LCS Game Summaries: Week 10 Day 3

Game summaries from the last day of the spring split of LCS.  Definitely still looking for feedback!  I might do the same thing for OGN, and I'm more likely to do so if people tell me they like these, and I'm more likely to do them the way you want me to if you tell me what I can improve.  :)

Game 1: Marn vs CLG

Bans (Marn first): Cho'gath -- Renekton -- Nidalee -- Riven -- Shen -- Malphite

Picks: Twisted Fate -- Vayne Sona -- Jarvan IV Thresh -- Jax Amumu -- Tristana Irelia -- Ahri

MegaZero: Irelia, Ignite/Flash
ClakeyD: Jarvan IV, Smite/Flash
ecco: Twisted Fate, Barrier/Flash
Nientonsoh: Tristana, Flash/Cleanse
Heartbeat: Thresh, Flash/Exhaust

HotshotGG: Jax, Flash/Teleport
Chauster: Amumu, Smite/Flash
Link: Flash/Ignite
Doublelift: Flash/Cleanse
Aphromoo: Exhaust/Flash

Very good level-1 play from Marn, securing both blue buffs and setting Chauster behind in the jungle.  However, first blood did go to CLG at about 8 minutes, after top and bot outer turret had been pushed by CLG and Marn respectively.  A 4v5 engage from Marn at dragon at about 10:30 looked like it would snowball CLG, and they pushed several more turrets, picking up another free dragon and even top inhib turret by 20 minutes, getting the inhibitor at about 22 minutes and shortly after also pushing down mid inhibitor.

However, Marn began to come back, with ecco and Nientonsoh picking up a kill on Doublelift near botlane at about 26 minutes.  Instead of defending their base from the two waves of super minions, Marn decided to go for Baron.  Their attempt was successful, but they sacrificed their bot inhibitor and a nexus turret in the process, Tristana barely getting out in time to save the second nexus turret thanks to a shield from Thresh blocking Sona's autoattack damage from interrupting her recall.

After the baron, Marn began to win fight after fight, successfully defending their respawned top inhibitor and giving Nientonsoh a delayed pentakill (he did get the quadra).  Marn took the gold lead and were able to wait out all of their inhibitor respawns, picking up another baron and ultimately picking up an ace for just Jarvan in midlane at about 41 minutes.  Without any minions to push with, Nientonsoh traded tanking turrets with MegaZero, and despite Chauster's respawn, Marn was able to pick up the nexus.

Game 2: Curse vs Complexity

Bans (Curse first): Zed -- Volibear -- Jayce -- Thresh -- Shen -- Jarvan IV

Voyboy: Gragas (Teleport/Flash)
Saintvicious: Udyr (Flash/Smite)
Nyjacky: Twisted Fate (Ignite/Flash)
Cop: Caitlyn (Barrier/Flash)
Elementz: Lulu (Exhaust/Flash)

Nickwu: Darius (Ignite/Ghost)
Lautemortis: Amumu (Smite/Flash)
pr0lly: Kha'zix (Flash/Ignite)
brunch U: Miss Fortune (Barrier/Flash)
M eye A: Kayle (Ignite/Flash)

The beginning of the game was a bit rough for Complexity, with Miss Fortune and Kayle arriving botlane over 30 seconds late, since they wanted to guarantee a 2v2 lane vs Caitlyn/Lulu.  First blood came in toplane around 6 minutes with an incredible dive by Kha'zix in toplane on Gragas.  Kha'zix fell immediately after, as Udyr was there also, and Darius almost fell, barely saved by Amumu's counter-counter-gank.  Almost 3 minutes later, Complexity was able to pick up a free dragon after Curse's botlane had based, and they climbed into a comfortable gold lead.  This lead was solidified when Twisted Fate and Gragas both ganked botlane but got no kills, spending two whole minutes in a 4v3 in botlane.  They eventually got the turret, but Darius had gotten top turret, and almost immediately after, Complexity was able to pick up Curse's outer bot turret and then another dragon at 21 minutes.

After Complexity's excellent control of early objectives, they won several fights in a row: one near their own blue buff (4 for 3) and then another one in midlane (3 for 0).  They were able to pick  up the first baron of the game at 24:40, also picking up kills on Caitlyn and Udyr for the delayed 5-for-0.  Complexity continued to apply pressure, and with a bit of patience, well-timed tower dives, and a second baron at 33:42, they were able to gradually push down all of Curse's base, picking up the nexus at 48 minutes.

