Teams:
LGD has surprised friends and foe with their astonishing performance, a 6th place seed team that sweeps the 2nd and 3rd seed teams. None of the 6 games played this series have been close, LGD outplayed and outclassed both OMG and Snake and are looking extremely hyped and ready for the clash against EDG. TBQ has adapted the most this patch with his tanky junglers that saved him and it’s team from engaging teamfights.
EDG has struggled a bit with Team World Elite due to Pawn not being able to play the first 4 matches. With Pawn they are 4-0 and have been looking as impressive as they have been the entire split.
Both teams will be looking for a laneswap to suit their roaming playstyle. Where the EDG trinity, Clearlove/Meiko and Koro1 roam for the likes of EDG, Pyl,GODV and TBQ roam for LGD. This could give both Acorn and Pawn some solo farm or a lot of attention. Which of these two teams will be having the biggest benefit from their roaming style? LGD needs to be careful how they play this, as EDG will punish any mistake. Invictus Gaming have suffered from this several times this split in both the Demacia cup as in the LPL playoffs.
The problem in this match-up is that EDG has got a better player individually in every role and this could be a huge factor during the early stages but also the later stages of the game.
When it comes to teamfighting, both teams have impressed us with their positioning, the right moment of engage and the way that ultimates are followed up by each other.
The most interesting point of discussion is how TBQ will come out of the early game. He has been rather safe with the protection of the current meta and his teammates, but is he safe for Clearlove and his mercenaries? All we can do is speculate, the answer shall be given to us in just a couple of hours!
Players/match-ups:
Every lane in this game is going to be incredibly great to witness! Let’s have a quick look at the two most highlighted face-offs for tonight’s game.
Pawn vs GODV(We1less)
Both are able to farm heavily, roam and influence the map where possible. What we will be looking at is how these two players play their laningphase inlane. Will there be any solo kills? Which of the two will get their comfort champions? Both players have very impressive records on Kassadin and Leblanc, but are not limited to those champions. They have massive champion pools and are both able to make decisive plays for their team.
Pawn is considered by some to be the world’s best teamfighting midlaner, not for no reason either, he is a reigning world champion, killed Faker multiple times solo in lane and is showing his skills every single game. The way that he jumps into fights, zhonya’s in time to simply go out and back in the fight again, it’s a joy to watch a player with so much skill and knowledge.
GODV is a rising star, young, hasn’t won much yet and tonight is his first big Final. How will he respond to the pressure and to face Pawn in atleast 3 games? There is no question that he is biggest midlane talent that China has got to offer at this point. With only 17 years on this world, he will be the next best thing that China will have to offer in the League of Legends scene. Perhaps tonight could be his very first title.
Deft vs Imp
Samsung Blue vs Samsung White, the passive laner vs the aggressive laner. A lot has changed since then. Where Imp has picked up his first world championship a few months ago, Deft has picked up the “Worlds best ADC” title and the no.1 rank in this splits MVP ranking in the LPL.
For the sake of these 2 players, standard lanes are extremely welcome but unlikely as discussed before.
Imp has had a few problems with his team in terms of communication, having witnessed LGD the last 6 games, it seems that everything is working as intended. Imp has a huge amount of trust in his teammates which translates into playing extremely aggressive in teamfights and pushing himself to the limit. Being aware of his teammates cooldowns and knowing when to pull out and go in is a skill that he has acquired in China and it suits him quite well.
Deft hasn’t had any problems adapting to China, he has been laning 3v2 most of the time during the split, that 3 person being Clearlove. By now Deft has learned to lane on his own, Meiko feels safe enough to leave him 1v2 and just do fine.
Out of all the Korean players that have come to China, Deft has changed and adapted the best. His laning is a threat for his opponents as Deft is able to get ahead in the laningphase by getting kills, something that wasn’t imaginable in Korea.
Both players are extremely well on more then a single champion. Imp has had great succes on Kalista and Sivir as where Deft is great on any lategame carry, Jinx and Kog’maw in particular.
The rivalry between these two players goes back, way back, to the times of Samsung Ozone in Season 3. As I will assign a special article about their rivalry in the near future I will focus on their last Bo5 series played.
