Preview of EU Challenger Series Spring 2015 Playoffs: Gamers2 vs Old LowLandLions

By Anel “Musinlol” Musinovic

EU Challenger Series playoffs begins at 18.00 tonight and will be a match that before the season would heavily have been predicted in favor for Gamers2. Since then the old LowLandLions have improved and are ready to give us a great match.

Gamers2 vs The old LowlandLions

SmittyJ, Gillius, Eika, Jebus & Hiiva vs Morsù, Kirei, CozQ, Vizility & Hybrid

As you can see the fan vote is close to 50-50 even though I would put it slightly into Gamers2 favor there is a chance for the old LowlandLions. Gamers2 I would put in the favorable seat despite a lower seed than LowLandLions who get to decide which side they would like to play on twice. Gamers2 are obviously living in Ocelote’s gaming house which is a massive advantage in terms of bonding, team synergy and practice. Gamers2 also has a 2-0 winning record vs the old LowLandLions.¨

The biggest mismatch is found in the botlane or the jungle where the toplane and midlane is more even. Jebus has previously been 9-1 and 10-1 vs LowLandLions.

The winner will be going up against the winner of Origen vs Reason Gaming, which most likely will be Origen. Origen will most likely be grabbing that auto-promotion spot and therefore the most likely thing will be that the winner of this match will be facing Giants in the relegation match.

Pick and bans:

In the picks and bans Gamers2 previously have shown willingness to target Morsu which lead him on to the likes of Wukong and Gnar which in both instances lead to Gamers2 victories. Morsù has played Jax twice, Irelia three times, Fizz twice, Wukong, Fiora & Gnar all once.
    Interestingly enough he hasn’t found wins on any of the champs he has only played once therefore i believe it would be good to try to ban out Morsù and pick away one of his champions in at least on of the series. SmittyJ has previously himself pulled out Jax & Fizz vs Morsù as well so he could be trying to get his hands on that and very well could be contested picks.

The negative side of banning out Morsu is obviously it that it leaves champions open for the other players which is only a concern with CozQ who has picked up Ahri 5 times out of the 10 games in the split.

On the other hand for LowlandLions i think they could have a toplane pick up their sleeve and they should be trying to focus on getting good matchups for their solo lanes and snowballing from there. They should also not try to tunnel too hard on Ahri, and be careful of picking Xearth into Ahri if it gets picked away. They played Xearth in their two latest matches vs Origen with one of them resulting in handing Origen their only loss.

Player to watch from Gamers2: SmittyJ

My reasoning behind my choice of SmittyJ is that he is a good toplaner that i would rate on level with Soaz, and it will be important that he keep Morsu down, who is known for putting his team on his back mostly by split pushing.

He has previously played on SK Prime with Kikis & Fox who are currently in the LCS, so he will be trying to join his old friends very soon.

     This season SmittyJ has played 7 different champs, so he champloo is in a health spot and should be able to hold his own in the toplane vs Morsù.

Player to watch from the old LowLandLions: CozQ

It was between Morsù and CozQ, but with me already addressing Morsu under the SmittyJ part and in the start, i decided to go with CozQ. CozQ & Morsu will be the force that will be trying to carry the team to victory despite hard circumstances. They are good individual players but don’t seem to have enough quality around them to go through to the finals. CozQ has recently picked up Xearth most notably in their win vs Origen.

He has previously played Ahri 5 times, and has also played Cassio, Leblanc and Lissandra once. If Gamers2 would try to ban him out in one of the series, it would most likely be Ahri, Xearth & Leblanc because they are the 3 most contested picks and force him onto a less comfortable pick, but it is unlikely because it would leave up all Morsù’s strong picks.

Predicted score: Gamers2 2 - 1 old LowlandLions

The game will be played March 31st at 12 PM EST & 18:00 CEST

In the whole article i have adressed Morsù, Kirei, CozQ, Vizility & Hybrid as “The old LowLandLions because of their recent departure from LowLandLions.  