Game 3: TSM vs GGU

Bans (TSM first): Riven -- [penalty so no ban] -- Elise -- Renekton -- Thresh -- Draven

Picks: Shen -- Caitlyn Nasus -- Sona Karthus -- Lux Caitlyn -- Nocturne Varus -- Janna

Dyrus: Shen (Ignite/Flash)
TheOddOne: Nocturne (Smite/Flash)
Reginald: Karthus (Flash/Exhaust)
WildTurtle: Varus (Flash/Cleanse)
Xpecial: Sona (Ignite/Flash)

ZionSpartan: Jayce (Ignite/Flash)
NintendudeX: Nasus (Smite/Flash)
Jintae: Lux (Flash/Ignite)
DontMashMe: Caitlyn (Cleanse/Flash)
Daydreamin: Janna (Exhaust/Flash)

An uneventful level 1 with GGU's duo lane going top suddenly exploded in GGU's favor at about 4:30 with NintendudeX on Nasus ganking TSM's duo botlane and picking up first blood and two kills, one for himself and one for ZionSpartan's Jayce.  At 6 minutes, GGU was about 1k gold ahead of TSM, and they picked up the first turret of the game at 7:50.  However, GGU's poke comp was unable to deal with the dive from Nocturne, and TSM picked up a kill in midlane just before 10 minutes and also grabbed dragon.  A few minutes later, TSM continued to show just how strong their global comp was, with Karthus helping WildTurtle and Xpecial pick up kills on DontMashMe and Daydreamin while they were fighting 2v2 in top.

GGU were able to pick up the remaining two outer towers as the early game was transitioning into midgame, as they had been able to apply a lot of pressure and get a lot of damage down earlier.  But whenever TSM had global cooldowns available, they made plays happen on the map, picking up dragon when available and continually pushing turrets.  Their first baron was just before 29 minutes, and after a few more pickoffs TSM were able to push all three inhibitors by 36 minutes.  Despite Baron's respawn, TSM decided to heal before securing that objective, taking out Janna, Nasus, and Lux as they tried to steal baron while Reginald's Requiem picked up a kill on Jayce set up by Shen, letting TSM easily pick up the nexus.

Game 4: Dignitas vs Vulcun

Bans (Dig first): Jarvan IV -- Diana -- Karthus -- Caitlyn -- Thresh --Shen

Picks: Renekton -- Sona Nasus -- Volibear Draven -- Malphite Tristana -- Gragas Alistar -- Cassiopeia

KiWiKiD: Renekton (Flash/Ignite)
Crumbz: Volibear (Smite/Ghost)
scarra: Gragas (Flash/Ignite)
imaqtpie: Draven (Flash/Cleanse)
Patoy: Alistar (Exhaust/Flash)

Sycho Sid: Malphite (Flash/Teleport)
Xmithie: Nasus (Smite/Ghost)
mancloud: Cassiopeia (Flash/Ignite)
Zuna: Tristana (Flash/Barrier)
BloodWater: Sona (Flash/Exhaust)

Dignitas took an early lead with a ghost lane gank at 4 minutes by Crumbz on Volibear, taking out Bloodwater's Sona for first blood despite Bloodwater's flash.  Two minues later, Crumbz came bot, diving Sycho Sid.  An incredible Alistar play by Patoy fed Draven two kills as Xmithie came in for a counter gank.  The tower went to Dignitas, but Vulcun was able to pick up top tower a minute later, Dignitas answering that tower kill with the first dragon of the game.  Draven continued getting kills, as Volibear sacrificed himself to dive Cassiopeia at about 12 minutes in midlane and then again to dive Nasus in toplane.

Vulcun started gaining momentum with a teleport play by Sycho Sid's Malphite, pinching off Volibear and Draven as they split-push bot inner turret at about 17 minutes during a dragon dance.  Their momentum continued growing as mancloud was able to pick up a solo kill in botlane on Crumbz, flashing under turret.  A slight hiccup by Zuna in midlane just before 26 minutes led to him getting caught out and dying, but Dignitas got overambitious trying to take down baron, and Vulcun was able to pick up a 4 for 3 exchange, not even needing to burn Malphite's teleport.

Dignitas's baron calls ended up sealing their fate, as a second baron attempt just after 30 minutes led to a free botlane tower for Vulcun in addition to a 3 for 0 exchange in Vulcun's favor.  The engage by Vulcun was delayed as long as possible, and Dignitas was just too low from tanking baron to be able to survive Malphite's teleport on top of the other AoE from Vulcun's comp.  Vulcun ended  up picking up the baron themselves and then went on to grab dragon and inner mid turret.  They were able to successfully take out the top inhibitor turret as well, but Dignitas pushed them off, despite losing an exchange, with only Cassiopeia falling for both Alistar and Renekton.  When Baron respawned, imaqtpie decided to push midlane instead of engaging in the baron dance, and Zuna decided to push the open top inhibitor.  Both teams fully committed to be base race, and Vulcun's damage was barely enough to win the game at 39:24, at most 2 seconds before Dignitas would have pushed down their nexus.

