Pobelter is gonna straight meme on all that difficult competition in Group A.

 

Honestly Pobelter has been a complete disappointment compared to all the Hype that surrounded him when he was still too young to compete.

He's shown moments, flashes of brilliance, but he lacks the ability to supply on demand. Especially in high-stakes situations from what I've seen.

 

I don't think there's anything in the world that will make me lol more than when CLG inevitable get knocked out by PAIN.

 

Pls, PAIN will definitely get out first seed from the group, but no way CLG comes out below the KOOCats and the Yolo Flash Wolves.

fite me irl scrublet

 

We aren't EU, Bill. We won't lose to a Wildcard Team.

 

Pls it's the most CLG thing possible. They've moved past winning one game to get hopes up, that had gotten stale. Now they're winning the LCS to get hopes up.

Hell, even Alliance had some CLG.eu blood left in them.

 

Pretty sure the most CLG thing possible would be to smash every team in every game up until the semi-finals and then lose 0-3 to TSM or Origen or something.

 

Fortunately, both those teams have a low chance of making it out of groups, let alone semifinals. Ergo, CLG can't lose. Checkmate, atheists.

 

Pobelter is kind of like the NA GBM. Started off with much hype, fizzled out and looked like absolute shit, then picked it the fuck up, has a huge champion pool, plays safe in lane or wins it moderately (+10 cs diff without pressure). He's got a good grasp of control mages, was known for some flashy assassin plays even though it never really works out for him.

Which means he'll get shit on by Kami, who, according to Rapidstar and CloudTemplar, is the best midlaner at Worlds. :^)

Seriously though, I don't think anyone can stop Pobelter from getting to midgame and controlling zones in Group A, because while maple is a pretty cool dude by all accounts, the counter to an all in style and shit like zed is a midlaner willing to give up stuff to not get rekt, which both CLG and KOO do on the regular. Like, the midlaner on KOO - Kuro, is the dogshit side of the tigers and Viktor is probably going to be banned or fp'd blue side when they play CLG. And then there's like, pain, who is, by all accounts from pros from other regions, overhyped as fuck.

Like, we live in a world in which the midlaners in group A are Pobelter, Maple, Kuro and Kami. Let that soak in.

Wtf.

---------- Post automerged at 06:15 PM ---------- Previous post was at 06:09 PM ----------

fucking oops, flipped spring and summer in my mind because I don't watch much lms

 

PAIN Gaming has been bootcamping in Europe scrimming EU Challenger teams (maybe non playoff LCS teams too). Recently, Fnatic and Origen went back to EU so maybe they're scrimming them now. But the discrepancy in quality of opponent for most of the bootcamp is just so vast, I just can't see PAIN making that much of a run.

 

Probably not, but there's always that chance. Alliance deserved what happened to them, impressive showing against NWS or not.

Still, I'm not sure how to rank the groups this year. I never watch LMS but I've heard great things about Flash Wolves - though the same was said last year & they failed to do much. Again, same really with LPL, just no time to watch it or catch up but China's strength has been proven since they entered the Worlds scene multiple times, notoriously a struggle for EU teams at that.

With regards to NA, it's tough. I don't overly like Doublelift, yet think Aphro deserves his shot. CLG have shown improvement & it's impossible to say they didn't earn their win at Summer. They do look like NA's best shot at advancing, assuming Cloud 9 don't repeat their bemusing gauntlet run again. Which I doubt.

Europe... Despite Fnatic's dominance, it's another tough call. H2K have had their moments, but fell off and almost became anonymous. Origen are intriguing despite my dislike for SoaZ and I feel like their performance will rely heavily on how badly SoaZ tilts and how aggressive Peke wants to play. As for Fnatic themselves - will Reignover show up? Will Huni go Cass top? They have weaknesses, people seem to think it'll be Huni himself & it'll be interesting to see just how they fair.

Still, this is all going off speculation as I can't say I paid overly close attention to any scene this year just due to lifestyle changes but I think the West has a shot at top 4 as always. We can but hope for higher.

Group A:
Koo - Coin toss between them & CLG, depends if teamfight Koo shows up or not.
CLG - Hard to see them not advancing regardless of how good FW reportedly are.
Flash Wolves - I reckon they'll take a game off of CLG, but won't show a strong enough argument to cause an upset and advance.
PAIN - Sorry Brazil, but I just don't see it this year. But like I said, upsets can happen. KABUM!

