Fnatic played a stellar series against H2K last weekend, finishing 3-0. While H2K looked out of sorts, Fnatic played calm, coordinated League of Legends. This was their best series so far in the 2017 EU LCS. Here is a compilation of their best plays from the quarterfinal match-up.
While Fnatic should be proud of this achievement, they have a challenging playoffs road ahead. Their next opponent will be G2, a squad which has suffered only one series loss thus far. Hypothetically, if Fnatic wins that match-up, they will still need to face the winner of Misfits vs. Unicorns of Love in the finals.
G2 does exhibit some playstyle similarities to H2K, but with fewer weaknesses. H2K’s biggest issue seemed to be communication in their quarterfinal loss. Shin “Nuclear” Jung-hyun and Choi “Chei” Sun-ho were not on the same page with each other or the rest of the team. Many of Fnatic’s advantages came from Nuclear and Chei’s poor positioning. Fnatic should not expect Jesper “Zven” Svenningsen and Alfonso “Mithy” Aguirre Rodriguez to make the same mistakes.
Fnatic also surprised H2K, and spectators, with lower priority marksmen picks: Twitch, Vayne, and Kennen. Martin “Rekkles” Larsson’s Kennen pick is not surprising, but hardly any other bottom laners look as comfortable on the pick. Twitch and Vayne, though, came out of nowhere. Though these picks most likely threw H2K for a loop, G2 now have the advantage of knowing Fnatic is able to draft and win with such picks. The surprise is no longer a factor.
Mads “Broxah” Brock-Pedersen and Paul “sOAZ” Boyer will need to continue to demonstrate high levels of pressure in the jungle and top lane. They will also need to remain coordinated with the rest of the team to properly rotate, pressure objectives, and counter-gank.
Jesse “Jesiz” Le should try to remain on support champions with strong engage potential. He stood out as a highly impactful player throughout the quarterfinals. If Fnatic are able to replicate the strategies they used against H2K, then their series against G2 this weekend should be a treat.
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Welcome to my fourth Weekly Recall, a recap of all the major events in StarCraft over the past week. What better way to celebrate one month than with an Intel Extreme Masters World Championship special recap.
Intel Extreme Masters XI – World Championship
Because there’s so much to cover, we’re going to be changing up the format a bit this week. The priority here is getting you to the good stuff.
Han “aLive” Lee Seok, Lee “INnoVation” Shin Hyung, Koh “GuMiho” Byung Jae, Jun “TY” Tae Yang, Joona “Serral” Sotala, Park “Dark” Ryung Woo, “ByuN” Hyun Woo, Kim “Stats” Dae Yeob
With the exception of Dark vs Serral, the IEM Quarters was a street fight for a sport in the next round.
To comment on Dark vs Serral, Dark at the moment seems to be near unbeatable in ZvZ. He delivered Kang “Solar” Min Soo a 3-0 defeat one round earlier. Solar, notably defeated Dark 4-3 in the finals of the last SSL. It seems since then, Dark has focused on refining his ZvZ to the frightening point he is now at.
The final score of the TvT’s speaks for themselves. Both Gumiho vs TY and aLive vs INnoVation went the distance. Of the two, however, aLive vs Inno was the show to see. Whereas Gumiho vs TY played out as a cerebral game of chess. There was a very savage form of strategy being played between aLive and Inno. To the very end, neither player would budge. This was a pattern defined from the very first game, as INnoVation brought the game to an almost deadlock for several minutes after having his economy entirely wiped out.
Command Centers are overrated anyway.
ByuN vs Stats
Despite the final scoreline, ByuN vs Stats was arguably the best match of the day. Despite ending 3-1 for Stats, in a round with two full best of 5’s, at no point in this series was any player in clear control. Most of the games were won through almost unthinkable comebacks. Game 2 in particular featured both players trading commanding leads before the end.
Even aside from the incomparable ferocity of their competition, there is a fierce rivalry story building between both players. ByuN, the current World Champion, was the one to eliminate Stats in the Semifinals of the WCS Global Finals in November. They faced again in the Round of 32 at GSL 2017, Season 1, where Stats defeated ByuN 2-1 in the Group G Winner’s Match. Every time these two face is always a spectacle, and the ferocity of competition in their games continues to escalate.
A back and forth series if there ever was one. aLive and TY spent the first few games swapping roles of aggressor and defender. The first game on Newkirk had TY taking complete control of the game from the get-go through repeated harassment. One game later on Proxima, aLive dismantled TY in the same way, pinning TY into his base, unable to respond in any meaningful way.
