Pro-gaming, pro-communication?

by Louis "Guichex" Lemeillet

There is a lot to say about how communication is handled by professional gaming structures, and it is so because those companies are still in their early stages of development, and so are eSports as a whole. Everybody is trying things to improve their overall image and ultimately try to get on the “mainstream” stage where sponsors and popularity will help them become very profitable companies.

I see two sides inside this industry's communication: the gaming or sportive one, and the brand one. They are of course inseparable and must be run hand in hand, but I separate the two of them because one is actually run flawlessly while the other one depends on which structure you're looking at.

The eSports Titans are One Step Ahead.

Whether you're looking at Fnatic, SK, Na'vi, or some other great multi-gaming structures, you can see that communication regarding gaming performances and merchandising are almost flawless : they update every time it's necessary to inform when each team will be performing, where they are in their respective standings, or to present post-game interviews with the players. All the same, they jump on any occasion to highlight their online store, new branded products (when they have some), their own YouTube videos or even interviews made by other organizations. The timing of such communications is very often related to news regarding one of its team, and help nurture their image. Or they also communicate for the online store when they have a “hole” in their communication schedule, to never let their fans/followers without news more than a few hours.

Those structures do a better job running their gaming & merchandising communication because they have existed a long time and learned from their past experiences. Also, they'll have an easier time publishing various news about their pro-gaming teams because they have so many players! Supa Hot Crew, for example, will face more trouble finding interesting things to tweet about than Evil Geniuses, because they only have an LCS team while the other has multiple gaming factions. It's important to communicate news throughout each day because it'll help your gaming structure nurture and develop its image as a whole. It keeps people interested. It's kind of like advertising : the more you publish, the more people you can touch, then you can sell more products/have more fans/etc. No company has a better communication than the other, but if you don't have it at all, you won't be seen as good as the others.

You have many solutions to fill the gap between a young pro-gaming structures and an older one, but it implies you'll have to talk about less interesting things, but you have to do it if you want to keep people interested in your brand. For eSports, everything is going through social media. You have to keep being seen by your followers and potentially others. The more you communicate, the more you have a chance of a post being shared/re-tweeted and you'll maybe gain one more follower. “Less interesting things” can include: open questions, photos of pro-players performing daily tasks (playing, coaching reunion, eating, whatever), or sharing images sent to your team (fan art, merchandising pictures, etc.) or articles about your team/gaming news. Nevertheless, this job is quite time-consuming and requires a bit of communication knowledge (to know what you can share, communicate, take for yourself, etc.) and I have the feeling that younger gaming structures don't have a specific person related to that task. It's just someone who has another main function (like manager, coach, business analyst), who is running it on the side. It's not THAT important but still has some meaning if you don't want to create an immense gap between bigger structures and yours.

Still, Everyone is Making Mistakes.

All gaming structures made mistakes in their choices, in their communication, and still, younger structures seems to not understand everything from that. Pro-gaming is no different than other industries on that regard: communication is really important if you want to secure a real fanbase and a real merchandising income. Advertising can be considered as important as communication, but it is working with sponsors and will rely on a good campaign.

And here, you have so much room to make the difference. North American structures like TSM, Cloud 9 and Dignitas, are making great moves possible by creating extremely fun and creative sponsor films/web shows. And they decided to do it not only because it was fun, but because consumers want that. On the other side, you have Fnatic making a razor ad that appears to have been shot and edited by your average 13 year-old; or that ugly ad from Razer showing a 14 year-old Snoopeh with a...special facial expression.

The "Hyperglide with Fnatic" campaign may be a bit old, but that Razer ad is extremely recent and was aired on the Twitch channel of Riot Games during the LCS, so more than 200k people could have seen it. After asking Snoopeh directly on Twitter (that's the beauty of eSports), he answered me that he didn't know about this and didn't approve of anything. I think it's safe to assume that Evil Geniuses, as a company, also didn't approve of it. Whether it was an intern at Razer who created this and everyone validated it, it is quite frightening to see this as it may ruin the player's image, but also the gaming structure he belongs too. Moreover, it's a bit of a shame to publish this when you already heard rumors of this gamer being replaced as a starter in his team.

