Semi-Finals: TPA vs. M5 (3/5)

S2WC: Semi-Final Round

TPA vs. M5: Game 1

The players:

M5: Darien(Top), Diamondprox(JG), Alex Ich(Mid), Genja(ADC),

Taipei Assassins: Stanley(Top), Lil_ballz(JG), Toyz(Mid), Bebe(ADC), Mistake(Sup)

M5 Bans	TPA Bans
Maokai	Lee Sin
Blitzcrank	Sona
Jayce	Orianna

M5Picks	TPA Picks
Nunu	Shen
Yorick	Kog’Maw
Evelynn	Udyr
Vayne	Taric
Xin Zhao	Karthus

Play by Play:

Time	Plays	Time	Plays
Set-up	1-1-1-2; Standard EU, bot waits in bot tri. Nunu boots, Sight Wards x2. Stronger Lvl1 goes to TPA due to stun+taunt.	Set-up	1-4. Karthus has teleport. Taric starts Vision wardx1, Sight Wardsx3, Health Potionx2, Mana Potionx1. Kog’Maw waits at wraith entrance.
0:45	Xin sees the ward go down.	0:45	4 man deep wards enemy wraiths.
1:40	Bot takes Golems; Evelynn assists with wolves; Yorick waits in Blue Bush.	1:40	4 manning own wolves; Karthus sits at mid.
		1:53	Karthus steals big wraith. Rest of the team goes toward ML2.
1:58	Yorick spots TPA while in Blue bush, minions see Karthus.	1:58	Wards ML4. 4 man moves in with Karthus incoming.
2:05	3 man stops blue, hangs around. Bot start farming.	2:05	4 man steal; Taric pinks the Blue bush.
2:27	Nunu rotates mid to help.	2:27	After a prolonged scuffle Udyr manages to steal Blue buff while flash is burned up on Xin Zhao.
		2:30	Karthus teleports bot. Kog and Taric move to mid to shut down Evelynn’s cs.
3:34	Xin Zhao nunu counter steals blue.
3:50	Xin, Nunu and Vayne three man dive for bot for first blood going to Nunu. Nunu moves mid afterwards to support Evelynn.

Game Winner: M5

Opening Winner: M5

Conclusions:

Despite all the fancy play from TPA, M5 came ahead with the FB, countering novelty with an awesome level headedness. The gold lead however, was to go into TPAs favor due to Stanley doubling Darien’s farm (Not sure why, the camera never went to top lane due to all the action bot. Feeder!) and Evelynn being held to single digit cs. TPA was still in a very strong position, what eventually lost them the game was an ill fated fight in front of M5’s tower which netted Alex Ich a triple, beginning a reign of terror.

It is worth noting that this double-mid is essentially the same strat that Saigon Jokers pulled on Dignitas in the group stages. They too were purple side, used a heavy cc support in Leona, tried to shut down a melee-range snowball caster in Katarina, and sent Karthus bot. Only they didn’t have teleport on NIXWATER so they opted for a successful Red steal rather than blue. The purple side Blue steal is much stronger because you have a 5vs3 at blue, and your top laner can get into position much easier.

It is my belief that TPA could have played this much better if they realized the possibility of 3 man bot dive. If Lil_ballz had gone to secure his blue first, with the help of Mistake, Diamondprox on Xin would not have the levels or position to complete the play. All in all, great reaction from M5 and a very interesting showcase of openings from TPA.

TPA vs. M5: Game 2

TPA Bans	M5 Bans
Lee Sin	Blitzcrank
Evelynn	Jayce
Sona	Nunu

TPA Picks	M5 Picks
Orianna	Yorick
Maokai	Kog’Maw
Taric	Zilean
Vayne	Udyr
Nidalee	Zyra

Play By Play:

Time	Plays	Time	Plays
Set-up	Taric Sight Wards x5, health pot. 5 man movement. Nidalee ran teleport. Slight Lvl 1 advantage to TPA due to stun and vision granting spells.	Set-up	Zyra Boots, Sight Wards x2, health pot x1. 1-1-1-1-1 defensive formation. Kog at top tri, Zyra at wraiths, Zilean mid, Udyr MR2, Yorick at bot river bush.
0:32	5 man heads toward wraith entrance. Sapplings into MR2.	0:32	Udyr spots the sapling, retreats to MR4.
0:45	5 man reach around invade through MR4, ward dropped at Blue bush.	1:01	Kog and Zyra counter ward TPA’s Blue bush.
1:04	5 man move towards baron. With two going straight through mid and another three wrapping around ML2.	1:04	Zilean sees them the whole time, yet somehow Zyra still decides to exit through their own wraith entrance. Miscommunication?
1:12	Taric flash stuns Zyra. First Blood goes to Vayne. 4 assists.	1:12	Yorick moves up to mid lane. Kog retreats through top tri.
1:25	Taric drops a ward at Wraith brush. Nidalee leaves a trap at back Red brush.
1:40	Nidalee goes back; the rest assist Maokai in taking Wolves then blue. No smite used. M5 sees Vayne and Taric leave, but don’t see them coming to lane.	1:40	Zilean helps Udyr steal Wraiths, and Yorick helps with stealing red. Udyr uses smite. TPA pings this out as they don’t see Udyr at Blue with their early ward.
2:32	Maokai, Taric and Vayne attempt a Red steal. Meets Udyr, however Maokai still has smite and takes red. A 4v4 ensues with, Taric and Zilean going down near instantly, Vayne has great position in the Red back bush and comes out unscathed to flash hunt Kog’Maw over the Baron wall for another kill. Orianna then proceeds to steal three Wraiths under Udyr’s nose. Zilean actually dies to the Nidalee trap. (I had to rewatch that 3 times, thought it was a glitch at first since she was bot lane.)

