With the finals ahead of us, it is time to look back and take a closer look at the games which have been played out in the quarter-final round. The extended group stages, in comparison to last year, were an absolute success in my eyes. In Group A, we received the great stories of OMG and their hyper-aggressive jungler LoveLin, as well as Cool who challenged Faker and won (once), and lastly San with his unreal stats that earned him much love from fantasy league players. In addition, the legend of Faker was established firmly in North America and Europe as Faker destroyed their representatives. In Group B, the deep fall of Ozone and the dual hope of a second European Worlds win had fans around the world talking. Atrioc's top stories are also available for your reading pleasure if you are interested in the group stage action. The charismatic after-game interviews of Tabe in which he charmed the English-speaking viewers with his honest personality also did well to earn Royal Club some fans. All are great stories which introduced the personalities of previously unknown players to Western audiences, and will ensure a lot of more viewers for the English broadcast of Asian leagues once they start up again.

But now we need to look at the bad side of the tournament format. The byes into the quarter-final round are the main issue with this year’s World Championship. Before Season 3's World Championship even started, the question asked all around North America was "Can Cloud 9 beat the Asian teams?" After the quarter-final matches concluded, we only saw three games from North America's best team and no games against Asian teams. One of the biggest hype factors of the tournament deflated, a question was left unanswered, and many fans watched in disappointment as Cloud 9 went home with $75,000.

Additionally, China received only two seeds for the tournament which resulted in strong teams like iG and WE not qualifying for the tournament. To add insult to injury, the two Chinese teams in the tournament drew each other in the quarter-finals, and some fans feared only seeing three games from the much-hyped Royal Club. The same fear applied to NaJin Black Sword and Gamania Bears - how good are they really? We have three new teams on a world stage and we may not get to know the players or their potential stories. If Royal Club had lost to OMG in the qualifier and been in the group stage instead, maybe we would have seen Uzi destroy everyone with his superior mechanics, but due to the tournament format, there was a very real risk of great players like Uzi not getting the attention they deserve. Our fears were confirmed as Cloud 9 and Gamania Bears were eliminated from the world stage after just one match against just one team. Even GG.EU and Mineski were able to get new fans and develop their own storylines - despite being underdogs, their personalities were able to win over many viewers.

With the bye, Riot wanted to achieve diversity in their quarter-final round to prevent one region from dominating the tournament, but in doing so, they sacrificed competitive integrity, potential stories and content for the viewers. This would not have been as serious as it is if there were more international tournaments throughout Season 3, but other than All-Star Shanghai, the World Championship is the only Riot-hosted international tournament incorporating all regions.

Therefore, I think abandoning the bye into the quarter-final round would be the right step to take. There are many seasoned, proven tournament formats out there. For example, IPL 5 was one of the best League of Legends tournaments ever held due to its exciting, competitive format. At the end of IPL 5, who could argue that World Elite were not the best team in the world at the time?

Seeding teams into the quarter-finals is just bad for everybody. Viewers get less games of their favourite teams, and competition is distorted. I think that League of Legends has reached the stage where a good regional distribution will occur, because there are enough world-class, competitive teams out there. So, Riot, remove artificial seedings and let the teams duke it out on the Rift to determine which is truly the best region and best team.

Will the Season 3 World Championship become the Summer of SK Telecom, or will we see a Chinese team walk the international Royal road? Although World has been the first competition on the world stage for both these teams, but in comparison to Royal Club, SKT T1 has gotten quite the spotlight from the English-speaking community. Royal Club proved once more that the win against OMG in the qualifier for Worlds was no fluke when they beat them on the world stage, while the SKT T1 hype train ran through the opposition, only stopping briefly to stop at NaJin station to refuel.

It was a strong first-time showing for Royal Club in front of foreign fans and a challenge to the Chinese teams in the LPL, as people realise that OMG might not be the best that China has to offer. Royal Club made it clear that they are the best Chinese team right now, and they have their eyes locked on the Summoner's Cup, as well as trophies for upcoming LPLs. If I had to pick a player from Royal who stood out from the team, it would be Tabe with his great postgame interviews when he charmed the audience like a male Ahri (Faker?), or Uzi with his mind-blowing stutter step as he danced around his opponents. In China, Royal Club got quite some flak for using the word “royal” in their team name but now they have the chance to become true royalty as they fight for the throne against SK Telecom T1.

