[IEM] Kiev Discussion

Skarner goes for a late blue and TSM takes the initiative to invade. A prolonged skirmish ensues with Skarner and Leblanc getting very low but no one dies. Cassiopeia comes bot to gank but misses the ult on Sona because of a great flash from Xpecial. This gets Cassiopeia low from a few tower hits and Leblanc comes down to take FB. Skarner comes to gank bottom and both teams end up using their tp's to counter-countergank but Curse comes out ahead with a 2-1 exchange. Leblanc's burst is so much that Cassiopeia had to buy 4 DRings + Merc Treads @ 18 min. Both teams go for the next dragon with their tp's up but Irelia gets a 1v1 kill on Wukong so TSM takes this advantage to go for dragon. TOO misses smite and Curse takes it. However, Irelia tp's in and TSM wins the teamfight handedly. TSM takes baron and wins the game soon after.
Riot Summary

SK is able to outfarm WL in the early game, even Kassadin has a lead compared to Brand (40 vs 25 @ 6 min). WL goes for the first dragon but SK reacts and a big team fights ensues - SK comes out on top with a 4-2 kill lead and no one gets dragon. SK dives bot and get 2 kills as well as the first dragon. SK gets an ace by 19 min and the game looks to be pretty much over.
Riot Summary

Brand walks into the jungle and gets jumped by all 5 members of Curse and gives up FB. WL takes the first dragon without Curse noticing and they catch Morgana as she comes down to check. Maokai gets too aggressive at Curse's blue and gets caught by a dark binding. Both teams gather bot for the next dragon and Curse gets it as well as come out on top in a 4-3 exchange. Curse gets 2 aces in a row within a 5 min span and takes baron. Game is pretty much over at this point with Curse taking a 11k gold lead after baron.
Riot Summary

SK goes to control TSM's second blue and gets a kill on Rammus for FB. TSM counters bot with a 4 man gank and gets a double kill. They use this chance to take dragon. Chaox dominates bot lane again before Vayne's cleans comes up and gets another 2 kills for TSM. TSM is winning lanes with Sion and Sivir while SK got an advantage from top with Irelia against Teemo. Sion chunks down Leblanc and Irelia around 20 min and they take baron at 21 min. Reginald goes deep into the enemy jungle and gets bursted down. However the rest of TSM comes in to clean up and they take the game after another baron.
Riot Summary

Not streamed
Riot Summary

Curse goes in for a quick ambush at SK's mid tower and get 2 kills, but GP gets caught and dies - all happening before minions spawned. Rammus ganks top with Riven and gets a kill on GP, even out the kill count. Curse takes the first dragon. SK has good timing for the next dragon and makes Sona waste her ult defensively right before dragon respawn. They then take 2 free kills and dragon to catch back up in gold. Things then spiral out of control as GP gets caught a few times and Sona wastes ults on 1 person and SK takes the game decisively.
Riot Summary

Dignitas tried for a lvl 1 Taric gank on Ryze but it failed because Ryze flashes away. Shyvana comes mid to gank Swain and they get 2 kills in the first 7 min. Dignitas, however, is still close in gold because they snuck in a very early dragon M5 wards dragon and spots Dignitas doing for the 2nd one. However M5 jumps in too quickly and splits themselves up, leading them to lose 3 while only taking 1. The teams converge at dragon again M5 takes it while going for a 1-1 exchange. M5 has been aggressively countejungling and they have several Wriggles so they take down the next dragon very quickly after picking off Swain. They then got to sneak in baron as well as get a kill on Taric when he went to ward. 11k gold difference by 25 min spells doom for Dignitas and they're just delaying the inevitable while M5 pushes the rest of their towers/inhibs. There were even some BM wards thrown in somewhere.
Riot Summary

GP goes to sneak a steal on Sypher's blue since LS started red. Riven gets outplayed by GP up top due to the Q spamming so she is underfarmed, leading to her being blown up for FB by a Ryze + Shyvana gank. M5 takes the farming and mental advantage to take the 1st dragon and aces Sypher in the process. Absolute stomp in 22 min.
Riot Summary

