SEMIFINALS: IMMORTALS VS COUNTER LOGIC GAMING

There was little CLG and DIG could do against the onslaught that was TSM and Immortals. IMT handed down a resounding 3-0 to CLG. Though mistakes were made in all three games, the true difference in these teams was in focus and cohesion. While CLG was still adjusting to their new roster, the pressure started to show (as it did last week), and the analysts were right to worry about how it would affect them.

Darshan in particular made numerous small mistakes that continually added up. Although CLG drafted him Jax – a champion he is completely comfortable with split-pushing and carrying on – he continually waited too long to engage, flashed when he was already dead to a gank, and tried to disengage rather than put out damage after he was too deep in a team fight.

Many have talked about the current meta revolving around mid laners, but perhaps we should be talking more about supports. Every match of the playoffs has seen impressive to outstanding plays from supports, and it is supports that have been the bane of CLG.

Against NV, CLG continually struggled against Hakuho and Thresh picks, finally relenting in Game 4 to banning against him. Against Immortals, the supports proved just as deadly. Olleh managed the thwart gank after gank and to force CLG to over-extend and get themselves killed. Considering the fact that Aphromoo has often been one of the best supports in NA, this shows a clear weakness to adapt. Maybe they will have learned this lesson come the regionals.

Huhi said before their final match, “You win some, you lose some, but you never hesitate.” This is great advice… provided you have good instincts. Maybe CLG normally do have good instincts, but much of the semi-finals saw them off their usual performance and making bad decisions to engage or retreat. This is a pivotal moment where CLG was doing quite well in the game but didn’t hesitate to make a bad situation worse.

This also shows how instrumental Olleh is to the IMT roster. He not only keeps Pobelter alive against an extended onslaught, but after killing off most of CLG, he uses his ult to cut off the retreat of CLG and secure his team the Ace.

SEMIFINALS: TEAM SOLOMID VS TEAM DIGNITAS

The name of TSM’s game this series was teamwork. Game 1 saw a staggering 100% kill participation out of Bjergsen and Biofrost while the final three members of TSM sat with a comfortable 91% KP.

TSM may not always have the most exciting or dramatic plays, but they are a team all about consistency and unity. They showed that simple fundmentals and team cohesion were the most important factors at the end of the day.

This series also saw the fall of the immortal tree Maokai. Three of the four games saw Maokai going to the losing team, and in each game, Maokai was far less effective at engaging and surviving. This included an awful performance by Hauntzer (really the only faltering on TSM’s exemplary gameplay) and several ineffective performances from Ssumday.

We can’t entirely blame DIG’s series loss (or TSM’s single loss), just to Maokai, but we can say there were some drafting missteps that seemed exemplified by the choice. DIG’s decision to forgo hard targeting Bjergsen with bans seemed particularly interesting. It seems unlikely Bjergsen is simply so good as to be unaffected by targeting, but DIG abandoned any attempt at this and instead focused a Rakan ban consistently.

Adrian had said many times that all he wanted was to face TSM in playoffs, and if he brought that enthusiasm anywhere, it was this game. Despite losing the series, Adrian showed remarkable prowess and decision making.

At this pivotal Baron fight, Adrian hooked Hauntzer’s Maokai and allowed his team to pour so much damage onto him that he was effectively shut down. Moments later, as the team fight begin to fully engage, he lined his hook up through both teams and perfectly caught out Bjergsen, destroying the mid laner and TSM in the process.