On the other hand, for SKT T1, this may well be their summer. When the team started in Champions Summer, they only had a handful of subs and no sister team to practise internally with. Despite this, they had a very strong season, finishing first and showing a lot of improvement against the other top Korean teams MVP Ozone and KT Bullets. In a close final against KT Bullets, they were able to come back from a 2:0 deficit and turn it around into a 3:2, echoing Azubu Frost when they did the same against Counter Logic Gaming EU. In the following qualifier, they were able to once again beat KT B and secure their spot in Season 3's World Championship. With a victory against Royal Club, they could achieve a hat trick of tournament wins and secure their spot at the top of the League of Legends.

In Korea, it is expected that a Korean team will win Worlds, but after a mediocre Day 1 performance from SKT T1 and Samsung Galaxy Ozone, many doubts were raised. However, while SSO failed to meet expectations, SKT T1 brought it back and finished on top of their group along with OMG. The star players of SKT T1 are without a doubt Faker and Piglet. Both are able to carry SKT T1 to the win, and Impact is showing signs of doing the same. Faker, who surprised us all (except for the players he beat in solo queue the previous night) with the Riven mid pick, earned even more fans and Piglet won the adoration of fantasy league players as he amassed a great KDA.

At the end of the day, both teams will return home as heroes. However, they can be even greater heroes if they are able to beat the representative team of their rival region. Korea and China are the best two regions in League of Legends - All-Stars opened the door, and Worlds has closed it. However, who is better? Today's match will decide the answer to that question, at least for a few months...

Top Lane
Impact vs. GoDlike

As they take their seats in Staples today, Impact and GoDlike must be feeling good right now. The two have always been in the shadow of more popular (and some would say better) top laners in their respective regions. While Impact's reputation as a defensively-minded top laner who only played Shen and Renekton caused him to be glossed over in favour of flashier players like Flame, GoDlike found himself outclassed by Gogoing for much of the last year. Yet, CJ Entus Blaze's decline has forced them to stay at home and cheer on their Korean comrades, and OMG's frustrations continued as they once again failed to defend against Royal Club's superior early lane rotations. Now, with the weight of a region on their shoulders, the bruiser masters Impact and GoDlike take their final steps in establishing themselves as world class top laners.

Impact has been an absolute standout for SKT T1 at Worlds. After a lackluster Day 1 performance (attributed to poor acclimatisation), Impact quickly regained form, and showed the world why he was the top laner that secured SKT T1's Champions Summer victory. SKT T1 has grown significantly since Champions Spring, taking a season to cultivate Piglet's AD skills, and another to diversify Impact's champion pool. The team has attained the envious position of having a dominant threat in all three lanes, an achievement that no other team in the world has been able to match yet. Impact has spearheaded this transformation, growing into a huge threat while teams focus on Faker, or more recently, Piglet.

The award for most diverse top laner will probably be awarded to Impact at the conclusion of Worlds, as he has played seven champions in fifteen games. Towards the bracket stage, he showed a preference for Renekton and Shen due to their ability to reach raid boss status given enough farm. In total, Impact played five games on Renekton and four games on Shen. Special attention must be given to Impact's Jax, as he has carried the game the two times he has decided to play the Grandmaster at Arms. Single games of Elise, Kennen, Singed and Jarvan IV round out his champion pool. It is very likely that Impact will focus his champion selections around Renekton, due to his unassailable laning phase and incredible sustained damage while being unkillable, but Royal Club have to be absolutely certain that they can handle his Jax.

If GoDlike puts up a good enough fight against Impact, he may well overtake his Chinese comrade Gogoing to earn the title of best top laner in China. The top half of the map has always been identified as Royal Club's primary weakness, due to their inconsistency. Gogoing has always been the more consistent and respected top laner, but when GoDlike is on, he is absolutely explosive. It is difficult to predict a win for SKT T1 if GoDlike is able to get in his zone against Impact, as he may well be invincible. Giving the Royal Club solo laners a comfortable environment and a perfect set-up will be necessary if they are to pull out a win, and all of the pressure will be on Lucky to do so.

