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SKT must make it, my poor babies, I don't even want to watch worlds if they're not there. ;-;
Also, I'm going to be in England with no wifi where I'm staying on the day of the tiebreaker. :l Hopefully I can find some random place to sit down and watch it.
Also, I'm going to be in England with no wifi where I'm staying on the day of the tiebreaker. :l Hopefully I can find some random place to sit down and watch it.
my thoughts/predictions so far.
Europe seemed really weak during this split with the exception of Alliance, though Fnatic seemed to have stepped it up towards the end and are known for performing well when it matters. I expect them to have a decent showing at worlds. While SK did look better than Fnatic at playoffs I don't see them doing well internationally.
Korea looking as strong as ever. I'm predicting a close tiebreaker with Samsung White edging it out in the end. The play offs will most likely end in a final between KTA and SKT T1 K and unless K really steps up their game I don't see them beating a KTA that's been on one hell of a roll lately.
Watching Dig vs TSM last night made me really worried for the NA scene. Both teams looked incredibly shaky and disorganized and unless Curse and CLG somehow got worse I don't see TSM making it into top 3 playing like this. C9 and LMQ are pretty much a given in my eyes. I'm giving 3rd place to whoever wins between Curse and CLG today. CLG being a huge questionmark right now I can't really call this game.
In terms of overall strength of the region, assuming c9 and LMQ haven't gotten worse I'd put them about even with EU right now.
In China the EDG hype train seems to be unstoppable. I wonder how far it will take them in worlds. Looking at their dominance, I feel like they might be able to give Korea a run for their money this time around. Seed 2 and 3 I'd probably give to OMG and Royal.
With Ahq and TPA I think SEA are definitely looking better than they did in season 3 (which was quite frankly a bit embarrasing for the region after their season 2 win) It's really hard to place them against other regions right now though. I feel like they'll be at the level of teams like Alliance and c9, but then again I have no clue.
I'm not expecting anything from the wildcard teams. Free wins for whoever plays against them. I don't see any upsets happening here.
Overall, I don't see any team other than maybe EDG threatening Korea for this championship. I'm expecting an EDG vs Korean team X finals with Korea taking it in the end. (although I really really hope for other regions to suprise everyone and make this a real competition like in season 2)
Europe seemed really weak during this split with the exception of Alliance, though Fnatic seemed to have stepped it up towards the end and are known for performing well when it matters. I expect them to have a decent showing at worlds. While SK did look better than Fnatic at playoffs I don't see them doing well internationally.
Korea looking as strong as ever. I'm predicting a close tiebreaker with Samsung White edging it out in the end. The play offs will most likely end in a final between KTA and SKT T1 K and unless K really steps up their game I don't see them beating a KTA that's been on one hell of a roll lately.
Watching Dig vs TSM last night made me really worried for the NA scene. Both teams looked incredibly shaky and disorganized and unless Curse and CLG somehow got worse I don't see TSM making it into top 3 playing like this. C9 and LMQ are pretty much a given in my eyes. I'm giving 3rd place to whoever wins between Curse and CLG today. CLG being a huge questionmark right now I can't really call this game.
In terms of overall strength of the region, assuming c9 and LMQ haven't gotten worse I'd put them about even with EU right now.
In China the EDG hype train seems to be unstoppable. I wonder how far it will take them in worlds. Looking at their dominance, I feel like they might be able to give Korea a run for their money this time around. Seed 2 and 3 I'd probably give to OMG and Royal.
With Ahq and TPA I think SEA are definitely looking better than they did in season 3 (which was quite frankly a bit embarrasing for the region after their season 2 win) It's really hard to place them against other regions right now though. I feel like they'll be at the level of teams like Alliance and c9, but then again I have no clue.
I'm not expecting anything from the wildcard teams. Free wins for whoever plays against them. I don't see any upsets happening here.
Overall, I don't see any team other than maybe EDG threatening Korea for this championship. I'm expecting an EDG vs Korean team X finals with Korea taking it in the end. (although I really really hope for other regions to suprise everyone and make this a real competition like in season 2)
also shouldn't this be in the Competitive Scene section? :p
Korea: If their top-3 (both Samsung teams and KTA) goes there won't be anyone beating them in an extended series. However, I don't think SKT in this state will get past quarterfinals so if they go we might be up for some close series.
China: Haven't watched much LPL but I think they'll be filling the gap between the west and Korea. They might be able to upset one of the Korean teams but they might also get upset by C9, Fnatic or Alliance in a shorter series because their vision control is a lot stronger.