Expansion Tournament Round 2 Preview

By Anel “Musinlol” Musinovic 

Only one day is left until the second round of the expansion tournament, and going in we have Millenium, Giants, Reason Gaming, Different Dimension, H2k, Meloncats, Gamers2 & n!faculty, a line-up which is sure to give us some great games.

Millenium vs Giants 

Kev1n, H0R0, Ryu, Creaton & Jree vs Werlyb, Fr3deric,xPepii, Adryh & Rydle

Going into the first game of Round 2, we have two strong sides. Millenium are the favorites, but you should expect Twitch chat to be filled with hype around Giant's xPepii, especially when he gets a kill.

Although Millenium is expected to win, I have given one game to Giants because I feel that xPepii's unorthodox level 3 roams and aggressive play are going to give them an advantage, one they can possibly use to secure a win. At the very least, his unconventional moves creates fun games that are entertaining to watch and they should be a bit different from the others.

On paper, Millenium are the much stronger team, despite Giants having a midlaner who was once considered one of the best in his role. Toplane will have the biggest mismatch, as Kev1n's skill and experience is going to outshine Werlyb. In the Black Monster cup, it was Millenium's botlane that was the driving force with good farm and solo kills, and if they can transition that into the game vs Giants, they should come out with the win..

Player to watch from Millenium: H0R0

My reasoning behind picking H0R0 as the player to watch is that he has so far has been both good and lackluster in the Black Monster Cup. He often goes for a sightstone after his jungle item, which I hope can give Millenium great opportunities and maybe make it easier for Ryu to pick off the enemies on an assassin like Leblanc. There's been a lot of hype behind H0R0 coming to EU, and in scrims he apparently has splendid performances. He hasn't been an outstanding player in BMC, but I believe he can show up big when it matters.

Players to watch from Giants: xPepii & Adryh

I have chosen two players from Giants because I simply couldn't leave out xPepii, because his unexpected early roams and crazy playmaking potential makes him a player to watch. Adryh seems to be the carry of Giants. In the first round of the expansion he went 9-0-8 on Jinx & 7-4-10 on Lucian when the Jinx was picked away from him. He is one of the only Jinx players at the moment, and I think if they can snowball him on a Jinx they can have a shot.

Predicted score: Millenium 2-1 Giants

Reason Gaming vs Different Dimension 

Kubon, Xayoo, Takefun, Celaver & Libik vs Warrior Lady, AnOnPsyCko, Magebane, Dom1nant & Wildpanda

The second game is between Reason Gaming and the big EUNE surprise, Different Dimension.

Reason Gaming’s matches sadly weren't streamed against SK Prime, but they are up on the ESL YouTube channel. In the first game, Reason Gaming got outplayed and set themselves too far behind too early with Takefun dying multiple times in the first ten minutes. In the second game, Reason had a comfortable lead but were shaky with their decision-making around dragon. Despite that, they came out victorious in Game 2. In Game 3, it was Takefun going 16-3 (even though he gave up first blood) and Xayoo, stealing the baron and winning the game just after.

On paper they have decently strong & experienced players, and are the favourites against Different Dimension, but I fear for them if they move on. Against other teams who should advance in the tournament, DD has the worst positioning.

Different Dimension got through with a 2-0 sweep against the first seed from the EUW ladder, SPARTA. I think that everybody expected EUNE to only have one team which could put up a fight - Tricked esports. However that was not the case. Dom1nant was really dominating on the rift, which is also the reason why he is the player to watch.

Player to watch from Reason: Takefun

Takefun was hit or miss and I expect him to be again, but he has the ability and skill to outlane Mageban, although after his 16-3 game on Leblanc, I imagine that champion will be banned out by DD. Takefun will need to be one of the players that shows up, because I fear that Celaver is going to struggle in the bottom lane.