Game 5: GGU vs CLG

Bans (GGU first ban): Malphite -- Twitch -- Cho'gath -- Karthus -- Shen -- Thresh

Picks: Jayce -- Jarvan IV Lulu -- Elise Tristana -- Udyr Ezreal -- Ryze Yorick -- Orianna

ZionSpartan: Jayce (Ignite/Flash)
NintendudeX: Elise (Smite/Flash)
Jintae: Ryze (Flash/Ignite)
DontMashMe: Tristana (Heal/Flash)
Daydreamin: Yorick (Flash/Ignite)

HotshotGG: Udyr (Flash/Teleport)
Chauster: Jarvan IV (Smite/Flash)
Link: Orianna (Flash/Ignite)
Doublelift: Ezreal (Flash/Barrier)
Aphromoo: Lulu (Exhaust/Flash)

CLG's blue buff was an early point of contention between Chauster and NintendudeX, as Chauster went from his red to NintendudeX's, smiting away the buff from Elise.  It wasn't until 4:37 that Chauster actually cleared his blue, and both junglers got behind in level as a result.  Due to the decreased jungle pressure, first blood wasn't secured until 10:50, when Udyr ran out of mana running from Jayce and fell to Ryze attempting to pass between midlane turrets.

The first dragon went to GGU at 15:50 after a teleport bot by HotshotGG and a 2 for 1 exchange in favor of CLG but Doublelift running toplane to waveclear, the game still fairly even.  HotshotGG continued running away from Jayce, leading him all the way from GGU's bot jungle to CLG's top inner turret, freeing up some pressure on the map for his team so Doublelift could push botlane but ultimately falling to ZionSpartan.  Huge damage onto Elise led to CLG picking up the second dragon of the game.

The next two fights remained even in terms of kills, but CLG was able to pick up two more botlane turrets as a result.  Aphromoo tried to aggressively steal GGU's blue buff after a 3 for 3 pushing GGU off baron and ended up falling to Jayce because he didn't have the damage to pick up the buff before the respawn.  The deciding play was at 31 minutes, when GGU started on baron while Udyr was in botlane around the river.  His teleport was available, and CLG had a ward in baron pit, but Udyr chose not to use his summoner spell, despite the fact that GGU was taken very low from tanking the buff.  GGU took the baron buff, and when the fight was engaged there was still no move from Hotshot to teleport up.  CLG were able to disengage and return to base, but GGU picked up the middle inhib turret for free.  Hotshot finally used his teleport to try to defend the turret but ultimately canceled it instead, and GGU was able to pick up a 3 for 1 fight and then push the nexus down at 24:15.

Game 5: Dignitas vs TSM

Bans (Dignitas first): Thresh -- Gragas -- Malphite -- Diana -- Karthus -- Shen

Picks: Nasus -- Sona Twisted Fate -- Zed Draven -- Renekton Miss Fortune -- Katarina Alistar -- Cho'gath

KiWiKiD: Zed (Flash/Ignite)
Crumbz: Nasus (Smite/Ghost)
scarra: Katarina (Flash/Teleport)
imqtpie: Draven (Flash/Cleanse)
Patoy: Alistar (Exhaust/Flash)

Dyrus: Renekton (Ignite/Flash)
TheOddOne: Cho'gath (Smite/Flash)
Reginald: Twisted Fate (Flash/Ignite)
WildTurtle: Miss Fortune (Flash/Barrier)
Xpecial: Sona (Exhaust/Flash)

Both teams invaded at level 1, although it was only to ward.  Reginald sacrificed some health to force Dignitas to be unable to help Crumbz take his blue without smiting it.  In botlane, qtpie and Patoy's Draven-Alistar lane took a huge early lead but they were unable to convert any kills despite Draven's all-consumables opening compared to Miss Fortune's Dorans Blade start.  KiWiKiD took first blood on Dyrus's Renekton with the help of a jungle gank at 5:20, and Dignitas continued taking the kill lead with a botlane gank taking out Xpecial at about 6:30.  However, TSM was able to foil a number of kill attempts by Dignitas, with multiple skirmishes leading to no kills for either side.

TSM took the gold lead after a few kills in their favor, and despite the first dragon going to Dignitas, they held onto their gold lead by taking three turrets by 15 minutes to Dignitas's 0.  A couple of misplays from Reginald, however, swung the momentum in Dignitas's direction, as he gave up a kill in toplane to Katarina and then ulted to split-push bottom, resulting in all three turrets falling to Dignitas in addition to the middle inhibitor.  Dignitas used their super-minion advantage to take out multiple side-lane turrets, but at 24 minutes, Dignitas over-committed to a dive and gave up a triple kill to WildTurtle's Miss Fortune.  TSM used this temporary numbers advantage to force Scarra's teleport by pulling Baron at 24:40, but were unable to make anything else of it.

