Tag Archives: IEM Katowice

Analysis and Opinion

The Tigers are dead, long live the Tigers: an IEM preview

The ROX Tigers first take to the Champions stage as the HUYA Tigers in rugby-striped crew-neck sweaters, competitors in the LoL Champions Korea qualifier. It’s the introductory season of the LCK, and the Tigers — an assembly of experienced players discarded by other teams — are pegged as a team that will end up a middling performer in the new league.

Instead, they storm through their first split. Although the Tigers lose to SK Telecom T1 in the 2015 LCK Spring Finals, they impress throughout the season. The sweaters become a Tigers staple, propelling them first to cult fandom and later, worldwide adoration. They’re a playoff team again that summer, and are the only team to take a game off of SKT at the 2015 World Championship.

In 2016, the Tigers grow into one of the most innovative and enjoyable teams to watch in League of Legends history. They win their first LCK title that summer. Their semifinals match against SKT at the 2016 World Championship is one of the greatest LoL best-of-five series of all time.

This image of the ROX Tigers — Song “Smeb” Kyung-ho’s ascension, Kim “PraY” Jong-in shoving aside retirement and returning to the stage, and later Han “Peanut” Wang-ho unleashed after a rough year with NaJin e-mFire — accompanies the name.

The Tigers are Smeb, Peanut, Lee “KurO” Seo-haeng, PraY, Kang “GorillA” Beom-hyeon, and even Lee “Hojin” Ho-jin and Hae “Cry” Sung-min. They are iconic.

They are not Heo “Lindarang” Man-heung, Park “Shy” Sang-myeon, Yoon “SeongHwan” Seong-hwan, Son “Mickey” Young-min, Gwon “Sangyoon” Sang-yun, and Kim “KeY” Han-gi.

Continue reading The Tigers are dead, long live the Tigers: an IEM preview →

Analysis and Opinion

TSM at IEM: Looking Back; Looking Forward

One year ago, Team SoloMid lifted the IEM Katowice trophy, conquering Team WE in the Finals to claim their first international crown since 2012, in the days of the limited-field IGN ProLeague. They were on top of the world, if only for a little while. This year they’re pursuing a repeat, but aside from their team name, their Danish Mid laner, and the underdog mentality they’ll be nursing, the circumstances are very different.

Going into the 2015 IEM World Championship, TSM had an 11-3 domestic record, good for 1st place. They had just wrapped up an easy 2-0 week against Winterfox and Team 8, two lower-tier teams who would go on to finish 8th and 7th, respectively, while TSM would take the regular season title. Things were going fairly well for TSM, and they were carrying some momentum as they prepared for the tournament.

This year, TSM is arriving in Katowice with an 8-6 domestic record, three wins shy of their 2015 pace. They’re treading water in the standings, sitting just 4th in North America, and battling with the demons of their own inconsistency: with a 1-3 record in the last four games, and a crushing defeat at the hands of Team Liquid on Sunday lingering in their minds, TSM is certainly not carrying positive momentum into Poland.

This isn’t the stiffest field IEM could have assembled—teams like the ROX Tigers, Immortals, and G2 Esports have been left at home because of IEM’s qualifiers + invites approach—but it isn’t exactly a soft field, either. TSM’s path through Group A features ESC Ever, Royal Never Give Up, and Origen, with SK Telecom T1, CLG, the Qiao Gu Reapers, and Fnatic vying to emerge from Group B. TSM are certainly not among the favorites—Unikrn has given them 15:1 odds, third-worst for the event—but every attending team features its own set of question marks.

Can Team SoloMid repeat their 2015 accomplishment and claim back-to-back IEM World Championship titles? It won’t be easy.

The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

TSM had an offseason to remember, constructing one of the stronger super teams North America has seen—on paper. The reality has been nowhere close to the hype, with the star-studded roster stumbling and clearly failing to find synergy. They aren’t in danger of falling out of the playoff picture, but TSM has actually looked worse than their 8-6 win/loss record might suggest. According to gold spent percentage difference (GSPD), TSM’s +0.6% has them ranked a spot worse, at 5th. Compare that to the league-leading +12.6% GSPD they were enjoying at this time last year.

There have been some positives, of course…

Read at Unikrn →