Post-game Analysis: SKT vs H2k Game 1

P/B:

• Overall:
  • SKT takes advantage of blue side and ban away comfort picks of KaSing (Thresh) and loulex (Lee Sin)
  • SKT banning Mordekaiser meant that H2K had to ban either Darius or Elise and give away the other as 1^st pick to SKT 

• SKT 1^st pick – Elise: great set-up by SKT to get a strong 1^st pick with the other main strong picks banned (strong picks didn’t have to be traded)
  • H2K 1^st picks – Gnar/Gragas: high emphasis on Gnar even blind-picking it; shows H2K want to run a team-fight comp
• SKT 2^nd picks – Fiora/Tristana: with knowledge of opponent Top Lane, Fiora is a strong champ who can counter Gnar; still not much shown as far as team comps go
  • H2K 2^nd picks – Braum/Sivir: rounds out team-fighting comp with engage (Sivir ult) and disengage with Braum
• SKT 3^rd picks – Azir/Alistar: Alistar is overall a strong pick; Azir is a solid champion making him a good blind-pick candidate
  • H2K 3^rd pick – LeBlanc: counter to Azir, but doesn’t fit comp as an assassin

Both teams drafted team-fighting comps where SKT is more skirmished based (small fights like 3v3) and H2K is the big 5v5 fights. Fiora matches up well against Gnar while Azir may struggle against Leblanc. Both match-ups are skill based and not necessarily hard counters. Gragas is decent early game, but not as good as Elise. Sivir wins early against Tristana so SKT probably wants to lane swap. Alistar also has stronger roaming than Braum. H2K lacks reliable engage, likely using Sivir ult and Gragas ult to start a fight. This makes Azir and Alistar great at preventing engage. While H2K’s comp seems reminiscent of the Summer split and not the current meta, FNC showed earlier that running Sivir can still be effective. My only concerns are the Gnar and Leblanc picks. Gnar was highly prioritized for Odoamne while Fiora was still up. While I can’t comment on his champion pool or player preference, it seems odd that they 1^st picked Gnar with a potential counter available. I did not like the LeBlanc pick for Ryu. She doesn’t fit a team-fighting comp which typically wants AOE damage from an AP mid. Gragas also isn’t the best at setting up a LeBlanc to snowball. LeBlanc may win lane, but she doesn’t fit with the rest of the team. Ryu is also proficient at Ahri who seems like a better fit – an assassin with some wave clear and more AOE damage.

SKT comp:

• Team fighting comp but not very tanky
• Alistar is only front-line option
• Great tower pushing with Azir and Tristana
• Great tower diving with Elise/Alistar
• Split push threat with Fiora
• No reliable engage on H2K means a well-timed W from Fiora prevents her from getting caught out
• Engage with Elise/Alistar
• Azir can provide disengage against a Sivir ult
• Win Condition: Take advantage of strong tower pushing to get early global gold, split push can be effective, get to objectives first to contest (prevents surprise engages, plays to Azir’s strengths)

 H2K comp:

• Team fighting comp with big front line
• No reliable engage – Sivir ult, Gragas knock back, or Gnar flanking
• Braum shield can really prevent SKT engage by blocking cocoon or blocking follow up to Alistar engage
• Only Sivir for wave clear but low range
• Low damage comp
• Win Condition: Group by mid game and take advantage of Sivir ult to team fight and take objectives, LeBlanc must snowball (could become another split push threat)

 Items/Build paths:

• ADCs always favor Statikk Shiv over PD since Avarice Blade allows them to stack up gold faster and earlier power spike
• Both ADC get super early Avarice Blade (~8 min) allowing for more gold
• Bengi’s Elise builds Cinderhulk since the team needs more tank presence; builds Aegis allowing Support to build Zeke’s Harbinger
• Faker’s Azir builds Nashor’s tooth for tower pushing power then Abyssal Scepter for defense; the fact that he’s able to go Nashor’s 1^st item and not be punished was great for the team
• Bang’s Tristana builds 3^rd items QSS to ensure he stays ahead
• Odoamne’s Gnar rushes Black Cleaver 1^st item to deal with Fiora and match her split push, but behind in gold (Phage vs Ravenous Hydra)
• Hjarnan’s Sivir builds 3^rd item Last Whisper despite no armor on the enemy team; Bloodthirster would probably be better
• H2K’s loulex and KaSing both build Aegis – KaSing could’ve built Zeke’s instead like Wolf did

