Worlds 2017 Quarterfinals Review: Longzhu Gaming vs. Samsung Galaxy
The first quarterfinal of Worlds 2017 went as planned, a very one-sided 3-0 by a confident Korean squad that look like title contenders. Except it was Samsung Galaxy, not the heavily favored Longzhu Gaming, that earned a berth in the semifinals, smashing all expectations and turning Worlds on its head.
SSG set the tone in Game 1. The LCK third seed was supposed to be the patient, late game focused team in the matchup. Yet Ambition had his most active early game of the tournament, relieving the intense pressure from Bdd mid lane with a kill, and then outplaying Khan on a top dive for another kill. Keep in mind that this was the same jungler who, across six group stage games, was a combined 0-3-0 at 15 minutes. After the first two games against Longzhu, Ambition was 4-0-1.
SSG dictated the pace of the game, just not the tempo LZ clearly expected. Hoping to take advantage of SSG's early game negativity, LZ drafted Thresh (a great early roamer) to snowball Khan, despite that support's inability to build Ardent Censer. By picking Thresh, LZ gambled heavily on an early game punish. It didn't pay off.
Samsung’s early proactivity was unexpected, but not nearly as much as CuVee's Kennen to counter Khan’s last pick Jax, something CuVee has saved only for important Game 3s recently in LCK. Kennen's lane pressure (plus help from Ambition) kept Jax at bay early, but it was the presence of Crown’s Malzahar that stopped Khan's split push for good. For whatever reason, Khan refused to buy a Quicksilver Sash, hampering his ability to run a long lane alone when Crown and a friend could simply Nether Grasp him to death. The tax should have been paid by every Longzhu player (exempting Gorilla), yet only Pray bought one, leaving the rest of LZ vulnerable to Crown's suppression.
SSG switched things up and LZ couldn’t adjust on the fly. Well, maybe they could have, but Bdd completely lost his head after a brilliant early laning phase that erased Crown for First Blood. But a mistimed gank by Cuzz before Unleashed Power was back online saved Crown, opening the door a greedy kill attempt by Bdd. Sensing blood, Bdd stepped forward under turret only to be counter-engaged by Ambition, who had just come mid in response to Cuzz’s gank.
Inexperience and nerves from Longzhu's rookies was evident on stage and the execution suffered because of it. Bdd’s death undid all of his early work and gave Samsung early game momentum. It wasn’t the last issue from LCK MVP, who Flashed forward for a kill on Crown during a later 5v5 mid as his team was disengaging, killing himself to turn a 1-0 LZ fight into a 2-1 SSG fight (Pray died on the backend). Bdd later burned Unleashed Power on Ambition for no reason, losing the ulti for the main base defense. His 4 deaths in Game 1 alone were unusual for a player who had died 4 times throughout the entire group stage.
Cuzz had a few taget selection issues on his engages, most notably on Crown around the second Baron. Crown simply Flashed back into the choke point, preventing LZ from damaging him through the Jarvan IV Cataclysm and allowing the rest of SSG access to the backline. That broken fight opened a free Baron for SSG, and it wouldn't be their last.
Samsung proved their Game 1 victory win was no fluke with an incredible Game 2 stomp. It helped that they began by getting the draft right, especially concerning supports. SSG banned Janna straight out and sacrificed Lulu instead of taking Lulu themselves, drafting Taric instead. The Bravado healbot is a support better suited to this meta than Thresh, with his ability to counter engage well and use Ardent Censer effectively. Even better, his Baron sustain (sustained AoE heals with his passive) is best in the meta.
In response, Longzhu put Khan on Cho’Gath, completely abandoning their split push carry style and giving Khan a champ he had never played before on stage. Was this the same Longzhu we had watched all summer, suddenly bowing to meta pressure after weeks of making their own? It certainly didn’t look like them in the draft or on the Rift.
Again, SSG set the pace with their best Longzhu impression, crashing mid with an early three-man gank plus Shen to kill Bdd and Cuzz, gaining control of that lane. Then, they dived bot as four to wipe out Pray, Gorilla, and the outer turret for First Brick. SSG smartly kept Ruler and CoreJJ bot to keep the pressure on Pray’s farm instead of the expected immediate lane swap, a nice touch that kept Pray from quickly farming back into relevance.
At this point, CuVee’s Shen became a problem. LZ could never pick themselves back into the game because of Shen’s global presence; even when Ruler and Pray walked right into each other around a topside corner, SSG were able to save Ruler with Shen’s Stand United (plus a timely Cosmic Radiance from Taric)
From there, Crown was unstoppable, beating LZ and Bdd to death with Bdd’s own iconic Taliyah. Bdd had another game to forget, a 1-3-4 score line that actually flattered him. By contrast, Crown went on a rampage at 9-1-7 (100% KP), highlighted by a Quadra Kill around Mountain Drake that broke the game wide open. His damage and effective roams kept Longzhu on their backs until the nexus broke. After Ruler’s Quadra, all Samsung needed to do was control Baron. They did so carefully, respecting Longzhu’s ability to contest by pulling off the objective until they killed Cuzz and Pray. From there, it was a simple deathball push into the LZ nexus.
Game 3 was more of the same from Samsung, quieting all rumors of a reverse sweep with another electric performance. They improbably got their hands on Shen, Sejuani and Tristanna again, a mindboggling draft oversight by Longzhu, who banned out Lulu instead of Sejuani. How could this happen? They had just witnessed how little SSG prioritized Lulu (and how highly SSG prized Sejuani), why give SSG essentially the same composition they just tore you apart with?
Longzhu first-picked Taliyah to stabilize their tilted mid laner, then put Khan on Trundle in an effort to balance his split pushing ways and the team's tank needs. It only half-worked. In response, Samsung revealed another pocket pick: Crown’s Lissandra, the idea being she counters Bdd’s comfort Taliyah. While she couldn’t match Taliyah’s damage, Lissandra’s ability to absorb pressure in fights with Frozen Tomb allowed Ruler to out-duel Pray’s favored Varus.
SSG wanted to make plays in the bottom lane and did so, repeatedly pressuring bot and diving that lane. But Bdd never answered with his typically effective roams to the sidelanes, always a step late even with Taliyah’s Weavers Wall. CoreJJ’s Taric turned many close fights in SSG’s favor, and for the third straight game SSG got First Turret bot lane. Ambition had a quieter early game in terms of KDA (only one assist by 15 minutes), but he never let Cuzz or the LZ sidelaners get comfortable. But Ambition made the right plays when it counted late. After being caught out in the jungle, Ambition created space for his team to break the bot lane inhibitor by pulling all five Longzhu players with him topside on a merry chase.
In a last gasp, Longzhu forced a fight around their Red buff and won it 2-0, but had no map control or objectives past a Cloud Drake they could take. SSG responded by pushing top in, then went back into the same choke point for a nearly identical fight, but this time the Cosmic Radiance timing was correct. Ruler got three resets for a Triple Kill, and SSG win the fight 4-0, taking the nexus seconds later.
Overall, it was an incredible showing from Samsung. They completely changed their style from groups and embarrassed the tournament favorites. Longzhu’s youth hampered their mid-jungle-top synergy, and at this stage it cost them dearly. It’s worth noting that, before the quarterfinals, Longzhu had only one best-of-five under their belt as a team: the LCK championship against SKT. Despite veteran leadership from Pray and GorillA, Longzhu couldn't adapt mid-series to SSG’s new, well-executed strategies, and now they'll watch the rest of Worlds at home.