Act II
Cactus Valley was the first game that showed a clear battle for control. aLive opened with Cyclone harassment, TY returning in kind with his Helions. By midgame TY had taken map control. After taking a favorable engagement on the open map, he sieged the base of aLive, forcing evacuation of his third and pinning him to his natural. Establishing a clear economic advantage, TY had Cactus Valley won. However, an eager attempt to end the game early resulted in a massive mis-positioning that left his third completely exposed. This allowed aLive to counterattack, forcing TY out of the game in one swift, decisive strike.
With his back against the wall, TY came into Honor Grounds determined to make a case. Similar to Game 1, TY pinned aLive down with harassment. While never establishing control, aLive did manage a valiant fight, finding retaliatory damage where others would have folded. Ultimately, he had no economy, and was eventually overwhelmed in one crushing engagement.
Finale
This brought us to Game 5 on Abyssal Reef. For such a scrappy series, this match could not have ended in a better way. This was a non-stop skirmish, start to finish, with both players clawing at the others base in a constant struggle to return economic damage. aLive started the game with an early push into TY’s third, forcing him to evacuate the Command Center back to his main. TY responded with a drop into aLive’s natural, while sieging a pair of tanks across the gap, completely decimating aLive’s worker count. He would then double around to aLive’s third, forcing lift-off and taking a massive economic lead.
Tally-ho
Not even a minute later, aLive would make a retaliatory attack with Ravens into TY’s natural and landing Vikings into his main, managing to pick off at least 20 workers in the attack, leveling the game from a harsh disadvantage. Unfortunately, perhaps the most critical moment of this game happened off-screen around this time. As aLive made his retaliation attack, TY managed a drop into aLive’s base to finish off the third Orbital Command he bruised minutes prior. aLive continued to siege at TY’s base for several minutes, leveling himself economically and taking an upgrade advantage. When TY eventually did stabilize his base, the fact that he still had an Orbital Command to move to his third put him at an economic advantage from that point forward.
An advantage TY would further secure with a drop into aLive’s base, denying aLive the breathing room to rebuild a third. Unable to keep up with TY economically, aLive would eventually have his army wiped out in a retaliation attempt shortly after, ending the game and advancing to the Finals 3-2.
Dark vs Stats
Proxima Station
Come to daddy
Games 1 and 2 of Dark vs Stats were among the best of IEM. Proxima Station is a map with a secure pocket expansion and a tight choke point on its third. This makes it ideal for defensive strategies. With Zerg currently struggling against late-game Skytoss, Carriers are a natural choice on Proxima. While Stats dictated the pace of the game through constant harassment, Dark’s vigilant creep spread. It let him slowly march a blockade of Spore Crawlers deep into Stats’ territory and allowing Dark to push the burden of engagement onto Stats.
The need to stop Dark’s creep spread forced Stats’ eventual misstep, which Dark capitalized on without hesitation, Abducting Stats’ Carriers with his Vipers and running through the ground army with Ultralisks.
The Marathon Event
The second game on Newkirk may have been one of the scrappiest PvZs in StarCraft history. A marathon game with almost non-stop aggression on both sides. Multiple times, Dark looked just on the edge of breaking Stats, only to be pushed back. At one point, he even leveled Stats’ main base and all the air tech, only for Stats to survive by buying time through counter-aggression.
Stats’ resilient defense put Dark into a situation where he was forced to move into Stats’ side of the map. Having nearly completely mined out his side of field, Dark invaded to steal one of Stats’ last remaining bases. Stats responded by decimating Dark’s side of the map and boxing Dark into one expansion. Eventually taking the fight right to Dark, even after blanketing his army with repeated PsiStorms, the final engagement ended up being too close to call. Not until the final units were left standing did it become clear that Stats had just won the game.
Dark’s position on the map ended up being the pivotal factor. After trading out his army, Stats was able to Warp-In a reinforcement of Stalkers at the nearby WarpGates right outside of Dark’s base.
From this point forward, Dark seemed completely unwilling to play a late game, opting for early all-ins and timing attacks. Stats’ resilient defense would prove too much for Dark, however, allowing Stats to close the series, advancing to the finals 3-1.
Without question one of the closest finales in the history of StarCraft 2. This match could have been a best of 11 and I would put the odds on the series going to the final map.