But basically, it means that nobody on Evil Geniuses actively control what is done with their players image. Even if you have a contract saying Razer can use Snoopeh's image for advertising their products since they are the official sponsor of Evil Geniuses, you can't do whatever you want and Evil Geniuses could ask for repairs for this crappy ad (if Razer never sent them anything of course). Conclusion: Something is really wrong somewhere, and it's more probable that it comes from Evil Geniuses not having a proper communication team (which would be really frightening if you consider the size of this company in eSports), or does not have properly educated people in charge of their player's communication. I am not here to blame anyone, but some people are specifically going through many years of studies to handle communication, press relations, sponsorships, etc. And I feel like even older structures are failing to develop such a team of skilled people, relying on people they know in the eSports world.

On the other hand, one of the recent hot topics on Reddit was the possible acquisition of XJ9 by Supa Hot Crew as a coach/analyst. I don't know if what he's done in the past is true or not, I don't know if he's surrounded of hate because of misunderstandings or whatever, and I don't care one bit: what's important is that people are aware of it, and that it creates an ugly controversy. I don't care if he's the best player in the world: controversy is bad for your brand's image and Supa Hot Crew has gone back in time towards global acknowledgment by simply not speaking about this rumor. If those things are true regarding XJ9 (if you're not aware of who he is or what he done, look it up on the interweb), there is a risk that a similar story might break inside SHC and do long-term damage to the teams reputation, at least on the brand side.

Gaming Structures Have to Make the First Step.

I talked in a earlier article about what could become of eSports when it goes mainstream, and when technology companies will come to be personal sponsors of star players. I still think, at this point, that it's up to gaming structures to move forward, and they can't wait to be seen by those mainstream companies hoping money will rain on them. The one with the best communication, around its brand and its players is the one who will get the juicy sponsorship contracts. Actually, in my opinion, the most “valuable” team right now is TSM, as they have really passionate fans, are getting quite good results, and never fail to appear in some epic commercials (like that last HyperX one,) and they've managed to make it into some mainstream news websites like The Hollywood Reporter. Plus, their players come from various countries and have different personalities. TSM is “bankable." Cloud 9 is too.

I think CLG could be one too, but clearly they don't appear in as much mainstream news as TSM or even Curse, who's using its business/company side to get fame. Teams are apparently investing different amounts of times in the search of business partners, as some mainly focus on the game. It's not something to blame, but in the end, some of the teams will get bigger financial means than others and will develop even further with staff, facilities, and financial means to recruit rising star players. In the end, for the long-term, maybe TSM will be the greatest winner of all this.

The point is: gaming is still just a "game" for some gaming structures. They want their players to perform well, and don't think about the rest. But it doesn't mean you should totally exclude this part and never seek potential partners. With the rise of eSports, it's first come, first serve, and some teams might actually focus too much on their performances. Cash prizes won't pay everything at some point. Moreover, it's not like they are alone in this since many eSports marketing agencies are popping up on the market - it's just they don't believe it's necessary or they think they can manage it themselves while doing some work for teams at the same time. Pro-gaming structures might need to trust a bit more in the external world and not focus so much on “gamers are the only ones that can help us.” It's good to get old players into the eSports world, but most of them will lack the expertise needed to successfully market their team's brand and image for the future.

NA LCS Week 11 Power Rankings

by Ethan “AkeyBreakyy” Akey and Matt “It’s Pure Luck” Lee

First it was Europe’s turn, now we turn our attention to the North American scene before super week gets under way!  Just a reminder, here are the criteria the teams will be judged on; it is no different than Europe.

• It’s not just your record that determines your ranking. Just because you have a better record than another team does NOT necessarily mean you are better in my eyes.  The proverbial “eye test” is incredibly important. Are you winning games narrowly or convincingly? Did you go 2-0 in a week where you trailed in both games but the other team made massive mistakes and it allowed you to come back? How a team looks is very important.
• Results from the past few weeks.
• General trends of a team’s performance vs upper-echelon opponents in the league. Playing well vs the top tier teams is obviously more impressive than crushing the bottom three constantly.
• A team’s performance historically. This will weight a bit less, but a team like Fnatic will get more of a pass when they are struggling a bit than someone like the Copenhagen Wolves will.

