NA Qualifier In-Depth Recap: Day 2

 

Yesterday we saw an amazing amount of close games in the group stage, but Team FeaR, Meat Playground, Good Game University, DirtNap Gaming, Curse Gaming, Azure Gaming, Team MRN, and The Brunch Club persisted and advanced to the bracket stage today.  Winning a single best of three match today is enough to guarantee any team a spot in Season 3, but losing doesn't necessarily mean elimination.  The final day tomorrow will allow the fifth and final team to redeem themselves and ensure a stable career for the upcoming year.

Remember to tune in tomorrow to see which team will be the final member of the Season 3 circuit.

Pick	Frequency
Cho'Gath	7
Ezreal	5
Elise	1
Olaf	6
Sona	2
Jarvan	1
Lulu	8
Kog'Maw	1
Karthus	3
Malphite	2
Valdimir	1
Evelynn	1
Shen	6
Nocturne	5
Graves	5
Kassadin	1
Katarina	2
Nunu	2
Vayne	1
Akali	1
Maokai	2
Sona	4
Orianna	3
Kayle	2
Rumble	2
Twitch	2
Anivia	1
Miss Fortune	2
Twisted Fate	1
Amumu	1
Ryze	2
Fiddlesticks	1
Caitlyn	2
Kha'Zix	1
Zed	1
Jayce	1
Ziggs	1

 

Ban	Frequency
Kha'Zix	7
Jayce	6
Nunu	6
Amumu	3
Evelynn	6
Elise	5
Ziggs	3
Akali	1
Kog'Maw	1
Rumble	1
Olaf	1
Katarina	1
Twisted Fate	1
Malphite	1
Jarvan	1
Riven	1
Anivia	1

 

Team FeaR vs Meat Playground:

Analysis of the Whole Set: The first game was a lot closer than many anticipated, as FeaR was the heavy fan favorite.  They got out-picked in champion select, as it appeared that the game would not reach the point where Kog'Maw could out scale the incredibly tanky opponents.  Although Meat Playground had great initiating skills, multiple mistakes and misses of ultimates in team fights allowed Zuna's Kog to stand back and melt down the tank line and everyone else in their way.  Though it took longer than expected, FeaR turned it around.  For the second match, FeaR learned from their mistakes and picked a stronger composition.  MP still had xHazzard's strong Malphite, but they could not catch a break after FeaR went super aggressive from minute one.  They spread their advantage just about as far as we have seen in any of the qualifiers so far, and ran with it all the way for a win.  We have likely not yet seen a game so dominated with aggressive champions and a strategy to match.  Game two represented more of what fans originally expected from FeaR, with a knockout showing proving that they deserve to be a part of Season 3.

 Game One - Game one started out with Amumu, Nunu, Kha'Zix, Rumble, Jayce, and Shen.  Team FeaR chose Cho'Gath, Olaf, Sona, Kog'Maw, and Karthus.  Meat Playground picked Ezreal, Elise, Jarvan, Lulu, and Malphite.  While FeaR's composition was well well-balanced, Meat Playground had a clear advantage in engagements and possibly team fights with the Malphite, Jarvan, and Lulu's ultimates.  Just after three minutes, Balls and Lemongod went aggressive onto Muffinqt's Sona, quickly bursting down the low base health champion.  While Zuna's Kog'Maw did flash for the kill on Balls's Ezreal, Lulu cleaned up the second kill for the lane.  Immediately after, Sycho Squid went super aggressive with a gank from Xmithie's Cho'gath, chasing Arthelon's Elise into their jungle for the kill.  Simultaneously, xHazzard playing mid lane malphite invaded the jungle with Nk Inc for the kill on Xmithie while Arthelon won a top lane engagement.  With the score sitting at 4-2 and a 1.5k gold advantage going to Meat Playground, the early game was not decisive, but certainly in MP's favor.  

