Season 2 Championship: Day One

This informational blog is about Day one of the Season II Championship.

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Yesterday, the first round of the League of Legends World Playoffs, eight teams faced off to move on to the quarter finals against the four seeded team (Team SoloMid, Moscow Five, Team WE, and Taipei Assassins).
Half of the teams advance today, every match will be a battle for tournament survival, there will be no second chances.

Group A

The first Group, group A, holds the following teams: Azubu Frost, Invictus Gaming, Counter Logic Gaming NA, and SK Gaming. The first game was an exciting back and forth between Azubu Frost and Invictus Gaming. Invictus definitely had the early lead over Frost and managed to hold onto it for the entire first half of the game. However, a disastrous Baron fight for them (Invictus) resulted in Frost pulling off a steal, giving them a huge advantage at not cost. This caused Frost to take the lead Late Game. By picking hard-scaling champions like Jax, Frost was able to last until their late-game strength kicked in and turned the match around.

The second match of the group featured SK Gaming facing off against CLG NA, who were each down one game after losses to Frost and iG respectively. Both teams went for global map presence, with SK picking up Shen while CLG NA ran three Teleport spells (A very noticeable but hard to get around choice) . After a sneaked Baron kill, SK Gaming attempted to "blitzkrieg" the CLG's mid lane. This opened a window of opportunity for Doublelift to split-push (with promote) while his team held the line. Suddenly, the base race was on and CLG was hit with surprise. Despite SK having the Baron buff in their favor, it became quickly apparent that CLG was in the lead as SK attempted to Recall and defend. A few quick teleports from CLG NA brought the game to a well earned finish.

Despite their impressive second game, neither CLG NA nor SK Gaming were able to advance past the group stage. Azubu Frost ended up getting TSM in the next round, while Invictus versus Moscow Five.

Group B

NaJin Sword, Counter Logic Gaming Europe, Saigon Jokers, and Dignitas made up the second group of the day, and the second round of games were just as fierce as the first. Saigon Jokers put on an impressive performance in their first match against NaJin Sword, but like the Frost vs. iG match, Sword managed to draw the game out until their superior late-game comp won them the match. Certainly something most players have seen before, but this time its in the World Championship. The rest of the group seemed to simply get crushed Sword as they rolled through Dignitas and CLG EU in quick games. Maknoon clearly earned the award for MVP of the day for his unbeatable performance in top lane.

Counter Logic Gaming Europe also advanced to the quarterfinals after defeating the Saigon Jokers. While the Jokers performed well in their match against NaJin Sword and had scored an "upset victory" over Dignitas, CLG EU was able to seize an advantage early on in their match. From there, they were able to snowball to victory, choosing to engage their opponents only when they had a huge advantage. NaJin Sword moves on to face Taipei Assassins tomorrow, while CLG EU will do battle with Team WE.

For those interested in the 12 PM PST Moscow Five vs. iG quarter finals, check out The League of Legends Tournament Page to watch all the matches streamed live.