Post-game Analysis: PNG vs KOO Game 1

P/B:

• Overall:
  • Fairly standard bans by both sides
  • The main bans of Mordekaiser/GP/Lulu were left last – PNG had a chance to not ban GP and leave up both GP/Lulu, forcing KOO to ban one or leave up both, at worst giving PNG 1 for 1 of those top priority picks; instead they got to 1^st pick Elise which was also a great outcome 

• PNG 1^st pick – Elise: great 1^st pick up and strong overall jungler
  • KOO 1^st picks – Thresh/Lee Sin: Lee Sin can match Elise’s strong early game
• PNG 2^nd picks – Alistar/Darius: Darius is OK to blind-pick since he doesn’t have many counters, might be susceptible to Lee Sin’s strong early game; prioritized over ADC pick which usually comes in 2^nd round
  • KOO 2^nd picks – Gnar/Ashe: Gnar is the closest to countering Darius; Ashe is a favorite of PraY
• PNG 3^rd picks – Sivir/Azir: Sivir matches well against Ashe being able to push faster and her spell shield helps a lot; Azir is solid mid lane pick for blind pick
  • KOO 3^rd pick – Ahri: assassin pick fits with the team, being ranged and having wave clear is a huge bonus 

PNG comp:

• Team-fighting comp
• Plenty of engage with Sivir ult, Alistar combo, Elise cocoon
• Strong disengage too with Azir ult or possibly Sivir ult
• Good wave clear and great fast push potential
• Win Condition: Use Elise’s strong early game to get Darius ahead, group mid game for objectives using Sivir ult to force fights, take advantage of strong early game wave clear 

KOO comp:

• Pick comp
• Great engage potential – Ashe arrow, Thresh hook, Ahri charm can all be chained to pick off enemy
• Decent wave clear, but weaker than PNG
• Must snowball to win, likely start once Ashe hits 6
• PNG has low mobility comp (besides Sivir ult) so Lee Sin and Ahri can take advantage of this
• Want lane swap to avoid Sivir into Ashe
• Win Condition: Must snowball kills to take objectives, need vision control to get picks 

Items/Build paths:

• Kami takes Cleanse on Azir, good choice against pick comp
• Kuro’s Ahri and GorillA’s Thresh both take Ignite to secure kills
• SirT’s Elise builds Cinderhulk + Aegis for more front-line; may have wanted to go Runeglaive to match Lee Sin’s early game power with Warrior
• Dioud’s Alistar: no Sightstone until ~17:04 min; prioritized Mobility Boots
• Smeb’s Gnar: 1^st item Frozen Mallet great for kiting Darius; not a fan of 2^nd item Sterak’s Gage, should’ve built tank
• GorillA’s Thresh: also prioritized Mobility Boots over Sightstone 

Execution in Game:

• Both teams invade enemy top side jungle, but took different paths
• KOO go back to check their own jungle leading to lvl 1 fight – PNG win fight 2 kills for 1
  • Ashe starts with extra boots; Darius with extra Long Sword; Elise with extra wards
• Lane swap occurs – PNG Bot Lane also steals Krugs; PNG control top half of map, KOO get bottom
• PNG double jungle at start, Smeb goes to lane but must back off; late to join Lee Sin
• Both teams trade outer turrets and give tower gold to Top Laners
• Another lane swap occurs, Dioud’s Alistar places deep wards in KOO jungle while GorillA just lanes with PraY against Darius
  • ~5:40 min: this allows Darius to TP in, creating a 4v2 tower dive; get 1 kill
• ~7 min: trade outer turrets again but tower gold goes to Ashe and Darius (Gnar behind)
• ~7:10 min: Darius vs Gnar in side lane (no towers for each), Thresh ganks with Lee Sin, successful kill onto Darius despite having wards in river (GorillA’s mobility boots pay off)
  • KOO get 1^st dragon
• ~10 min: KOO freezing bot lane, so PNG Bot Lane rotate mid to siege; good defense by KOO with Ashe arrow
• ~10:45 min: Thresh/Lee Sin gank Darius again for successful kill
• ~13:40 min: Ashe arrow engage onto Azir clearing a ward in river, easy kill leading into team fight; KOO win 3 kills for 0, PNG Darius didn’t choose to TP and Sivir recalled
  • KOO get 2 towers mid lane
  • KOO prioritize defending towers, allowing PNG to get 1^st dragon
• ~16:30 min: Dioud’s Alistar engages onto KOO, bad team fight 1v5 (all PNG carries farming lanes); KOO get 3 kills for 0
• ~18:50 min: KOO dominating vision control, especially top side around baron
• ~21:30 min: KOO engage, pick off PNG in their jungle; KOO win 3 kills for 1
• ~24:20 min: PNG desperation engage with Sivir ult, very obvious engage; Smeb still TP 1^st despite PNG initiating; KOO win fight 5 kills for 0
  • KOO get baron; take remaining 2 inner turrets
  • Siege and eventually win 

PNG started off really strong. They got a level 1 fight in their favor and handled lane swaps really well. They executed the early game very well and seemed prepared to handle top teams at Worlds. The ~5:40 min tower dive by PNG highlighted how well PNG understands the game and that they’re capable of executing on the biggest stage. By minute 7 however, things started to fall apart. GorillA bought Boots of Mobility 1^st item over Sightstone and repeatedly ganked Darius with Lee Sin creating 3v1 fights. This was followed up by KOO immaculate vision control starting in mid game. Once the side lane outer towers went down, PNG seemed to take it easy, wanting to farm up and play it slow. KOO however took this time to get deep vision control and catch out Darius. This climaxed at ~13:40 when PraY’s Ashe landed a successful arrow engage onto Azir who was trying to clear out a pink ward. This netted KOO 3 kills + 2 towers and truly began their snowball to victory. Dioud also bought Boots of Mobility on Alistar, but didn’t roam to make the same impact that GorillA did. He instead warded for brTT, but didn’t actively make plays. Mid game is when KOO really took off, gaining vision control then grouping together to repeatedly pick off the enemy team. During this time, PNG seemed uncoordinated; the carries just farmed lanes while others initiated fights. They didn’t make use of their team-fighting comp until after 24 minutes when they charged KOO head on, right in front of them. These obvious engages simply gave KOO the ace and baron to end the game. Despite PNG’s great start, KOO’s vision control and GorillA’s great roaming led to repeated kills and allowed them to take the game. 

Statistics:

Pretty even distributions for both teams, but KOO started to get XP advantages later in the game.

PNG’s Kami dominated their damage output, while brTT really underperformed. brTT often died early in fights due to poor positioning, had to run away due to teammates getting picked off, or simply wasn’t present at a fight. Meanwhile KOO has a more even distribution with their carries Ahri and Ashe leading the way.

Vision control was the name of the game. PNG made a few attempts to get vision control in their own jungle once they started losing, but it was immediately swept by KOO. PNG made no attempts at defending their wards, but that was understandable once they fell behind. PNG needed to be more aggressive with their vision around ~7 minutes in when both outer towers in the side lanes went down. This may have prevented or at least delayed KOO’s snowball.

Statistics pulled from leagueoflegends.com match history and gamesoflegends.com. All credit goes to them.

(http://matchhistory.na.leagueoflegends.com/en/#match-details/TRLH3/1001380241?gameHash=23c53fb7fed21f53&tab=stats&participant=10)(http://gamesoflegends.com/game/gameshow.php?id=2185)