Worlds 2017: Group C Autopsy

I remember when Group C was the terror of the Group Draw Show. Once Samsung Galaxy, Royal Never Give Up, and G2 Esports came together, everyone knew a deserving team would be heading home early. 1907 Fenerbahçe Espor’s inclusion after a solid play-in performance didn’t change the calculation; if anything, it was crystallized. Advancement would depend on wins against the other two major region teams. With margins for error already razor-thin, one loss to Turkish wildcard would be fatal.

And that’s exactly what happened. G2 finished 1-3 against the other two power teams; RNG went 3-1 and Samsung 2-2. 1907 Fenerbahçe never managed a win, though not for lack of effort. The better teams will continue playing. 

Royal wowed the local fans and finished top of the group, proving themselves legitimate contenders with two wins over runners-up SSG. One loss to G2 Friday night couldn’t derail the RNG hype train, only slow it until SSG eliminated G2 two games later, indirectly securing RNG a spot in the next round. Then the party tricks came out: A Vayne to further condemn 1907 Fenerbahçe, and a Lee Sin to dance around Ambition, all amidst the noise of a raucous Wuhan crowd.  

RNG captured the headlines and hometown hearts, but there was more to Group C than just Chinese triumph. Let’s delve deeper.

1907 Fenerbahçe Play with House Money

But let us also be honest: 1907 Fenerbahçe shouldn’t have gotten this far. They drew both the weakest play-in group (Hong Kong Attitude, Rampage) and elimination round opponent (Team oNe) possible, a significant run of luck that mattered as much (or more) than their actual play on the Rift. Given the same opportunities, Lyon Gaming and Young Generation would have posted similar (or better) results. 

That luck ended once 1907 Fenerbahçe were drawn into the Group C, leaving them a small fish in a small pond filled with big sharks. If none of the play-in teams could punish 1907 Fenerbahçe’s glaring weaknesses in the early game, these teams surely would, and did. Often. FB averaged a World’s worst -345 GDM and 1657 GPM, stemming from their inability to successfully farm in lane against better players.

The bot duo of Padden and Japone simply couldn’t get ahead. Padden’s laning woes continued, averaging a World’s low -14 CSD@15 across six group games. Frozen, now up against competent mid laners, couldn’t find the space to roam bot and relieve pressure. Once the enemy bot lane predictably took First Turret, 1907 Fenerbahçe couldn’t match the tempo and were steadily suffocated objective by objective. It’s not an accident that 1907 Fenerbahçe looked at their best when Frozen was given advantageous matchups (Ekko into Syndra vs. SSG, Taliyah into Yasuo vs. G2).

But even when 1907 Fenerbahçe got through laning relatively unscathed (or, even rarer, ahead), their team fighting execution was abysmal. Poor coordination, combined with Padden’s eagerness to make a play, frequently left the AD carry exposed. His early deaths in too many fights cost FB the chance to close out winnable games, most notably their finale against G2. Despite both teams having already been eliminated, 1907 Fenerbahçe desperately wanted to win a game at the main event, but couldn’t capitalize on a 6.7k gold lead when their main source of damage kept getting out-dueled by Zven.

It’s difficult to say if 1907 Fenerbahçe have a blueprint for sustained success. Crash was an emergency sub for Move, but his inclusion only highlights the fact that a South Korean duo makes up the spine of this team. Nothing ties Move or Frozen to the TCL region; if a better offer is elsewhere, these mercenaries are likely to pack up and leave. While Padden had his share of late game heroics, his current level of play has a clear ceiling. Similarly, Thaldrin was excellent as spackle for FB’s early game holes, but only to a point. But if this team can stay together and grow, there’s no reason they shouldn’t compete with BAU Supermassive every split for a title, and the international exposure that comes with it. FB’s run at Worlds 2017 ended abruptly, but simply getting this far was its own reward. Cause of Death: Systemic weakness

G2 Drew the Short Straw

While one European team was given a new lease on life in Group B, Group C buried another. That Fnatic will advance to the quarterfinals and G2 Esports won’t registers as a mid-tier crime. Had their positions been reversed, G2 would surely be moving forward. Instead they’ll head home and into an uncertain future.

G2 showed they had what it took to make it out of Group C with a massive win over Royal to start Week 2 play. Trick was a monster on Sejuani all game long, landing nearly every Glacial Prison he threw, keying a G2 snowball that outpaced the Chinese side. Zven was 5-0-3 with three items and a Guardian Angel by 25 minutes; of course the game ended three minutes later.

But the necessary win over Samsung Galaxy never came. G2 wanted a repeat of Trick’s RNG showing; SSG made sure it didn't happen. The comical Gromp resetting between Ambition and Trick looked bizarre on its face, but for Samsung it made a kind of sense. If you want literally nothing of note to happen in the early game, sacrificing your own jungler’s farm to stall out Trick was a valid play.

