<article id="twCBLOL"><header><img style="width: 100%; height: auto;" src="http://www.liquidlegends.net/staff/Laural/schoolrumble.jpg" /></img></header>
<p id="preface" class="text">Two weeks of CBLoL have passed and instead of an overwhelming favorite, Brazilian League of Legends resembles something like a schoolyard brawl. PaiN and Keyd are the two bullies who are learning boxing from their dads but have no finesse and rudimentary understanding. Meanwhile INTZ or CNB might be able to trick them into doing something dumb, like eating worms or shoving straws up their nose. The rest of the teams will be able to throw in a bony elbow or two before inevitably ending up with a face full of dirt.
It’s a messy process, but no one said growing up was easy.</p>
<img src="http://www.liquidlegends.net/staff/JonGalt/IMG/pic2_cblol.jpg" class="imgfix align-center" />
<h2 class="title">Two Peas in a Pod: VF Keyd Stars and paiN Gaming</h2>
<p class="text">Both paiN Gaming and Vivo Fibra Keyd Stars have experienced players in the Brazilian competitive landscape. Both made significant roster moves in the interest of eventually standing on an international stage. And while they didn’t play against each other this week, their series against CNB e-Sports Club and g3nerationx respectively had similar outcomes.
Full of up and coming talent, CNB and g3nerationx each brought interesting ideas and strategies to their matches only to be inevitably overwhelmed by more experienced professional players. They pushed paiN and Keyd to not rely solely on mechanical outplays, and instead use superior vision, objective control, teamfighting, or map pressure to earn their victories.
Most importantly, CNB and g3nerationx allowed few errors by paiN and Keyd to go unpunished. Ever so slowly, the scales are tipping in favor of recognizing advantages given by an opponent rather than consistently foolish decision-making. That’s not to say that these games weren’t sloppy at times – Keyd versus g3nerationx devolved into a slug fest by the end of it all – but they’re learning. These sets were closer than their simple scoreline of 2-0 suggests.
The true beneficiary is Brazil as a whole. While none of these teams have perfected their macro play, hopefully the upstarts in Brazil will continue to pressure those at the top in the coming weeks.</p>
<img src="http://www.liquidlegends.net/staff/JonGalt/IMG/pic3_cblol.jpg" class="imgfix align-center" />
<h2 class="title">Tick, Tick, Tockers: INTZ’s Progress</h2>
<p class="text">Last week, Keyd’s first order of business in taking down INTZ was to ban out their mid laner, Tockers. Drawing five of six overall bans – six if you include Urgot as a mid flex pick – Tockers still put up respectable numbers in the two losses but had less overall impact.
Sister team INTZ Red employed a similar strategy this week, using all six of their bans on the mid laner. Tockers proceeded to dismantle his opponents on LeBlanc and mid lane Varus, ending the set with a combined KDA of 30 and 79% kill participation. He later admitted that he had just recently purchased Varus, and had little to no practice with the champion.
Banning out Tockers worked for Keyd as it was INTZ’s first series as a new unit, with former support Jockster in the jungle position. Forcing a carry player onto his less impactful champions pushes the team to rely more on coordination and synergy, which INTZ distinctively lacked in their first outing. Following another week of practice, the team looks far more cohesive, abeit not without flaws. As INTZ continues to gel and find their identity, Tockers will likely continue to see bans. If he has anything to say about it, the bans won’t affect him or INTZ in the slightest.</p>
<img src="http://www.liquidlegends.net/staff/JonGalt/IMG/pic4_cblol.jpg" class="imgfix align-center" />
<h2 class="title">Passive Aggression: KaBuM! Black and KaBuM! Orange</h2>
<p class="text">The two KaBuM! teams have a lot of work to do, Black in particular. After upsetting paiN Gaming last week, KaBuM! Black was a lot more cohesive this week in their losses than they were in their win. However, the underlying problem for Black stems from an inability to recognize advantages given to them by their opponents in game.
In Game 1 against Orange, Black lost a key teamfight around 26 min. to a Fizz flank. The fight ended in an ace for Orange and a triple kill for Tinown’s Fizz. For the remainder of the match, Black was overly cautious in their positioning, ceding advantages to Orange for free.
Best when able to re-engage on their opponents, Black’s playstyle relies not only on teamfighting but recognizing how to leverage advantages given to them. There’s nothing wrong with playing a safer, more passive style; however, it requires quicker thinking than what Black showed against their sister team this week.
To their credit, Orange looked a lot more disciplined this week than they did in their Week 1 outing against g3nerationx. Utilising their two carries, Tinowns and AD carry Minerva, Orange was able to control vision surprisingly well, allowing for them to flank and clean up respectively.</p>
<h2 class="title">You're missing out!</h2>
<p class="text">If you aren't getting enough Brazilian League of Legends in your life, [url="http://goo.gl/Jhefsm"]register on LiquidLegends.net[/url] and join us in the [url="http://goo.gl/kJBRcf"]discussion on our forums![/url]</p>
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- <strong>Writers:</strong>Emily Rand
- <strong>Graphics:</strong> Laural, JonGalt
- <strong>Photos:</strong> Riot Games Brazil
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