Europe: Europe will be sending their 3 strongest and most consistent teams. I think Alliance can get quite far if they manage to get some decent practice in Korea, while Fnatic and SK might be able to pass groups if they get a good seed.
SEA: Not impressed at all. I think their level is about the same as middle of the pack teams in EU/NA. They can give the western teams a good run for their money but I doubt they'll be able to win against the first and second seeded teams.
NA: I don't think they can beat any of the top teams at all, although C9 will probably make it through groups if they get 1st seed. Haven't been impressed by their macro-strategic play and rotations.
Wildcard: Wildcard teams are a joke. Mineski redux.
(Posted this in GD to get a little bit more exposure for Worlds)
China: Haven't watched much LPL but I think they'll be filling the gap between the west and Korea. They might be able to upset one of the Korean teams but they might also get upset by C9, Fnatic or Alliance in a shorter series because their vision control is a lot stronger.
Europe: Europe will be sending their 3 strongest and most consistent teams. I think Alliance can get quite far if they manage to get some decent practice in Korea, while Fnatic and SK might be able to pass groups if they get a good seed.
SEA: Not impressed at all. I think their level is about the same as middle of the pack teams in EU/NA. They can give the western teams a good run for their money but I doubt they'll be able to win against the first and second seeded teams.
NA: I don't think they can beat any of the top teams at all, although C9 will probably make it through groups if they get 1st seed. Haven't been impressed by their macro-strategic play and rotations.
Wildcard: Wildcard teams are a joke. Mineski redux.
(Posted this in GD to get a little bit more exposure for Worlds)
Vapora Dark wrote:
Also, I'm going to be in England with no wifi where I'm staying on the day of the tiebreaker. :l Hopefully I can find some random place to sit down and watch it.
Most Starbucks, Nero's, etc will have free wifi (sometimes you have to pay for something to eat and there's a wifi code on the receipt).
For utter hilarity, click >>here<<!
Table of contents
Season 4 World Championship rundown & discussion thread
In less than four weeks the Season 4 World Championship will take off with an epic showdown of the 16 best teams in the world! It will all be starting at 18 September in Taipei, and then moving to Singapore for the remainder of the group stage, followed by Busan and finally Seoul to round off the bracket stage.
All the teams will be placed in four different groups playing a single best-of-1 against each team with the top-2 from each group advancing to the quarter finals, where every match up to the finals will be best-of-5.
So, will this year again be a match of the Asian powerhouses or will EU and NA finally regain some ground? Please read on and leave your thoughts in the comments below!
Regionals & Qualified teams
Before we can jump into the World Championship itself, we should have a look at all the teams fighting for their spot into the biggest eSports event this year. This year we'll see 3 teams from Europe, Korea, NA and China, with the addition of 2 wildcard teams and 2 teams from SEA and Taiwan. The already qualified teams are:
1. Alliance
2. Fnatic
3. SK Gaming
Korea
1. Samsung Blue
2. Samsung White
3. Najin White Shield
NA
1. TSM
2. Cloud 9
3. LMQ
China:
1. Edward Gaming
2. Starhorn Royal Club
3. OMG
SEA/Taiwan:
1. Taipei Assassins
2. AHQ
International Wildcard:
1. Dark Passage (Turkey)
2. Kabum! eSports
The venues
This year Riot Games went all out for their World Championships. This time the games won't happen in only one country, but three! The group stages will start off in Singapore and Taipei after which the bracket stage will commence in Busan, Korea and the (semi-)finals will be held in Seoul.
To end it off, the finals will be held in the Sangnam world cup stadium, the biggest stadium in the whole of Asia where the 2002 FIFA World Final took place. This stadium has a capacity of over 60.000 and although I doubt they'll be able to get so many people in there, it still is an amazing stage to play at and no doubt a very big step for eSports.
Preliminary Schedule
To keep it simple, here is the preliminary Schedule:
On a side note, there has been a lot of fuss about Riot moving group stages to Singapore and Taipei because they originally said Worlds would take place in Korea without any further communication. A lot of Korean fans right now are upset because they won't be able to visit the matches in group stage any more.
Also, if you look closely you'll also notice most of the times aren't really NA friendly due to time zones. You 'Muricans deal with it, I had to stay up all night for Finals last year as well >:
Finally, there will be an opening ceremony again like last year. If you haven't seen that one yet, here is a link. You should definitely check it out!
Groups seeding!