So let’s get right down to it!

1) Cloud 9 (15-9) – Not much room for debate here. Their win over current top-of-the-table LMQ on Sunday was as dominating a performance as we have seen from any team this entire split. Currently sitting at 5-1 in their last six games and 7-3 in their last ten, Cloud 9 seem to have gotten over the middle season slump they had been in. One other impressive thing to note about Cloud 9 is their record vs the other teams in the top six of the standings. The only teams they do not have a chance to grab a 3-1 record versus are compLexity and Team SoloMid. LMQ has been good and currently hold first place, but everything points to Cloud 9 still being the team to beat in North America.
-Matt

2) LMQ (16-8) – While LMQ clings to the top of the LCS standings, their devastating loss to Cloud 9 last week has dropped them to our #2 spot. Like Cloud 9, LMQ has a 5-1 record for their previous six matches  - their only loss coming from Cloud 9, who hold a 3-1 record against them. The only other teams LMQ has a losing record against are Curse and Dignitas, both of whom face them in Week Eleven. If LMQ can pull wins off in both matches, C9 will be their only losing record.
-Ethan

3) Team SoloMid (15-9) – Week Ten was a very good week for TSM as they went 2-0, including a big win over slumping arch-rival Counter Logic Gaming. It wouldn't have been surprising if TSM had instead struggled the final two weeks of the season while they adjusted to their roster change, but it turned out not to be an issue. One knock against them is that they have been awful vs the top teams in the league, but I’m not sure that is entirely true. Against the top six, they sport a record of 7-10 which isn't great, but neither is it as terrible as it’s been made out to be. They are also the only team in the top six (and one of only two in the league) to have winning record vs Cloud 9. The major blemishes are the current 0-3 marks vs LMQ and Dignitas, and they will get a shot at both of them this weekend. A bye into the semifinals would be perhaps more important to TSM than any other team; the more time Lustboy and WildTurtle have to play together, the better off they are.
-Matt

4) Counter Logic Gaming (13-11) – After falling 0-2 in Week 10, and losing to their rivals, TSM, we have CLG sitting in the fourth position. Entering Week Eleven, CLG currently only holds positive win records over three of the four  bottom ranked teams. With their most recent loss to TSM, CLG now sits with a even 2-2 record against them. With their starting roster sitting out Week Eleven in order to attend boot camp in Korea to prepare for playoffs, it is highly likely that CLG will land in the fourth or fifth place semifinal spot. We can’t really judge CLG on how well their substitute roster will play, but from recent showings, CLG has fallen to our fourth spot.
-Ethan

5) Curse (10-14) – Curse is one of the more bizarre teams in the North American LCS. They currently sport winning records vs each of LMQ, CLG and Dignitas respectively. And yet at the same time, they are 1-2 vs Complexity and 1-3 vs EG.  Curse have been playing fairly well since they had a poor 3-7 start with a 7-7 streak since then. While nothing amazing, it’s at a level of what you would expect from a team that’s in the middle of the pack in the standings. Despite the fact they are two games behind Dignitas, Curse gets the nod in this spot with the free fall Dignitas are currently in.
-Matt

6) Dignitas (12-12) – While Dignitas does hold the better record over Curse,  they are another bizarre team that holds winning records over top teams such as LMQ and TSM. At the same time, Dignitas is also 1-3 vs Complexity and 1-2 vs Curse. Dignitas opened the Summer Split with a stunning 7-2 record into Week Five. Since then, Dignitas hasn't had a positive win record from any week. Even though they have two games on Curse, by going 1-5 in the past 3 weeks of the LCS, Team Dignitas falls down to our sixth spot.
-Ethan

7) Evil Geniuses (7-17) – EG had a rough super week back in Week Seven when they went 0-4. But since then they have played to the tune of a .500 record, winning three out of their past six games and beating Curse twice and CLG once. EG also seems to be the team who lose more heartbreaking games than anybody else (Curse might argue that point though), often giving some of the top tier teams all that they can handle. More often than not, it seems that Altec is the catalyst for this team, especially if he gets his hands on Twitch or Tristana. It will be interesting to see how the Evil Geniuses finish the season as they draw both Cloud 9 and LMQ this week.
-Matt

