QUARTERFINALS: CLOUD9 VS TEAM DIGNITAS

This was a doozy of a Series. The analysts were wrong, we were wrong (only by a little), and even Doublelift was wrong (he supposedly said the serious would go 3-2 in DIG’s favor). To be fair, we can’t imagine anyone being disappointed at the 3-1 outcome in DIG’s favor after seeing how remarkably they played.

For the record, we did say Jensen would win lane (he did), and we did say Altec would win bot lane (he did), and we mentioned Shrimp as being pivotal (he mostly was). That said… it was everything else that threw us for a loop.

There were a few key factors in DIG’s success over C9, but perhaps none was more important than how masterful their control and awareness of the map was. In Game 1, the moment after C9 positioned to attack Bot lane, Ssumday was preemptively teleporting bottom to route them. His team ended up withdrawing and he canceled the teleport, but this small moment told the entire story of how prepared DIG was from start to finish.

This was equally true of DIG stepping up to the plate and challenging Baron consistently and aggressively. This included in their final Game 4 with C9 leading and brutal fight after brutal fight. DIG made the hard call every time to go for Baron, which shows a complete turnaround from some of the indecisive plays we’ve seen form them this split.

One of the most decisive factors in these games was in Altec. Not only was he drafting better – in Game 2 Sneaky’s Kalista could do nothing against Altec’s Twitch – but he was also building better. To showcase this, Altec chose Twitch right after Sneaky did in Game 1, and this scene showcases the difference in building Attack Speed into Damage over just Attack Speed.

‘Melt’ might be the best word for what happened to C9 here, and how it was that Altec consistently outplayed and damaged Sneaky.

QUARTERFINALS: COUNTER LOGIC GAMING VS ENVY

If we thought Saturday was a show, Sunday put everyone through the ringer – including the announcers. We were flabbergasted at this Series 2 that ended 3-2 in CLG’s favor.

We knew that Lira would counter-jungle Omargod, but we had no idea that they would have so dramatically changed their strategy to focus around crushing one of the strongest duos in the game, Aphromoo and Stixxay. Lira, Hakuho, and Apollo made it their mission to shut down Omargod, and then to apply crushing pressure bottom and sweep the Series – and it nearly worked. CLG eked out a victory, but this diversion from their usual strategy was nearly enough to take down CLG. Hakuho’s Thresh in particular was a terror to the seasoned veterans of CLG and consistently put them into the ground. It took until Game 4, but CLG would not let Thresh through drafting after a three game thrashing.

No one can discuss the quarterfinals without bringing up Huhi. Known for his large and incredibly diverse champion pool – Huhi is respected across the globe so much that nearly every game against CLG involves an Aurelion Sol ban just for him (and no other professionals even play Aurelion Sol), but even after four targeted bans against him in Game 1, Huhi fell back onto Vel’koz and proved once again that the meta isn’t about the champion – it’s about the player.

Earning Player of the game, Huhi showed what a mid-laner can do as the backbone of a team instead of the star of it.

Everyone was on the edge of their seat, no one could predict the outcome, and both teams threw in the towels for strategy and laid into one another with pure skill and force. The Game 5 of this quarterfinals matchup was a nonstop back and forth with Nisqy flexing his own skills and seeming far more pro than rookie. Still, when NV tangled toe-to-toe with Huhi and Sixxay, it was the pros that came out on top time and again.

The damage was brutally high for both teams, laying waste to each other’s frontlines, but Vel’koz and Tristana on CLG simply crushed out Kalista and Kog’maw for NV. The fights started close, but slowly the gap built until CLG stood triumphantly on top.

A surprise win for DIG and a surprisingly difficult win for CLG, but the real challenges still lay ahead of these two teams in the semifinals.