The finals of HTC Ascension will feature two of the 6–1 teams from Group A: Team Liquid Academy against Team Frostbite. TLA defeated Flaresz’s led Also Known As 2-1, while Frostbite advanced 2–1 over Cloud 9 Challenger to convincingly 2–0 unexpected Group B first seed, Serpentis eSports. Coach Peter’s side prevailed in their Week 3 showdown against Frostbite, and now Frostbite will seek their revenge.
Both TLA's Zig and Frostbite's Billyboss are two of the finest up and coming North American top laners. Both were stable and convincing throughout the group stages. In playoffs, one can argue that former TSM substitute Billy Yu was more impressive, showcasing an impeccable Fiora and a 23 KDA Doctor Mundo. Both have Renekton and Malphite in their pockets, who’re solid pickups against "balanced" Guinsoo’s Rageblade abusers like Jax or Irelia. Zig holds the slight edge in laning, averaging 1.4 CSPM more in playoffs but ultimately, it will come down to teleport use and jungle pressure, which may tilt the game in either team's favor.
Jungle
There are tons of jokes about NA jungling talent being weak and while it’s somewhat true, HTC Ascension has provided us with a multitude of jungle talents such as Contractz, Grigne and the two junglers in the finals: Dardoch and Zary, formerly Hairyabs. Dardoch is a cornerstone of Team Liquid Academy; versatile and consistent, he plays almost any jungler in the pool. His 77.5% kill participation on Gragas especially, was one of the main reasons why the Academy squad was able to reach the final, and the champion probably is going to be banned against him during the finals. Zary is the foundation of Frostbite’s early game. Lurking around the map on Nidalee, Elise and, more recently, Quinn, he tries to get his bot lane advantages, while his sololanes are self-sufficient, ensuring the team can proceed to dominate in the mid-game. Dardoch holds a slight edge in terms of the vision control, placing more than 3 wards more per game and clearing almost 2 wards more, which might be a key to holding Hairyabs down.
Mid Lane
Middle lane features a familiar face in wolfe against the relative newcomer Youngbin. The former is jokingly known in challenger circles as a "laser abuser", playing primarily Xerath, Vel'Koz, Lux, and Viktor. In playoffs though, wolfe played Xerath and Viktor exclusively, boasting an impressive 9.7 KDA, dealing 28.5% of Frostbite's damage, and holding down Serpentis and C9 Challenger convincingly. Youngbin, while not a primary carry for Team Liquid Academy, is very proficient on the likes of Morgana, Lissandra, and Viktor, giving his team the teamfight control it needs. Thus, while his KDA isn’t even close to being as impressive as wolfe’s, he deals slightly more of his team's damage to champions and is an integral part of TLA's mid game successes.
AD Carry
Team Liquid Academy boasts the venerated “Gatekeeper” Fabbbyyy. While he hadn’t showcased his signature Draven since introduction of 5.22 patch, he’s still very comfortable on both Tristana and Kalista, dealing 28% of his team damage in playoffs and averaging 7 kills per game. On the other side of Summoner’s Rift, there is a TM8, one of the highest soloqueue ranked players in North America. Themassacre8 has played nearly every marksman available, going from the safe Ezreal and Tristana into assassinating people with Twitch. His Prodigal Explorer has still yet to die in the playoffs, going 15/0/22 in three games. In the finals tonight, expect TLA's jungler Dardoch to set his sights on TM8 and shut him down.
Support
Both Matt and Hakuho were very impressive throughout the tournament and alongside AKA’s finest, Biofrost, are probably the top three supports from the HTC Ascension tournament. Matlife’s Thresh and Braum are insanely scary, especially on Thresh where he participates in an average of 79% of Team Liquid Academy's kills. He also managed the achievement of outdamaging Fabbbyyy’s Kalista playing Bard against AKA in the semifinals. Meanwhile, Hakuho is undefeated in the playoffs on Nautilus and Tahm Kench, averaging more than 9 assists per game for those tanky supports. However, his Morgana is equally scary, a champion which offers CC protection and enable TM8's aggressive plays, while fishing for Dark Bindings to complement wolfe's champion pool.
