Samsung White vs Samsung Blue
Match ups:
Looper vs Acorn
- Recently Acorn has been getting the better of this duel but overall they both perform the same roles for their team. Acorn is maybe slightly more well rounded and plays better in lane swaps while Looper has his pocket Singed. Overall pretty close with a very slight (like 55-45 split) to Acorn. SLIGHT ADVANTAGE ACORN
Dandy vs Spirit:
- Dandy has been the best jungler in this tournament and while Spirit has played excellently this year Dandy is just one of the few true elite junglers in the world. ADVANTAGE DANDY
Pawn vs Dade:
- You could make an argument that Dade is the best player in this tournament. His career has been incredible and rivaled only be the games all time best players. Pawn is an incredibly talented player as well that has made a name for himself by stepping up against the World's best mid laners and playing the best games of his career against them. While I think this is another close match up and it wouldn't surprise my if Pawn solo killed Dade like he's done to Faker a number of times, I can't knowingly predict that to happen. Money goes to the tried and true (except at last years Worlds) player and that's Dade. SLIGHT ADVANTAGE DADE
Imp/Mata vs Deft/Heart
- Arguably the two best top lanes in the world facing off. Each have a very unique and contrasting style even though they share a number of the same champions. I tend to give advantages to consistency over aggression but I just feel as if Imp and Mata are going to go down as the best bot lane ever and they're performing at a ridiculously high level in this tournament. I expect the aggression and psychological game to favor the duo from White ever so slightly. SLIGHT ADVANTAGE IMP/MATA
Picks and Bans:
This series will come down the draft. These two teams are so evenly matched and know each other so well that somebody is going to have to break out something completely different or trap the other into a bad pick. Considering White's larger champion pools and willingness to take risks I see it being them. Maybe it'll be a Looper Singed pick or even something as extreme as banning out most of Dade's pool to force him onto a narrow pick like Ryze. Or maybe it'll be something really bizarre. Regardless, the team that wins the draft is probably going to win this series and I think White has the ever so slight unpredictability factor over Blue (not to say Blue isn't unpredictable). SLIGHT ADVANTAGE SAMSUNG WHITE
Overall Prediction: Samsung White wins 3 - 1
This could go either way. I actually think there is a really good chance this goes to five games and I sure hope it does but I'm going to give this series to White. They're playing extremely well and with a certain bravado that I'm not sure Blue can handle this time around. While Blue has been the only team to defeat White since January, I sincerely think that White finally conquers their demon and defeats their sister team to move on to finals. I predicted this semi final and I also predicted White to win the whole thing. I'm sticking with it. This time White takes down Blue.
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OMG vs Starhorn Royal Club
Match ups:
Both of these teams are coming into this series playing their best games of the tournament. While they're both Chinese clubs that thrive on skirmishes and team fights over the more cerebral and strategic game they're both built much differently. OMG is built around the jungle and dominant solo lanes. Their jungler Loveling focuses a lot of energy in getting his solo lanes rolling. SHRC is built entirely around their AD carry Uzi and they invest a lot of resources into him. It seems as though nobody has been able to stop SHRC's predictable game plan but I think OMG has the tools to do so. I simply place more value in dominant solo laners than I do in dominant AD carries. OMG has won the overall historical match up between the two with a total of 12 wins to 6 losses and while OMG was struggling mightily in the playoffs and early going in this tournament it seems they've finally hit their stride. This has the potential to be a blowout as both teams rely heavily on momentum and especially within the Chinese scene the team with it in their favor usually wins. But I get the feeling that we'll have a close, five game slugfest in this series and I think that in a long series, OMG has the advantage. A more maleable and open draft phase, the introduction of Cloud to improve on their greatest weakness, and the historical advantage lead me to believe OMG have the edge in this one.