Despite the heavy pressure from the xHazzard's Malphite lane swap, Mancloud still farmed very well, ultimately the most important thing for Kartus in the early stages.  A huge fight in FeaR's jungle when Nk Inc attempted to steal the red buff helped to close the gap a bit, though the advantage in that fight only went slightly to fear as four members from each team pulled into the fight.  With kills and gold almost perfectly even now, the game could easily swing either way.  Although MP had great initiation, it seemed as though FeaR would out scale their team if the game and farm was allowed to progress far enough.  After Elise picked up two kills in the top lane, her tanky build became difficult to deal with, especailly when Arthelon began to roam with her.  As MP began to group, the pressure of their engagement ultimates became increasnigly difficult to deal with from FeaR's side, and the difference in gold and kills continued to increase.  Though MP pushed hard several times, FeaR was able to push them off, and began applying pressure of their own as Kog'Maw continued to build.  When Balls went bottom lane to split push, FeaR took the opportunity to take towers and kills in the middle lane as Sycho Squid kept the Ezreal at bay.  In a Baron bait from Meat Playground that took advantage of FeaR's lack of vision, the focus fell onto Zuna even though the Malphite ultimate hit nothing but air.  Mandatory cloud's requiem appeared as though it could turn the fight in FeaR's favor, but a rappel from Elise saved her life and the fight finished 3 kills to 5 in favor of Meat Playground.

Arthelon found himself caught out in FeaR's jungle, and the kill onto him put FeaR in a great position though they had to use Karthus's Requiem to secure it.  With MP's entire team respawned, they pushed into FeaR's base.  In a very close team fight that can only be attributed to Zuna's positioning and his team's ability to protect him from the massive crowd control of MP, his flash and cleanse allowed him to do huge amounts of damage throughout the entier fight.  FeaR came out ahead to make the game the closest it had been since the very early stages, and FeaR's Kog'Maw looked like it would carry FeaR for the comeback.  Another team fight in MP's jungle swung back in favor of Meat Playground, but the length of the game still meant that one strong fight could mean a loss or victory in either direction.

FeaR took another strong fight in their favor when MP's Malphite and Jarvan simply split too far from their damage champions when they engaged over the wall near Baron.  The back and forth kept the game even for some time, with negligible differences in gold.  FeaR pushed into MP's base and won the engagement but could not end it due to the strength of homeguard boots.  Their next push took more lives from MP and they finally ended one of the longest games of the competition so far.

 Game Two- FeaR only needed to take one more game to ensure their place in Season 3 and a stable future for their players for the next year.  They chose Shen, Nocturne, Evelynn, Graves, and Lulu against Meat Playground's Malphite, Cho'Gath, Vladimir, Ezreal, and Sona.  Bans from FeaR were Nunu, Amumu, and Kha'Zix, while MP banned out Kog'Maw, Jayce, and Rumble.  This game, FeaR went hyper aggressive very early, picking up kills in the top lane and using the advantage to continue that trend.  The high pressure applied by FeaR prevented MP from winning in almost any aspect by the ten minute mark.  Their aggressive team composition helped them to maintain that pressure throughout the mid game as well.  Despite the high aggression, MP stayed fairly even in farm, even pulling ahead in the bottom lane, but it was not yet enough to make up for the difference in gold.

Continual pushes went essentially uncontested from Meat Playground, with even xHazzard's Malphite unable to stop the advances.  The game was much further apart than the last round, as MP simply did not have an answer to any of FeaR's moves.  FeaR came through with a huge victory as MP just could not turn it around.  FeaR became the first team to qualify for the Season 3 circuit, but Meat Playground is not out of it yet.  Tune in tomorrow to see if they can grab the last spot.

