Road to Legends Southeast Asia Analysis

83 times Written by: RGN on 2012-09-21

Danang E-sport fans found themselves in ecstasy as Vietnam seizes League of Legends Southeast Asian championship and advances to the World Tour that will kick in in the United States next month.

On September 9th 2012, more than 8,000 fans, lovers, spectators and fanatics of E-sport gathered in tranquil tourist town Danang, Vietnam for Road to Legends, a League of Legends-centered tournament that was probably the largest gaming event ever in Vietnam.

The tournament, which took months of preparation, culminated in a full day of great festivity with not only League of Legends (LoL) matches, but also concerts, contests and games facilitated by an elaborate team of the most famous singers, actors and celebrities of Vietnam.

After making history and seizing the LoL Southeast Asian championship from the Singapore Sentinels, a formidable foe which they in fact have never won a single match against, the Saigon Jokers of Vietnam added themselves to the ranks of the 12 elite teams that would compete in the 2nd LoL World Tour in Los Angeles, U.S. on October 13th this year. The winner gets USD$5 million in prizes, so… it is all big time for the Vietnamese boys now.

The Jokers were initially harmed by the Singaporeans earlier in the tournament, only to reverse the situation with a graceful turnaround, scoring 2-1 against them in the final. How did they outsmart a foe that is deemed superior to them in both technical skills and teamwork? Let us find out with this thorough analysis of the strategies which the Jokers employed:

Match 1 - A shuffle of positions

-Saigon Jokers’ picks: Ezreal - Irelia - Leona - Lux - Maokai.
-Singapore Sentinels’ picks: Anivia - Graves - Alistar - Vladimir - Lee Sin.

At first sight, the Jokers seemed to strictly follow the traditional metagame of LoL that consists of an AP carry, an AD carry, a support, a jungler and a top-laner. But as the game commenced, both the Sentinels and the audience were surprised with the Jokers’ one-of-a-kind alignment: Ezreal and Leona for mid lane, countering Anivia, with Lux sitting in bottom lane to ward off Graves and Alistar.

The Jokers must have painstakingly calculated their position shuffle since in the bottom lane, Lux can use her long-range attacks to destroy enemies and gather basic items while in the mid lane, the Ezreal-Leona duo is far better than the Singaporeans’ Anivia in farming.

Anivia having a hard time in the mid lane

In the top lane, QTV’s Irelia made flawless executions, destroyed Vladimir with the support of Maokai, then brought down the top tower, allowing himself to mingle more with his teammates and gain advantages in later combats.

Irelia teamed up with Maokai to put an end to Vladimir…

…then took down the top tower

Faced with a peculiar team arrangement, the Sentinels did not lose their cool and still managed to maintain a balanced status quo. Nevertheless, this broke down at the 9th minute when the first major combat happened near the dragon’s cave, as the Jokers’ AoE tactic revealed all of its power. Though they lost the dragon, Lux and Ezreal’s last moves sucked out their enemies’ health so quickly that Graves and Lee Sin had to leave the game.

Lux’s Ulti takes lives every time it is shot

Shoot! Shoot!!

Realizing their strategic mistake, the Singaporeans gradually withdrew to a defensive position, but the Jokers did not give them the chance. Ezreal and Lux kept on snipering the Sentinels at safe distances with their distinctive abilities. If the Sentinels made just one false move, four simultaneous attacks from Leona, Maokai, Ezreal and Lux would immediately torn them apart; on the other hand, Irelia himself alone is too strong already to be let on a loose.

Throughout the game, Saigon Jokers had accumulated much more gold and items than the Sentinels had, but in the face of the Singaporeans’ superior skills, it took them 47 minutes to finally finish the first game and advance to the tournament’s deciding match.

A win for Vietnam after 47 suspenseful minutes.

Final Match 1 Video

Match 2 - Blood rivals

- Singapore Sentinels’ picks: Yorick - Vladimir - Caitlyn - Nunu - Cho'Gath.
- Saigon Jokers’ picks: Graves - Sona - Shen - Maokai - Karthus.

By picking Karthus, Singapore seemed to have guessed that Saigon Jokers would utilize the same strategy from last game; so, Yorick would sit in the bottom lane while Caitlyn and Nunu will fend off the Graves-Sona duo in the mid lane.

Their alignment is also special in that the Sentinels’ jungler, Cho’Gath, could do Ignite and Flash while Nunu, the support, could carry out Smite, most usefully to assist Cho’Gath in navigating the jungle and at the same time deal with the Jokers’ Maokai. That is not mentioning Nunu can also team up with Cho’Gath to gank other lanes, by harnessing his ability to either slow down or speed up an opponent at his will.

Singapore Sentinels made a unique team arrangement too

The Sentinels, having learned from the previous game, made pretty cautious moves and only focused on farming, but the Jokers already gained the upper hand. Not long after Karthus reached level 6, a top lane gank by Maokai along with a “death call” from him helped Shen, QTV’s hero, seized the first win and gained an advantage in gold holdings.

Three versus one… oh, you know what happens.

As the game reached the 10th minute, the Sentinels were close to taking the first dragon of the match, when Nixwater threw himself in beneath the four enemy heroes to prevent it at all costs. Immediately after, Shen, Graves, Sona and Maokai showed up in time for Karthus’s revenge. Already outnumbering their opponents, the Jokers moved on to take down the dragon themselves.

Nixwater in the crossfire…

In this second game, Shen the Ninja also shined in his combat against Vladimir in the top lane. Although controlling a short-range hero, with Maokai’s assistance, QTV did not only make more gold than Tofuboi did, but also overshadowed him in the number of kills: 3 kills, marked at the 18th minute, foretold a gloomy ending ahead for Vladimir.

Tofuboi had a lackluster day playing.

However, just a tiny mistake can ruin the most perfect game and so, Saigon Jokers decided not to push when they still have more gold as well as kills, instead relaxed the pace and patiently waited for a faulty move from their opponent’s part. Their strategy proved correct when a moment after, the Jokers successfully scored an ace against the Sentinels, losing only Graves and Sona. A few minutes later, due to an utterly reckless move, Caitlyn and Yorick were eliminated in a flash. Saigon Jokers, with their existing momentum, then took down Baron with ease.

Ace!

Yorick must have heard Lil’ Knight’s “Lost” in his head, when he got lost and then got killed.

Having secured the Baron’s spell, Saigon Jokers pushed to the mid lane, killed all their enemy’s heroes and even took down the barrack. In the next push, Yorick (again!) and Vladimir somehow puzzlingly walked into the bottom lane right by a Jokers ambush, and were eliminated immediately. Then, only Caitlyn and Nunu were left; the Sentinels had no choice but to watch their Nexus burned. As the bell rang at the 39th minute, the Jokers knew they would be representing Southeast Asia at the World Tour in Los Angeles this October.