Summary and Analysis: TSM v. Singapore Sentinels - IPL Face Off Game Two

Team Solomid vs Singapore Sentinels

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Introduction:

TSM against SGS in game two of the winners bracket at IPL Face Off.

TSM is one of the oldest and strongest North American teams in the current League of Legends scene. With a huge fanbase spanning across the world these 5 players are arguably the favourites for this event. However, Singapore Sentinels may have the 'underdog' advantage when it comes to fan support as a recent - and rather emotional - video calling out for fans to support SGS has given many fans a change of heart, with even TSM Bryan "TheOddone" Wyllie mentioning that the video was pretty epic.

But SGS isn't all talk either! Despite being only 3 months old the Singaporean team has shown that they can hold their own against South-East Asian titans, "Taipei Assassins"  and even knock out Curse NA in the IPL preliminaries. They've backed their determination up with some skillful and interesting plays involving what might be considered to be strange or unorthodox methods including Mundo top and Karma mid in combination with a very strong Jarvan jungle.

However, TSM is no joke either, coming in with some strong momentum after taking game one from Singapore Sentinels with Chaox and Xpecial crushing their opponents bot lane and in doing so clipping the wings of SGS's interesting tanky lockdown comp which revolved around a heavy CC initiate with Jarvan using his ultimate in conjunction with a Lulu support as well as their Karma mid lane's shield. Albiet new and interesting, this composition proved ineffective as despite a few ganks from SGS's jungler TSM was able to dominate the bot lane an crush SGS's damage postential. 

It would be wrong not to take into account that TSM is currently breaking a slump as after an intense set of matches against Korean powerhouse Azubu Blaze lit a fire under the NA team and they're coming into this tournament hot.

Their team captain, Reginald, has told his teammates not to even think about placing second, first place is clearly in their sights.

Interestingly enough there was approximately a 12 hour break between the first and second game, so both teams have had time to recover, think about strategies, and get themselves back in gear for their second game.

TSM Lineup:
• Marcus “Dyrus” Hill
• Andy “Reginald” Dinh
• Brian “TheOddOne” Wyllie
• Shan “Chaox” Huang
• Alex “Xpecial” Chu

Singapore Sentinels Lineup:
• Joshua "ToFuBoi" Tan Jun Liang
• Wong "Chawy" Xing Lei
• Jason "HaRleLuYaR" Koh Wei Hao
• Lim "d4rkness" Zhi Ping
• Baldwin "Equivocal" Sai Heng Sheng

SGS Bans:
- Twisted Fate
- Morgana
- Vladimir

TSM Bans:
- Alistar
- Shen
- Mundo

Twisted Fate banned out against Reginald as he plays a relatively strong, though very interesting, Twisted Fate. His playstyle often involves getting multiple gold per 5 items and he strangely seems to make the most use of his ultimate in the late game, a period of the game where Twisted Fate typically falls off in comparison to other AP carries.

Alistar banned by TSM as one of their most common bans, they've stated that they need to work on a counter-play to his presence, though it seems like this time around they would rather not have to deal with him. Alistar's strength lies in his incredible CC capability and his ability to do his job without many items thanks to his strong disruptive combination as well as his defensive steroid.

Morgana banned out against Reginald as he's known to play a very powerful, very aggressive Morgana and sometimes even using his ultimate as soon as he reaches level 6. Morgana is also a very strong teamfighter who utilises some very potent AoE abilities and has amazing gank-resisting abilities during laning phase.

Shen banned out simply for his global utility, a huge pain against any team as soon as he has his ultimate as he can quickly turn a fight in another lane in favour of his own team. Late game he has incredible split pushing potential as well as fairly effective damage despite being a mostly tank-based character.

Vladimir banned out against Dyrus (and Reginald as of late) due to his strong presence throughout the game with strong dueling, wave clear, teamfighting and sustain in lane.

Mundo banned out as TSM hasn't had any experience against a top lane Mundo and would most likely rather not deal with it as opposed to attempting to counter it in lane straight away.

Ban Analysis:
Despite the bans there are still two long-range psuedo-global ultimates in both Nocturne and Pantheon. Pantheon hasn't been seen in competitive play recently but Nocturne has been and remains to be a very popular jungle pick, especially on TSM's jungler, TheOddone's hands. Its possible that we'll see the 'Eternal Nightmare' make an appearance this game.  

The bans also signify to SGS that TSM has no problems facing their previous composition again as they found themselves able to out-play the Lulu, Jarvan, and Karma combination. SGS may just have to pull out something new entirely to take this game from TSM.

SGS Picks:
- Rumble
- Malphite
- Tristana
- Janna
- Gragas

TSM Picks:
- Maokai
- Corki
- Olaf
- Karthus
- Soraka

Rumble picked for Chawy as one of his favourite tops and a very strong top laner and teamfighter who can harass very well in lane, Dyrus stuggled against this pick last game so it will be interesting to see how he does in this game. 