GoDlike has definitely picked up on the strength of the Renekton pick in Patch 3.11, playing three games on him while Rumble, Jax and Shen were each picked once. The Rumble pick is especially interesting, as the Koreans have forsaken Rumble despite his strong objective control. However, SKT T1 have had plenty of time to prepare for a Rumble pick, stemming from their experience against him in the group stage, where Dyrus' Rumble still posed a huge threat despite being shut down in the early game. GoDlike still has some champions that haven't been picked yet, such as Nasus (who may not see play due to the absence of Zac in Impact's champion pool) or the Jarvan IV that shut down Gogoing in the regional finals. However, this patch, GoDlike's focus will definitely be on Renekton and Shen.

Although calling the match-up in favour of whoever picks Renekton may be premature (and indeed, GoDlike has proven us wrong by being stomped into the dust by sOAZ's Zac), it is difficult to envision a situation in which the Renekton player does not come out on top. Renekton is far too strong in the top lane, not losing a single match-up and being able to become beefy every single game. Yet, Renekton's impact on the game comes down to his huge presence in teamfights. Shen and Jax will be two important picks as well due to their ability to carry a game through unstoppable split pushing. As players, Impact and GoDlike still have some growing to do, and this match will be their best learning experience yet.

Jungle
bengi vs. Lucky

Regardless of the results of this match, bengi and Lucky will walk away confident and proud. Their jungle styles have been directly imported from regional play, without much heed to opposing junglers. And to be fair, it has been working. Though influential jungle players like Saintvicious and Diamond have come and gone, jungle play has always been influenced by the habits of the top professional junglers. The result of the grand final will have implications for the Season 4 jungle, both in terms of habits and in more material terms as Riot figures out how to better structure the jungle.

bengi has refined his style since being picked up as a solo queue hero, to focus on vision control and perfect ganks. Though Cloud 9's Meteos is known for only executing ganks with high percentages of success, bengi does the same but with much higher frequency. Early purchases of Boots of Mobility and Oracle's Elixir allow him to repeatedly gank lanes and execute power plays through denial of vision. Lucky may actually have an easier time against bengi than against Cyanide, due to his experience with the vision-oriented style of the Chinese junglers. Though bengi has had reasonable success against junglers similar to himself such as LoveLin and Winds, he has looked mortal at times and against a jungler who has come out on top against such high-profile junglers as LoveLin, his play will undergo harsh testing right after surviving watch's lane camps.

There are two junglers in the game that excel at controlling vision. One is Nunu, as his item independency and ability to nuke down large jungle creeps means Sightstone is a viable rush. The other is Lee Sin, due to his innate synergy with Sightstone in ganking. bengi has favoured both champions at one point of time, but Lee Sin is by far the star of Worlds, being picked up a whopping eight times. His Champions Summer MVP Jarvan IV has been picked twice, while Vi has also been picked twice (owing partly to the fact that most teams will choose to ban Vi against bengi). Two interesting Aatrox games (though only one victory) and one Elise game round out bengi's played champions. With most teams choosing to give bengi Lee Sin, it has to be expected that he will continue to pick the Blind Monk.

Lucky has stamped his name all over the jungle, playing almost exactly the same kind of game as he did in the LPL. Executing gank after gank upon lanes and suffocating opponents through denial of vision and farm, he is the personification of the Chinese jungle. Like GoDlike, Lucky has been in his OMG counterpart's shadow for much of the past year. However, by defeating OMG twice in convincing fashion, Lucky's individual strengths became much more clear - an ability to operate well even when starved of gold. Though Royal Club has won five games so far in Worlds, Lucky has been behind in creep kills every single game. This is not due to lack of attention on his part, but rather a focus on ganking and a reliance on global gold. Even the skirmish-happy LoveLin had more farm than Lucky, indicating that Lucky is comfortable with sacrificing farm, even to the extremes if his team will benefit.