Newkirk Precinct
If you ever wanted a guidebook on defensive PvT, this game is it. Stats took control of Newkirk from the get-go just through his airtight defensive play. TY played an aggressive game, attempting to find economic damage. His attempts at harassment were consistently deflected on multiple fronts though. From here, Stats just played the game by the book. Returning harassment damage but never compromising his defensive positioning as he teched up into splash damage.
After crippling another aggressive push by TY with a single Purification Nova, Stats would safely push out after playing a highly cost efficient game, eventually overwhelming TY with relative ease.
Proxima Station
Proxima, on the other hand, could not have gone more differently. TY opened the game with a widow mine proxy can, getting in massive economic damage in the early game as Stats failed to accomplish much with his own Oracle. TY’s harassment game was much more on point in Game 2 compared to Newkirk.
This economic lead TY took in the early game would pay dividends in the late game, allowing him to hit a window of vulnerability for Stats as he attempted to tech into High Templars. TY hard engaged into Stats just before PsiStorm could complete, ending Game 2 in dominant fashion.
Abyssal Reef
This took us to Abyssal Reef. If you’ve been following, you already know this is going to be amazing. This one, beautiful map put out one amazing game after the next for all of IEM; and this may have been the best in show. TY took early control of this game, dealing near crippling damage, taking out Stats’ third. Within minutes, Stats would retaliate with an Adept drop, closing the economic gap. Able to stabilize just a bit, Stats teched into a Templar Archives almost immediately, clearly not wanting a repeat of Proxima.
This would end up paying off, as Psionic Storm would complete as TY attempted an engagement. Several PsiStorms would cripple TY’s army, letting Stats take the fight and forcing a retreat, putting himself in a favorable position.
Unable to take Stats in a head-on engage, TY split his forces up, resorting to multi-prong harassment. Several defensive PsiStorms would prevent TY from getting any real economic damage, but kept Stats at bay. Unable to mount a full on attack into TY’s base without leaving himself exposed to harassment, Stats attempted to transition once again into Thermal Lance Colossi and Tempests.
With Colossi on the field, Stats made another attempt at sieging TY’s base. Expertly taking advantage of the general low mobility of Stats’ comp, TY outmaneuvered him, making a beeline to his base. This baited Stats into splitting his army in an unfavorable position, allowing TY to get a surround. With Stats’ army split up and superior positioning that prevented him from even retreating, TY easily took the engagement, ending the game.
What’s wrong with this picture? That’s right, 720p
Paladino Terminal and Bel’shir Vestige
What followed from here were two quick harassment focused games, back to back. On Paladino, Stats quickly overwhelmed TY with a Phoenix, Double Oracle push, ending the game and tying the series once again. On Bel’shir, TY decimated Stats’ economy with Helion harassment, coupled with a Widow Mine drop. TY then quickly followed up, showing us for the first time his Liberator, three Siege Tank push. With his economy in shambles, Stats was unable to mount a defense.
Honor Grounds
TY returned again with his Helion, Widow Mine harassment. Stats however was much more prepared, deflecting the Helion attack with seemingly little effort and intercepting the Widow Mine drop with a few defensively positioned Stalkers.
From here TY followed up again with his three Tank push, though instead of having his Liberator cover his Siege Tanks, this time he sent his Liberator to harass the mineral line of Stats’ natural. This time, in a much more stable position and without the Liberator complicating matters, Stats easily took the engagement.
With his push stopped, TY returned to drop attempts. At this point however, Stats’ defense was as airtight as in Game 1.
The game entered a deadlock at this point, with both Stats and TY trading failed attempts at economic harassment. TY would eventually find his opening. Again, taking advantage of the low mobility of Stats’ army, TY would make a doom drop into Stats’ base. Stats would lose both forges in this attack and TY would further secure his upgrade advantage.
TY pressed his advantage further by sieging a mass of Liberators over Stats’ fifth base, forcing every probe in the area to evacuate. At this point TY seemed to have a near unbreakable hold. Stats in turn would exploit the lack of mobility of TY’s Liberators to maneuver out of their attack range. Stats would lose all of his Colossi in the attack, but would succeed in wiping out the bulk of TY’s Liberators.
After a short period of trading bases, Stats would eventually corner the rest of TY’s army to end the game and bring the series to Game 7.
Cactus Valley
This was a short and one-sided game sadly. It was an unfortunate end to one of the closest, most intense finals in StarCraft history. TY again returned with his three Tank, Liberator push, and Stats fumbled the engagement hard. He left only one Stalker to deal with the Liberator, and initially forgot to focus fire his other two Stalkers. By the time Stats attempted to correct this oversight, both TY’s Liberator and Siege Tank had gotten in several seconds of near uncontested damage, nearly wiping out Stats’ ground army by the time the Liberator went down.
