ROC!