IEM Cologne afterthoughts

The Intel Extreme Masters from Cologne played out over the weekend with CLG, Cloud 9, Gambit, and Fnatic giving a bit of a preview of what's in store for the Battle of the Atlantic matches. Despite competing with MLG and Redbull events for CoD, DotA 2, and SC2, the IEM stream still pulled in over 230k viewers eager to watch the LCS regions duke it out. It also showcased the new rosters for SK and NIP in the amateur tournament, but I was unable to convince myself to get up early enough to catch much of it so this will be sticking to the teams in the pro tournament, namely CLG, C9, Fnatic, & Gambit.

Though they only switched 1 member of their roster, bringing back the much hyped Rekkles now that he's old enough for the LCS, Fnatic did not look much like the team who went 7-1 in groups and finished 3rd at Worlds. The typical Fnatic flair for teleport ganks and assassin mids was utterly missing. They played the games well but never seemed to be outplaying their opponents so much as just failing to make major mistakes. This was never more evident than game 2 against CLG where despite no major mistakes from Fnatic they would slowly and steadily lose the game against a flawless performance from CLG. Though Fnatic did take the series against CLG 2-1, their reliance on enemy mistakes made it a very close series and would see Fnatic utterly destroyed in the finals against Gambit Gaming. Whether the problems with Fnatic's team was simply the result of a break in training time, lack of experience with the new roster, or a slump is unclear, but they will certainly need to sort some things if they want to defeat Cloud 9 in their December 22nd showdown.

Gambit Gaming similarly swapped only a single member of their roster, bringing back Edward to support after his split in the NA LCS, but the team looked like a whole new frightening lineup. The problems that had plagued Gambit throughout season 3 seem to have disappeared completely and the team once again looks like the much feared M5 of old. Most startling of all was the turnaround performed by Genja who had been infamous, even as recently as the world championships, for building unusual builds and playing very passively. Instead the Genja on display at IEM was an aggressive force to be reckoned with, a true AD carry playing like a man possessed. The reinvigorated Gambit crushed every opponent 2-0 this weekend and their unwavering stomp of Fnatic made it difficult to remember that the two teams were even in the same league.

Last but not least Counter Logic Gaming displayed the roster they would likely be bringing to the Battle of the Atlantic. The roster featured the return of "Rush Hour" botlane as Aphromoo returned to supporting Doublelift, as well as Trickz taking over jungling duties. The new CLG roster is still obviously struggling with some of the problems that plagued them all season 3, and the slump Nien claimed to be in on twitter was evident in his play. Despite all of that the team was clearly a stronger one than their LCS incarnation. Gone was the willingness to sacrifice dragons for farm. Gone was the tendency to lose focus and allow their lead to turn around mid game. The team still looked shaky, and it was obvious that Trickz was unused to LAN events, but overall they seemed to have improved significantly with their new roster. Link was in top form, simply out playing Xpeke at every turn and running rampant over the mid lane in the first 2 games. He did so well that CLG likely could have taken the series victory if Link opted to play something more capable of carrying instead of the Orianna he ran in game 3. The CLG botlane also performed well, quickly eliminating the misplays that cost them game 1, and crushing in game 2. Even Nien and Trickz seemed to be shaking off the jitters as the series progressed. Though hesitation at Dragon would cost CLG both game 3 and the series against Fnatic, it was clear that like the other roster swaps this CLG lineup is a very different beast from their previous incarnation.

Personally I found the preview provided by IEM to be enticing, and a fitting way to send off Season 3. The Battle of the Atlantic will be played on 3.14 though, so while we got a small preview of the possibilities, anything could happen come December.