Player to watch from DD: Dom1nant

Dom1nant is the absolute star of the team and will have to perform every game if they want to have any hopes of winning. He has been under the wing of SK Forgiven and seems to have improved quite a bit. My only fear for Dom1nant is that he isn't an ADC, but a midlaner. He might not have strong performances on many champions, so that could be a worrying point for DD.

Predicted score: Reason Gaming 2-1 Different Dimension

H2k vs Meloncats 

Odamne, loulex, Febiven, Hjarnan, Voidle vs zeclipse, gillius, Abaria, Crykee, Dioud

I fear for the Meloncats that they are going to struggle against a really strong H2k. H2k are the favourites for this game, and maybe even for the whole tournament. Especially with Flaxxish being banned for toxicity and and their coach going to toplane, it is going to be extremely hard. It will be interesting to see what H2k are going to do, and if they are going to focus top or let Odamne try to win hard alone up there.

Unless Abaria could somehow snowball a champion and destroy Febiven, I don't see any way for Meloncats to score an upset, and considering how strong Febiven is right now, I don't even think that's possible.

Player to watch from H2k: Febiven

Febiven is the obvious player to watch, he is so strong and is considered one of the best in the whole of Europe. He has multiple accounts in high challenger and is a great mechanical player. I think he is going to get camped by Gillius, but he should survive and make it easy for his team.

Player to watch from Meloncats: Gillius

I think that Gillius is their only player that goes even or is better than the opposite teams player on that position. It's going to be harder for him than loulex, though, as loulex will have way more to work with. Gillius will probably struggle despite being really good individually. I think he should try to camp Febiven, maybe with Abaria on a snowballed champion.

Predicted score: H2k 2-0 Meloncats

Gamers2 vs n!faculty 

Jwaow, Kou, Ocelote, Yuuki60 & KaSing vs Xaxus, Obvious, Soz Purfect, Sedrion & Mountain

The last game of round 2 might also be the closest. This is the only series where I was seriously in doubt about who was going to win. It could go either way.

On one side we have Ocelote and Gamers2 who have Top Three players in every position, but doesn't seem to be delivering the results in tournaments like Paris Game Week and Black Monster Cup - where they lost to teams such as Giants, Millenium Spirit, SK Prime - all teams they should be able to beat if they want to be a LCS team. With that said, they did advance from the first round easily and won over Reason Gaming in their seeding match.

K0u has struggled lately, he is isn't playing up to his standards from his Ninjas in Pyjamas days which is obviously affecting the whole team. He is the best challenger jungler IF he is playing his best. My concern is he will get out-jungled by Obvious if he keeps playing like he has lately.

Ocelote hasn't exactly been the driving force he'd love to be, and if he wants it to be in the expansion tournament, it should definitely be against Soz Purfect, who I consider one of the weaker players on the enemy team.

On the other side we have a n!faculty, which struggled against Tricked but managed to pull through, n!faculty has 2 standout players in Obvious & Xaxus. Xaxus we all know from his time on Roccat. He wasn't a flashy player but he was always consistent. Therefore, I think that it's going to be an even affair toplane and will probably be swung by the junglers. Obvious is a great jungler and the best player on his team, which is why he is the player to watch.

Player to watch from Gamer2: Yuuki60

The reason behind picking Yuuki is that I feel he is the best player on Gamers2 despite being overshadowed by Gamers2's bigger names like K0u, Ocelote, Jwaow and now KaSing. Speaking of the arrival of KaSing, I think he can, with Yuuki, become a quality LCS level botlane. Yuuki has had Dioud and Rydle prior to KaSing, but they didn't have the same skill level as Yuuki. I believe Yuuki is going to show how good he is and will outshine Sedrion by a lot.

Player to watch from n!faculty: Obvious

The player to watch from n!faculty is Obvious. I was considering Xaxus, but felt like Obvious was their most flashy and probably best player. Obvious often makes plays both in the early and late game and with new solo laners on the team, I believe he is going to have an easier time in the jungle and can potentially focus on shutting down K0u, who can be a really good or lackluster. If he can pressure him so much, it will give them a good chance!

