Jen's Journal - BOL Masters League Week 3

ATTENTION: KHAN ESPORTS, PLEASE REPORT MATCHES WITH TEAM NAMES. THANK YOU.

Anyway, I have no idea how far down you league addicts read (bet you all just egosurf), so I’ll put some post-analysis thoughts here. Ahri looks like she was a very strong pick. She was pick or ban across multiple series, and everyone who played her did quite well. 

Smolder, Senna, and Karma were popular picks and bans as well, but we’ll probably be seeing less of them after the latest patch. Would love to see more interesting picks in the coming weeks!

Week 3 Recap

Demacia

Goofy Goobers	2-1	Omega Akuma Pairing Knives
Khan Esports	2-1	The Crabs Radiant
The Fraud Team	1-2	DZG Styx
Dorado Gaming Beta	-	BYE

Goofy Goobers vs Omega Akuma Pairing Knives (2-1)

Finally! No Smolder or Maokai = Omega loses? For some reason they banned both those champs every game in what might be a personal attack on me. Unfortunately for them, they failed to prove me wrong by losing. Nice try though :) 

The Goobers’ objective game was on point—12 dragons and 5 barons taken across 3 games. Funnily enough, more than half of those were secured in their game 2 loss, where they took 3 barons and 6 dragons but still lost the game. Looks like it was a King Koney (top version) diff on the Fiora yet again. Furthermore, Omega definitely outdrafted that game. Goobers had a very pick-oriented comp, and Omega countered that quite well. But, maybe hindsight is 20/20.

Overall, the Goofy Goobers crushed their competition decisively, and Filled JG in particular did a great job of snowballing their lanes. Though Superyacht struggled against Fiora (understandable), the Goobers all performed admirably this week, and it’s especially notable since this was against a team that looked quite strong. Gotta love the solid team effort that happened here!

Khan Esports vs The Crabs Radiant (2-1)

Every game looked pretty one-sided. Khan destroyed Crabs in game 1 and 3, while Crabs crushed Khan in game 2. It’s more of what I saw a glimpse of in Week 1—Khan’s mid, jungle, and bot lane tend to coordinate really well to gain an advantage. It’s hard to tell who exactly was the biggest difference maker, but all four players clearly worked well as a team. I think Puffles deserves a callout for doing extremely well throughout the whole series.

On the other side, Palmgoat was a standout player, managing to stay alive and pump out damage even when their team wasn’t doing too hot. Alchemist died a lot in their losses (I’ll be generous and assume to save the ADC), but they were certainly critical in their ADC’s performance, hitting 100% KP in game 3.

The Fraud Team vs DZG Styx (1-2)

DZG Styx keeps up their tradition of dropping the first game before pulling off 2 wins to go 2-1! 

Game 1 was pretty horrific for DZG Styx, with Tonzo going 2/13 and Ulvaric going 1/8. There’s been KDs like this in past weeks, but not really from strong teams. Verticality really popped off that game, and Hunterwolfsteel5 was very impactful. Guessing that the Fraud Team absolutely crushed the 2v2s top side. Then the tables turned in game 2 where the skirmishes went fully in DZG’s favor and ended in a quick 24 minute win. 

Cuuz finally rolled in for game 3 and snowballed every lane. Failz really popped off on Pyke this game—would love to see more of that! Overall, I’m a big fan of how DZG Styx always seem to crush their competition after they get a read on them. Unless the 1 loss into 2 wins is always a coincidence? 

Noxus

Dorado Gaming Gamma	2-0	Death Cards
Nameless Tritium	2-0	Leash the Dog
Lane Zero Maelstrom	2-0	USAE Academy
Bing Chillers TBD		BYE

Dorado Gaming Gamma vs Death Cards (2-0)

Dorado Gaming Gamma completely ran Death Cards over. Death Cards had a great record thus far but hadn’t played against any strong-looking teams yet. I was looking forward to seeing how Gamma did after their week 1 win, and they did not disappoint. Sadly no more TF thanks to Riot.

Every Gamma player did well, but the bot lane was especially great. Karino and Marcotte were an unstoppable force in both games. From Death Cards, kudos to 2004 Lexus FX470 for doing what they could—absolutely nothing happened for their team without them in game 2. 

Nameless Tritium vs Leash the Dog (2-0)

We had to hit week 3 for Nameless Tritium to finally play 2 full games. And they won both! Redemption arc incoming?

From these games, it looks like Tritium is another team with particularly strong bot side coordination. The wins were stomps, so there’s not a ton of interesting things to say. Vøltage put in damage both games, and Jhid and BBB Llama were a strong duo. 

Nuggetz kinda popped off in game 1 on Twitch with rainydaz3’s Milio by their side, but it wasn’t enough when the rest of their team was so behind. Btw, highly questioning the Nasus pick by StefStef Supreme. Not a very impactful champ in 5s.