(Realistically I'd say this is only like a 55-45 or less split. It's really close)
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OMG vs Starhorn Royal Club
Match ups:
Gogoing vs Cola
- Gogoing has been an absolute beast in these World Championships and while Cola has performed admirably he's simply outclassed here. SEVERE ADVANTAGE GOGOING
LoveLing vs Insec:
- Two junglers with long and illustrious careers within their regions (and Insec in two!). Multiple worlds performances and a solid quarterfinals performance from Loveling would lead one to think he's coming into this rivalry showdown red hot but Insec was up to his old tricks on Lee Sin in the quarterfinals and has been the man setting up a lot of Uzi's rampage throughout this tournament. I actually feel as though this matchup is relatively even but Insec has the higher ceiling and lower floor while Loveling is pretty steady with his play. A lot will depend on the champions these two opt for. I expect the Lee Sin to be a primary pick once again to either take it away or ban it. NO ADVANTAGE
Cool vs Corn:
- Historically speaking, Cool is just the better talent. There are only a few champions in common and I'm not entirely sure Corn is the kind of dynamic player to shut down Cool. Best case scenario for Corn is that he gets on one of his roaming assassins and doesn't have to deal with laning for an extended period of time against Cool or he gets a lot of help from Insec which would be uncharacteristic of Starhorn Royal Club. There is the off chance that Corn's experience against Cool gives him a potential silver bullet but you could argue the same for Cool as well. ADVANTAGE COOL
San/Cloud vs Uzi/Zero
- Although Cloud was a huge upgrade over Dada777 and seems to have invigorated this team they just don't stand a chance against the red hot Uzi and Zero. San and Cloud are simply outclassed and I'm not sure any previous experience will be as much of a factor now that Cloud is in the picture. SEVERE ADVANTAGE UZI/ZERO
Picks and Bans:
This is a tough draft to predict. I expect the majority of the bans and priority first rotation picks to be spent on the top lane in the series. Gogoing has been playing out of his mind and it would behoove SHRC to shut down his Ryze and Irelia. Perhaps Maoki and Rumble will escape bans and see some play but if I'm SHRC I'd be banning out three and taking what's left. Another potential conflict point is the Lee Sin pick. While OMG has Gogoing to scare out bans/picks, SHRC has Insec's Lee Sin to do the same. I full expect it to be picked by Loveling or banned from purple side in each game leaving the junglers to battle for the Jarvan and Khazix picks. In the mid lane I simply think there are too many champions they are each proficient on and OMG will likely allow Cool to play whichever matchups he wants and not restrict him with bans but SHRC may throw out a Syndra or Yasuo ban. The Zilean, who has been pick/banned in over 90% of the games at World's this year, is another possibility to join Alistar in permaban prison. Much like the showdown between the Samsung sister teams I believe that this series could potentially be decided on who is willing to be more versatile or take risks in the draft. Historically OMG has been the more strategic and innovative team while SHRC has been predictable. Both teams possess relatively deep champion pools but the requirement by SHRC to concern themselves with Gogoing AND Cool in bans is certainly going to provide a bigger challenge than OMG having to worry about AD carry bans for Uzi or any single particular threat from the solo lanes and jungle of SHRC. ADVANTAGE OMG
Overall Prediction: OMG wins 3 - 2
Both of these teams are coming into this series playing their best games of the tournament. While they're both Chinese clubs that thrive on skirmishes and team fights over the more cerebral and strategic game they're both built much differently. OMG is built around the jungle and dominant solo lanes. Their jungler Loveling focuses a lot of energy in getting his solo lanes rolling. SHRC is built entirely around their AD carry Uzi and they invest a lot of resources into him. It seems as though nobody has been able to stop SHRC's predictable game plan but I think OMG has the tools to do so. I simply place more value in dominant solo laners than I do in dominant AD carries. OMG has won the overall historical match up between the two with a total of 12 wins to 6 losses and while OMG was struggling mightily in the playoffs and early going in this tournament it seems they've finally hit their stride. This has the potential to be a blowout as both teams rely heavily on momentum and especially within the Chinese scene the team with it in their favor usually wins. But I get the feeling that we'll have a close, five game slugfest in this series and I think that in a long series, OMG has the advantage. A more maleable and open draft phase, the introduction of Cloud to improve on their greatest weakness, and the historical advantage lead me to believe OMG have the edge in this one.
(Realistically I'd say this is only like a 55-45 or less split. It's really close)
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