Shaco and Swain get FB on Karthus very quickly and almost get a second kill on Karthus but flash and health pots save him. aAa controls Dignitas' 2nd blue but Shaco made a mistake at their own blue so Swain also had no blue. aAa also gets the 1st dragon without Dignitas' knowledge. aAa goes for Dignitas' next blue again and gets another kill along with blue. Both teams go for a gank at bot around 15 min and Dignitas comes out on top 2-1. The next fight goes around Dignitas' blue again but this time they have an oracles and they get the free kill on a squishy Shaco. This gives them the time to take baron and a few more towers as well as mid inhib. They eventually take all the inhibs and forced aAa to defend while they take the next baron. The game ends with an ace at the nexus turrets.
Riot Summary

Game 1 -
+ Show Spoiler +
Game 2 -
+ Show Spoiler +
Game 3 -
+ Show Spoiler +
Riot Summary

Game 1 -
+ Show Spoiler +
Game 2 -
+ Show Spoiler +
Game 3 -
+ Show Spoiler +
Riot Summary

SK - Dignitas
SK - Dignitas
SK - Dignitas

Dignitas wins 3rd place at Kiev!

M5 - TSM
M5 - TSM
M5 - TSM

M5 wins IEM Kiev!

Game 1 -
+ Show Spoiler +
Game 2 -
+ Show Spoiler +
Game 3 -
+ Show Spoiler +
Riot Summary

Game 1 -
+ Show Spoiler +
Game 2 -
+ Show Spoiler +
Game 3 -
+ Show Spoiler +
Riot Summary

Deman: How does it feel to already have qualified for Hanover?
SYDTKO: Pretty good. Yeah.
Deman: I love one word answers, haha. Ok, so what do you think of the women in Ukraine?
Oce: They're fine, yeah. I like them. Not been in East Europe before. I like it.
SYDTKO: Yeah, they're good.
Deman: Anything you have in mind for playing v TSM?
SYDTKO: I'd rather not say since we're playing in 15 min. They probably realise the same thing we know which is that Vayne+Janna bot lane can't win.
Deman: You guys have got to know each other throughout the day. Anything you've spotted? Any weak links to press?
Oce: We're on the ropes. We're under pressure. We know we have to win and we're fired up. When we win, we're going to love it.
Deman: Since this is the last game of the group stage, what's your throughts on the IEM Arena and Kiev?
Oce: This place is big. It's pretty cool. It's.. the environment is really good. You feel like you're playing in a gaming site.
SYDTKO: It's definitely great but.. uh yeah. I dunno. It's good.
Deman: Outside of yourself, who do you think is the favourite?
Oce: In the previous IEM, we ended up second even after some changes in our lineup. It's a fact. We're going to win or make top three. Fact.
Deman: Seriously, any other team.
Oce: Haha, I can't say... Hm. Yeah, TSM is in pretty good form. Reginald is a beast.
SYDTKO: TSM, SK and M5 are probably the favourites.
Deman: You guys had a pretty rough trips to get here Curse. Any shoutouts you want to make?
SYDTKO: Nyjacky couldn't make it here. That's important. And we have a website soon. cursegaming.net
Oce: I don't know about my team, but I want to say hi to my mom, my dad, my brother. I love you (in Spanish). And hi to Alex Mueller from SK.

Deman: How's your first impressions of Ukraine? All the snow and everything.
Voyboy: Yeah, there's a lot of snow and it's really different for me. New experience.
Deman: What are you thoughts on the Sypher Game?
Voyboy: Was watching it from behind. Also practise top lane 1v1 with Scarra to work out kinks and practise against strats.
Deman: How do you feel playing against the wide variety that the EUs play on top lane?
Voyboy: We know what those teams like to play top and we're ready for them.
Deman: Will we see Reneketon?
Voyboy: Haha, maybe.
Deman: What do you think of the CyberArena so far? And the Russion dual-cast? Happy with the LAN?
Voyboy: Really like the LAN and the screen setups. Good division between the teams when playing. Enjoying it.
Deman: Shoutouts?
Voyboy: Love you all, watch our game! Thank you fans!