Maokai picked up for his strong utility, tankiness and great ganks, his ultimate will be useful for defending and pushing objectives, which is a basal part of SGS's typical playstyle, as well as helpig to protect against the oppositions AoE. Corki as one of Chaox's most comfortable picks and a strong laning and late game pick, Chaox has actually picked him every single game so far and can certainly play him well.

Malphite jungle or potential mid a very strong potential burstand initiate and the capacity to shut down an AD carry quickly and efficiently through the use of his ultimate to knock up and his Ground Slam to cut his opponents attack speed. Tristana for her incredible late game and relatively strong laning through early and around level 6 though she falls off mid game before resurging through late game. Her incredible range will allow her to stay in the back lines as Malphite initiates as well as try to keep out of Maokai's range.

Olaf picked up as one of Dyrus' 'comfort' laners, he didn't do particularly well last game though he must feel confident this game to pick it into the same matchup. Olaf will also be able to ignore the CC from Malphite, Tristana and Rumble. Karthus picked up as an incredibly strong mid laner who can farm safely and transition into a very strong mid to late game thanks to his strong AoE damage and global ultimate.

SGS answers with Janna and Gragas, both counterpicks to Karthus as they add another two knockbacks to the lineup and Gragas and easily abuse Karthus in lane with his strong poke and initiate. Janna also adds another 3 layers of peel for Tristana which won't be effective against Olaf but will still be a strong counter to Karthus and Maokai.

Soraka picked up by TSM as a final pick to secure an even stronger global presence as well as hopefully sustain through their opponent's burst.

The Morgana ban now makes sense as a black shield would arguably counter a lot of SGS's composition, however it's interesting to see that TSM hasn't run the Kayle and Karthus combination that they are quite comfortable with. 

SGS's team comp is very bursty but they will have to be sure to assign focus properly after Gragas's ultimate has been used, as well as reposition so that Karthus cannot continue to damage their team.

Game Analysis:

TSM Purple side, SGS Blue side.

Gragas instantly takes a Dorans Ring for early aggression against Karthus and aside from this both teams laners pick up the typical boots 3 potions. Both teams defend all invade points with TSM dropping a ward near SGS wraiths before swapping their top and bottom lane so that there is a 2v1 lane in both top and bot lane. Karthus moves in and steals a blue wraith but aside from that it is a basic start.

This is an interesting decision by TSM as their bot lane was able to shut down the oppositions in the previous game, so they're somewhat throwing away their advantage. They may be trying to utilise Corki's stronger early game to hopefully shut down Rumble to a harsher extent than Tristana manages against Olaf.

Both jungler's take their red buffs and Malphite heads towards bot whilst Maokai continues to farm before he too pauses near the bot lane. Olaf walks back and forth on the edge of of his lane seemingly aware of the danger and wary of threat from both the jungler and laners, keeping 'on his feet with Maokai waiting nearby to counter-gank if necessary. Chaox seems to be shutting down top as he has taken him down to half health and Rumble is now forced to blow his last pot, however as he hasn't capitalised on this advantage, Rumble has still been able to farm from a distance with his manaless abilities.

At ths point it feels as though TSM has been unsuccessful in their switch as they haven't been able to secure any gold differential between either of their top laners or either of their AD carries.

Both junglers move to top and Malphite stays in the lane to pressure onto Corki but Maokai simply watches from the bushes waiting for Malphite to make the first move. Malphite and Rumble clear off and Corki, Soraka and Maokai shove the lane.

Both solo laner's have achieved 18 cs with Rumble having returned to base to pick up a shield and wards whereas Dyrus has yet to return to base. Olaf switches to top, now slightly behind Rumble with Corki and Soraka deciding to try and exert pressure onto bot lane. This is likely to try and resist an early dragon, as SGS runs a very objective based playstyle. However, this swap back puts TSM a few cs behind their opposition, arguably certifying their lane swap as a failure.

Rumble shoves top and takes TSM's wraiths and is spotted by Maokai on his way out. 

The mid laner's are relativey close though Gragas has obtained approximately a 10cs lead, but now that they are around level 7 it is likely that either team will attempt to make plays. Accordingly, Gragas shoves mid and moves towards bot lane but  TSM's wards pick him out and they move back slightly. Gragas recognises this and abandons the gank attempt.

At this point it seems like TSM's lane swap was ill advised as both their top and bot lanes are now gradually falling behind in CS with no notable advantages.

Malphite pressures bot lane from behind and Karthus throws out his ultimate to try to dissuade a dive, despite this Malphite, Tristana, Janna, and Gragas are able to dive in onto Soraka with both their ultimates and Malphite takes the first blood before the four of them move towards bot lane. 