8) compLexity (8-16) – Now that we have reached the bottom of our rankings, it’s hard for fans to not expect compLexity to sit at the eighth spot. The difficult decision of whether coL or EG should be at the bottom was decided by the potential that EG shows against top-tiered teams, compared to what compLexity has to show. The only glimpse of light that compLexity has shown this season is the winning record they have over Cloud 9, although one of these wins was coming out of a Super Week when it's easier to snipe a top tier team. In the past six games, compLexity is 2-4, and they haven’t had a winning week at all this split. It will be interesting to see how they fare against Evil Geniuses this week, as they could potentially can finish the season off with a draw.
-Ethan

Underestimated Items

by Reece "SabrewoIf" Dos-Santos 

There are a ton of Items within League of Legends - a few with a lot more upfront impact than others. Some items may be considered core items and must-buys on certain champions and in certain categories, like Blade of the Ruined King on most AD Bruisers. But with the glaring popularity of those items comes the overlooking of others that honestly could make game changing differences when utilized correctly. I merely aim to touch upon a few within this article to try and raise awareness on the items that no one will see coming.

Ohmwrecker:

When this item was first announced I was excited because the concept sounded amazingly useful, especially for my play style, which involves a lot of diving and reckless assassinations. The thought of being able to fully commit to an opponent who thinks they’re safe under a turret is undeniably strong. So strong, in fact, that the item itself simply could not be allowed to have overwhelming stats. It doesn't match up against core AP items such as Void Staff and Athene’s, but I still believe that on the right champions it can be a useful item. Champions like Fizz and Akali, who have to go balls deep for kills, would greatly benefit from the ability to disable turrets for 2.5 seconds as they provide a suitable window for the final blow and the escape attempt (not to mention that the item resets the stacking damage of turrets as well which is even more valuable in the current patches where they reach max power faster). Another benefit of Ohmwrecker is that it provides a little bit more health, which is valuable to high damage assassins who cannot afford to use too many slots for defensive measures. I often find myself wondering why teams like LMQ, who are known for furiously diving turrets, don’t utilize this item to its potential.

 Another great tip with this item is the fact that when next to the nexus turrets, this item disables them both, allowing for dynamic diving that no one would expect and also enabling teams to finish the game faster when racing death timers and without minions. When considering what to build Ohmwrecker over, consider it over items that would otherwise provide similar stats like Rylais and Liandries. AP Supports can also combo this item with Twin Shadows and Talisman of Ascension to ensure escape is never truly possible for an enemy.

Sword of the Divine:

Sword of the Divine is an interesting concept that has also never really seen any screen time in the professional scene and in normal play, maybe because the base stats aren’t as impressive or maybe because no one has truly figured out how to efficiently utilize this item. 100% Attack Speed and Critical Strike Chance is a very powerful steroid that can turn any trade in your favour in an instant. On AD Carries, this item is crazy, but it isn't built in favour of Static Shiv, Phantom Dancer, and Youmuu’s Ghostblade, which provide much better stats (and the latter gives an active that seems more valuable at face value). You even lose the attack speed that Sword of the Divine gives you when it goes on cooldown so why would anyone want to build the item? The redeeming feature of Sword of The Divine in my opinion is the fact that the current cooldown is halved by champion kills. Assuming every time you use it you get a kill it has a 30 second cooldown, this makes it effective in split push situations where you can easily 1v1 and dispatch the person that tries to stop you. It also makes the item effective in extended team fight situations where you could legitimately use it more than once if you pick up two or three kills from its first use. Unlike Ohmwrecker which is a more reliable pickup, Sword of the Divine requires mastery and effectiveness in its use to become a super item. Misuse could leave you crippled, but effective use could be the deciding factor in many fights.

