League of Legends: 2016 NALCS, IMT vs REN (Week 3, Day 1)

Week 3 is upon us in a flurry and that's a good adjective to describe the games with. With a bevy of sub-30 minute games, I'm ready to see which teams really blew it. First up - I don't really expect Renegades to win. But can they at least pretend to slow down Immortals? I'll follow IMT as long as they're undefeated.

Pick/Ban: IMT first-pick Graves... and REN respond with Corki and Alistar? Are you serious? Are you serious? This is a disaster for REN. I feel like they've already lost. Corki is fine wherevere you put him, but leaving Poppy, Lucian and Elise up (Kalista was banned)? I literally shouted at my screen when they first-picked Alistar. Nothing against Alistar - he's an extremely popular pick, but going up against a team that you know wants early pressure and mid-game power, this doesn't make sense. I get it - pick/ban is a balance between getting the picks you want and not letting the opponent counter. But at some point, you just have to go with the better champion. Ezreal scales well and Nidalee gives you good poke and early game gank pressure, but I have a hard time seeing REN take down either WildTurtle or Huni in this game.

There's not much else to say about this game. IMT are the clearly better shot-calling, rotating, teamfighting team and had the more powerful comp. I don't know if you can consistently play the two-tanks and poke comp in this meta. Maybe with a champion like Caitlin which gives you better siege than Ezreal, but building a comp for late-game Barons doesn't help if the other team is so fed you can't make that call.