TY closed the series 4-3, becoming the IEM Katowice Champion.
Welcome to my second ever Weekly Recall, a recap of the major events in StarCraft in the past week.
GSL Round of 16 – Group C
Players: Kim “herO” Joon Ho, Cho “Trap” Sung Ho, Kim “Ryung” Dong Won, Lee “Leenok” Dong Nyung
Advancing Players: herO, Ryung
herO
herO came into Group C looking to make a statement. With so much focus recently on the top Terrans, it’s easy to forget there are genuine threats from other races. And he made his point, tearing his way through the Group, making it too clear he’s still in the running for the trophy. HerO advanced in 1st place, 4-1, dropping a game only to Trap. It’s no secret that herO has been a dominant force in PvT, and he proved it here.
Especially with the top three Terrans currently playing tournament favorites. If herO can make it past his next round into the final stages of GSL, there is a very real possibility that this could be the season herO finally takes his first GSL title.
Ryung
If there’s one thing to say about Ryung, it’s that he’s resilient. He showcased some intriguing Mech builds against Leenok, taking a relatively clean series 2-1. After getting taken out by herO 0-2 in the Winner’s Match, he took a close series against Trap 2-1. Advancing in second place after a final game on Cactus Valley simply by surviving Trap’s repeated waves of Adept harassment and pushing the fight back to Trap’s side of the map at his most vulnerable point.
Trap
Trap’s ability to harass has to be among the best in the world right now. We saw his ability to dig himself out of a massive disadvantage with only a handful of Adepts against Armani. His Oracle micro against Solar was nothing short of inspirational. And again here against Ryung, taking a map of Ryung with repeated Adept harassment. Taking out as many as 30 workers in a single run to win Abyssal Reef.
Again, in the final game on Cactus Valley, Trap continuously traded out waves of Adepts, but dealing almost crippling economic damage in return. Unfortunately, Trap’s over-commitment to his harassment style ended up costing him the game. Ryung eventually took the fight right to Trap’s main army and Trap was simply unable to hold. He failed to tech up into any form of AoE Protoss needs to take a fight against a complex Terran army.
He ended a hard fought day 4-4.
Leenok
Leenok was, for the most part, just outmatched, ending the day 1-4. He took a single map off Ryung from a disadvantageous situation with some impressive Fungals and swift punishment of Ryung’s aggressive positioning.
I feel like this one moment is a metaphor for herO’s performance in PvT at the moment.
GSL Round of 16 – Group D
Players: Kim “sOs” Yoo Jin, Hwang “KeeN” Kyu Seok, Lee “Bunny” Jae Sun, Cho “Maru” Sung Ju
Advancing Players: Maru, sOs
Maru
A week ago, I said Jun “TY” Tae Yang looked like the best player in the World. Maru came out in Group D to make his case. After dismantling Bunny in his first match 2-0 through superior tactical positioning, he went on to crush KeeN in the winners match. In his first game, he punished a heavy over-extension by KeeN in TY’s base by making a doom drop right into KeeN’s army before he had a chance to replenish.
His second game against KeeN was hard to watch. Pushing into KeeN with a heavy Reaper harassment, taking him apart through nothing but Reaper micro. Closing out the game in less than four minutes and dropping a “manner-MULE” into KeeN’s base for his trouble.
Maru ended the day 4-0, advancing cleanly in first place.
sOs
Ever the wildcard, sOs ended up in the Elimination Match against Bunny after losing to KeeN 1-2 in the first match of the day. SOs would then proceed to win the next four games in a row, first 2-0 against Bunny, and then again against KeeN in the final match. Showcasing his unique take on PvT with mass Phoenix and Adept harassment. Reminding us that sOs’ greatest asset has always been his ability to know exactly what his opponent’s least expects.
SOs ended the day 5-2, advancing in second place.
SOs will face a rematch in the quarterfinals against herO, both of whom met previously in the last GSL, in the quarterfinals as well. SOs took that series 3-0. With herO looking near unstoppable in PvT at the moment, sOs is now looking to play upset, possibly being all that stands in the way of herO’s first GSL win.