Predicted score: Gamers2 2 - 1 n!faculty

*A quick side note: Games from Round 1 involving Gamers 2 & Reason Gaming have been re-casted and uploaded to ESL’s YouTube channel.

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By Anel “Musinlol” Musinovic 

Black Monster Cup EU Winter Quarterfinals Preview

By Anel “Musinlol” Musinovic

Going into the quarterfinals of the Black Monster Cup, we are met by the top challenger teams and players. Millenium, Gamers2, H2k, SK Gaming Prime, Playing Ducks, Dark Passage, Team Salsa, and the polish team, Sample Text, will all be competing for a spot in the semifinals of the BMC, playing on the new patch 4.20.

Millenium vs Team Salsa

Kev1n, H0R0, Ryu, Creaton & Jree vs jer0m, Econatorz, Neptuno, Samux & Babeta

The first game of quarterfinals will be Millenium going up against Team Salsa, which is a rematch of one of the games in Group C, a game Millenium won with great objective control. 

Game one, I believe, will be a repeat of the first game between the two teams, despite Millenium not wanting to show their hand before their expansion tournament run. Millenium will do their best to pull off a good performance, which will be too much for the Spanish side Team Salsa. Across the board Millenium is stronger individually, but Team Salsa is going in with everything they can, which can cause trouble for Millenium. If Team Salsa wants any chance of making an upset, it will definitely require a extremely good performance from their botlane. Samux & Babeta are definitely the players to watch from Team Salsa, they had a good performance against Creaton & Jree last time around.

Predicted score: Millenium 2-0 Team Salsa

The game will be played today, 25th of November, 18:00 CET

Gamers 2 vs H2k

Jwaow, K0u, Ocelote, Yuuki60, KaSing vs Odamne, loulex, Febiven, Hjarnan, Voidle

Both teams are in the second round of the expansion tournament, so they will most likely not be bursting out wild and innovative team compositions. With that said, we are on the 4.20 patch, so new stuff will still be brought out because they are the normal picks now. Expect champions like Warwick to get banned or picked. But the teams will definitely be giving their all to receive first place and the €15,000 prize pool.

H2k went through their group without any trouble, placed first, and played their last match against Dark Passage on patch 4.20 which ended up being an instant 20 minute surrender from Dark Passage. It was again Febiven in the midlane going off, which seems to be a bit of a habit. Gamers2 went through as second place, just behind SK Gaming Prime. Despite them not showing their best performance there, they went 2-0 in the expansion tournament. Unfortunately, it was not streamed.

Gamers2 & Ocelote will have to keep Febiven down in midlane and ban away Lee Sin from loulex if they want to proceed to the semifinals. If they manage to do that, I can see them going through, but it’s a hard task, so I will probably give it over to H2k, who are the favorites for first place. 

Predicted score: H2k 2-1 Gamers2

The game will be played today 25th of November, approx. at 21:00 CET

Sample Text vs Dark Passage

Ishikava, KonDziSan, Sebekx, Celaver & Grom vs Elwind, Crystal Methh, Naru, Hold Postitio0n &

TrieLBaenRe

Both teams are not exactly favourites, but they have known-names such as Celaver, Crystal Meth and Naru. Sample Text went through as first in their group, but had an easy group compared to Dark Passage, who finished right behind H2k in Group D. Irelia seems to be a priority pick for both toplaners, and is expected to be contested when these two teams go head to head, especially for Dark Passage. Their new toplaner seems to be the new outstanding player on the team with great performances against teams in group D besides H2k.

If Sample Text wants to come out winning, they will have to get Celaver & Ishikava going, and try to build off that. Even without players like fabFabulous, Touch & their previous hard carry HolyPhoenix, I belive Dark Passage is going to edge it against Sample text. With Worlds experience on Crystal and Naru, I think they can use it to win here. With that said, the game could easily go either way, seeing how destroyed Dark Passage got by H2k.