Zenon: This was your first game. It went well for you!
Alex Ich: *did not catch answer*
Zenon: Did you expect that Taric gank?
Alex Ich: Was surprising. Had to play safe as a result. But then his Swain aggressiveness made him die.
Zenon: What champs do we have to ban to lock you out?
Alex Ich: I won't tell.
Both: Hahahahaha
Zenon: Tell us about the Shyvanananana.
Alex Ich: Shyvanananana is his favourite champion. Not his strongest, but his favourite.
Zenon: What could Scarra have done midlane when he was so behind?
Alex Ich: If you die just one time it's pretty hard. Vs Ryze it's GG. Flash, Snare, you die. The problem was he didn't have ward mid. After he died, I got 2 wards he got none. So he lost lane.
Zenon: What did you think of that early dragon?
Alex Ich: Diamond got really angry and flamed haha. Sometimes we have no ward, sometimes we have one and it really depends.
Zenon: Dignitas said they had a strat that would only work once. That was it.
Alex Ich: We were all scared. Where is Lee Sin, where is Lee Sin? And then we see Dragon gone and we say Oh, there is Lee Sin.
Zenon: Your team is very good at executing and catching people out. Who makes the calls?
Alex Ich: When I play Ryze, I make the calls because I have the snare. It depends. If you have the snare or stun, you make the call because you catch people out.
Zenon: Did you watch any games yesterday?
Alex Ich: We missed the first two games yesterday because we were eating and driving. We really wanted to watch SK v TSM.
Zenon: What do you think of the Sion?
Alex Ich: Regi plays a lot of LeBlanc. When you play a lot of one champion, you know who counters it. So Oce's idea to get extra ban by picking LB was bad. He should have played differently as well. Oce thought about it but he made... how to say. He didn't play right. Should have let TSM take LB and counter it.
Zenon: There's a lot between you and TSM. TSM is looking scary. Chaox's bottom lane always win. Are you afraid?
Alex Ich: Hahaha. *shakes head. We're more afraid of aAa than TSM.
Zenon: What's your prediction for Group B?
Alex Ich: We will come first. aAa will come second.
Zenon: Any shoutouts? To Russian fans in Russian?
Alex Ich: *insert Russian*

Phreak: Introduce yourselves.
Alex Ich: I played Ryze last game. (M5)
Pyrii: I played Janna last game. (Sypher)
Phreak: How did you expect the game to go? Did it follow your expectations?
Alex Ich: *Stream dies. Missed first part.* We snowballed hard.
Pyrii: We were outpicked and outplayed. We knew they are very aggressive bot lane and we wanted Sona but they took it so it was like, fuck.
Phreak: Your're 2-0 and 0-2 respectively. What's your plan now?
Alex Ich: We're going to play our game. We won't make bad plays or extreme picks. We want to play SK. We lost to aAa last Go4LoL so we see them as our main enemies.
Pyrii: We've not played against American Teams before so this will be an interesting match.
Phreak: You're going to play aAa next but you get to watch their game v Dignitas. Anything you're looking for?
Alex Ich: We've played them a lot. Solo Queue Ranked 5v5, Go4LoL and lots of other places. We're going to watch it but we know them well so it's not for learning purposes.
Phreak: And for Sypher, you're going to play Dignitas. Anything you're looking for?
Pyrii: We've never played them before. We're going to try and adapt. We have a few ideas but nothing concrete right now.
Phreak: What's with the AD Kennen?
Alex Ich: Genja plays AD Kennen, he likes AD Kennen. Same with Diamond and Shyvana. He like Shyvananana, he good at Shyvanana, why not play Shyvanana? Same with Kennen. Kennen also good all lanes. You see him mid and top v bruiser too. He has AD scaling and can CC as well. Good pick.
Phreak: Are you going to cheer for aAa in the aAa v M5 game or would you rather be the best French team?
Pyrii: Got to cheer for them. National pride. I believe they can win.
Phreak: Sypher can still make it though a tiebreaker. Nothing is certain. What are your predictions for the rest of the tournament?
Alex Ich: We're going to advance as first place. I think the top three teams will be aAa, M5 and TSM. It will be interesting to see how everything will work out.
Pyrii: M5 will likely win the tournament. M5 is a monster. Crush all the team. Win the tournament.
Phreak: What about the other two places?
Pyrii: aAa or TSM. I think SK will be fourth.
Phreak: How are you enjoying your stay in Kiev so far?
Alex Ich: I like it. I personally don't enjoy city so much. I just go to Arena and home. But when I go through city I enjoy travelling through it. At midnight, there's no cars. Very empty. Very different from Moscow.
Pyrii: My first impression was "Ooooh, it's so cold". The next was "Wow, so many pretty girls haha". When we got to hotel we had wrong address and went to their office not the accommodation haha.
Translator: No one understands English in Ukraine that's why haha.
Phreak: Shoutouts?
Alex Ich: *Russian*
Pyrii: We'd like to thank Sypher. And ??? and Steel Series. We open a website. LoLmag.com started recently. Thank to fans who follow us. Thanks to my family who support me. Thanks.

