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On October 07 2012 18:19 lipidsnake wrote:Fantastic write up but not sure if this has already been noted but I think that TPA are being WAYYY too underrated. Not from the perspective of a fanboy but a dedicated follower to the SEA and Chinese LoL pro scene i can say that TPA are on a level of skill that rivals if not betters Azubu Frost. No way they deserve a 11th place and they've definately proven that with their devastation over Najin Sword. To be fair abit of Azubu Frost's success comes from their experience of playing the NA and EU teams in past tournaments, they've adapted their play to the slower and more restrained meta, it will be interesting to see how M5 plays against TPA this has been my most anticipated matchup of the whole tournament. too bad the DDos ruined the day 
Coming into this tournament, TPA was considered a pretty bad team overall, most people thought that they would get steamrolled hard by Sword, but they definitely showed that they are a very strong team.
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United States47024 Posts
On October 07 2012 18:19 lipidsnake wrote:Fantastic write up but not sure if this has already been noted but I think that TPA are being WAYYY too underrated. Not from the perspective of a fanboy but a dedicated follower to the SEA and Chinese LoL pro scene i can say that TPA are on a level of skill that rivals if not betters Azubu Frost. No way they deserve a 11th place and they've definately proven that with their devastation over Najin Sword. To be fair abit of Azubu Frost's success comes from their experience of playing the NA and EU teams in past tournaments, they've adapted their play to the slower and more restrained meta, it will be interesting to see how M5 plays against TPA this has been my most anticipated matchup of the whole tournament. too bad the DDos ruined the day
We knew it was possible for TPA to bring their A-game to the tournament. Certainly, when they were on-form they took down Najin in a 25 minute game in Go4LoL Pro Asia. Everything leading up to this implied a continuation of TPA's slump. Even prior to the event, WE's coach Joker was saying that TPA was somewhat inconsistent in scrims with iG and WE.
There was nothing to go on to go on when this article was written to suggest that TPA would show such a drastic return to form. Hindsight is 20:20.
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United States37500 Posts
90%+ of what I know about the non-Korean Asian scene, I get from TheYango.
If I didn't have faith in TPA, it's his fault. ^o^
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my PM to moonbear
"TPA is slumping (has slumped for a long time, actually) for no good reason, really. I'm not sure if it's due to their training regimen or if it's all part of their plan to shock everyone but I really liked their play from a few months ago and still remain hopeful that they can come back and surprise me."
yay TPA <3
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Based on TPA's most recently shown games (including their showmatch with CLG.eu at the TW Regional Qualifiers) it was very difficult to pinpoint what kind of team would exactly show up at Worlds. It was hard to place them above their current rank when everything is conditional on "if their form improves". Using that kind of argument, nearly everyone deserves to be higher in the rankings.
TPA's performance is definitely one of the most pleasant surprises we've had so far this tournament. I am looking forward to their games with M5!
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Although I wish I had checked past this thread a little earlier I figured better late than never. While you did an excellent job writing it, I'm not sure if you were smoking an enormus amount of pot just before writing the power rankings or if it's simply a lack of observation.
First of all, of all these teams, SK would be the bottom seed at any given time, untill they replace Ocelote. Yes I know he's extremely popular, but he's also a player who doesn't win his lane often enough for his team to benefit any from having him, and when he does win his lane it's usually not because he outplays his opponent, it's merely because his lane snowballs out of control.
Secondly - while they may be strong teams - putting both TSM and iG over CLG.EU isn't precisely logical at any level, we're talking about the only team out there who have been able to challenge M5 so far. And M5 are really the team to beat for whoever wishes to take home the first price.
TPA may have been more than shaky before entering the World Finals, but they'd still rank higher than both SK and CLG.NA regardless of circumstances. After all CLG.NA haven't had any real success outside of the US for a long time, and going up against the rest of the world, they were doomed to fall flat. And SK, well, I think I covered that rather well earlier.
As for the showdown between regions, I'd say Europe is still the number one contender in any cathegory mostly due to M5 and CLG.EU, with Korea as a close second. While the US audience may think their server is the strongest out there, most of their top teams have either undergone large changes lately or simply do not possess the innovation considering strategies. And most importantly, none of them except perhaps TSM in top shape possess the consistent game to game stability of M5, Azubu and CLG.EU.