 Execution in Game:

• No lane swap, but H2K Bot Lane get Krug start
  • H2K invades SKT blue buff side, but SKT get more overall vision and know where H2K starts
  • H2K double jungle while MaRin goes straight to lane
• Bengi started own red, invaded enemy blue buff and denies blue from Gragas who cannot duel Elise 1v1 (Fiora has lane advantage + lane pushed to help out, Azir also pushed lane in to help)
• ~5:30 min: Bengi ganks for Fiora, gets 1^st blood, Fiora gets even farther ahead
• ~7:15 min: team fight breaks out when Bengi ganks for Bot Lane, burns summoners but Gnar TP in 1^st and kills Alistar, Fiora TP after but get follow up kill on Gnar à trade 1v1 but more summoners burned by H2K; Fiora late TP
• ~8:20 min: SKT lane swap for Bot Lane back to bot, Fiora top – possibly to push bottom turret against just Gnar and get more dragon control
• ~10 min: H2K great 3-man tower dive top lane on Fiora, get clean kill
  • SKT meanwhile steals H2K blue buff again, get 1^st dragon
• Faker always gets blue buff from mid game on, ~11:30 min+
• ~13 min: 1/3/1 lanes (mid/jg/supp) in mid, SKT sieging to get tower; H2K responds with engage, loulex nice Body Slam + Flash to catch out Faker’s Azir
• ~16 min: despite CS deficit, Faker Azir shoves and gets mid tower over LB
  • SKT immediately uses this advantage to steal H2K blue buff again and get vision control of jungle to prep dragon in 20 sec; SKT TP advantage, free 2^nd dragon
• ~18:30 min: H2K Bot Lane is jungling while Fiora taking top outer turret for free, then LeBlanc rotates to top
  • ~18:30 – 19:30 H2K constantly swap their lanes around, seem undecided how they want to match-up, waste lots of time/xp/gold because their solo laners were starting to lose
  • SKT constantly keep all 3 lanes pushed, allows Bengi to take over enemy jungle
• *~22:30 min: SKT preps vision for 3^rd dragon, Faker attempts to catch out Sivir but gets punished and killed, team fight ensues
  • H2K chase and kill Bengi’s Elise leaving their back side exposed to the rest of SKT
  • SKT scramble to get out but MaRin goes in onto Ryu’s Leblanc and gets him very low, KaSing attempts to disengage but left to die
  • H2K re-engage 4v3 with Gragas Body Slam but misses; Hjarnan just chases but runs straight into Fiora/Tristana and dies for free – MaRin cleans up the fight
  • SKT wins fight 5 for 2 kills; get 3^rd dragon
• ~24:20 min: after the fight, SKT rushes baron and gets it; Alistar knocks back Gragas to prevent steal attempt
• Fiora super far ahead, at least 2 level advantage on everyone; always split pushing
• ~26:20 min: H2K Bot Lane pushing out mid lane alone, SKT 4 man engage on them and kill Braum – SKT get 2 turrets mid + inhibitor
• ~29 min: SKT 4 man top, Fiora bot – Fiora gets bot lane inner turret; SKT get 4^th dragon; H2K hesitant without vision, attempt to make push mid but SKT already pushing bot lane, H2K must recall to defend
  • H2K attempt to engage with Sivir ult but SKT back off, meanwhile MaRin gets top lane inner turret
  • ~30:30 min: Ryu attempts to clear minions with LB’s W; Wolf reacts perfectly with Alistar combo, Ryu dies
  • H2K base wide open. SKT wins