Zeke’s Herald:

Why this item isn't used more is beyond me, especially when AD mid laners like Yasuo remain top tier picks.  If your solo laners are AD, someone on your team should definitely have Zeke’s Herald. +20 AD and 10% Life Steal are valuable stats that could easily turn the tide of any team fight, and the CDR and the Health are also valuable stats that could benefit some bruisers and junglers. Assuming all four other team mates benefit from the passive, the item itself has 300% gold efficiency. Provided your team is also under the protection of Locket of the Iron Solari, you have a huge amount of extra stats in both offence and defense. I believe Zeke’s Herald is a great pickup on the current Rengar play style seen in the LCS, which plays out on CDR and bruiser items rather than full damage. Thresh could also greatly benefit on the extra damage on his basic attacks as well as the added effect for the ADC which could help snowball the lane. Zeke’s Herald also has the benefit of being the only defensive/utility item that provides Life Steal, making it viable on champions that need tankiness on top of life steal like Trundle and Shyvana. When building Zeke’s Herald, always look towards its aura impact rather than the impact of its face value stats. The items I’ve covered so far all have rather average base stats but the power of these items comes from the enemy’s inability to fully comprehend the value of their passives and actives. The true power of Zeke’s Herald can be summarized by Ashe: United we are stronger. 

European LCS Week 10 Power Rankings

by Matt “It’s Pure Luck” Lee


Welcome to my European LCS power rankings! While it’s perhaps a bit late in the season to start doing this as we head into our final week, it’s one of the most enjoyable debates that can be had when talking about the LCS.  First let’s take a look at the criteria teams will be judged on:

• It’s not just your record that determines your ranking. Just because you have a better record than another team does NOT necessarily mean you are better in my eyes.  The proverbial “eye test” is incredibly important. Are you winning games narrowly or convincingly? Did you go 2-0 in a week where you trailed in both games but the other team made massive mistakes and it allowed you to come back? How a team looks is very important.
• Results from the past few weeks.
• General trends of a team’s performance vs upper-echelon opponents in the league. Playing well vs the top tier teams is obviously more impressive than crushing the bottom three constantly.
• A team’s performance historically. This will weight a bit less, but a team like Fnatic will get more of a pass when they are struggling a bit than someone like the Copenhagen Wolves will.

With that defined, let’s take a look at the rankings!

1) Alliance (18-6) – This one really won’t come as any surprise. After a minor setback in losing four straight during Weeks Seven and Eight, Alliance has come back very strong and won four in a row. The win over red-hot Fnatic was particularly impressive as Rekkles and friends had been destroying everything in their path on the back of an eight game win streak. It wasn't the cleanest of wins as it took fifty-two minutes, but they played it safe, knowing a win all but guaranteed them the top spot in the final standings.

2) Fnatic (16-8) – Fnatic saw their eight game win streak snapped vs Alliance on day one last week. It didn't faze them much, though, as they took down a good Millenium team on the second day. One could make a case for Fnatic being in the top spot and they might have a point. They sit at 9-1 in their last ten games and they weren't narrowly winning these for the most part. Fnatic had been decimating their opposition ever since Week Seven. Ultimately, Fnatic posting a 1-3 record vs Alliance gives Alliance the slight nod.

3) Millenium (13-11) – Millenium have been playing fairly well lately, picking up four wins in their last six games after scuffling a bit during Super Week.  As usual for them, the catalysts continue to be Kerp and Creaton. Creaton has been outstanding the last three weeks, posting a KDA of 10.25. Kerp has continued to show his Twisted Fate pick is to be feared, and he even managed to pull out a surprise pick in Zilean last week and played it very well.  If Millenium continues to progress their style and show they can play more than a pick based team at a high level, they have a very high ceiling with the talent that is on the team.

4) Supa Hot Crew (14-10) – Much like Millenium, Supa Hot Crew sits here with an outside chance at possibly grabbing that two seed and getting a bye in the playoffs. More than likely though, they will end up fighting it out for the three seed. The upcoming game between SHC and Millenium on Thursday could very well decide who does grab that spot; a loss by the Crew there would drop them to 1-3 vs Millenium on the split. While MrRalleZ tends to be considered the best player on this team, you could make a case that the most important is Selfie in the mid lane. We saw it this past week as he had a terrific KDA of 13.5 in playing Ahri both games. Consistent play from him should see positive results for SHC in the future and at the least a shot at Worlds in the third place game.