Predicted score: Dark Passage 2-1 Sample Text

The game will be played 2nd of December, approx. at 18:00 CET

SK Gaming Prime vs Playing Ducks e.V.

Beansu, Taikki, Godbro, Steeelbackmaker &The Barney D vs Koi, XoYnUzi, avenuee, Broeski & SaZeD

SK Gaming Prime unfortunately got sent out of the expansion tournament in the first round against Reason Gaming. I expect them to come out and want to show us that they are one of the top challenger teams. Playing Ducks had great performances in the last couple of hours in the Ranked 5’s qualifiers for expansion, but they didn't have enough points in time. In BMC, they placed second just behind Sample Text, and will, with avenuee’s Xerath performances, try to beat SK Gaming Prime. 

I am, sadly for Playing Ducks, seeing a comfortable win for SK Gaming Prime. I believe they can get steeelbackmaker in front and let him carry. I think the individual strength in SK Gaming Prime is going to be too much for Playing Ducks.

Predicted score: SK Gaming Prime 2-0 Playing Ducks e.V.

The game will be played 2nd of December, approx. at 21:00 CET

 *All Games are Bo3

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by Anel "Musinlol" Musinovic

Gamers2 | A Beautiful Lie?

Former SK Gaming Captain Carlos 'Ocelote' Rodriguez throws his scarf back into the competitive scene with his new team, Gamers2. Announced this week with a cheesy dramatic *video meant to generate hype for his still unproven mates, Ocelote's clear desire is to return to the EU LCS. But are they any good?

The new team's line up includes Ocelote in Mid, Jesper 'Jwaow' Strandgren (Top,) Sebastian 'Morden' Fernandez (Jungle,) Soler 'Yuuki60' Florent (AD,) and Hugo 'Dioud' Padioleau (Support.) If you're familiar with Ocelote's former team, 'OceloteWorld,' you'll recognize this entire roster, save for the ditching of 'Haydal' in favor of Salade Tomate Oignon's 'Yuuki60.'

Ocelote's fledgling team does have a few things going for them. They've got strong sponsors already on-board (G2A.com and Ozone,) a mansion set up in Madrid to be their gaming house, and some interesting if not entirely innovative ideas. To quote their announcement, "Our mansion will be opened up to the community where they will be able to meet the players, play some paddle or basketball, have a BBQ and truly integrate and immerse themselves in the player lifestyle and get to know the team on a personal level like never before."

But across many forums today, fans and foes of the former SK mid-laner questioned if his team has any real chance of living up to their lofty LCS goals. And we're prompted to question, what is really going on with this seemingly pre-packaged package?

Ocelote has been very successful at marketing himself and he's no stranger to the idea of branding. To me, what he's put together here is more than just a team of LOL players - it's an attractive team of LOL players, because he's not just looking at competing here, he's looking at the future of eSports and its media potential, and he knows exactly what draws the media's eye. For anyone in the business who can see the explosion brewing, it's hard not to think this team is gambling on fandom much more than any true hopes of competing on the stage at Worlds. 

Not that that stops Ocelote from dreaming. 

There was a pro-wrestler back in the 80s named 'The Nature Boy' Ric Flair, who used to step into the ring wearing the long, gold satin robes trimmed at the sleeves with white feathers. He was a bad guy in pro-wrestling terms, hated for his ego and vanity, and he laughed all the way to the bank with this carefully cultivated act.
 

 
Sometimes I feel like Ocelote dances on that line, although he doesn't do it intentionally. But that only makes his act all the more bizarre. Truth be told, I actually like the flamboyant Ocelote, the same as thousands of other fans. He's a caricature of himself, but he's innocent and fun and his arrogance is born out of some reality. The man is beautiful. And he's hungry. And he believes in the future of eSports. And I can't fault him for any of those things.
 

Insane or Genius?

Carlos 'Ocelote' Rodriguez

* The Gamers2 Release Teaser Video

The Face of Hype....