EPTTeam rundown
I'll go over each team, giving my opinion on how well or bad they did.
13-16th: Team FeaR
For me, this was the team that dissapointed me the most. They have been growing pretty strong the weeks before IPL5 but it seems the Livestage has gotten the best of them. Xmithie could not pressure from the jungle as he used to and Muffinqt and Aphromoo did not have the aggresive oomph they use to be able to bring to the table. Overall a very dissapointing tournament for Fear.
13-16th: Team Dynamic
TD did pretty well , despite them losing every single match. They could stick to Azubu and WE in the groupstages, but longer games have not been their most lucky game lately. They lost, noone expected them to win, but few expected them to stand their ground for so long.
13-16th: IceLanD
Iceland is a weird team, I've been watching them before the IPL5 and they pretty much have 1 way the game ends up folding out: They lead early, choke, then lose. Looking at their game vs CLGeu, they were doing fine earlygame, maybe even better than CLGeu. At some point they just lost control and got caught solo or duo vs 5 people. Its a strong team that needs to work on their stamina and teamplay. And they arent from Iceland, people are still very confused about that.
13-16th: Blackbean
I am not sure what to think of Blackbean. They were in a very strong group and lost all games they played. It wasnt bad what they showed, but it wasnt special either. They followed the current meta and lost straight up. The toplaner really really needs to not get caught so much, that was one of the recurring themes in their games. A bit of a dull performance alltogether, even with noone expecting them to do well.
9-12th: Meat Playground
In the group they were in, I expected them to do alot better. They had their moments, but they were rare and they could never follow up on advantages. The game they played vs SGS should have been won. They could not abuse the Urgot counter and lost with bad engages. They redeemed themselves vs Fear in the losersbracket but lost to M5 vs a Yi in game 1, and when they banned Yi, to the even more deadly Evelynn in game 2. I am not sure what the thoughtprocess behind the ban was, but lets just say it was not really a good idea in the end...
9-12th: Team SoloMid
Wow... TSM... They got into the winnersbracket by beating SGS that put up another Urgot aswell as Karma. In the group they were in, they were expected to win the group easily. CurseEU tore them a new one, they did not show any impressive play at all. TSM is still slumping and by the looks of it, will continue to in the near future. There was nothing they could bring to the table. CLGeu dismantled them in their typical ways; Slow and painfull. For all their fans, I hope they can start playing more inspired like they were doing before.
9-12th: Singapore Sentinels
Ah yes, SGS. The team that loves Urgot with double support. I still dont get what they are trying to get out of it most of the time. They played a few 'normal' setups where they did pretty well, however they keep falling back to their old ways. Can someone on the inside please tell them Urgot is not the strongest of picks? The play they show is pretty good, but I feel the compisitions they use are hurting them more than helping them. But then again, maybe they know something we dont know yet about Urgot ...
9-12th: Curse Gaming EU
I am not sure what to think of CurseEU. They won their group pretty convincingly, but then lost all but 1 games after that. The game they won vs CLG was very very good. They showed their potential like they did in the groupstages. However the other 2 games vs CLG and both games vs their Curse-counterpart were too standard and transparent. Angush is (supposed to be) a god on Jax, he got alot of Jax in all the games but apart from 1 game, he could not make an impression, wich in turn really hurt the team. Its tough when you have to depend on someone to take control and that person doenst do exactly that. The Curse-vs-Cursegames were very enjoyable to watch tho.
7-8th: Curse Gaming
Strong group, lost to the teams they were expected to lose against and won what they were supposed to win. Saintvicious still can't break his slump it seems, he cant make any impression on the games and carry his team trough stronger opponents. On the other hand, Voyboy is pretty damn good. He is very hard to counter with his wide range of champions in the toplane and the Gragas-pick was refreshing to see once again. Rhux is still rusty in the botlane but I dont think he did much wrong there. Where in Sc2 there is the Grubby-line (to determine if there is potential to beating the 'better' players) , I think the NA-scene specificly can go by the Curse-line. Curse is sort of the middle between the good teams and the worse teams. Curse has its own prive space in the rankings. They cant beat the best and they are better than the lower ranked teams.
7-8th: Azubu Blaze
Azubu started ok in the group. They beat TD, but it was not the walkover people expected. After the loss to WE the morale got a bit low and after they lost to Fnatic it was good for them that they day was over at that point. BlackBean gave them some struggle in the LB and you could see they just couldnt play like they wanted. Things did not go their way at all. Helios could not pressure and CptJack did not snowball like he has done before. They dissapointed in this tournament, I cant make anything else out of it. Against M5 they showed why they are really good, but by then it was too late.