Tristana is still pressuring bot lane and her heal reduction seems to be countering Soraka's sustain, she forces Corki out of lane and yet again Gragas, Malphite, Tristana and Janna dive down onto Soraka, though this time it's Tristana's kill. They then push down onto the turret and take the first one of the game.

Malphite tries to lane gank top but it seems as though Maokai has predicted this and manages to jump in onto Rumble as the duo engage onto Olaf before Karthus uses his ultimate to pick up the kill and seal the deal. It's uncertain as to whether the early tower aggression has worked out as Karthus and Corki are now outfarming their oppositions, although Tristana has a kill advantage on Corki and Gragas has two assists.

Gragas and Rumble roam top but a ward gives them away and Olaf backs off. Gragas roams back to mid lane and together with Tristana, Malphite, and Janna they're able to take the mid turret. The score is currently 2-1 in SGS favour and they have amassed a 2,000 gold lead and due to the missing turrets it looks as though they will easily take the next dragon at 17 minutes.

They do but TSM takes the top turret in response with Corki and Maokai split pushing as Tristana, an ignite and a Malphite ultimate manage to take down Olaf at the bot lane. Nevertheless the gold difference is still roughly 2000. TSM is definitely trying to hold out for late game but it seem as though SGS has amassed a very strong 20-minute item level with Gragas picking up a Deathcap at 19 minutes with Tristana closing in on her Infinity Edge.

SGS presures onto top and back out, leaving it on approximately 200 health, unwilling to attempt to contest against 4 of TSM's players. Reginald has been sacrificing roam presence to continue his farming and has managed the 'gold-standard' 10 cs per minute with 210 cs just under 20 minutes.

Whether he'll be able to utilise this farm is unsure as SGS has a total of 3 knockbacks on their team in Gragas, Janna, and Tristana.

SGS is certainly being slowed down but the game is definitely leanig in their favour. Matches will arguably be decided by how long Olaf is able to tank and how much damage he can manage to output on his own as it's likely that every other member of TSM will be displaced.

SGS easily takes the top turret with Maphite and Rumble pressuring in.  Malphite has now icked up an oracle and SGS takes the opportunity to take a risk-free dragon and TSM takes their own opportunity to spread out around the dragon area with Maokai and Karthus towards the mid lane and Olaf Corki and Soraka towards TSM's blue.

Gragas and Malphite move towards the blue side and Karthus manages to land a wall across the entire team as Gragas initiates.

Gragas only manages to hit one member due to TSm's positioning and Tristana attempts to 1v1 Corki but finds herself outmatched simply because of Corki's burst kit along with Soraka's Exhaust. SGS manages to take down Olaf as well as Karthus but the AoE from both of them as well as Maokai and Corki is enough with the follow up from Karthus to take 4 kills making it a 4 for 2 trade with two kills going onto Karthus post-mortem and one a piece for Corki and Maokai.

TSM takes the chance to take down mid turret and Karthus pushes onto the bot lane turret though is unable to take it.

The gold difference is now inexistent.

SGS tries to pressure onto the inner mid turret but TSM absorbs some of the poke, heals up thanks to Soraka and pushes back forcing SGS to use Janna's ultimate to disengage around their own inner mid turret.

At 29 minute SGS takes another free dragon and TSM tries to pressure in onto their post-dragon team with Janna split. Gragas and Malphite go in onto Karthus by using Malphites ultimate inconjunction with Gragas ultimate and Tritana range to drop him low, though it's unfortunately Janna who takes the final blow.

Maokai engages onto Trist as she tries to steal blue and Karthus joins in on the attack, forcing a flash. Despite this Malphite moves in to pressure and Gragas steals blue before taking down Karthus over the wall with assitance from Malphite yet again, but Karthus still manages to take down both Janna nd Malphite in vengeance with assitance from Corki's AoE spam.

Gragas engages onto Karthus and Chaox at mid lane but TSM quickly responds with some burst from Corki as well as Karthus ultimate to force them away.

SGS moves back in expecting a baron play but TSM ambushes them and thanks to the health advantage quickly focuses onto Gragas who is forced to immediately use his Zhonyas. And Karthus is able to jump in onto the team and utilise his AoE to its fullest as Corki cleans up the fight. TSM takes a 5 for 1 trade and a free baron with Karthus as TSM's only casualty.

Now only 1,000 gold ahead TSM has definitely confirmed their place in the late game, but whether they can play it well enough is the question. Maokai takes bot lane with a huge minion wave as the rest of the team pressures mid lane.

Karthus throws out his ultimate as they pressure onto the inner turret simply to soften up SGS's team though they find themselves unable to do any real damage onto the turret and decide to retreat. Unfortunately SGS's minions manage to take down TSM's top inner turret.