Group B:
Fnatic - As a European I'd love for them to top the group, it won't be easy & China has always been EU's kryptonite. Will depend on mentality after opening game vs IG.
Invictus Gaming - Same as the above, should advance without a problem, think the Chinese aggression will run over AHQ & Cloud 9.
Cloud 9 - Scrappy underdogs from 7th to Worlds. I want to believe, hopefully they won't rely on awful misplays by their opponents to grab oppertunity.
AHQ - Every year we hear they're doing amazing things in their scene; sadly it never translates to the big stage. Unless we get TPA v2.0

Group C:
SK Telecom T1 - I'd love for an upset, for SKT to advance in 2nd, but their form coming into Worlds has been impeccable.
EDG - China vs Europe scrap for 2nd, H2K fell off in the latter half of summer and I don't think they'll keep up.
H2K - Poor Ryu. We can only hope for another epic duel vs Faker.
Bangkok Titans - ... What an unfortunate group draw. Unknown to me, but happy to see more regions making waves.

Group D:
LGD Gaming - KT haven't been consistent and their curse is well known. Also Imp.
KT Rolster - At the mercy of China, every game in this group will be an interesting watch: expected stomp, or heroic upset?
Origen - 2 Veterans vs 1. The fight for 3rd with TSM, who can camp top hardest?
TSM - Again, a fight for 3rd. Highly dependable on Bjergsen as always, Santorin showing up, Dyrus becoming the NA Darien & Turtle to not go full Doublelift & flash into danger. Repeatedly.

TLDR: Expected group finishes match up with majority of predictions, hoping for Western upsets despite the odds stacked against us all.

 

Group A: KOO is going to take it, barring extreme #faithage miracles. Every thread is still safe, so clg has a chance! pAIN and FW though, they are just not well known enough to completely destroy CLG because I am a clg fan, and I am used to these things happening.

However, I'm nearly certain that historically CLG beats the bad teams in their league and only really gets their losses to the top teams, which makes me have high hopes here. 1. Koo 2. CLG 3. pAIN 4. FW is my prediction/hopesanddreams.

Group B: I trust fnatic. They can do this shit. They won Korean Soloq, better then every other pro team who bootcamped in China. Also, their coach actually seems to coach rather then be the analyst-in-charge. IG I don't know much about other then theyre good enough to be top 3 in China, and China is pretty dang strong right now. C9 I don't have much hope for, though I think they they'll at least split with AHQ. AHQ... I dunno, I still think itll be 1. Fnatic 2. IG 3. AHQ 4. C9


Group C: Group of doooooooooooooooooooom. Putting SKT and EDG in the same group sets up for them to meet in the finals (after groups you can't meet the other team that breaks from your group until the finals), which is what I think most people are expecting to happen. Ryu will continue to die (-_____________-), but if he doesn't get at least one solo kill off Faker (hell, probably a first blood) I'll be shocked. He has everything to prove here, because even years later his 1v1 against faker is STILL the most famous play in league, and its the most famous play where he gets outplayed so hard that Faker executed himself on a tower afterwards cuz he felt so bad. Bangkok Titans are just there to have a good time. 1. Faker 2. Pawn 3. Ryu 4. Bangkok Titans


Group D: If CLG got the best possible draw, TSM got one of the worst (H2K's is technically worse, except Ryu gets to maybe possibly stop dying now). Theyre fucked. And I'm happy, because I am not a TSM fan, and I'm glad that it was CLG who got the rigged draw this time. LGD have #1 locked, because Imp hasn't made Arrow/Wildturtle/Niels cry yet. Monte pointed it out in his last countdown, but this group is one of the more interesting because Origin actually DO have a chance to make it out. KT isn't as astonishingly good as the top Asian teams are, and Origin has the experience (if not apparently the team discipline) to beat that. Also, can you imagine hte look on Soaz's face if they beat them? 1. LGD, but I think 2. Origin 3. KT 4. TSM will be the upset (and make for good analyst desk drama for Cyanide to talk about, if hes there. God I hope hes there.)

 

I want iG to crush fnatic tbh.

because

ognkaKacle ognkaKacle ognkaKacle

 

I want IG to crush Fnatic because the EU hype train is unbearable. Last year, no EU teams made it out of groups, and if Fnatic fucks up, it'll probably be two years in a row.

 

kakao's about to ruin reignover's chances of marriage in game 1 tbh.

 

I don't exactly love Fnatic, nor am I a fan buuuuut...

a) This is an almost entirely different team apart from Rekkles, the "two years in a row" argument applies to Origen, not Fnatic right now.

and

b) Fnatic's record this year in EU is unfuckingprecedented.

 

https://www.reddit.com/r/leagueofle...iler_counter_logic_gaming_vs_lgd_gaming_2015/

 

What a fantastic final. Just amazing play all around.

CLG really deserved to win it with a showing like that.

 

I meant two years in a row of no EU teams in general. I'm not saying Fnatic is bad (well, maybe I am, because I'm picking ahQ over them, who BTW has a similar "unprecedented" record over their region), I'm saying I would like to see the EU hype train derail with two straight years of no Worlds playoffs. It would put a stop to any bullshit about EU > NA based on Season 1 WC or Season 2 M5.

 

How about in Season 3 where Fnatic came 3rd/4th in Worlds? Like frame it however way you want, you can't dispute that European teams have a better record in international tournaments that North American teams do.