5-6th: CLG Prime
Prime did good. I'd allmost say unexpectedly good. Chauster has actually done his homework and they are starting to play like a team again. Sure there are some problems that still need to be fixed (lvl1 teamfights for example) but overall, a good performance. They took a game of both Fnatic and M5, not bad of a result at all in the end. I did not expect them to get this far with all the switching of roles and the addition of LocoDoco to the team. If they can play more like game1 vs Fnatic they can start winning things again. The Galio-pick was odd but worked out very very well, it helped them make plays instead of defending. They need more agression on the team.
5-6th: CLG Europe
Demaciaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa! Froggen on Lux, equally as deadly as Froggen on Anivia. He actually got to the point where Lux is the prefered ban over Anivia. As a spectator it was really fun to watch him play Lux. However, his Aniviaplay seems to have weakened over the last few weeks. He is not that bird-powerhouse that he has shown in Korea. Wickd has picked up on critique that his pool is too shallow and started playing alot more champions, with mixed succes. CLGeu did their usual things. Slowly but steady dismantle the opponents, until the enemy gets bored or tired and forces itself into a bad fight. WE however were a different kind of cookie to crack. The first game was a nice showcase on how badly even CLGeu can lose if they cant get anything going. The second game... wow... if you have not watched that game, I suggest you do so. In the LB CLGeu seemed to be a little down and they just could not force any favourable engages. CLGeu did ok overall, they just couldnt quite get where they wanted.
4th: Moscow Five
M5 only lost to WE and twice to TPA. The games they won were solid and safe, but I expected them to atleast take one of the series down. The practise they had definately payed off tho. They had everything going well, apart from the games against the Asian teams, where they seemed to rely to heavily on getting some hard nukes in that didnt come. M5 needs to start winning things again, yes that does sound strange for a team that came in 4th. M5 can ride momentum like no other team and once they get going they are unstoppable. It just didnt all come together for them this tournament.
3rd: Taipei Assassins
Our reigning world champs TPA did what they had to do. They won games and made it look smooth. TPA always seems to play like everything they do was planned to detail, even the enemys actions. However they (and everyone else) seemed very unprepared for Fnatic. The LeeSin ban vs Soaz was pretty handy, but the playstyle surprised them. Ofcourse there is some pressure now on TPA as the champions to beat everyone and that may have been a factor in the games. Mistake lived up to his name as he got caught out alot more then usual, in fact the whole team just played a little less cautious then they normally would. I would have loved to see TPA vs WE, but Fnatic (or WE depending how you look at it) robbed us of that pleasure.
2nd: Fnatic
Fnatic. I applaud you. You played aggresive, fun and mixed up alot in tactics. I can't say anyone in the team who dropped the ball in any game really. SoaZ is a beast , I can see why Stanley from TPA (red: Maknoon) was sad he didnt get to play him at finals, however I now think Stanley (red: Maknoon) might be happy they were not there. Rekkles is a very very good player and I am very sad he cant play in S3 (too young). His Vayne is one of the best out there and his Ezreal is just as good. However what impressed me the most is his positioning. Xpeke and Cyanide played solid, being where they should be at all times. nRated, the suicideLeona. Goes in for the engage, using everything before going down and then watches how his team easily cleans up.
Fnatic should be proud of what they did. They beat the world champs 3 games and put up a good fight against the eventual winner. Well done Fnatic, Well done.
1st: Team WE
The winners! WE is getting stronger every game it seems. All lanes can hold their own and the teamwork was unmatched in this tournament. The worst thing about playing against WE is that you only have 3 bans. You need about 10 to not be completely screwed. Misaya's Evelynn is just as strong as his TF. Caiomei can play any toplane and win any matchup it seems. The teamfighting-capabilities are so scary. They annihilated CLGeu in game 1, wich are known for putting up a killer teamfight. WE deserved this tournament, they were clearly the best team and the other teams need to start practising alot for WE, aswell as figuring out what the hell to ban against them.
Congrats WE!
Some highlights of the IPL5
1: CLGeu vs WE game 2
Wow this game was insane. Personally I watched this together with 9 more people all on teamspeak. We had a great time cheering on both teams and no clue who was going to win. If anyone asks you what happend in this game, you can say everything. In true CLGeu vs WE fashion the game lasted forever and multiple comebacks happend during the game. Froggen makes LeeSin usefull with a full build, Kogmaw melts stuff pretty fast and invisible Rengars are annoying to push against. That and aloooot more. What a game.
2: Evelynn is pretty strong
Im not someone who says overpowered alot, or at all really, but Evelynn is coming close to being exactly that. Banned alot, picked 8 times, won 8 times. Thats a pretty high winrate. Expect alot of evelynns in the upcoming games.... and they say DFG-nerf ruined her... pff
3: Having fun
SGS showed us Urgot and Karma, Fnatic and CLG gave us 'TSM SUX' in picks and bans and Riot gave us the voiceactors (Erik Braa you are a god). Great tournament!
Thats all for now folks! Hope you enjoyed reading. If you didnt, you still made it to the end, congrats