DirtNap Gaming vs Good Game University:

Analysis of the Whole Set: GGU came out in game one with their signature aggressive play style.  Dontmashme surprised many with a Vayne pick, a carry that a lot of people do not heavily value this season.  Despite DNG's attempts to shut him down with lane swaps and pressure, he snowballed strongly into the late game.  With a well-itemized Vayne up against them, DirtNap could not stop the base seige.  In game two, DNP was more prepared for the aggression.  They countered with opportunistic play on GGU's engagements, with the first major success on this front erupting in a triple kill bot lane.  They ran with that lead and used their fed AD carry for the victory, very much like GGU did in game one.  In the last game, GGU allowed DNG to pick the exact same composition, clearly confident they could beat the strategy the second time around.  With more carefully-executed plans this time around, it was Dontmashme that wound up with early kills and a helpful double buff in lane.  In the set that was more decided by AD carries than almost any other, Twitch pulled them through the late game.  Shiphtur's Anivia at last countered the mid lane Kayle that has proven problematic so far, and culminated his success with a pentakill in the last seconds of the game, buying GGU's S3 ticket with their combined efforts.

 Game One -  With FeaR claiming the first spot, the next position was left up to DirtNap Gaming or Good Game University.  Many expected an extremely close series.  DirtNap Gaming chose Olaf, Nocturne, Lulu, Graves and Kassadin with bans on Elise, Ziggs, and Akali.  Good Game University went with Katarina, Shen, Karthus, Vayne, and Nunu after banning out Jayce, Evelynn, and Kha'Zix.  Dontmashme picked up the first Vayne of the entire competition, as many view her as a weak carry in Season 3.  Vayne and Nunu headed to the top lane for GGU, up against the solo Olaf.  This left GGU's Katarina in a solo bot lane against the aggressive Graves and Lulu.  Early support from NintendudeX's jungle Shen helped to push GGU off the bottom turret, but it seemed as though it would fall quickly without continual pressure.  Conversely, Cris's Olaf stood up well to the early game weakness of Vayne, even with Nunu's blood boil.  After Lulu and Graves took the bottom tower very early on, they switched into the top lane where Dontmashme and I am Anjo would have to deal with their advantage.  Although the top lane had a more difficult time for GGU, ZionSpartan began to do better in the bottom lane versus Olaf, continuing to farm and assisting NintendudeX's double kill for first blood with help from Karthus's Requiem.  The jungle Shen global presence reminded us why Shen was one of the most banned champions of day one.

With Good Game University's team composition relying heavily on the late game with both Vayne and Karthus, DNG seemed unable to prevent the steady farm and snowball that they needed to avoid.  Though they did not fall too far behind in gold, GGU seemed to be biding their time, taking kills opportunistically, and slowly edging their way into the lead.  GGU continually came out on top in engagements, though not by an enormous margin.  When it seemed like Good Game University would extend into the late game mostly uncontested, DirtNap came out on top of a fight, but still were not able to take down the now 4/0/1 Vayne, who continued to build.  With the strength of Dontmashme building, a Baron bait into an ace on DNG set their kills ahead at 12-5, though the gold was still fairly close.  Vayne finally fell as Pr0lly's Kassadin traded his life in a one for one exchange, but her score still sat at 7-1-3.  After a massive push from GGU with NintendudeX and ZionSpartan picking up a kill on the fountain, DNG could no longer protect their nexus, and GGU was victorious.

Game Two -  For game two, DNP banned out Elise, Ziggs, and Nunu, choosing Olaf, Maokai, Kayle in the mid lane, Graves, and Sona for themselves.  GGU wanted to avoid Jayce, Evelynn, and Kha'Zix for their Shen, Akali, Orianna, Ezreal, and Lulu team.  No kills came out in the early game, with gold remaining fairly even from farm and jungle.  While ZionSpartan picked up the first blood in top lane on Cris, he went one for one.  An attempted gank and tower dive backfired, landing DNG's Ecko with a triple kill on Graves.  DNG was able to pressure every lane hard, with particular stress on ZionSpartan at top.  With a 9-2 kill advantage and a 6k gold advantage, DNP looked as though they could take it in for the win.  The 9-2 quickly turned into 14-4 as DirtNap no longer needed to take towers into consideration when moving in for fights.  Although GGU came close to pulling off the teamfight for the final defense, the item gap was simply too strong for them to deal with, and DNP took the second game, pushing the series into a third game.

