LoL Analysis: 2016 NALCS, C9 vs TIP (Week 8, Day 2)

Cloud 9 played really overconfidently in their Saturday game. They still won, but it was very sloppy. This is another #C9Win on paper as they should have advantages and every position, and honestly, I feel like Renegades are playing a bit better than Team Impulse are despite the records. I think TIP should focus on what worked for Renegades – turning this into a skirmish-heavy, bloody game (which C9 like and can be baited into) and avoid big teamfights where C9’s mechanical skill will take over.

Picks and Bans – TIP follow first-pick Gragas with Janna/Elise… umm, yeah that's sub-optimal? Those are terrible picks in this meta, leaving so much power up. TIP are not good enough to counterpick against C9, they need to grab power picks for themselves. Where are Ryze, Poppy, Alistar, Braum, etc.? C9 get Morgana/Jhin for their duo lane while TIP counter with Graves/Sivir, which actually are priority picks, but not sure about how this comp works together. C9 finish with Varus/Trundle without knowing if TIP would have a tank (Feng has played Graves a ton), but their comp is just much better at teamfighting. TIP finish with LeBlanc. So they’re going with picks all over the map, but I don’t think they’re good enough to do so. Completely agree with Jatt and Phreak: This is a bad draft for TIP.


Early Game – C9 swap lanes but TIP match and it’s an awkward jungle start for C9. Procxin goes hard on Jensen and gets First Blood for his team. That’s good! But the repeat gank is spotted by Rush, C9 collapse faster (Mash and Gate were cluelessly laning while Sneaky and Hai had roamed), and it’s a 2 for nothing countergank for C9. This was just a misplay by TIP. Pirean sees Jensen clearing a dangerous ward and was too eager to go without Procxin quite in range for a cocoon. TIP cannot fall behind with the comp they’ve built.

31:35 – What you need to know about this fight is that Hai has been last-hitting this rift scuttle and TIP are not happy about it. A chaotic teamfight ensues and C9 pick up a slight lead since Hai jukes and stays alive a bit longer than Gate. C9 go on a killing spree from here and the game feels over. That’s no fun for TIP fans, but for the #NALCS, it’s important that the good teams know how to snowball small advantages into insurmountable leads – that’s what the best international teams do consistently in the 2016 meta.

A few fun fights on the way:
39:20 – nice snipes by Sneaky
42:10 – Procxin is tilted, he just wants to kill Hai
43:55 – Morgana vs. Janna goes to Morgana
44:50 – C9 get the turret but TIP pop a ton of spells to chase. It looks like a 2 for nothing until Jensen snipes one back
46:45 – TIP think they have Jensen but no, he’s fine. Rush zones, Hai saves, too much gold, 4-0

TIP didn’t pick a good teamfight comp and fell into a situation where the only way they could have won was a big teamfight win. I get the idea – C9 overextend for kills and maybe you can return kills when they’re caught out. But TIP just aren’t coordinated to move around the map with the speed you need to do that. I still feel like C9 can play better, but it’s hard to argue with their mechanical skill in teamfights.