MSI Day 2 Features Unexpected Victories, Stunning Eliminations
Day 1 of MSI 2015 was by most accounts an unexciting affair, with nearly
no upsets outside of whether or not you thought EDG under-performed against SKT
or that they are simply that much worse than SKT. However, the Saturday picture
had become pretty clear after a single day of games, with seeding and which
western team would get a shot in a best-of series being the only major
storylines on the day. Day 2 opened up with an important piece of the latter
plot with EDG and Fnatic squaring off.
Game 1: Edward Gaming vs Fnatic
Yellowstar and his rookies looked towards EDG on Day 2 with
a hopeful mindset. Technically, losing this game didn't put them into any worse
of a spot to get themselves into Saturday’s knockout games, but pulling off the
upset would put Fnatic firmly in control of their own destiny, and the
possibility of any tiebreaker games nearly out of reach for TSM. But things got
ugly really fast for Western squad, which would become a recurring theme on the
day, as Yellowstar burned his flash to steal Gromp from the EDG bot lane, only
to end up on the receiving end of Clearlove and his all-but-patented early
aggression out of the jungle. Shortly afterwards, Koro1 would get a retribution
kill turning a top lane dive from Fnatic into a nightmare start for the
European champions. Koro1 added another couple hundred gold to his pocket after
baiting Huni into a close trade, with Clearlove roaming top to help Koro1
secure the kill. By seven minutes, EDG had seven kills, a 3k gold lead, and a
choke hold on the remainder of the game. Fnatic’s hopes of putting TSM into
panic mode were thwarted by the aggressive Chinese side, with EDG’s strategy of
poetic chaos proving to be entirely too much for Fnatic to handle.
Statistically, EDG had over a kill per minute, and Fnatic’s nexus would topple
over in quick fashion.
Game 2: AHQ eSports Club vs Team Solomid
The drama for TSM was at a crescendo, as not only would a
win here put the boys from California (and Denmark and Korea) into a powerful
position to force tiebreaker games and reach the semifinals, but a loss would
see them at the mercy of either beating EDG, a tall order regardless of the
team’s form so far at this event, or rooting for Besiktas to officially take
the hand-off from Kabum, and save yet another North American team from
elimination at an international event. TSM began the game shifting back to
their traditional tactics, successfully initiating a lane swap and beginning
their early game. Unfortunately, the past 3 games for TSM were not the proper
instructional tools they required, and Dyrus once again gave up first blood
from a gank, with TSM’s jungler Santorin nowhere to be found. AHQ would
continue to dominate the early game, culminating in a fight near baron that
would result in a three-for-one for AHQ, with Wildturtle being the only carry
for TSM to pick up any gold from the fight. TSM would continue to fight,
however AHQ would lose precisely zero team fights the entire game, and almost
like clockwork, another Asian team secured a victory over a western team before
the 30 minute mark.
Game 3: Besiktas eSports Club vs Edward Gaming
As we progressed through day 2 and it became more and more
clear just how much stronger the eastern teams have been than the western
teams, this game promised to be absolutely terrifying for the Turkish wild card
invite. EDG would secure first blood on mid laner Energy, before dual 6 minute
fights bot lane and top lane would result in several EDG victories, and the beginning
of one of the most heinous snowballs in competitive League of Legends history.
With EDG looking for wins simply to keep pace with SKT, and with how bloody the
first 12 minutes of this game ended up being, I was honestly surprised this
game lasted long enough to give Besiktas the option to surrender. To their
credit, they didn't, but they would lose shortly afterwards.
Game 4: Fnatic gaming vs SK Telecom
The midway point of Day 2 in Tallahassee would provide us
with possibly the closest and most exciting game of the tournament, potentially
soured by the fact that SKT was clearly goofing off for about 20 minutes.
Fnatic jumped out to an early lead on kills, and would maintain it, stretching
their lead to as many as 11 kills at one point, but their gold lead would
remain close. Almost as if the Kings of Asia were simply playing with their
food, the kills continued to go in Fnatic’s favor while the gold stayed
identical. SKT would begin clawing back, and while they would never take the
gold lead, it was a controversial Sejuani bug that would cause the beginning of
the end for Fnatic.