This was at worlds 2014, where SSW destroyed SSB, 3-0. There is not much to be said about that series except that Imp wanted to “make Deft cry” but felt sorry for him afterwards.
6 Months later, Deft has surpassed the superstar ADC and can regain some of his honor by destroying his former colleague in lane, perhaps multiple times.
Player statistics Spring Split Playoffs 2015
LGD Acorn (Top, 3 different champion picks)
1. Hecarim – 2 picks, 100% winrate, 12.0 KDA
2. Gnar – 1 pick, 100% winrate, 12.0 KDA
3. Maokai – 1pick, 100% winrate, 4.3 KDA
EDG Koro1 (Top, 4 different champion picks)
1. Hecarim – 3 picks, 66.7% winrate, 2.9 KDA
2. Gnar – 3 picks, 100% winrate, 7.7 KDA
3. Maokai – 1 pick, 0% winrate, 4.5 KDA
4. Shyvana – 1 pick, 100% winrate, 9.0 KDA
LGD TBQ (Jungle, 3 different champion picks)
1. Nunu – 3picks, 100% winrate, 14.3 KDA
2. Sejuani – 2 picks, 100% winrate, 6.3 KDA
3. Gragas – 1 pick, 100% winrate, 13.0 KDA
EDG Clearlove (Jungle, 3 different champion picks)
1. Nunu – 3 picks, 66.7% winrate, 3.8 KDA
2. Rek’Sai – 3 picks, 100% winrate, 10.7 KDA
3. Gragas – 2 picks, 50% winrate, 6.3 KDA
LGD GODV (Mid, 3 different champion picks)
1. Orianna – 3 picks, 100% winrate, 9.8 KDA
2. Kassadin – 2 picks, 100% winrate, 7.3 KDA
3. Anivia – 1 pick, 100% winrate, 12.0 KDA
EDG Pawn (Mid, 3 different champion picks)
1. Kassadin – 2 picks, 100% winrate, 12.5 KDA
2. Fizz – 1 pick, 100% winrate, 3.0 KDA
3. Leblanc – 1 pick, 100% winrate, 2.5 KDA
LGD Imp (ADC, 4 different champion picks)
1. Sivir – 2 picks, 100% winrate, 9.5 KDA
2. Kalista – 2 picks, 100% winrate, 9.0 KDA
3. Jinx - 1 pick, 100% winrate, 11.0 KDA
4. Graves – 1 pick, 100% winrate, 9.0 KDA
EDG Deft (ADC, 6 different champion picks)
1. Urgot – 2 picks, 100% winrate, 21.0 KDA
2. Jinx – 2 picks, 100% winrate, 24.0 KDA
3. Kog’maw – 1 pick, 0% winrate, 3.8 KDA
4. Sivir – 1 pick, 0% winrate, 2.0 KDA
5. Lucian – 1 pick, 100% winrate, 6.0 KDA
6. Corki – 1 pick, 100% winrate, 13.0 KDA
LGD Pyl (Support, 4 different champion picks)
1. Nautilus – 3picks, 100% winrate, 4.0 KDA
2. Kennen – 1 pick, 100% winrate, 5.5 KDA
3. Gragas – 1pick , 100% winrate, 3.0 KDA
4. Janna – 1pick, 100% winrate, 14.0 KDA
EDG Meiko (Support, 5 different champion picks)
1. Janna – 3 picks, 100% winrate, 7.7 KDA
2. Thresh – 2 picks, 50% winrate, 2.2 KDA
3. Braum – 1 pick, 100% winrate, 6.5 KDA
4. Nami – 1 pick, 0% winrate, 2.8 KDA
5. Nautilus – 1 pick, 100% winrate, 8.0 KDA
Prediction:
3-1 Victory for Edward Gaming. EDG is not just the favorite in this match-up because of their first seed in the LPL, it’s the way that they discourage opponents by unleashing a demonic wave of sadism onto the rift. LGD is a very talented and skilled team, but they are not the ones that are going to be able to stop this Edward Gaming.
Short interview with LGD earlier this split