5) Roccat (11-13) – Roccat continue to be one of the most (if not the most) puzzling teams in the European LCS. They managed to pull their record back to .500 after they had an impressive run between Weeks Four and Eight, where they won nine of their twelve games.  And then in Week Ten, they promptly managed to go 0-2, and it was to two teams very close to them in the standings, Millenium and the Supa Hot Crew.  Celaver and Xaxus in particular have had a difficult time this split. Celaver currently has the sixth best KDA among AD carries in Europe, while Xaxus is seventh among top laners. Jankos has been a bright spot for the team, and as he goes the team tends to go. His teammates will need to step up if they wish to avoid facing relegation in the promotion tournament.

6) SK Gaming (12-12) – SK finally ended the free fall they had been in by defeating Roccat last week, though it wasn't easy for them to close that game out. That game itself showed where the confidence level of SK is right now; they had a massive lead early on and gave Roccat every shot to get back into it. They simply have not looked like the same team from the first six weeks of this split, or the one from all of spring. They sit at 3-7 in their last ten games; many of them decisive victories for their opponents. Looking even further into it, two of those three wins came in Super Week vs Gambit and the Copenhagen Wolves, both of whom are a mess. Many claims around SK the last split and even early on in this one were that they didn’t have great individual talent and mechanics, but great teamwork through the mid and late game. It might be the time where the lack of mechanical ability in comparison to their opponents is catching up to them.

7) Copenhagen Wolves (7-17) – The Wolves are not mathematically eliminated from the playoffs, but the chances are minimal, as one win by Roccat or one loss by the Wolves puts Roccat in the playoffs and sends the Wolves to the promotion tournament.  They had managed to put two decent weeks back to back in Weeks Eight and Nine, going 3-1 in their four games. Last week however, the wheels fell off the wagon. They were dispatched fairly quickly by Millenium in a game that only took 31:23, and then were defeated by Alliance in what was possibly the most lopsided game in the EU LCS this year.  The Wolves can avoid the dreaded eighth place finish if they beat Gambit this week, or if they win one game and Gambit lose at least two.

8) Gambit Gaming (5-19) – While Gambit was definitely on a downward trend toward the end of the spring split, it would be hard for many people to say they saw this coming. They sit two games behind the Wolves for the seventh place spot with only four games left, so it’s likely Gambit end the season in last place. The twist of fate there would be the possible date vs Ninjas in Pyjamas and Alex Ich in the promotion tournament. The team as a whole simply does not look to be LCS caliber at this moment. The benching of Darien hasn't helped at all, and Diamond looks even worse since he was put back into the starting lineup. In fact, Diamond has a line of 3/17/7 since he was reinstated as a starter. At this point in time, it’s hard to imagine Gambit will retain their spot in the LCS with the way they are playing.

Battle At The Top: A Review of the EU LCS Match of the Week

By Ethan "AkeyBreakyy" Akey


For the third match of W10D1 (week 10, day 1) Fnatic took on the EU LCS leading team, Alliance. On a seven game winning streak, Fnatic hoped to continue their streak and tie with Alliance, who was sitting at the top of the leaderboard. As we saw in week 9, Fnatic made quick work of the Cophenhagen Wolves, and Rekkles earned the first Pentakill of the Summer Split. If Alliance allows Rekkles to pick Vayne, they could be in for a world of hurt. Rekkles currently holds the highest KDA for any Player/Champion combo when he is on Vayne. If Fnatic can lock up Vayne for their ADC, they could have a better chance at tying this series up with the EU LCS leader. Fnatic needs to tie up the series between Alliance, which it currently sits at a 2-1 in favor of Alliance right now. Both teams are coming into this match in their best playing form.