KeeN
We really have to give some love to KeeN because he got nothing of the sort from the pair from Jin Air. He first got manner-MULE’d by Maru, then BM’d again from sOs as he closed out the Final Match. KeeN put on a strong show against sOs in the first match of the day. Game 3 of the first match on Abyssal Reef was perhaps the best game of the day. But for KeeN, the day went downhill from there. KeeN ended the day 2-5, losing 0-2 to Maru in the Winner’s Match, and then 0-2 again to sOs in the Final Match.
Bunny
It seems the theme of Week 2 of the Round of 16 to have one player that just failed to show up. For Group D, that player was Bunny. Though it’s unfair to compare Bunny’s performance to Leenok in Group C, Leenok for the most part looked like a fish out of water. Bunny put on a resilient show against Maru, but was just outclassed.
Maru vividly reminds me of one of those pre-teen school girls from those Japanese Horrors. He looks cute and harmless on the outside but there is nothing even remotely resembling a soul on the inside.
Call to Action: Test Map Updates
Terran
Widow Mine: +shield bonus damage on splash reduced from +40 to +25 (to be clear, damage on primary target will be unchanged from live, only the splash damage has been nerfed).
Zerg
(New) Corruptor: Movement speed changed from 4.1343 to 4.725. Acceleration speed changed from 3.675 to 4.2. Parasite Spore weapon damage point (ie. attack delay) changed from .1193 to .0446.
Welcome to my first ever Weekly Recall. A recap of the major events in StarCraft in the past week.
GSL Round of 16 – Group A
Players: Jun “TY” Tae Yang, Kim “Stats” Dae Yeob, Han “Byul” Ji Won, Han “Alive” Li Seok
Advancing Players: TY, Stats
TY: Fresh off his first premier tournament victory at WESG, TY continues to make a strong case for why he’s a tournament favorite. Advancing 4-1, TY cruised his way through Group A. While he did drop a game to Stats in the Winner’s Match, the games he did win were stomps. TY is as close to his peak form as he’s ever been. And based on performances across the board last week, he could be the best player in the world at the moment.
Stats: Stats’ games against Byul were as close to a Code-S level guidebook on defending early Zerg aggression as we’re ever going to get; he made short work of Byuls repeated attempts at early rushes with increasing effectiveness throughout the day. The few games that went into the late-game never showed Stats threatened in any real way. All-round, Stats’ PvZ at the moment is currently near pristine.
Against TY however, Stats looked simply outmatched. If Stats hopes to make it to the semi-finals he’ll need to step up his PvT to at least the level he showed against Byun and Ryung in the Round of 32. The good news for Stats is, if he can make it past his next round, he will have essentially booked his spot in the finals.
Byul vs. Alive: While Byul and Alive would fail to advance, their head-to-head would deliver the most climatic game of the week. Byul vs. Alive on Newkirk Precinct was a 35 minute deadlock. While Byul expanded more aggressively early, Alive’s MULEs would compensate hard. This was especially relevant as ultimately the deadlock would only be broken as Alive’s economy bled out just that much faster.
The kinds of games that remind you of why you watch StarCraft
GSL Round of 16 – Group B
Players: Lee “Innovation” Shin Hyung, Park “Dark” Ryung Woo, Eo “SoO” Yoon Soo, Kim “Classic” Doh Woo
Advancing Players: Innovation, SoO
Innovation: Innovation would advance 4-1 following a hard fought series against Classic in the Winner’s Match. Inno’s TvZ looked as clean as one would expect from the favorite coming into GSL, moving past SoO 2-0. Classic however was able to reveal cracks in his armor. His TvP was no longer looking as flawless as it did against Stats in IEM Gyeonggi. With a rematch against Stats coming up in the quarter-finals, Stats is without question going to be looking for revenge for Gyeonggi.
SoO: SoO put on an interesting show in Group B, seeming to get better as the day progressed. While he lost 2-0 against Innovation in the second match of the day, he won a clean 2-0 against Dark in the Loser’s Match. SoO would drop a game against Classic in the Final Match, but for the most part, SoO was never in any real danger of losing the series. The last game in particular saw the Protoss struggling to respond to SoO’s aggression, closing out the series against Classic far more cleanly than Innovation.
Classic: It says everything about Group B that Classic, one of the most decorated Protoss in StarCraft II, came in as the underdog. Yet in a Group stacked with monsters, it was Classic that turned out as the unexpected entertainer of the day. Opening Group B with an unusual early Immortal, Classic came out the gate putting on a show. After 2-0ing Dark, Classic went on to put on a spectacular display against Innovation. At the conclusion to a close 2-1, Classic at one point looked as if he were minutes away from punching his ticket into the quarterfinals. However, Classic overextended an advantageous situation, losing his main army as a result, and was wiped out in the counter-attack.
