The Dean's List 3 (BOL Gold Week 3 Recap & Week 4 Preview)

Hello everybody and welcome to week 3 of BOL Gold’s Dean’s List! Before we get everyone prepared for the next round of games, let’s take a look back at the standout players and stories from this past Thursday.

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BDE Corruption (1-1) vs Flannel Zephyr (0-2)

Result: Corruption 2-1

Corruption scored a much needed win this week against a struggling Zephyr squad, though their manner of winning revealed many things about them as a team.

BDE.C are a team that wants to snowball, and they want to snowball hard. In game 1, XIL was everywhere he needed to be and then some. Securing both of the first two drakes as well as five total grubs, and then ending with a perfect KDA (8/0/7), he was definitely at the forefront of their eventual victory.

Zephyr didn’t roll over and die, however. Bagoot stepped up in a big way on the Lillia pick, also securing a perfect KDA (5/0/9) as well as all six grubs to eventually kick off a snowball of their own. Additionally, after some massive early kills, Regdor led the charge in a 12/1/5 game on Kai’sa to even the series score.

Game 3 was scrappy early, with both teams landing big kills across the map. After a big scrap around 10 minutes, however, Corruption grabbed the game by the horns until Zephyr wrestled it back at minute 24. Flannel got another big fight to deny Soul, but it was all for naught, as Corruption ended up with Baron at 38 minutes, followed by Soul at 39 and the nexus at 40.

Both teams delivered a banger of a series, though a pattern emerges at deeper inspection: blue side won all 3 games. Even deeper, Corruption only won with Narwhal on Varus, which might prove to be a weakness for the roster as a whole.

The biggest takeaway here about Corruption is that this team needs Narwhal and Swag to be on something that can win lane in order to give XIL the security he needs to secure early objectives. It’s really a team effort, as Havok and Pando are also playing picks that can win lane, but the team appears to live and die off of their early tempo. Shut that down, and you shut them down.

Zephyr continues to have the same issues week after week, but this is their first time getting even a game, and it couldn’t have come at a better time. The Flannel team needs every win they can get from this point forward, but a strong game against Corruption shows that some of their weaknesses are being fixed. They still struggle in the late game and certain players continue to be uninspiring, but this team can still look to make a push.

Player of the Series: XIL69 - How could I not? With a series scoreline of 16/4/24 and damn solid objective control, XIL had a statement series.

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REV Regalia (1-1) vs Nameless Rising (0-2)

Result: Regalia 2-0

I’m gonna be blunt, there’s not a lot to talk about with this series.

Regalia won game 1 in not particularly close fashion as Nameless managed to only secure 2 drakes and 7 kills. Comparatively, Regalia got all 6 grubs, herald, 2 dragons, Baron, and 24 kills to end the game in 24 minutes.

G2 was a closer affair, with Nameless keeping the game within a few hundred gold for the first 13 minutes. The game slowly began to fall away from them after a few important kills and objectives were lost at the 14 minute mark, resulting in Regalia ending up with a gold lead. Sea did have a big quadra kill moment at 19 minutes that made the game close again, but Regalia managed to win another big fight at 21 minutes to slingshot them back to a nearly 2k gold lead. After 9 more minutes of solid map play, REV ended the series with a strong 2-0.

Like I said, there’s just not too much to analyze with this series. Regalia’s weakness continues to be their predictable early game. If you deny them from first grubs, then they grow significantly weaker as a unit. Nameless did catch onto this in g2, but they weren’t able to spin the game into a meaningful advantage. Regalia were just better in fights and played to the new patch incredibly well.

Player of the Series: Lespanx - Tossup between him and Scrambles, but Lespanx had a damn good series on the Ashe and Jinx. 15/2/22 in a 2-0 is a very impressive scoreline, as is his impact on the damage graph in each game (19k g1, 24k g2).

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BDE Typhoon (2-0) vs Flannel Ethereal (0-2)

Result: Typhoon 2-0

Guys. They did it. Typhoon managed to win a series in convincing fashion. Sucks to be Ethereal, I guess, but like. Damn. Good for them.

G1 just wasn’t particularly close, guys. From BeanMG killing his opposing top laner seemingly off cooldown to Kevin securing all 6 grubs and 2 Barons, there just wasn’t any clear shot for the Flannel team to get any sort of footing in this game.

G2 wasn’t much better either. To their credit, PrismaSire was able to secure 5 of the 6 grubs and half of the team’s kills. The problem with that second statement is that Ethereal only managed to get 2 kills in g2. I’m not making that up.

Typhoon just hands-diffed this series, plain and simple. I continue to worry for this team’s ability to close without baron (did you guys really need to kill Baron twice to end g1?), but like. Bro.

Ethereal need to make some major adjustments, fast. Something in this team is just not working in their favor, and they don’t have long to make that change. Time is not on their side if they want to try and make playoffs, let alone win this league.

Player of the Series: BeanMG - 17/1/20 series scoreline (37 series KDA btw), taking 7 towers in g1, and had the most gold earned in the series by a comfortable mile.

