The perennial SC2 meme of Korean (Asian) teams coming to MLG to take away NA prizes continues to ring true for League of Legends as well. Delivering an expected one-two punch to both American and European teams, Blaze and Sword looked at the top of their game at Dallas. Something to consider is that neither Korean teams lost a single game and completely 2-0’d their respective sides of the bracket until they met each other in the Winner’s Finals. While Blaze got knocked into the Loser’s Finals, they maintained composure and synergy to storm the next three combined sets against CLG.eu and NaJin Sword to sweep three Bo3s, all while dropping only a single game.

Season 3 is expected to turn League asunder, but one thing is for certain: the Asian LoL teams are dramatically raising the level of competition. It is no longer enough to be the best of your specific region. For the NA Troika, more practice, smarter practice, is needed to close the gap between Asia and the rest of the world.

Team to Ward Watch: CLG.na
If it is any consolation, CLG.na managed to place the highest out of the North American teams, however it was a paltry 4th place. What CLG.na does have going for them is that this was their first offline tournament together since picking up Locodoco as their new Support. Many fans had an incredibly negative reaction when Loco was brought on board and Voyboy was benched. There was a crux issue with Chauster/Doublelift being one of the best Bot lanes in NA, why break it up? What Loco brings to the table is his immense experience as a long time AD Carry for StarTale; it gives him great insight on the tempo of Bot during laning phase. A former AD player has the experience to tell when to initiate as Support and when to hold back to allow your AD to farm. This in turn, frees up the team’s most flexible player, Chauster, who can take the jungler’s mantle, allowing HotShotGG to return to Top lane where he is the most comfortable.

On paper, the new CLG.na looks stronger than before, taking into account the five players’ combined experience and knowledge. Yet, all the theorycraft in the world amounts to nothing unless something tangible is produced. From Season 2, TSM proved to be NA’s winningest team. CLG.na would no doubt want to wrest that title away from TSM and accomplish much more.

Honorable Mention: NaJin Sword
+ Show Spoiler [From MakNooN right after the Finals] +
If winning isn’t enough, Koreans prove superior in yet another way: class.

Despite taking a crushing loss from a team that they sent into the Loser’s Bracket, NaJin Sword failed to close the deal on Azubu Blaze, even with a one set advantage. MakNooN, captain and the public face of NaJin Sword, doesn’t beat around the bush. No excuses. He commends his fellow Koreans for their impressive plays and assures his fans that Sword will be back with a vengeance. It is no surprise that even with his broken English, MakNooN is a fan favorite. But favoritism aside, both NaJin and Azubu teams continue to play at the highest level in Korea. If popularity is ever a benefit, it’s that fans from across the globe will cheer for you as you play back at home.

Singed Raid Boss Award: Shy (Grand Finals: Blaze v Sword, Game 1)
The story line of the Grand Finals was really the “Shy and MakNooN Show”. Both teams thrived whenever their Top laner did well and exerted his influence onto the rest of the map. In Game 1, Shy’s Olaf dominated MakNooN’s Malphite by almost doubling MakNooN’s CS 10 minutes into the game. Watch attempted to salvage the lane with a Nocturne Paranoia gank but by that point, Shy had begun to snowball away (VOD). Knowing he's lost the CS battle terribly, MakNooN helps keep Sword relevant by doing an 5 man all in at Bot lane with his Teleport. This nets Sword three kills against Blaze and Blaze’s Oracle. What does Shy do in response? Pushes down Top Outer turret and continues to pressure the lane. Even with a 0/0/0 KDA, Shy is over 70 CS over MakNooN at this point.