Both teams are certainly waiting for the Baron to decide the fate of the match as neither team feels comfortable pushing into the oppositions turrets. However, Chaox mispositions and gets taken out by a quick Malphite and Gragas combination which forces TSM to lose both the inner mid and bot lane turret before SGS moves back in onto the inhibitor turret at bot lane, Karthus throws his ultimate out to dissuade them but Janna returns with her own to bolster he team's strength. SGS takes the turret before being forced away by TSM.

As they run, TSM rushes the mid lane and grabs the baron.

SGS arrives as they take it and Malphite Gragas combo is quickly able to take down Karthus and the rest of the team moves in onto a split Corki dropping him and removing TSMs advantage as they  spread out away from KArthus' AoE. Gragas tries to duel with Maokai but finds himself too wary of the burst and damage negation and instead blows his flash to survive.

SGS takes the numbers advantage opportunity to charge down mid lane and take the bot inhibitor and try to push in onto the mid turret too but quickly find themselves unable to handle Olaf and Maokai's damage and escape with three of their members near death... AS Karthus spawns. He quickly makes them pay for their greed with a quick, decisive requiem which picks up THREE kills.

TSM charges down the mid lane and takes structures all the way to the nexus turrets before picking up a kill on Tristana and moving to the bot lane inner. Malphite and Gragas engage but misplay their combo as Karthus is knocked into their team and Janna is forced to ult him away yet again. The displacement not only cuts Karthus's damage but also forces Malphite and Gragas to take far more damage than necessary and despite picking up the kill on Karthus, Malphite dies to Olaf and SGS loses their bot inner turret. 

Both teams posture around TSM's base and TSM has now acquired two Guardian angels on both Olaf and Karthus.

SGS is most certainly hoping to get a quick pickoff and force TSM's team into a weaker position, though they will have to kill Karthus twice this time around which likely means that they are hoping for a pickoff onto Corki. Corki soon dissuades this too as Corki picks up his own Guardian Angel.

TSM pushes in onto the mid lane and Karthus is focused before being knocked away. He seems content to simply flash right back in and TSM manages to take down Malphite as he has absorbed the bulk of TSM's damage, despite this Gragas is able to drop Karthus before picking up his respawn and forcing him to throw out his ultimate lowering all of SGS to near-death.

SGS chases onto TSM regardless and seems to be poking them down with Tristana's range as they escape down mid lane but in a surprise turn TSM switches back onto Gragas, Tristana and Janna taking down both Tristana and Gragas's GA and finishing Tristana and Janna. TSM pushes in onto the mid lane and takes the mid inhibitor as well as the top turret and inhibitor and after some dancing around the bottom inhibitor turret they manage to take down Gragas and the bot lane inhibitor turret at the cost of Corki's GA and some assistance from Karthus.

Corki mispositions at the bot lane push as the move in from the mid lane, unaware that SGS has vision and is instantly dropped as Malphite and Gragas take advantage of Corki's missing GA with Gragas's Barrel killing him and forcing Karthus out of the fight.
Reginald tries to bring out his AoE but is forced away by SGS's burst and knockback. Despite this they manage to clean up both Maokai and Olaf afterwards as TSM flees with only Soraka and Karthus alive.

This was a great play by SGS and possibly could have been countered by TSM not taking such a risky path with both of their top priority players (Karthus/Corki) together.

TSM regroups at mid and engages SGS in a straight up fight at midlane but SGS seems to have miscommunicated as Malphite ultimates onto Corki but SGS doesn't manage to follow up and get's split as Reginald and Maokai are able to zone the rest of the team before Corki returns and they manage to take the ace and tha game.

TSM, how does it feel to crush the dreams of an entire nation?

Post-Game Analysis:

There were a few throws from both sides but it seems as though TSM's ability to utilise Karthus  even against a heavy displacement team has worked out. The swap at the start was very questionable as TSM actually lost gold and potential gold from it instead of shutting down either of the lanes and it took a lot of consistent, cautious farming on the parts of Corki and Karthus. 

SGS's errors were mosty in their heavy-roam focused playstyle which allowed Karthus to free-farm and Corki to farm back into the game. They played very well but their lack of tankiness in the face of TSM's damage proved to be their undoing as Malphite was quickly taken down in many teamfights and Gragas was unable to utilise his full damage potential (by incorporating his body slam) due to a very scary Karthus AoE.

It felt as though while they used the majority of their abilities in an attempt to catch and displace either Karthus or Corki, Maokai and Olaf were often left to wreak havoc on the team as Corki and Karthus repositioned.

It may have been more beneficial for TSM to take Kayle top as they did in later games to protect either Karthus or Corki from the burst, but it's debatable as to whether Dyrus can play the Kayle vs Rumble matchup. Regardless, Kayle would have been a more solid pick with a lane swap, despite the swap itself still being rather ill advised to begin with.