That strategy made Ambition’s two early deaths mean little; all that mattered was that Trick and G2 never put any of the SSG lanes behind. SSG still took First Turret in the bot lane, still won fights in the mid game, found the pick on Zven they needed to take a free Baron, and irreparably broke the G2 base. The Europeans managed to force SSG to take a second Baron to finish the game, but by then it was merely a formality. The gold deficit had long since reached double-figures.

That loss, combined with RNG’s shellacking of 1907 Fenerbahçe, eliminated G2 from Worlds. They had yet to play badly on stage. G2’s 100% First Blood Percentage, 1744 GD@15, and 83.3% Rift Herald Percentage topped all teams at Worlds. Other metrics, like 2075 DPM or 33 CSM, were inside the top three. But the wins didn’t follow, and it only takes one read of Perkz’s post-mortem account to appreciate how devastating that must feel, to play so well and yet still be the odd team out.

I’m not sure how G2 will reconstitute itself in 2018. The organization has applied for NA LCS franchising and has not yet been officially turned down. From what Perkz wrote, some players might be departing. But for G2, the narrative of underachieving champions has finally been put to rest. Their second-place finish at MSI, and inspired play at Worlds despite a tough draw helped end it for good. Cause of Death: Wrong place, wrong time.

Samsung Galaxy are Checking the Clock

Samsung Galaxy take their time, with games so predictable you can set your watch to them.

Step 1: Draft a scaling bot lane. Any hyper carry plus a now-meta shielding support will do. Step 2: Draft a tanky top laner that scales hard into the late game. Get Cho’Gath if you can. Step 3: Draft a jungle/mid combination that Ambition and Crown feel comfortable with. Mobility is key, but only for roams that are reactive, not proactive.

Step 4: Farm in lane for 20 minutes. Feeding First Blood doesn’t matter, but keep an eye on the neutral objectives. Step 5: By hook or by crook, win bot lane and secure First Turret. Ruler and CoreJJ are usually good enough to get this on their own, but maybe send Ambition down there once or twice to prevent a catastrophic gank and/or secure the objective.

Step 6: Get you bot duo out of lane and start taking turrets. The enemy team will try to stop you; if Ruler has items or the fight is favorable, take and win the fight. If not, disengage and play the map. Step 7: Pressure the enemy team into making a mistake, then capitalize off that mistake and take Baron. Step 8: Attempt to end the game on a Baron Power Play. Step 9: Repeat steps 7 and 8 until victory is achieved.

This strategy, when combined with the caliber and experience of Samsung’s players, is good enough to beat 95% of the teams in the world. Unfortunately for SSG, Royal happens to be part of the 5%. SSG couldn’t out-fight RNG when it came to crucial mid game engagements, unable to convert their passive early game into a lethal snowball.

SSG were the only Korean team to lose twice in groups, but four wins over 1907 Fenerbahçe and G2 were enough to see them through. It’s worth noting that in the one game SSG went hyper aggressive early with substitute jungler Haru’s Ezreal, they nearly lost. Why fix what isn’t broken? Cause of Death: None, but still suffers from chronic pain.

Royal Never Give Up Strike a Blow for Positivity

As I’ve written before, Worlds 2017 is quickly becoming a contest of contrasting styles: Early game snowball vs. late game scaling. But you can easily rephrase those strategies as choice between positive or negative play. One side proactively maneuvers in the laning stage because their win condition demands snowballing an early advantage. The other side is negative, reactively stalling out the game (while contesting objectives) as their carries, via late game item spikes, out-scale the enemy.

In no matchup was this dichotomy more visible than Royal Never Give Up vs. Samsung Galaxy, and as League of Legend fans, we all should be happy that RNG won both contests. China’s new favorite team refused to let Samsung dictate the pace. Instead, they relied on jungler MLXG to look for lane ganks early and often, helping mitigate the advantage SSG were trying to build and, more importantly, speeding up the game. It was refreshing to watch a team actively attempt to win, instead of passively waiting for their opponents to make a mistake.

But MLXG’s pressure wouldn’t have meant much if his laners couldn’t take advantage of it. Mid laner Xiaohu and the bot lane duo of Uzi and Ming never let him down, transitioning well from laning into well-executed team fights. Uzi and Ming combined for a 13.4 KDA, highest among all bot lane duos at Worlds. RNG’s aggressive team fighting in the mid game paid off repeatedly against a Samsung side unable to choose their own engagements. And while MLXG's Lee Sin wasn't jaw-dropping (shout out to Mike Yeung), he did enough in fights to split SSG's squishies from their tanks with a few well-placed kicks. 

RNG remain China’s best shot at seeing a home team reach the finals. I want to believe their positivity will be emulated across the knockout stage, the game is an absolute joy when teams leave it all on the Rift. So far, RNG have been a pleasure to watch. Cause of Death: None, but remain overly-excitable.