 Game Three - With the score tied up, it came down to the third game in the set.  DNP went with Olaf, Maokai, Kayle, Graves and Sona, this time banning Elise, Ziggs, and Nunu.  GGU took Rumble, Cho'Gath, Anivia, Twitch, and Lulu, removing Jayce, Evelynn, and Kha'Zix.  An early game gank gone wrong allowed Dontmashme to pick up first blood, and a second kill without losing his own life or that of his support.  He even picked up the free double buff for an extreme advantage in the 1 vs 2 lane against Olaf.  An early kill onto Pr0lly's mid lane Kayle also helped to put Shiphtur's Anivia in the lead.  Great jungle pressure from NintendudeX's Cho'Gath put the kill score at 5-1 in favor of GGU by 8 minutes.  With a level 7 BF sword on Dontmashme's Twitch, the carry looked like he would be unstoppable as the pressure that GGU is known for continued.

While DNG did not appear as though they could stop the aggression, they did orchestrate some good pushes before GGU could respond, taking their first turret in the mid lane and pulling GGU off of Baron.  The game began to drag on as DNG worked to make up the difference in gold and turrets, and GGU not showing signs of moving in actively.  Finally an engagement comes out in front of Baron, with GGU picking up two kills for zero, though Dontmashme fell very low.  DNG could not try to contest after losing two members, however, and GGU pulled further ahead.  Although the game took a long time to finally close, GGU pushed into DNG's base and picked up the pentakill on Shiphtur's Anivia to close the game and secure the second spot for GGU.

Curse Gaming vs Azure Gaming:

Analysis of the Whole Set: Though Curse was the heavy favorite going into the match, Azure Gaming couldn't be counted out after the way they performed yesterday.  The first game went decisively to Curse with an incredibly carry from Nyjacky on Twisted Fate, which AG would smartly ban out for the next round.  With great jungle pressure, a fed bot lane as well, and Voyboy's strange but effective AP tank Katarina, they could not be stopped.  In the second game, Azure Gaming did better in the early game, contesting the jungle invasions from Saintvicious, and even taking a small lead.  Curse quickly turned it around again due to the pressure that they were still able to manitain even with AG's stand early game.  It seemed as though the veteran team just had more coordination in the long run, and that is what sealed their win.

Game One - The third slot fell to the competition between Curse Gaming and Azure Gaming.  Curse picked up Katarina, Cho'Gath, Twisted Fate, Miss Fortune, and Sona, banning out Olaf, Nunu, and Evelynn.  On the other side, Azure gaming picked Lulu, Twitch, Orianna, Nocturne, and Shen.  They chose Elise, Amumu, and Kha'Zix for bans.  Early Curse pressure brought the first blood onto Bloodwater's Nunu, and they moved on to steal Nocturne's jungle.  Another early game kill onto Nunu came out in the bottom lane shortly after.  TF ultimates and roams bottom caught out several more kills to set the kill score at 6-1 in favor of Curse, with an astounding 6k gold difference at only 12 minutes into the game.  Nyjacky's great play on TF quickly brought him to 5-0, with the three remaining kills going onto Cop's Miss Fortune.  The kill distribution sat in Curse's favor as their main damage continued to get fed, while their tank line including the somewhat unconventional AP tank Katarina, soaked up assists.  AG couldn't push off the global presence of TF even with their own Nocturne and Shen ultimates, and continued to fall further behind.  With a fed TF and Miss Fortune, and an incredibly tanky but still high-damaging Katarina, Curse pushed in for the win with almost nothing standing in their way from Azure Gaming.