The Sejuani bug in question, as seen above, was originally
waved off as a spectator glitch, but has since been replicated by various
players on Reddit. However, with the transparently obvious trolling SKT did for
20 minutes, and the absolutely explosive way the game ended, with SKT marksman
Bang getting a pentakill on his Lucian, it seems to me that Fnatic simply opted
against remaking. No other team came as close as Fnatic did at seemingly
dismantling SKT’s defenses, why not shrug off your inevitable loss to a bug
rather than remake and have SKT end the game at 25 minutes, as they most likely
would have done. Overall, it was the correct decision to avoid remaking, for
player and viewer sake.
Game 5: Edward Gaming
vs Team Solomid
TSM entered their last game with one option: Win, otherwise
Besiktas decides their fate. Unfortunately, for the fifth consecutive game,
Dyrus was on the receiving end of an early gank that had no support from
Santorin. And, again, Dyrus would be the victim of a second, and a third gank,
giving EDG a three kill to zero lead before TSM had reacted in any capacity.
TSM’s uninspired performances continued well into this game, with virtually no
signs of life anywhere to be seen. What was once seen as the glimmering hope of
NA, a mechanically strong TSM team with a superstar mid laner and an
ultra-innovative support, saw what would potentially be their final nexus of
the tournament fall as EDG embarrassed them at every corner of the map. Like
Cloud 9 half a year ago, TSM was now at the mercy of the underdog, this time
from Turkey.
Game 6: Besiktas eSports Club vs Fnatic
TSM would see their hope dissipate within minutes of the
penultimate group stage game’s start. Fnatic forced two early kills for
themselves, as a gank mid would end bot lane with both Energy and Thaldrin
succumbing to Fnatic’s pressure. Fnatic would wrangle their early pressure into
a dragon and plenty of early turret pressure, while a Rek’sai Thresh combo gank
bot lane would result in 4 kills for Fnatic and the first turret of the game.
Fnatic’s early gold lead would never be truly tested by Besiktas, and while the
game was a bloody affair that lasted a few minutes longer than it maybe should
have, Fnatic would topple Besiktas’ nexus, and TSM’s hopes of advancing, at the
25 minute mark.
Game 7: SK Telecom vs AHQ
The final game of the group stages of MSI 2015 would provide
a potential finals matchup, with AHQ potentially pushing for a tiebreaker game
to decide first place for the group stage. This game would also prove to be the
most satisfying game of the entire tournament so far, regardless of whether or
not it truly meant anything other than seeding position. AHQ looked to prove
themselves once and for all, being harshly underrated coming into the event,
having finished fourth in their league before their tremendous playoff streak.
However, AHQ put themselves into an early hole as SKT would get first blood on
AHQ jungler Mountain, and a roam top from Bengi would cost AHQ top laner Ziv
his flash. However, a restitution gank would come from Mountain, getting AHQ
marksman AN an early kill on his Sivir. AHQ would wrestling the gold lead from
SKT, pushing objectives and gaining ground on kills with their crisper
rotations. As the game progressed, Westdoor’s Cho’gath continued to spike in
power, with several team fights ending almost as they began after Westdoor’s
feast would nearly one shot Bang’s Urgot. With SKT losing team fight after team
fight, it looked like we were heading towards tie breakers as SKT’s armor
looked to finally be cracked, until Easyhoon decided he’d had enough. An
engagement near Baron in the blue side jungle allowed Easyhoon’s Azir to shred
through AHQ’s entire team with perfect positioning, ending in an outrageous
flash Emperor’s Divide to secure the ace. With a 10k gold deficit, SKT would
march through the front door of AHQ’s base, obtaining a perfect 5-0 group round record and the number 1 seed.
As we bid farewell to Besiktas and Team Solomid, we’re
forced to wonder just how big the gap between the West and the East is right
now. Fnatic look to be the last bastion of hope for western fans, as they match
up against SKT to start off Saturday’s semifinal matches. EDG and AHQ will
round out the day, in a series that promises to be significantly more
entertaining than its opening act, but maybe Fnatic can surprise us?