It is no surprise then, therefore, that Lucky would favour Elise. The Spider Queen has been picked up five out of six games, with Jarvan IV being picked up in the other (as OMG banned Elise in their first game against Royal Club). Elise's percentage-based damage means she is a potent damage dealer regardless of itemisation, and her Cocoon, Volatile Spiderling and Rappel all offer great team utility in scouting. It is clear that Royal Club believe Elise to be the best choice for their compositions, and they will likely pick Elise whenever possible. However, Lucky's focus on Elise is certainly not indicative of his being a one-champion player. Lucky is capable of operating the same on every jungler regardless of itemisation, and as such bengi's focus should be on countering his actions rather than denying his gold.

bengi and Lucky are two very exciting junglers to watch, and the early game will be of great importance as they seek to snowball the game in their teams' favour. Hopefully for fans, a duel between bengi's Lee Sin and Lucky's Elise will be on the table, as the two carnivores compete not for farm but for a measurable impact on the game.

Mid Lane
Faker vs. Wh1t3zZ

In what is certaintly the most lopsided match-up of the grand final, Korean MVP Faker's final meal of the tournament will be Royal Club's Wh1t3zZ. While Faker has only been in two seasons of Champions and is playing in his first international tournament, Wh1t3zZ (or as old-school North American fans will know him as, WhiteUUUUUUUUUUU) is a veteran of many Chinese organisations, including the now-eliminated OMG. Faker is currently regarded as the best mid laner in the world, while Wh1t3zZ is seen as the weaker of the two Chinese mid laners at Worlds. This disparity in (perceived) ability means there is a lot on the line for both these players as far as their pride goes. Hopefully for the both of them, the desire to be respected will be converted into quality play.

Faker, Faker. Also known as playmaker, babymaker, lifetaker and hopebreaker (though not breadbaker), Faker is undoubtedly the most important player of Season 3. After his insane debut as Nidalee against Ambition's Kha'Zix in Champions Spring, Faker has attracted the attention of crowds in and beyond Korea, showing some serious talent and incredible performance for someone of the green age of 17 (incidentally, Faker is one day younger than me). Though his teammates Impact and PoohManDu were shaken by sickness and nerves, Faker would have none of that as he has yet to play a poor game. Our good friend Fionn has written more about the man behind the legendary Zed for those of you who want more Faker, but we will have to cut the god worship short to look at what Faker has been doing at Worlds.

Faker's champion pool has been, as usual, completely unpredictable. Although his clear favourite is Ahri at six games, it sometimes seems like Faker only picks some champions to deny the opposing mid laner rather than because he feels he can utilise them better. Mid lane mainstays Orianna has been picked up three games, while Fizz and Lissandra have been selected once each. The most interesting pick from Faker this tournament has been Riven, selected as a soft counter to Zed. SKT T1 seem to be very confident against Zed, knowing that Faker will come out ahead in the laning phase and that he will be able to kill Zed easily in fights. His famous Zed will not see play, for obvious reasons.

Wh1t3zZ has the match of his life today. Not only is he playing for a hefty sum of money, but he will need to defeat Faker to earn those dollars. For all of the hate that Chinese fans like to give him, however, Wh1t3zZ has done fairly well in Worlds, often being the strongest perfomer on his team even in games where Royal Club held a deficit. If he is to go toe-to-toe against Faker, he will need to do the same thing that Nagne did in his two wins over SKT T1 - understand and respect Faker's capabilities, but also be confident in his own. Nagne's ego carried him to a win twice instead of burying him, and with all the less-than-savoury comments that Wh1t3zZ has made in his career about his own play, the Royal Club mid laner has a chance of doing the same.

Wh1t3zZ is not the carry of Royal Club, and he understands this well. Utilising more team-oriented picks in single games of Vladimir, Gragas and Kayle, he has also picked up Orianna for two games to provide support for his team. Unfortunately, his signature champion Fizz has been out of his grasp thus far, either being banned, picked by the opposing team, or pre-emptively countered. If he is to obtain Fizz, however, Wh1t3zZ certainly stands a chance against Faker. It remains to be seen whether SKT T1 respects Wh1t3zZ' Zed enough to ban it, but Faker has been shown to be more than capable against Zed in the past.