 Game Two - Curse only needed to take one more game off AG to secure their place in the circuit.  For what they hoped to be their final game, they banned out Kha'Zix, Nunu, and Evelynn, and picked Olaf, Cho'Gath, Ryze, Ezreal, and Fiddlesticks on support.  AG banned Elise, Katarina, and the wise choice of Twisted Fate after Nyjacky's domination in the game before.  They chose Amumu, Miss Fortune, Lulu, Karthus, and Rumble.  With an early jungle invasion, Saintvicious's jungle Cho'Gath stole the blue buff and kept his own team safe with extremely skillful ruptures.  His comfort with the champion showed through and explained why he has leaned on Cho'Gath so heavily during this tournament.  With Voyboy's Olaf in the bottom lane, Demunlul and Bloodwater worked very hard to keep him pressed onto his turret and denying him farm where it was possible.  Up in the top lane, Cop and Elementz did the same to Nothinghere's Rumble with the high harassment of Fiddlesticks and Ezreal.  After having had enough of their harassment, Rumble went in for the kill on Ezreal, but found himself caught out by Saintvicious after securing it.  He chose to go in for the double kill under tower and picked up the kill on Fiddlesticks before inevitably falling.  Saintvicious went in for another blue buff steal, but found himself caught out by Amumu, and AG slipped into the lead with a 3-2 kill advantage, but were still behind in gold and a turret.

The game continued back and forth in a fairly even manner until Curse pulled ahead 12-8 with an 8k gold lead.  Nyjacky's Ryze took center stage agani with a 6/2/1 score, with Rumble and Karthus both at 4/3 on AG.  With a fed team that AG simply couldn't defeat in group fights, Curse pushed right into the base and went home happy and ready to practice for the remainder of Season 3.

Team MRN vs The Brunch Club:

Analysis of the Whole Set: The Brunch Club continued with the aggressive strategy that suited them well yesterday, when they found that safer play tended to land them further behind.  Consistent jungle pressure from Lautemortis helped to give an advantage to every lane.  Although Chuuper's slightly odd mid lane Kha'Zix did not excel in the early game as predicted, he was still able to become a powerful force in the late game along with BrunchU.  MRN had trouble keeping up with the snowballs that built up with recurring mistakes and getting caught out.  While Nickwu's Zed did not become a major force until the very end of the game, it brought the needed extra damage to the final team fights.  They pushed to win after gaining a heavy advantage, and took the first game.  In the second game, Chuuper went for a more conventional mid pick with Ryze and had more consistent success throughout the game.  MRN Ecco's Ziggs had great global pressure with his ultimate, and the two teams fought a fairly even middle game.  Ultimately, it was the uncoordination of Team MRN's engages that fell to the seemingly superior communication that came out from TBC, and the very hard pressure from Nickwu's Jayce and Chuuper's Ryze meant that even when MRN could get to BrunchU in fights, they still had damage in excess.  TBC passed through the bracket stage with a 2-0 record and a guaranteed spot in Season 3.

 Game One -  In the game predicted to be one of the closest thus far, Team MRN chose to ban out Malphite, Evelynn in Jayce, picking up Nunu, Nocturne, Caitlyn, Cho'Gath, and Orianna.  The Brunch Club banned Jarvan, Riven, and Anivia which all did very well on Team MRN during the first day.  They chose Kha'Zix, Shen, Sona, Ezreal, and Zed.  With an all AD team, it looked like TBC would have to try to win quickly, before MRN had the opportunity to stack defensive items.  Both ClakeyD and Lautemortis grabbed early game gank kills, with ClakeyD getting the first blood onto his brother Nickwu in the top lane and Lautemortis cleaning up AtomicN in teh bottom lane.  Gold stayed almost dead even with a few minutes of mostly passive farming at the ten minute mark.  TBC picked up several more kills from opportunistic play, including a turret dive to the lonely Heartbeat under bot tower.