Prediction
Team Liquid Academy 3-2 Team Frostbite
Lane Breakdowns
TopBoth TLA's Zig and Frostbite's Billyboss are two of the finest up and coming North American top laners. Both were stable and convincing throughout the group stages. In playoffs, one can argue that former TSM substitute Billy Yu was more impressive, showcasing an impeccable Fiora and a 23 KDA Doctor Mundo. Both have Renekton and Malphite in their pockets, who’re solid pickups against "balanced" Guinsoo’s Rageblade abusers like Jax or Irelia. Zig holds the slight edge in laning, averaging 1.4 CSPM more in playoffs but ultimately, it will come down to teleport use and jungle pressure, which may tilt the game in either team's favor.
Jungle
There are tons of jokes about NA jungling talent being weak and while it’s somewhat true, HTC Ascension has provided us with a multitude of jungle talents such as Contractz, Grigne and the two junglers in the finals: Dardoch and Zary, formerly Hairyabs. Dardoch is a cornerstone of Team Liquid Academy; versatile and consistent, he plays almost any jungler in the pool. His 77.5% kill participation on Gragas especially, was one of the main reasons why the Academy squad was able to reach the final, and the champion probably is going to be banned against him during the finals. Zary is the foundation of Frostbite’s early game. Lurking around the map on Nidalee, Elise and, more recently, Quinn, he tries to get his bot lane advantages, while his sololanes are self-sufficient, ensuring the team can proceed to dominate in the mid-game. Dardoch holds a slight edge in terms of the vision control, placing more than 3 wards more per game and clearing almost 2 wards more, which might be a key to holding Hairyabs down.
Mid Lane
Middle lane features a familiar face in wolfe against the relative newcomer Youngbin. The former is jokingly known in challenger circles as a "laser abuser", playing primarily Xerath, Vel'Koz, Lux, and Viktor. In playoffs though, wolfe played Xerath and Viktor exclusively, boasting an impressive 9.7 KDA, dealing 28.5% of Frostbite's damage, and holding down Serpentis and C9 Challenger convincingly. Youngbin, while not a primary carry for Team Liquid Academy, is very proficient on the likes of Morgana, Lissandra, and Viktor, giving his team the teamfight control it needs. Thus, while his KDA isn’t even close to being as impressive as wolfe’s, he deals slightly more of his team's damage to champions and is an integral part of TLA's mid game successes.
AD Carry
Team Liquid Academy boasts the venerated “Gatekeeper” Fabbbyyy. While he hadn’t showcased his signature Draven since introduction of 5.22 patch, he’s still very comfortable on both Tristana and Kalista, dealing 28% of his team damage in playoffs and averaging 7 kills per game. On the other side of Summoner’s Rift, there is a TM8, one of the highest soloqueue ranked players in North America. Themassacre8 has played nearly every marksman available, going from the safe Ezreal and Tristana into assassinating people with Twitch. His Prodigal Explorer has still yet to die in the playoffs, going 15/0/22 in three games. In the finals tonight, expect TLA's jungler Dardoch to set his sights on TM8 and shut him down.
Support
Both Matt and Hakuho were very impressive throughout the tournament and alongside AKA’s finest, Biofrost, are probably the top three supports from the HTC Ascension tournament. Matlife’s Thresh and Braum are insanely scary, especially on Thresh where he participates in an average of 79% of Team Liquid Academy's kills. He also managed the achievement of outdamaging Fabbbyyy’s Kalista playing Bard against AKA in the semifinals. Meanwhile, Hakuho is undefeated in the playoffs on Nautilus and Tahm Kench, averaging more than 9 assists per game for those tanky supports. However, his Morgana is equally scary, a champion which offers CC protection and enable TM8's aggressive plays, while fishing for Dark Bindings to complement wolfe's champion pool.
Prediction
Team Liquid Academy 3-2 Team Frostbite