With the majority of the bans going to eliminate top tier junglers and mid laners, sOAZ locks up Gragas with the first pick for Fnatic. In return, Alliance pick up Kog’Maw and Oriana for their first and second pick. With Lee Sin being banned, this opens up Elise, which is one of Cyanide's top picks. For Fnatic’s second pick, Cyanide decides to go with Jarvan instead. Fnatic uses Jarvan as their signature dragon-stealing champion, and Fnatic looks to ride their aggressive playstyle into this match-up with this pick. With Fnatic’s third pick, YellOwStaR gets his Thresh, which is his go to champion. This is YellOwStaR's eleventh game on Thresh, with eight victories under his belt - potentially the strongest Thresh player in the EU LCS. Riven and Morgana are locked up for Alliance with their third and fourth picks. While Fnatic may have a very strong Thresh, Nyph is undefeated on Morgana for Alliance. With Fnatic now needing a lot of burst damage to take down the shields of Riven, Oriana, and Morgana, they grab Jinx and Ziggs. Jinx is an interesting pick. Vayne could have been more of the hyper-carry that Rekkles excels on. If Fnatic can chain their crowd-control together, they can easily shut down Shook on Riven. Wickd rounds out the final pick for Alliance by taking Irelia. Fnatic and Alliance jump in to the Summoner’s Rift to see if one team can level the score or if Alliance can pull ahead even further.

To start this match, Shook is tested by Fnatic after he is invaded by the entire enemy team. Being forced to blow his Flash within the first fifty-five seconds of the match, this could really shake up his confidence and force Shook to play very passive for the duration of his cooldown. Fnatic displays a very aggressive start to their match against Alliance by forcing three of their members to pop Flash within the first three minutes of the match. With more than half of Alliance without their summoner spell, this is the strong and strategic start Fnatic needs that can allow them to put the pressure down on the enemy turrets or to secure kills.

YellOwStaR proves to be the impact player in the early phases of this game by picking up the first blood for Fnatic and puts on a display to show he is not afraid to roam from top to bottom in order to support all of Fnatic's lanes. Around the 8:00 minute mark, all of the lanes start to normalize with the teams rotating their ADC & Support duos back to the bottom lane. With Alliance having their duo back in the bottom lane, this allows them to secure the first dragon of the game. Shook, on the other hand, hasn't been much of a factor up to this point, being bullied from the start and having his jungle buffs stolen from him.

Fnatic gives up one death for a dragon kill, but Rekkles picks up a kill on Froggen with a Super Mega Death Rocket. Soaz scores a kill as Wickd gets caught out under the middle turret, and Fnatic, with three turrets down, pulls ahead with a 2k gold lead. Here Fnatic puts on a show with Jarvan and displays just why they utilize him as the dragon-stealing pick, as Cyanide does just that on the second dragon of the game. Alliance is still waiting on Shook to get involved. Fnatic is too mobile and Shook hasn't been able to have much presence this game. Soaz is still playing catch-up on Fnatic's side but Wickd, on the other hand, needs to pair with Shook to pick off Rekkles right away in team fights.

Alliance catches Peke with Fnatic turning around and splitting up. With this very important engage, Fnatic loses dragon, and Alliance picks off both Peke and YellOwStaR.

This match has been all about the strategic level. Fnatic punished Alliance and got their baron and, in return, Alliance punished Fnatic's mistake and got a tower, dragon, and two kills. We haven't seen a real full-on team fight, partially due to the fact that this game could end with one convincing team fight. One mistake from any player could cost their team the game. All of these champions can melt enemy towers, and get through them very quickly. Both teams are playing a very passive and careful style, almost avoiding any team fight because of how easily they can sway the match.

Alliance gets the baron, gaining the confidence they need to push in to Fnatic's base. With this baron, they break through the defense of Fnatic, taken their middle turret, middle inhibitor, and their top lane inner turret. The indecisiveness by Fnatic has lead to them being pushed past their own inhibitors. At this point, Fnatic also know the fear of being clumped up and annihilated by the AOE potential of Alliance. 

At the 52 minute mark, two men down for Fnatic, two inhibitors down, and the numbers advantage for Alliance, this spells defeat for xPeke and the boys. With a 6-3 victory going to Alliance, they shut down Fnatic and become undisputed leader of the EU ladder. After Fnatic took the first baron, Alliance nailed their aggressive playstyle down even harder. If Fnatic had played more aggressively, could they have saved their win streak? Both teams demonstrated the strengths and weaknesses of their opposing compositions. In the end, Fnatic just didn't have the damage to burn through Morgana, Oriana, and Irelia. Alliance secures their spot at the top of the ladder with this win over Fnatic and currently holds a 3-1 series lead between the two teams. Viewers can only hope that this is just a glimpse of what is to come at the Summer Split finals.