Zenon: How did you feel about this game?
IWillDominate: We know after the Shaco pick they'll have a good early game but slowly fall off. So at around our 2nd or 3rd blue we got him. I picked up Oracles and it snowballed from there.
Zenon: Tell us about Scarra getting firstblooded a lot.
IWillDominate: It's just how it is. We wanted to play defensively. Accept how things go, wait for him to farm up and it would all be fine from there.
Zenon: Tell us about bottom lane. There was a lot of moves from aAa that was countered well by Scarra Ults.
IWillDominate: Nunu Sivir is an aggressive bot lane. With Scarra pressure it means we can play up front and aggressively.
Zenon: What does Shaco mean for such an aggressive bot lane that pushes hard?
IWillDominate: Well, I invested in G/10 which meant I could get Oracles and countergank. Once that happens, we win botlane.
Zenon: Double Shurelia is really good. Helps you initiate and fight. aAa didn't have Shurelia. Tell us about initiates and calls.
IWillDominate: It really helps. Getting to set tempo and plays.
Zenon: aAa has to win v M5, and you have to win v Sypher. How do you see the coming matches?
IWillDominate: aAa is good, but M5 has been crushing everyone. They're probably going to win.
Zenon: If that happens, M5 will play SK. Who will win? What about when they play TSM?
IWillDominate: TSM will beat them. But we're still in contention! We're also hoping to advance, beat TSM and play M5 again in the finals.
Zenon: What does the future hold for Dignitas?
IWillDominate: School has been a big part for a lot of us. Voyboy has been having a lot of work. But once it's all over, we're going to practise hard and aim to win IEM Hannover Championships.
Zenon: We will be streaming M5 v aAa next. Thanks for the interview!
IWillDominate: Thanks!