Appart from that, entertaining reading even though most games have already been played.
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While cynically you can match (Taipei Assassins') slump with the release of Diablo III
I'd like to know more about this!
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United States47024 Posts
It's hard to pinpoint the exact start of TPA's slump. I think I first noticed it when TPA lost to Najin Shield in a showmatch right around the start of OGN Summer, and subsequently when one Dignitas player (I can't remember who) talked about TPA massively underperforming in scrims.
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On October 14 2012 15:55 TheYango wrote:
It's hard to pinpoint the exact start of TPA's slump. I think I first noticed it when TPA lost to Najin Shield in a showmatch right around the start of OGN Summer, and subsequently when one Dignitas player (I can't remember who) talked about TPA massively underperforming in scrims.
Its their secret strategy to decieve enemy teams before the grand finals and IT WORKED 
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United States47024 Posts
On October 14 2012 16:01 Caphe wrote:Show nested quote +On October 14 2012 15:55 TheYango wrote:
It's hard to pinpoint the exact start of TPA's slump. I think I first noticed it when TPA lost to Najin Shield in a showmatch right around the start of OGN Summer, and subsequently when one Dignitas player (I can't remember who) talked about TPA massively underperforming in scrims. Its their secret strategy to decieve enemy teams before the grand finals and IT WORKED
My first indication of them being able to come out was Joker (WE's coach) talking about TPA's performance being 50:50 against iG/WE in practice, followed by iG's explosive group stage performance. A team that goes 50:50 against iG/WE at the very least deserves better than 11th place on the rank.
I still don't think placing TPA below the halfway mark was "wrong" based on pre-World Championships knowledge. Bear in mind that at the worst point in their slump, they were arguably much worse than "50:50 vs. iG/WE" (they got demolished 3-0 by a Najin Shield that went on to get demolished equally hard by WE in OGN Summer). But it should also have been equally clear that a TPA playing on peak performance was capable of what we saw today.
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On October 14 2012 16:06 TheYango wrote:Show nested quote +On October 14 2012 16:01 Caphe wrote:On October 14 2012 15:55 TheYango wrote:
It's hard to pinpoint the exact start of TPA's slump. I think I first noticed it when TPA lost to Najin Shield in a showmatch right around the start of OGN Summer, and subsequently when one Dignitas player (I can't remember who) talked about TPA massively underperforming in scrims. Its their secret strategy to decieve enemy teams before the grand finals and IT WORKED My first indication of them being able to come out was Joker (WE's coach) talking about TPA's performance being 50:50 against iG/WE in practice, followed by iG's explosive group stage performance. A team that goes 50:50 against iG/WE at the very least deserves better than 11th place on the rank. I still don't think placing TPA below the halfway mark was "wrong" based on pre-World Championships knowledge. Bear in mind that at the worst point in their slump, they were arguably much worse than "50:50 vs. iG/WE" (they got demolished 3-0 by a Najin Shield that went on to get demolished equally hard by WE in OGN Summer). But it should also have been equally clear that a TPA playing on peak performance was capable of what we saw today.
The most recent VoDs of TPA games I was able to watch before writing the Power Rank was their show match against CLG.eu at the Taiwanese Regional Qualifiers (September). It wasn't the best of indications, but combined with their slump it was massively difficult for me to place them. I didn't have a reason to place them in the top half (esp considering the quality of those teams) but then ever since their shake up after WCG it was clear they were a good team overall. One of the problems is that very rarely have teams in a slump completely shaken it off and come out all cylinders revving just before a major tournament.
In hindsight, I definitely undervalued them. But if I had to write the Power Rank again, using only pre-Worlds knowledge, I would probably place them in the bottom half again.
With time and practise, hopefully we'll be able to start getting more accurate and better at this.
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Nah, don't sell yourself short. Your pre-Worlds ranking and write up were excellent, keep up the good work.
Also, would you guys by any chance do a review write up?
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EPT