Shy eventually attains Raid Boss status at 30 minutes into the game. Having farmed like a bro, he has double GP10s, Warmog’s, Randuin’s, and a Hexdrinker. Pray never stood a chance as Shy dove for him straight on and scored a triple kill following Pray’s death (VOD). The rest of the game, Shy was in the driver seat. There was even a moment at Baron where he singled-handedly staved off Sword, absorbed the brunt of Sword’s DPS, and allowed Blaze to obtain superior positioning for the clean up. (VOD)

Honorable Mention: MakNooN (Grand Finals: Blaze v Sword, Game 2)
The “Shy and MakNooN Show” highlights the volatility of Top lane and how quickly one side can run away with an advantage. MakNooN brilliantly outplayed Shy at level 5, netting him his first kill of the game (VOD). Not even a minute later, Watch showed up to deliver Shy his second death. With his excellent mechanics, Shy managed to stay within 20-30 CS of MakNooN but at this point, everything is in vain. Even while simply trying to farm, Jax with lucky Phage procs and burst kills Shy for his third and fourth deaths. Backed with Zilean’s Rewind and Chronoshift, a fed Jax is a sight to behold. MakNooN dove inhibitor and throne turrets with impunity and ended the game with 9/4/7 and over a hundred CS more than Shy (VOD).

"See champion, Kill champion" Award: Cpt Jack
The mark of a good ADC is knowing the key positioning in team fights and how to kite to maximize damage yet keeping yourself alive. Cpt Jack demonstrates this on multiple occasions in Game 5 of the Finals. While Blaze starts up on Baron, a blind NaJin Sword rushes over to stop them. Without proper wards, MakNooN is forced to poke his head into the cove to obtain vision for his team. But Blaze’s swift reaction as a team decimates MakNooN quickly. All the while, Cpt Jack picks off three Swords for a Triple and seals it with an ace for the first inhibitor for Blaze. (VOD)

Later on in the game, Raid Boss Shy is entirely out of position, allowing for Cain to land a great Zyra ulti on the remaining 4 Blaze. Sword make quick work of both Twisted Fate and Sona, losing only Watch, their initiating Mao’Kai. MakNooN sacrifices himself to ensure Sword can takedown Shy but for this entire fight, Cpt Jack is taking pot shots at a safe distance. Even though Sword wins the trade 3-2, Cpt Jack is a full life and forces the remaining three Sword players to base while he solos the Top Inner turret. (VOD)

Honorable Mention: Imaqtpie
For a team that didn’t make it past round 2, Dignitas actually did very well in multiple games. They managed a surprise upset over CLG.eu in round 1. In the following round, their 0-2 loss to Azubu Blaze masks the fact that dig lost both games by single digit kill differentials (Azubu had 2 more kills in game 1 and 1 more kill in game 2). dig’s ADC, imaqtpie, has long stuck with the traditional carries such as Ezreal and Corki. qtpie did remarkably well in consistently matching Cpt Jack in CS and focused priority targets in team fights. While qtpie’s performance continues to be the backbone behind many of dig’s wins, they can still improve upon initiating fights and avoid skirmishes where members die due to overextension from the rest of the team.

“I got the Reset (yes!)” Big Plays Award: Pray (Grand Finals: Blaze v Sword, Game 3)
Getting caught out of position by a Cho’gath and Vayne, Pray as Ezreal with red buff begins to kite. He pokes with Mystic Shot and Essence Flux while in the brush, shifted away to dodge a Condemn but manages to get stunned anyways. Cho ruptures, Pray responds with a Flash. He finally takes out Cho and would have lived versus Vayne if not for a wild Janna appearing out of nowhere. (VOD)

Honorable Mention: Cpt Jack (Grand Finals: Blaze v Sword, Game 5)
While Blaze sieges Sword’s Bot inhibitor turret, Cpt Jack gets snared and ulti by Zyra. Immediately, Mao and Jax jump in to try to burst Cpt Jack down. However with a clutch Sona ulti and summoner Heal, Cpt. Jack survives long enough to kill and chain jump four Swords for the game winning quadra kill (VOD).

Since MLG Dallas, Curse.eu became the new Kings of Europe @ Tales of the Lane while CLG.eu proved to be hotshots in the Lone Star state. Taipei Assassins continue their reign over Garena Premiere League, taking down Singapore Sentinels in 4 games in the finals. TPA finished Season 1 with an astounding 38-2 record.

All of this is leading up to IPL5 in Las Vegas @ The Cosmopolitan. With what will probably be the last major North American offline tournament on the Season 2 patch, 16 teams qualified to see who can take it all in Sin City, starting on Nov. 29th.