A Lautemortis Shen ultimate onto Chuuper's mid lane Kha'Zix secured the kill on Orianna and Nocturne who came to help when Ellie Bee showed up to Crescendo just in time.  This put the score at 5-2 in kills with a 2.2k gold lead in favor of The Brunch Club.  Team MRN countered by picking up the dragon around 18 minutes, and caught TBC out for two kills, a fight which BrunchU turned around somewhat for an even two kills not counting the lost dragon.  Chuuper and Nickwu getting caught out put kills almost even at 6-7 still slightly in favor of TBC, with gold the same.  BrunchU again makes the best of a bad situation by knocking out ClakeyD's Nocturn with a Trueshot Barrage.  What was a definitive Brunch lead soon became a much closer game.  The Kha'Zix Shen combo once again caught out an overextended ClakeyD, which became a recurring theme for the early and mid games.

 As Team MRN pushed for Baron, TBC tried to push an uneven fight, and MRN came out with a clear win in that fight.  The kills and gold now stood even, and the game could easily shift in either direction, though MRN still had the Baron buff advantage.  When MRN pushed a bit too aggressively in the roughly even game, TBC safely picked up two kills without losing any of their own players.  MRN took advantage of TBC's map positioning to take the top turret without a contest, but they continued to press into the inner turret.  With an ult from Ellie Bee and incredible damage from the rest of the team, Chuuper cleaned up the entire team for a Kha'Zix pentakill.  Now with a 4.5k gold and 6 kill advantage, The Brunch Club gained back the lead they had lost from early game.  With one final team fight in the enemy jungle, a triple kill from Nickwu's Zed, high damage, and great engage from the rest of the team, TBC picked up another ace and pushed in for the win.

Game Two - In the second match, TBC banned out Jarvan, Riven, and Anivia, as those bans worked well for them last game.  They picked up Nunu, Jayce, Caitlyn, Ryze, and Cho'Gath.  MRN chose to remove Evelynn, Kha'Zix, and Zed this time around, even though Nickwu's Zed was not incredibly strong in the game before.  For their own composition, they selected Olaf, Shen, Lulu, Graves, and Ziggs.  With several gank attempts from Lautemortis's Cho'Gath and ClakeyD's Shen, neither of them came out with any kills until 6:30 with a kill for Nickwu on AtomicN's Lulu.  Just after, MegaZero and ClakeyD try to push onto BrunchU and Ellie Bee, but the bot lane duo turns it around for a double kill.  Ecco's Ziggs tosses an ultimate from the mid lane to clean up Brunchu, but Ellie survives.  To finish off the kill bonanza, Lautemortis and Chuuper go aggressive onto Ecco under his mid turret to get the kill, but Chuuper also dies to ignite.  When the dust settles from this rapid fire turn of events, TBC has 2 kills and 13k gold, and MRN has 2 kills with 12.5k.  TBC's bottom lane continued to turn ganks to their advantage, not quite securing any kills the next time around, but coming very close and preventing any deaths for their team.  They continued to pressure with some protection from Cho'Gath, and pulled ahead in gold.

Nickwu found himself caught out in the top lane by three MRN players, and became their third kill to TBC's four.  A split exchange goes in TBC's favor with 3 kills to 2, but they quickly push up the mid lane for another kill as well.  This leaves the score at 8-5 with TBC leading in gold by about 3k.  MRN tries to use TBC's need to back after the fight to pick up an opportunistic dragon, but the lingering TBC players successfully push them away.  Team MRN then tried to push into Baron when BrunchU went back to base.  They picked up two kills and continued to pressure, but BrunchU's Caitlyn came to clean up the fight.  The kills now stood at 12-7 and TBC picked up the Dragon kill for secure nearly 7k in gold over MRN.  TBC goes for the bot lane turret and inhibitor and MRN goes for the hard engage, quickly jumping onto and bursting down BrunchU despite good peel attempts by Lautemortis and Ellie Bee.  Fortunately for TBC, Chuuper and Nickwu had survived unscathed due to the hard focus on BrunchU, and they made quick work of the rest of the team.  With an ace and a fast Baron after the fight, TBC turned their lead into a 12k canyon.  Finally with a great team fight split by Nickwu, they pushed in for a win in the team fight and the overall victory and place in Season 3.