To be completely honest, no one is expecting Faker to lose his lane. Wh1t3zZ will therefore need to seek opportunities elsewhere, as no amount of ego will be enough to overtake Faker in his current form. Despite focusing on Ahri, Faker has not had game-changing impact on the opposing team with his roams, but rather relying on his raw skill in teamfights and skirmishes to win the day. If Wh1t3zZ fights dirty and tips the scale in his team's favour, it may just be enough to make a god bleed.

Bottom Lane
Piglet and PoohManDu vs. Uzi and Tabe

Although some may be in Staples to witness Lucky's frugal jungling or Faker's acts of God, from an analyst's perspective, this bottom lane match-up has the potential to exceed that of the all-Korean semi-final and is the main attraction of the grand final. If Faker is the star of SKT T1, Uzi is undoubtedly the star of Royal Club. Referred to by Doublelift as the 'Faker of AD', his young age and incredible talent do remind many of Faker (though Uzi has been around longer). Tabe has earned himself many Western fans after making a big PR play to complement his big Annie plays, while the Hundred Acre Lane is one of the most respected in the world. Four huge players (no offence intended towards Uzi's waistline) collide in one lane as we wait to see which region has produced the best bottom lane.

Piglet and PoohManDu are as close as a bottom lane can get, being good friends in the gaming house and doing everything together. Their amazing synergy pushed them to an overall victory over NaJin Black Sword's PraY and Cain, though they have faltered at times (mostly due to, as smugly pointed out by Piglet, PoohManDu's insistence on feeding in the laning phase) against other aggressive lanes. Piglet remains one of the few AD carries who will split push, using Vayne to overpower PraY and become an unstoppable beast. PoohManDu has been a solid team player, initiating fights as Zyra and crushing lanes after a slow start.

Though Piglet boasts an incredible winrate on markswomen Caitlyn and Vayne, he has opted for a more balanced mix in Worlds, with four and three selections respectively. Ezreal comes out on top with five picks, while flavour-of-the-month Corki has been picked up three times. It does not seem that he will opt for the Twitch, Kog'Maw or Varus of other teams, rather choosing to develop mastery on his main four. PoohManDu has once again focused on one champion, picking Zyra up eight times, matching bengi's Lee Sin for most favoured champion. The old Korean golden trio of Sona, Nami and Thresh have been picked twice, while a stray Leona pick breathed some life into the otherwise predictable bottom lane.

Uzi and Tabe carry Royal Club. There is no other way to put it - they are the stars of the show and they know it. There is something to be said about young superstars and their egos, as both Faker and Uzi hold themselves in very high regard. Though they are certainly justified in doing so, an inflated ego can have its drawbacks as Tabe is reportedly the only support in China capable of 'taming' Uzi. With all respect to Tabe, he has done a magnificent job of cultivating a relationship with his AD carry in the laning phase, while shifting gears as games progress to start fights for his team.

Uzi's champion pool mirrors Piglet's, with two games on Caitlyn and Vayne and single games on Corki and Ezreal. Like Piglet, his most dangerous champion is Caitlyn, tearing fights apart while being untouchable in the backline. His Vayne play against OMG earned him many fans, and pacifying Doublelift fans who bemoaned the lack of exciting Vayne plays at Worlds. Tabe, boasting that he would pick Annie whenever possible, has delivered on his promise, picking her twice (against four bans), while Sona and Lulu have also been picked twice. Every team that has decided not to ban Annie against Tabe has lost to the Dark Child, and SKT T1 may respect Tabe enough to ban out the initating support.

This bottom lane has a lot of potential for action. Both PoohManDu and Tabe understand the flow of the lane and will always seize good opportunities, though at the same time are capable of being caught out and punished for overaggression. Piglet and Uzi combine seamless teamfighting with aggressive laning, and with their egos being as large as they are, one will certainly go home humbled. This match-up represents the best that Korea has to offer against the best that China has to offer, and if the underdogs Royal Club are to win, it will certainly be here.