While this game felt slower than the previous games, SKT played a methodical game and felt in control of the entire match. SKT’s lane management was flawless and dictated the majority of the game. H2K seemed lost at times, scrambling to defend turrets while SKT always systematically knew how they wanted to push. This game perfectly demonstrated why SKT prioritizes wave clear in all their champion picks and how to use it to their advantage. H2K’s drafting was a bit suspect in their solo lane picks and they failed to gain advantages in game. Ryu’s LeBlanc was ahead by ~10 CS the majority of the game, but Faker’s Azir just played safe. The remarkable thing about Faker is how he was not only able to keep up in farm, but by the 16 minute mark Faker was able to take down mid turret without losing his own. Playing safe while still being able to push and keep up in farm allowed SKT to open up the map and press their side lane advantage. With mid turret down, SKT gained vision control in enemy jungle and guaranteed control over dragon repeatedly. Bang’s Tristana kept even in farm in lane against Sivir who has an advantage early. By staying even, he was able to take over mid to late game with Tristana’s powerful turret pushing and longer range than Sivir. Bengi’s Elise took charge from the very beginning of the game, invading loulex’s blue buff and stealing it while he was forced to recall. SKT had great coordination with both solo laners shoving their lanes and ready to roam to help Bengi’s invade. Bengi also took advantage of Elise’s strong early game and constantly ganked for every single lane while keeping up in farm. Loulex spent the majority of the game counter jungling when he realized Bengi was ganking. By mid game, he only managed ~10-15 CS advantage over Bengi, but Bengi got all of his lanes advantages (especially Fiora). MaRin’s Fiora had an advantage from the very beginning in lane and never let go. Odoamne’s 1^st pick Gnar never got to contribute much and the 1^st blood at ~5:30 min put him back far enough to never be able to contest Fiora. The thing I enjoyed the most about MaRin’s play was that he always pressed his advantage and split pushed knowing no one on H2K could handle him 1v1. SKT followed this up mid game by using their champions’ great wave clear and pushed all 3 lanes together. Gnar couldn’t handle Fiora 1v1, Azir with Nashor’s Tooth had more wave clear than LeBlanc, and Tristana’s range, E, and Statikk Shiv allowed her to push against a Sivir. This allowed Bengi’s Elise to invade the enemy jungle and further choke out H2K. Bengi controlled the pace of the game from the very beginning while loulex was left to farm the leftovers. Bengi’s control of both jungles allowed Faker’s Azir to always get blue buff from mid game onward; this was crucial since Faker built to mana regen items and allowed Faker to keep up in farm and push in against LeBlanc. Faker did extremely well in lane, but had questionable engages to start team fights that were punished well by loulex. Despite this, SKT followed up and were able to outplay H2k to win fights. The story of the game was Bengi setting the pace from the beginning and pulling advantages in all the lanes. The 1^st blood for Fiora meant she would always be ahead. This advantage and SKT’s immaculate wave management led to free towers around the map while H2K scrambled to keep up. Great controlled game by SKT, pulling advantages without taking any risks.

Statistics:

Most of SKT’s gold went into the side lanes while Faker just had to manage mid lane and not die. MaRin’s constant split pushing gave him the most gold in the game. H2K placed emphasis on Hjarnan, but that may have been because he was the only one with wave clear.

This is where the discrepancies really show themselves. Despite having the most gold on SKT, MaRin actually did the least amount of damage among the carries. Fiora being melee makes it harder for her to contribute, but she got most of the kills since Faker died early in most team fights. Despite having only 20% of the team’s gold, Faker was able to do 30% of the team’s damage showing why he’s a great player. Tristana’s long range let her dish out the most damage in the game. Hjarnan did the most damage on his team with Sivir’s AOE, but her short range made it hard for him to get kills.

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

(http://matchhistory.na.leagueoflegends.com/en/#match-details/TRLH3/1001380209?gameHash=fa1f63f766bc861d&tab=overview)(http://gamesoflegends.com/game/gameshow.php?id=2181)