Lane Zero Maelstrom vs USAE Academy (2-0)

This result should come as no surprise to anybody and was definitely the one prediction I was most sure of. But honestly, it was a little bit less stompy than I expected.

Game 1 was a rapid 22 minute win for Lane Zero. Griffin crushed it on Ahri, going 16/1 with 88% KP. The rest of their team performed excellently as well. 

Game 2 looked a lot closer, with YSKPomPom and YUNOHANA making plays happen. But Lane Zero secured 6 grubs, 2 barons, and drag soul to close out the game. I could’ve missed it, but I think this is the only team I’ve seen this week (or maybe any week?) that got every single grub. Both games, too. 

Just like with USAE’s support and jungle, I think Brash and NA Stallion did a great job and were integral in their wins.

Power Rankings

A few surprising results this week, with the most notable probably being the Goofy Goobers’ win over Omega Akuma Pairing Knives. But it was also great seeing teams like Khan Esports, Dorado Gaming Gamma, and Nameless Tritium show their mettle. 

Let’s see how this changes the standings.

1. Lane Zero Maelstrom

Their reign of terror continues. Lane Zero is now the only team left with a spotless, no loss record. They still have yet to face off against the stronger looking teams in Noxus, but maybe those teams won’t look so strong after a round against them? Sadly, we won’t find out until Week 5 since they have a bye next week.

2. DZG Styx

DZG Styx has emerged as the powerhouse of Demacia. Their record isn’t quite as pristine as Lane Zero’s since they like to lose the first game of every series before destroying every other game. Imagine they keep up their tradition for the rest of the league?

3. Goofy Goobers

The Goofy Goobers had a great showing this week against Omega, and their loss last week looks less bad considering it was against DZG Styx. I think it’s a good thing that they tend to succeed or fail as a team. It’s a sign of their cohesiveness. 

4. Dorado Gaming Gamma

Dorado Gaming Gamma has had limited chances to prove themselves thanks to a bye in week 2, but they have quickly proven themselves to be one of the strongest teams in Noxus. It seems unlikely that any team besides Lane Zero will give them trouble. That matchup will probably solidify the top standings in that bracket.

5. Omega Akuma Pairing Knives

Alas, no Smolder or Maokai abuse this week and so they lost. Omega Akuma Pairing Knives was looking pretty great until now. Their top laner does look very strong on Fiora, and they are capable of creating immense pressure on their own. But they might need to figure out more win cons (now that Smolder is solidly off the table).

6. Death Cards

Oops, maybe I cursed Death Cards but saying I wanted them to struggle to reveal their weak links. Against Gamma this week, everybody looked like a weak link. It’s starting to look like they aren’t so strong after all, but their next match against BCS should hopefully shed some light on this matter.

7. Khan Esports

Khan Esports showed up this week, but it was against the poorly-performing Crabs. Their next few matches will show us just how good (or bad) they actually are. I’ve mentioned that I like how their mid, jungle, and bot lane work together, and I still think it’s a good thing. But if they meet another team that coordinates just as well, will they fall short? 

8. Nameless Tritium

Finally, we saw them really play this week. And they did great! Stomps after being stomped last week means there isn’t a lot I can say about Nameless Tritium yet, but they definitely do have potential. Next week probably won’t prove much, unless they end up losing.

9. Dorado Gaming Beta

No game last week so not much new to say. Excited to see how they do against Khan next week. If they drop another series, I think I might lose all hope for them. 

10. BCS Demolishers

Same as above—bye last week. I think their next match is another one to look forward to. Either BCS will prove that they’re not that bad, or Death Cards will redeem themselves to stay in the top 3 of Noxus. 

11. The Fraud Team

They were expected to lose this week and so they did, but at least they got a win on DZG Styx? It seems like their solo lane starters are often not playing, which could be contributing to their weakness. But I guess that’s a them problem. 

12. Leash the Dog

Now it looks like last week was just an easy matchup. The same people who did great last week performed quite poorly into Nameless Tritium this week. Nowhere to go but up, so let’s hope Leash the Dog surprises us in the weeks to come.

13. The Crabs Radiant

Sometimes individual Crabs seem to pop off, but none of them do it consistently. Do well one game to get crushed in the next. They really don’t look like a team and I hope they can work on that.

14. USAE Academy

USAE Academy has won the race for the bottom. Unfortunately, it’s hard to see them climbing out of this spot. Their support redeemed themselves a bit this week, but their top still looks like a very weak link. Most of the team is getting run over in almost every game.

Week 4 Predictions

Demacia

The Crabs Radiant vs DZG Styx: DZG Styx 2-1

Dorado Gaming Beta vs Khan Esports: Khan Esports 2-1

Omega Akuma Pairing Knives vs The Fraud Team: Omega Akuma Pairing Knives 2-1

Noxus

USAE Academy vs Nameless Tritium: Nameless Tritium 2-0

Death Cards vs BCS Demolishers: Death Cards 2-1

Leash the Dog vs Dorado Gaming Gamma: Dorado Gaming Gamma 2-0