At the very least, Classic got his revenge on Dark for picking him into the group of death. A rare feat as any in Legacy of the Void.
Dark: Dark, the unrivaled King of WCS Korea in 2016. Dark came into the Round of 16 looking in top form, advancing 4-0 from his group. One round later, he exits GSL 0-4. While it would be easy to write Dark off based on this performance, StarCraft II isn’t that type of game. In StarCraft II, anyone can show up having a bad day. It actually says more about the competition at the highest level of StarCraft that even the best Zerg in the world will get destroyed on a bad day. In StarCraft, Gods will inevitably bleed.
But make no mistake, Dark is still a God. And his performance here will be remembered as nothing but an outlier in a legacy of greatness. If remembered at all.
Now I’m not going to pretend to know what Classic was thinking here but I’d imagine “F*** your extractor” is a reasonable guess.
Balance Team Community Feedback
Widow Mine
Reaction to the Widow Mine nerf has been positive. However, the balance team will be paying attention to concerns that, coupled with the Liberator nerf, may prove that it was an over-correction. The changes discussed are listed below for reference.
Widow Mine: Splash damage +shield bonus reduced from +40 to +25 (Currently Testing)
Liberator: Concord Cannon damage changed from 85 to 75 (Live)
Carrier
The balance team will be exploring buffs to the Corruptor rather than nerfs to the Carrier, based on feedback that the proposed changes have been ineffectual.
Carrier: Interceptor cost increased from 10 to 15
Hydralisk
Hydralisk buff will remain in testing due to lack of feedback. Hardly surprising and most likely as a result of community concerns being heavily fixated on the proposed Widow Mine buff.
As the season progresses, it’s becoming more evident that the Philadelphia 76ers simply don’t have enough of a core to build around. With the trade deadline less than two months away, it’s time for the team to start focusing on tooling for the future.
The Sixers have spent the past five years stockpiling assets at the top of the draft lottery. The result has been a logjam in the front court, and one that needs a solution before the trade deadline.
Monday night’s game against the Sacramento Kings serves as a decent benchmark for where this team is headed for the future. Former #3 draft pick Joel Embiid scored 25 points and grabbed eight rebounds with a plus/minus of +3. Meanwhile, Nerlens Noel and Jahlil Okafor (fellow highly drafted big men) were rendered ineffective and the team was outscored when they were on the floor.
Throughout the game, Embiid flashed the talent that has made him one of the best young big men in the league. Defensively he guarded the paint and the perimeter, recording two steals and two blocks. In the post, he showed finesse and bullied Demarcus Cousins in the paint throughout the game. Outside the paint, he flashed his three point prowess and showed some breakaway speed on fast breaks. Better yet? He’s been doing it all season.
Noel only played 3 minutes during the game, a testament to the pileup of big men in the roster. When Noel has seen the floor, he has struggled to score and rebound. He is a prominent defender who just can’t seem to put it together on this team.
Similarly, Okafor has also struggled throughout the season despite his promising rookie campaign last year. His post game remains impressive, but his inability to rebound and defend against many of the first units in the league would make it difficult to build a team around him.
Interestingly, his game compares well to a fellow third overall pick, Enes Kanter. Both big men are able to score well off the bench despite their inefficiency on the other end of the floor.
Many teams around the league could use a scoring presence like Okafor. Talent dry teams like the Brooklyn Nets could use his presence to help inject talented youth into their lineup. Teams like Portland and Boston could use him to build depth off of the bench.
The problem, however, is that Philadelphia has lost their leverage over the past few years. Nerlens Noel becomes a restricted free agent after this year and Okafor has only one more year left on his deal. The addition of Dario Saric and the impending return of Ben Simmons has created a need to clear space in the Philly frontcourt.
Realistically, Simmons and Embiid are the only future starters on this team and Simmons hasn’t even seen a minute in the NBA yet. Regardless, it’s hardly time to panic about the team’s future.
Saric, along with Robert Covington and Sergio Rodriguez, look like they could be a nice presence of the bench in the future. Hopefully, the team can capitalize off of Okafor and Noel before the deadline this year. Most importantly, the 2017 NBA draft approaches quickly.
This looks like yet another lost season for the Sixers in the “Trust the Process” era. Hope, however, lies in the draft.