Winner: Taipei Assassins

Opening Winner: Taipei Assassins

Conclusions:

A combination of bad play and bad luck really put M5 very far behind in the opening, sending them 3-1 and down 1K by the third minute mark. Gosupepper getting caught was a bad play, Alex Ich had a bad entrance to the fight being pincered coming from mid lane, fighting for Red buff was questionable, and Alex Ich getting popped by a Stanley trap when he could have lived was bad luck. One must still admire the number of great calculations made by TPA. Going for the Red steal knowing that Udyr was unlikely to have smite was a very good play and helped swing a close team fight. The early 5 man roaming forced M5 to react and constantly reposition. In the end the opening led directly to M5’s loss as their top and bot towers were pushed down before the 12 minute mark. Top lane is snowbally and being down 1-0-1 did not help Darien.

Couple things to note. Again TPA chose to 5 man roam when they had a teleport on the team, with Taric opting for nothing but wards once more. This type of roaming forces the weaker Lvl1 one team to spread out, and when counter stealing early buffs this usually means the jungler has to burn smite early with fewer teammates to help, this is a recurring theme and opening advantage TPA has enjoyed throughout the tournament. This is also the only game Taric won the entire tournament.

I believe that after the Zyra death Dimondprox should have just taken his own blue rather than contest a Red at a disadvantage. They would have evened the buffs.

TPA vs. M5: Game 3

M5 Bans	TPA Bans
Maokai	Lee Sin
Blitzcrank	Evelynn
Jayce	Orianna

M5Picks	TPA Picks
Nunu	Sona
Gragas	Mundo
Kog’Maw	Anivia
Shyvana	Ezreal
Yorick	Nidalee

Play by Play: 

Time	Plays	Time	Plays
Set-up	Nunu Boots, Sight Wards x2; 1-1-1-1-1, standard EU covering each entrance. TPA has better lvl1.	Set-up	Sona Sight Wards x 4; 5 man moves toward own wraith entrance.
0:30	Nunu Wards ML3.	0:52	5 man blue bush, ward put down. (Seem by nunu’s ML3 ward.)
1:08	Kog stays in MR1. Nunu counter Blue bush Wards. Everyone runs out at the sight of TPAs swing. Yorick backs being isolated at top tower.	1:19	5 man swing to enemy Wraiths, Ward put down. M5 spots the ward.
1:40	Gragas helps Shyv start wraiths, TPA pings this out.	1:40	Anivia catches Nunu with Flash Frost over dragon wall, Nunu burns flash, 5 man invade Red.
2:00	Shyv and Yorick counter invade Red. Shyv smites.	1:55	TPA takes Red, Mundo saves smite. Nidalee teleports top.

Winner: Taipei Assassins

Opening Winner: Taipei Assassins

Conclusions:

Overall advantage to TPA, Diamondprox had to do blue alone without smite, bot lane had no wards, and one less flash on Gosupepper. However, bot lane is pushed in very quickly by Bebe’s aggression and Lil_Ballz is forced to burn flash escaping from a counter gank, so neither mattered. Lvl 1 openings did not affect the outcome of the game much. M5 lost in the picking phase, Diamondprox on Shyvana could not stop the pushing power, nor gank the highly mobile lanes TPA had. Stanley ran rampant.

TPA repeated the same themes in the previous two games, 5 man movement early, leading into deep wards and counter jungling with superior numbers(leading to a smite advantage) and teleports to the farthest lane. This time Gosu decided to rush a fast ward at ML3 in anticipation of this. Something worth noting is that NJS, TPA and AZF almost never start boots 2 wards on their supports, and this game shows how easy it can turn into a blind lane against heavy warding and unorthodox movement.

I believe Alex Ich could have done better against Toyz in mid. If you want to see a similar match up, watch this game where our friendly neighbors SGS Chawy takes a shit on Toyz Anivia, solo killing him under tower twice. 

>> Continue Reading: Finals: TPA vs. AZF