Deman: You've come top of the group. You're going to play SK next. What do you think of them? They've lost to TSM, and you're personally going to play Oce. How do you see the match going?
Alex Ich: It'll be interesting. A lot depends on the picks. We haven't shown everything in the group stage and we have secret strategies prepared. We'll make up our mind on the day. We going to pick around Ocelote. We also want to have something prepared for TSM.
Deman: You say "prepared for TSM". So you predict TSM > Dignitas?
Alex Ich: Yeah. TSM has shown to be very strong and Dignitas isn't as good.
Deman: What edges does TSM have over Dignitas?
Alex Ich: They have a psychological edge. They have a lot of support in USA. Here in EU player support more fragmented. Also TSM knows Dignitas better than us so they would be more prepared to play them than we were against Dignitas.
Deman: You stream a lot.
Alex Ich: Yeah. We try to stream. Genja stream, farm bot lane all the time. So I get the viewers haha. Other guys on team no good computer, don't stream.
Deman: Any surprised you've seen so far in this Group?
Alex Ich: I thought that aAa would advance. I said that if aAa did not *something something* then they would lose. And they didn't. It's like the SK v TSM game where Oce LB had to play Sion. Game was over before it began.
Deman: So it's a tactical advantage and psychological mindset. What goes on in pick selection? Is it just pick whoever you want or strategy?
Alex Ich: When I see CassiOPeia, I know I just pick Galio. When we cointoss, I know we want second pick. THis way we get two picks first. So then we ban and pick adapting. They take Skarner so we instantly take Sona and Graves. Genja chooses the bot lane. He just goes with what he knows works. Kennen, Koggles, whatever he feels.
Deman: How do you feel about the CyberArena?
Alex Ich: Yay, I like it very much haha. No such club in Russia so it is great. Meeting all these people you only see online. Only met my team irl 3 weeks ago.
Deman: Moscow 5 treating you well?
Alex Ich: Yeah. Good contract. We get contacted. Moscow 5 want League of Legend team. They give us contract and move us to give us practise and help. Uh, they. Hm do not know how to sell. They help us a lot.
Deman: It's SK and M5 in CounterStrike Semifinals as well haha. So viewers, please don't get confused by tomorrow's results haha. Don't get snowed in tomorrow, it's snowing hard. Oh, go you have Twitter or Facebook? We can't find you.
Alex Ich: No. But I have Facebook.
Deman: You're going to get a lot of friends now!
Alex Ich: Haha. I'm on Russian Facebook. Don't worry.
Deman: Shoutouts?
Alex Ich: *Russian*
Deman: I'm just going to trust that was all teen rated haha.
Alex Ich: :3
Deman: Well that's all for today. TSM v Dignitas and M5 v SK tomorrow. Tune in tomorrow!
Alex Ich: *does V sign with fingers as stream cuts off*

Sorry, missed the first part of the interview! Stream messed up.

Zenon: Is there a problem in communication, or a game problem?
Nyph: Janna has no sustain. We were only a tiny bit of cs behind and that's ok for Vayne but then Sion ganked and we fell behind and it snowballed from there.
Zenon: What's you're plan for now? Don't pick Vayne?
Nyph: Basically yeah haha.
Zenon: So, Diamonprox. This is the first Bo3. Yesterday was Bo1 so you had to play safe to prevent losses to cheese. Does this mean today you can go nuts and try crazy stuff?
Diamonprox: Bo3 is our favourite because you have a chance to make errors or lose a game so it's more forgiving. We have strategies prepared for all games.
Zenon: Nyph, SK Gaming has competed in lots of LANs but you've never actually won anything despite placing well and practising so much. How's the team feeling?
Nyph: We've actually won the EPS which was an offline event. But we have a lot of experience. Only CLG has been to as many LANs. I think it's M5 who have the pressure on them to win a LAN. We're confident. We're going to win this shit.
Zenon: So then Diamond, M5 this is your first LAN. Today you're up on the big stage with everyone watching you. Are you afraid of nerves playing a factor in your play?
Diamonprox: We came here to the CyberArena 3 days earlier and practised on the stage constantly to get over this. The biggest problem is the sound because it means we have to use Mumble (it's like Ventrilo) because you can't hear each other normally. But we can win.

