Pro Play and Celebrity Gossip

[Druzil]

The Akali pick really seemed to throw TSM.  They blew a ton of pink wards on ganks and rarely got anything out of it, also Chaox was forced to get the early Banshees which let late game Trist wreck them.

[Rasix]

Well, this first game has gone on long enough.  TSM played like absolute ass for the first half+ of this game.

62 minute game.  6 item Kog'maw is terror.  These early game Ezreal builds really turn into liabilities come late.

[Kail]

TSM played like absolute ass for the first half+ of this game.

Yeah, that baron was infuriating, when Vulcun was taking it down and TSM interrupted like three times with one or two guys who got melted... and then someone else would respawn and run in by themselves...  Kind of frustrated that Vulcun couldn't finish it out, tbh, I felt like they were really solid for most of that game.

[Rasix]

I think I can safely say that complexity is terrible.

Sub 20 minute Nexus explosion.  14-0  in kills, nearly double the gold.

[Malakili]

Yeah, that game was really brutal.

[Rasix]

Just finished watching the VOD of Fnatic v. Copenhagen Wolves.    What. a. game.

I was literally bouncing in my chair watching the end of it.  Luckily Deman was casting this game.

[Rasix]

IEM going on right now.  GG looked really strong yesterday.  fnatic tanked hard.

EG is currently falling on their sword, furthering their slump.  Not sure they're good enough to beat Koreans, but they shouldn't lose to teams like MYM.

[Ashamanchill]

WTF?! Where did this tournament come from? Does anyone have a convenient link to VoDs for this? Their web page is less than helpful.

Edit: Almost forgot, am I to assume that CJ Entus Blaze and Frost are the old Azubus? Cause if not than this thing is barely worth not missing a LCS week for.

[Rasix]

Yeah, they either got dropped by Azubu or left, I can't remember which.  

Azubu has recently decided to sponsor Taipei Assassins and Taipei Snipers.

Some other decent teams, but a lot of filler.  The SK Telecom Korean team is Reapered's new team.  I think he was Frost or Blaze's old top.  LG IM is a team that would probably beat most US teams but didn't really do anything here.

[ezrast]

Most tournament websites are unnavigable messes. Best thing to do is head to their Twitch page and just hunt through the videos there.

[Ashamanchill]

Yeah, they either got dropped by Azubu or left, I can't remember which.  

Azubu has recently decided to sponsor Taipei Assassins and Taipei Snipers.

Lol, what are they, the Veronica Lodge of game sponsors or something?

Thanks for the twitch link. That, combined with a few youtube searches helped me fill out my viewing. Ya Fnatic and EG (formerly CLG.eu) have really hid the skids right now huh? My only beef is so far I keep seeing the exact same team comps over and over again. I know tournaments have always been like this, but this one seems extra bad for it given how many teams are playing in it.

[Bzalthek]

I actually prefer to watch these things after the fact.  You can watch a game in 1/3 the time or better because you don't have to listen to filler chatter.

[MediumHigh]

Or skip through the 15 minute farm fest.

[Kail]

Well, that was pretty hilarious.

Dignitas (top ranked team sitting on a ten game winning streak) just lost to compLexity (bottom ranked team on a five game losing streak).  It was a pretty close game up until the last few minutes, when it just went 

[Ashamanchill]

That was hilarious when Dig was chasing them in the bot lane, and Complexity somehow turned around and destroyed them.

[Druzil]

Are there replays for week 5 NA LCS anywhere?  They've had youtube/twich replays for all the other weeks but for some reason no week 5 (yet?).

[Kail]

Are there replays for week 5 NA LCS anywhere?  They've had youtube/twich replays for all the other weeks but for some reason no week 5 (yet?).

It wasn't the regular venue, it was some special cross promotional thing with MLG so I think MLG's got them on their Youtube channel
http://www.youtube.com/user/OfficialMLGLoL/videos?view=0&flow=grid
There were a ton of really great games on Sunday, too, Vulcun v. Dignitas and GGU v. CLG were amazing.

[Druzil]

Are there replays for week 5 NA LCS anywhere?  They've had youtube/twich replays for all the other weeks but for some reason no week 5 (yet?).

It wasn't the regular venue, it was some special cross promotional thing with MLG so I think MLG's got them on their Youtube channel
http://www.youtube.com/user/OfficialMLGLoL/videos?view=0&flow=grid
There were a ton of really great games on Sunday, too, Vulcun v. Dignitas and GGU v. CLG were amazing.

Awesome, thank you!  I could not hide from the spoilers any longer 

[Rasix]

All NA LCS vods.  Spoiler free.

[Ashamanchill]

I know I said it just a few posts up, but the recent LCS weeks and MLG Dallas have really started to turn me off the competative scene, because every damn champion roster is looking the same. Jarvan/Volibear/Xin/Vi in the jungle, all rushing Locket. Rene/Rumble/Singed/Shen/Elise in the top. Diana/Kha'zix/Zed/Kayle/ maybe the odd TF, Gragas, or Katarina in the mid. LuLu/Sona/NuNu instalocked as supports, with MF/Caitlin guaranteed picks for ADC.

It's gotten really fucking bad lately. These champions are picked across both fucking teams, with some (but not much) variation. This is as worse as I can remember it. Go back to the Season One finals, it was zaniness how many champions they used. Even the Season Two Champs weren't this bad (although headed there). What worries me, is that it's not just the 'Top' teams doing this, but the 'bottom' ones as well. What happened to teams the old M5? doing crazy ass shit? Or Dignitas having a Maokai or GP support? I can't believe I find myself missing Darius, Jayce, Orianna, and Ezrael.