The deciding moment of the game was Dignitas's baron attempt about 30 seconds after TSM's.  Despite Bullet Time and Crescendo being down, TSM were able to force Dignitas off of the buff when it was within kill range from TheOddOne, who flashed over the wall and stole it with Smite and Feast.  The ensuing fight went in Dignitas's favor, but they were only able to pick up a single kill on WildTurtle, and TSM's mid inhibitor respawned during the fight.  TSM were then able to pick off Crumbz when he tried to solo Dragon without his ultimate available.  TSM tried to push down onto the bot inhibitor, but the game-winning fight was actually in midlane, with an initiate from Reginald, gating in and gold-carding Nasus.  The fight was going slightly in TSM's favor, but then a perfectly-timed Bullet Time and Flash-Crescendo onto three members of Dignitas resulted in a 5-0 ace from TSM, and they were able to push down the nexus uncontested at 32:00.

Game 7: Complexity vs Marn

Bans (coL first): Renekton -- Kha'Zix -- Malphite -- Zed -- Jarvan IV -- Amumu

Picks: Thresh -- Twisted Fate Shen -- Caitlyn Jayce -- Sona Twitch -- Nasus Gragas -- Riven

Nickwu: Jayce (Ignite/Flash)
Lautemortis: Nasus (Smite/Ghost)
pr0lly: Gragas (Flash/Teleport)
Brunch U: Caitlyn (Cleanse/Flash)
M eye A: Thresh (Ignite/Flash)

MegaZero: Riven (Ignite/Flash)
ClakeyD: Shen (Smite/Flash)
ecco: Twisted Fate (Barrier/Flash)
Nientonsoh: Twitch (Flash/Barrier)
Heartbeat: Sona (Flash/Ignite)

Marn took a massive advantage over Complexity at level 1, with Twitch picking up a double kill for nothing when they correctly predicted Complexity's invade path.  Riven was also able to turn around an early gank into a kill for herself, picking up double-buff.  Complexity tried changing their lane setup but were unable to come back from their deficit, and Marn was able to use their double-global-ult composition very effectively.  Some very nice flash-hooks from M eye A's Thresh seemed to keep Complexity in the game, and they were able to pick up mid outer turret, but Marn was just too far ahead, and they took kill after kill across the map, picking up Baron around 27 minutes and then closing out the game with a delayed quadrakill fountain dive by Nientonsoh.

Game 8:  Vulcun vs Curse

Bans (Vul first): Miss Fortune -- Shen -- Volibear -- Thresh -- Kassadin -- Renekton

Picks: Zed -- Tristna Elise -- Sona Draven -- Fizz Nunu -- Udyr Xerath -- Ezreal

Sycho Sid: Zed (Flash/Smite)
Xmithie: Xerath (Ignite/Flash)
mancloud: Draven (Flash/Barrier)
Zuna: Udyr (Flash/Ignite)
BloodWater: Sona (Flash/Exhaust)

Voyboy: Nunu (Flash/Ignite)
Saintvicious: Fizz (Exhaust/Smite)
Nyjacky: Tristana (Ignite/Flash)
Cop: Ezreal (Barrier/Flash)
Elementz: Elise (Ignite/Flash)

With Vulcun switching roles, Curse took the first three kills of the game, first blood on Nyjacky's Tristana in midlane and then two kills on Zuna's Udyr thanks to Saintvicious's Fizz ganks.  Vulcun was able to answer with their first kill just before 9 minutes, with a Zed countergank in toplane, and a minute later they took their first tower of the game in botlane after forcing Elise low.  After a few more kills were exchanged, Vulcun picked up the first dragon of the game at 12 minutes and with it took the gold lead despite being down in the kill count.

Vulcun then began pushing into the lead, with an incredible split across the map, Draven and Udyr taking out Baron together as Zed split-pushed two towers in botlane and only Xerath and Sona defended mid against most of Curse.  Draven and Udyr ended up getting caught out, but overall it was a massive power swing in Vulcun's favor.  Vulcun experienced a minor hiccup in midlane getting overconfident diving the inner turret and allowing Tristana to chase them down, netting a 4-1 exchange in favor of Curse at about 27 minutes.  Despite this setback, Zuna was about to bait out almost all of Curse's abilities near their red buff while Nyjacky was split-pushing botlane on the opposite side of the map, and Vulcun picked up all four present members of Curse trading away only Zuna.  This exchange effectively decided the match in Vulcun's favor, and it was only a matter of time before they picked up their second baron and then pushed for the win just before 35 minutes.