Zenon: I'm going to be mean and ask... Oce, describe this Bo3.
Oce: First game was fine. But second game... second game was a stomp.
Zenon: Well Genja, did you expect the games to be this clear or did you expect more?
Genja: We watched SK and we play a lot and we prepared really good. We expected the same from SK but as you see... ahahah... we played a lot better.
Zenon: You left Shyvananana open. People say Diamondprox was central to M5's strategy. Why did you not ban them?
Oce: It wouldn't matter. Right now, they're better. That's just it. They played better. If we played 10 Bo3s, they'd win 7 or 8. But we will get better. We will get better.
Zenon: Well Genja, you're not a fan or damage items. You tend to go Wriggles->PD nearly all the time. Why is that? Is it a team thing or is it an individual choice?
Genja: The first item he wants is PD because the M5 strategy is to get together and go to jungle and kill people. So PD lets him move faster and kill people.
Zenon: The first game we saw a Sona-Morde-Shyvananana combo beating up Rammus. Oce, why did you keep farming and not help?
Oce: Mid-pick Anivia was for teamfights. Weak early game. We knew this would happen and we placed our faith in teamfights and not laning. They used strong lanes to kill jungle, we used weak lanes to win teamfights.
Zenon: So then, the type of gameplay from M5 is different from everything we've ever seen. You press the kill switch and then go for someone without question instantly. Who are you most afraid of? Who in EU can challenge you?
Genja: Any team could do the same. The way to kill other heros so fast is you see hero, you kill hero. It's not special. You just need to co-ordinate.
Zenon: You still have 3rd place match left. You're going to face either TSM or Dignitas. Who would you rather face? Do you have any other comments?
Oce: Anything other than first is losing. But you can't always win so it's fine. We will learn from this. We don't mind facing either TSM or Dignitas. I'm friends with both and I want them both to go through. To the SK Fans, you must be disappointed at us. Our aim is Hannover and we're going to train. We're hope to bring you victories. No, we're going to bring you victories. Wait for us. We'll show you.
Zenon: Final question to Genja. Tomorrow in the finals, there's one team you'd particularly like to meet: TSM. It'll be decided in the next semis. How do you feel about taking on TSM? People say they're scarier in LANs than online. How do you feel?
Genja: We don't realy care who we play. We're prepared for both, and we know what to do against both. We'll just win.
Zenon: Will you drop even a single game in the entire tournament? You're currently undefeated.
Genja: No. Lol.

Deman: And here is Regi. Now that was a perfect performance from you guys!
Reginald: Not really. I died twice.
Both: Hahahahaha.
Deman: Well, then what are your thoughts?
Reginald: Well, we decided to take it slow. We could have won faster. But a lot of the time we lose we get ahead, try to make a big play and then it backfires and we lose. So now we take it slow and guarantee the win.
Deman: How is it playing on the big stage?
Reginald: The people on the left are affected by it more than me. I'm not that distracted by the sound.
Deman: So, voice comms, and communication?
Reginald: We didn't talk that much. We just did it and played. We watched all the games yesterday and the interviews. We're pumped. So much trashtalk. And us losing scrims. We're pumped. We want to win.
Deman: What did you think watching M5 v SK?
Reginald: I'm not going to lie. I was really surprised. It was like the LB v Sion game. SK had last pick for their mid for Oce. It was really bad of them. They got outpicked heavily. What's Anivia going to do against Morde? Morde just walks into your jungle and takes everything. Personally, I think M5 played really sloppy. The score was 8-8 in kills. They had so much control but gave up kills. It should have been a stomp, like in Game 2.
Deman: What's your thoughts on SK v Dignitas?
Reginald: It really depends on the bans/picks. There's a trend to forcing people into late game champs, choosing early game champs and crushing them. Personally, I want SK to win because I'm closer than them.
Deman: You talked about moving to EUW. Could you explain?
Reginald: NA teams don't dedicate themselves as much. The NA Scene isn't as strong. The EU Teams are much stronger. There are lots of good teams winning all the time. EU has 20 good teams, NA has 3.
Deman: So... big question. Is Chaox scared of the dark?
Reginald: No. Haha. It was probably photoshopped.
Deman: No, no, it was real.
Reginald: Really? Haha. I guess he's just easily spooked.
Deman: So you like pidgeons?
Reginald: Haha, someone just put a pidgeon on him and was like: "Hey, pay me" and Chaox was a little freaked so we just payed him.
Deman: So seen the city much?
Reginald: We just bought McDonalds and watched the games. There's so much trashtalk, we have to win or look a fool. So we have to win haha.
Deman: Are there any teams you consider a barrier?
Reginald: I'm not sure where teams are placed. We lost a lot of scrims before coming in here. To use nothing matters, first second third. We just have to come here and beat M5.
Deman: Well, Dignitas was a team that came out of nowhere and now they're not a big contender compared to others. Will M5 be like them in the future?
Reginald: Well, Dignitas only has a small pool of champs they play. So you can ban them out and force them to play certain ways. But M5 is the real deal. They can play anything. They're a real contender.
Deman: Cool. Well, any last shoutouts?
Reginald: Shoutout to my team watching. My brother and family. And Solomid and our fans. And ESL for hosting. I had a good time so far.