I'm really glad at my horrible elo this doesn't seem to happen, cause if it did, this game would be unplayable.

Whoops, forgot Nasus and Threash in their respective roles.



**Breathes out**


So, how about that weather in the city that you are living in?

[Ashamanchill]

Oh yeah, this site is just plain better:

http://leaguepedia.com/wiki/Riot_League_Championship_Series/North_America/Season_3

http://leaguepedia.com/wiki/Riot_League_Championship_Series/Europe/Season_3

[Kail]

Just noticed this, too: apparently seven LCS players just got hit for Elo boosting.  Two week ban, not sure how that impacts their teams, though.

Nyjacky, Chuuper, Dontmashme, Xmithie, Aphromoo, and some subs (Rhux, Meteos) and coaches (compLexity coach Phranq) all got the hammer.

Apparently the boosting took place in season 2, though, which is kind of a head scratcher.

Edity: forgot link:
http://na.leagueoflegends.com/board/showthread.php?t=3239350

[Rasix]

Some EU players got busted as well.  scarra commented that he's surprised more didn't get hit.

There's no affect to LCS, except that they can't play solo queue on their mains or known alts. I guess that affects scrims, since if these guys get caught on someone else's account they're facing perma-bans.

Looks like TSM is trying out WildTurtle as AD.   Chaox is "taking a break".  Of course, he may legitimately taking a break and nothing more.  Funny that both of their currents subs aren't ADC players.  Wingsofdeath and Dan Dihn aren't great ADCs.  Dan played some competitively, but he was pretty awful.

[Margalis]

I just reported some guys for "elo jobbing" the other day. Two very obnoxious players, blabbed all game about how they were elo jobbing, trash talked everyone on both teams, etc.

Was really stupid in one game I was against them and the next game they were on my team. One of the guys was really good and they also coordinated well, made for two extremely stupid games.

[Rasix]

And.. Chaox's replacement gets a penta in his first game for TSM.   

[Kail]

And.. Chaox's replacement gets a penta in his first game for TSM.  

So much drama around this guy.  Compared to other teams who've undergone roster changes, this is a soap opera.  

Also, re: the outcome of CLG v. Vulcun

[ezrast]

It came down to this amazingly close Baron fight where Hotshot got chunked to death and Link was just a hair too far away to murder anyone.

Also, Mancloud spears. So many Mancloud spears.

[Rasix]

The CLG v. TSM match was hilarious.  Only information you need going in: Hotshot on Karthus.  They actually designed a strategy around how much Hotshot dies. 

That's about how well it went.  TSM went full aggro mode and pounded them.

[Bzalthek]

CLG played like ass against Vulcan.  They were playing scared to death.  Even with baron they lose an inhib with turret.  Hotshot makeing retarded choices in where to recall from and Doublelift trying to hug every fucking Nidalee spear in existence with his face.

I think Nidalee was the Vulcan game.  Maybe TSM.  Fuck it I'm drinking!

[Goumindong]

It came down to this amazingly close Baron fight where Hotshot got chunked to death and Link was just a hair too far away to murder anyone.

Also, Mancloud spears. So many Mancloud spears.

No. It did not. It came down to Vulcan's wave clear. Vulcan had a super late game team with Nasus and Tristana. Tristana is top three in terms of late game DPS and top 1 in terms of late game saftey (allowing her to easily buy straight offense) and Nasus is the single best ADC neuterer in the game.

Because CLG "let" the game get late it did not matter that they were ahead 10k gold, tristana still did more DPS than Ezreal and Ezreal was entirely neutered. The fact that Mancloud was amazing at landing those spears was something that helped out a lot too but they don't get to that point without their team comp in Nasus/Trist

[Margalis]

CLG tends to pick teams that are strong early/mid, take a few outer towers quickly, then bog down and lose. They play teams with only 2 threats paired with one of them often being Cait, which means their late game is just garbage. I can't count the number of games where a Cait-centric team took a few outer towers, built up a 5k gold lead, then ultimately lost.

[Rasix]

Their attempts at expanding their gameplan beyond "protect the Doublelift" aren't going so well.  They have one top flight player and a bunch that just seem lost out there. I can't believe they tried that Karthus top AGAIN.  I can't imagine that crap worked during scrims.

[Kail]

Am I schitzing out here, or what the hell is going on?

I step out for dinner in the middle of the GGU v. Vulcun game.  Vulcun's kicking some asses, like 5-0 or something.  I eat, come back, and spool up the game... and it's GGU v. Vulcun again.  Except they're 0-0 and onlly like three minutes in.  I don't see anyone talking about it on the LoL forums or anything... what's going on?  Is it Groundhog Day or something?

[Azuredream]

Some kind of technical issue forced them to restart the game.

[Kail]

So the LoL esports site is running a poll to nominate who gets selected for the NA All Star team.  Basically, you vote on who in the LCS gets nominated for each position, and you get one vote per day (Jintae is listed there, too, I assume because even though he's "just a sub," he's been subbing for more than half the season).

For my picks:
Top: Voyboy, no question.
Jungle: Ugh, no idea.  Saintvicious is awesome half the time and sucks horribly half the time.  The only other jungler I like is Lautemortis, but I'm having trouble remembering a specific reason why..
Support: Xpecial, probably, though Elementz is a close second.
Mid: Scarra, no question.
AD Carry: WildTurtle, he's been really doing well, but I'd feel a lot better about picking him if he had a few more games under his belt.