This looks to be one of the most promising draft classes in years with a plethora of potential stars in the NCAA right now. Additionally, many of the highly ranked players are guards and wings which are holes the Sixers desperately need to fill. They will likely end up with two top ten picks this year and will no doubt be able to find playmaking and scoring at the top of the draft.
Another struggling season seems to be yet another embodiment of “The Process” for the woeful 76ers, but the future appears to be much brighter. A new year could bring a healthy Ben Simmons and a limitless Joel Embiid. February could open up the roster for more young stars. The Process just may be coming along.
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The League of Legends’ All-Star Event is an opportunity to highlight popular players from around the world. Esports fans nominate their favorite players in each position from each region, and the players with the most votes get to come together on a Fire or Ice themed all-star team. Playing a variety of game modes, including normal 5v5’s, 1v1’s, Tandem mode, and One-for-All, the competition focuses on showcasing the best international talents, as well as allowing players and viewers alike to have some light-hearted, no-pressure fun. However, the inconsequential nature of this tournament may turn off some fans from watching, so I have taken the liberty of compiling 5 top plays from the 2016 All-Star Event for anyone who may have missed out.
5. QTV’s Flash-Jukes
Courtesy of Riot esports
Day 3 of the tournament included an All-Assassin game. Players formed inter-regional Fire and Ice teams and selected their Assassin of choice for a 5v5. This mode made for a bloody series of teamfights full of mechanics and micro-play, but my favorite moments came from Team Fire’s Nguyễn “QTV” Trần Tường Vũ. He got to display just how slippery Akali can be.
At 1:56, Hung “Karsa” Hau-Hsuan’s Rengar jumps from the bottom brush onto QTV for a chunk of damage. Văn “Optimus” Cường Trần retaliates with a couple of Orbs of Deception, bringing Karsa’s health pretty low. QTV get aggressive, dropping Akali’s Twilight Shroud. They trade Ignites, which takes down Karsa, but QTV stays alive. As Huang “Maple” Yi-Tang chases QTV he lands a Razor Shuriken from Zed. Fleeing towards the enemy jungle with dangerously low health, QTV uses Flash through the wall to dodge Maple’s shuriken and return to safety by Optimus.
Later in the same game, at 9:37, QTV finds himself stranded alone under tower with 3 members of Team Ice collapsing onto him: Marcin “Jankos” Jankowski, Karsa, and Maple. Reacting to the projection of Zed’s Living Shadow, QTV drops his shroud to buy time. Jankos drops a Control Ward out of old habit (since the pre-season updates, they do not detect invisible champions). And as the three of them move in, QTV Shadow Dances to Rengar and immediately Flashes to safety under the inner turret. Anyone looking for tips on how to evade a turret dive: look no further.
4. NA All-Stars Wombo-Combo on LPL All-Stars
Courtesy of Riot esports
In the last game of Day 3, the NA LCS All-Stars represented Team Fire against Team Ice’s LPL All-Stars. This was a standard Summoner’s Rift 5v5 match. At 25:40, with a solid lead of 5 kills, 3,000 gold, and 2 Cloud Drakes over their opponents, Team Fire moves into the bot-side river to realize Team Ice have started taking the Ocean Drake. Jung “Impact” Eon-yeong on Nautilus immediately channels his Teleport onto a ward in the enemy jungle to block their escape. As Team Ice clump up and retreat directly towards him, Impact activates Depth Charge onto Wei “We1less” Zhen’s Orianna, knocking up two other members in the process. Kim “Reignover” Ui-jin unburrows Rek’Sai for a knock-up and Zaqueri “Aphromoo” Black catches all three in a Flash-Crescendo from Sona. If “wombo-combo” were in the dictionary, then this would be the definition.
3. Maple’s Ryze Ult Mind Games
Courtesy of Riot esports
One of the most novel pieces of Ryze’s reworked kit is the ultimate ability, Realm Warp, which teleports all allies within the circle (including minions) to a nearby location after a brief channel. Some pros have been able to leverage this ability in creative ways, and Maple of the LMS is is one of them.
Midway through Day 3, the LMS All-Stars of Ice took on the GPL All-Stars of Fire in a standard Summoner’s Rift 5v5. Karsa got pretty fed on Graves, but the true stand-out for me was Maple. There are several times where Maple utilizes Realm Warp to catch the GPL squad off-guard and make plays.
At 7:55, Maple activates his ultimate to zone Optimus’s Twisted Fate in towards his turret. He then walks forward to connect Rune Prison while Karsa’s Graves rounds the wall and Kang “Albis” Chia-Wei’ Maokai takes the Realm Warp. A Twisted Advance, Overload, and End of the Line later, and Optimus is deleted.
Around 10 minutes, Maple pushes Optimus into turret. He roots with a Rune Prison and follows up with an Overload, but this time Optimus lands a Yellow Card stun while Đỗ “Levi” Duy Khánh flanks with Lee Sin. Maple quickly Cleanses the crowd control and runs away, but Levi Safeguards to a ward, Flashes behind the Ryze, and proceeds to use Dragon’s Rage to kick Maple towards Optimus. Levi chains Sonic Wave and Resonating Strike while the Realm Warp channels. Maple escapes with 1/4 health, but Optimus activates Destiny to cover the distance. Maple immediately procs Overload’s passive shield to absorb the incoming damage. Meanwhile, Karsa makes his way down to clean up and get a Double Kill.
The third play comes at 12:00. Karsa is waiting in the wings while Maple pushes Optimus under turret and continues to harass. Levi decides to try a similar flank as before, but does not realize Karsa is present for the counter-gank. The Lee Sin drops rather quickly. Karsa last-hits the turret and continues to pursue Optimus with Maple. QTV channels Teleport into the mid lane hoping to finish Karsa, but is too late. He instead begins attacking Maple with Fiora’s Grand Challenge. After the final Vital times out, QTV realizes he will not be able to finish the Ryze and Lunges into the jungle. Maple activates Realm Warp, zoning QTV to run towards his base, and Flashes the wall to land the finishing blows.
2. xPeke’s Double Kill on Faker and Bengi
Courtesy of Riot esports
Anyone who watches professional League of Legends knows that it is extremely rare to ever see a Garen picked in the top lane. But what about the mid lane? Strange things happen when the players have no pressure of losing, which must explain why Enrique “xPeke” Cedeño Martínez decided to answer the LCK All-Stars and Lee “Faker” Sang-hyeok’s Galio pick with a mid lane Garen. Sure, the silence on Decisive Strike is able to interrupt Idol of Durand, but the overwhelming reaction of shoutcasters and viewers was a combination of “What?” and “That is awesome!”
But xPeke came out with a bang. In the fourth minute of the game, Faker and Bae “bengi” Seong-ung ventured through the bot-side river after turning around a gank on bot lane. In typical Garen fashion, xPeke waited in the brush to surprise Faker with a Decisive Strike-Judgment-Ignite combo. This prompted bengi to be the aggressor with Olaf, but with the help of his Flash and Alfonso “Mithy” Aguirre Rodriguez’s Zyra, xPeke was truly able to “spin to win” with a Double Kill.
1. Smebber Gets a Quadra Kill
Courtesy of Riot esports
One of the most entertaining game modes of the All-Star Event is Tandem, which is where players pair up to split the duties of the game: one operates the mouse and the other operates the keyboard. This mode in particular devolves into quite the fiesta, but it can be impressive how coordinated the duos can be.
One fun fusion was Smebber–Song “Smeb” Kyung-ho and Reignover. While they play in different regions, both speak Korean, which becomes important for communicating each player’s intentions when sharing a champion. Smebber decided to go top lane with Darius. Dunkmaster Darius to be exact. I can think of no better champion for such a chaotic game mode, and no better skin to do it with.
10:15 into the match, Smebber engages onto Bebelove (Cheng “bebe” Bo-Wei and Ming “Clearlove” Kai) while they take Blue Buff. They easily get 5 stacks of Hemorrhage and execute with Decimate for the first kill. Meanwhile, QT Prime (QTV and Optimus), Celeb Life (Nguyễn “Celebrity” Phước Long Hiệp and Hong “MadLife” Min-gi), and Baker (Faker and Søren “Bjergsen” Bjerg) take out Kappa (Karsa and Maple) and are continuing the fight against Ruzi (Martin “Rekkles” Larsson and Jian “Uzi” Zi-Hao) and xMithie (Mithy and xPeke). Smebber ends Ruzi with 2 auto-attacks and Noxian Guillotine before unleashing a combo onto xMithie’s Nautilus before they are able to escape with a Blasting Cone. That’s the Triple Kill. Finally, he turns to The Miz (Chen “Mouse” Yu-Hao and Chen “Ziv” Yi) and procs the full Hemorrhage. Just as The Miz seems to b escaping, Smebber Flash-Apprehends and Celeb Life lands a Thresh Death Sentence to set up one last Noxian Guillotine for the Quadra Kill.