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Mystic Cats Gold (2-0) vs Conduit Prime (0-2)

Result: Conduit 2-1

Of course MCG lost a series immediately after I called them a sleeper threat. That one’s on me, guys. My bad.

Jokes aside, Conduit appear to have found their groove with their newly adjusted roster. In case you missed it, Akovi is out and HoodiemanX is in for top lane. After a loss in g1, Conduit went on to win the next two games to take the series in 2-1 fashion.

To quickly recap g1, D3adpixell got the exact pick he wanted in Aatrox, which led to him winning and controlling the early game for his team. Together with the Klugscheißer Rumble, they were able to buy time and space for Physiology to hit the magic number on Smolder to win the game.

The second game was a similar story, but played on the other side. Hoodie got his pocket Vladimir which was able to give Conduit hope in the early game. A massive fight at 18 minutes resulted in Prime grabbing the lead back from MCG, allowing them to win an absolute slugfest of a game.

With everything on the line in g3, Prime got the early advantage that eluded them in the past two games before ending the game off a Baron push at 39 minutes. MCG fought valiantly, but it was too little too late by that point.

Whatever secret stuff they drank between weeks 2 and 3 appears to have worked wonders for the Conduit squad. From the whisperings I’ve been hearing, in-game communication seems to have improved, and it shows. The team appears to be more focused, which will hopefully be a trend for the squad going forward.

For Mystic Cats, my impression of this squad remains the same. They very much want to play through their topside until Physiology is fully online to take over the game. If able to shut down this strategy, then the team appears to be more vulnerable. Hopefully they’re able to improve upon this weakness to grow as a squad and continue to remain in the playoffs conversation.

Player of the Series: Razors4life - Razors was the player on his team with the least amount of total deaths this series at 6. That and he somehow managed to earn 20k gold in g3 to basically win his team the game.

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REV Eternal (2-0) vs Hyperion Esports (2-0)

Result: Hyperion 2-1

I don’t wanna talk about it.

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Okay, fine.

Both teams traded convincing wins in both g1 and g2 before entering a hotly contested g3. Despite Eternal getting the early lead, Hyperion’s deathball strategy with the Ashe + Seraphine combo was just too much to overcome, as they slowly picked and crawled their way back into the game.

Both teams really did show some strengths and weaknesses this series. For example, Eternal’s top laner M4ddness proved that he is an incredibly stable and consistent laner, able to hold his own with even the best of the best in the league. Billybadass and Booter Scooch are the best aggressive lane in the league, and a focused LeperKoopa can shut down any opposing mid laner. 

However, comma.

Without at least one hard winning lane to play through, Eternal does look significantly weaker. They need at least one lane to be smashing in order to have direction early. While that usually comes from bot, I can say with confidence that the solo lanes are equally capable of stepping up to be that guy.

On the Hyperion side, if Dione is able to roam and apply pressure, she can straight up paralyze the entire enemy team. I’d argue at this point that she’s the best roaming mid laner in the league by a comfortable margin. Pair that with a fairly strong bot lane duo in Atilla and Moonlight, and you have a team that can play hard and fast to shut you down.*

*if you let Atilla have a prio lane.

If they’re prevented from winning their lane hard, the Hyperion bot lane can struggle to provide value to their team, which drastically hurts them. The meme they’ve latched onto is that Atilla is an Ashe merchant, which is only partially true.

Overall, even though only one team could win the day, both teams proved just why they’re at the top of the standings. The race between Eternal, Hyperion, and Typhoon just got a lot more exciting.

Player of the Series: Dione Atlas - Like I said, she was absolutely paralyzing in g2 & g3. It’s something no stat BOL has access to will show, but the eye test absolutely will. When she was off the map, Eternal froze, which is a mind game you need to be prepared for when playing against this team.

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With last week’s recap done, it’s time to look ahead at next week’s matches!

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Flannel Ethereal (0-3) vs BDE Corruption (2-1)

BDE Corruption are technically in sole possession of 6th place, which makes them a playoffs-bound team at their current trajectory. For them, this week is another week to continue to build their resume and continue their climb to secure that postseason spot. For Ethereal, it’s another week to try and climb into that 6th place spot.

Given both squads’ week 3 performances, I can really only bet on Corruption, right? I cannot stress enough, Ethereal didn’t just lose, they got absolutely blasted. I can’t describe that series any other way, which sucks because I really do like those players. They really do have some glaring weaknesses that need to be fixed, but I’ll leave it at that for now.

Corruption are slowly growing more consistent, which is a terrifying sentence to put out into the ether. While I do think some credit absolutely has to go to the full squad, XIL really is becoming “him,” so to speak.

No other notes, I expect this to be a solid and unexciting series. Time for Pando to pick something like Poppy mid and lose 0-2 now that I said that.

Prediction: Corruption 2-0

Player to Watch: XIL69

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Hyperion Esports (3-0) vs REV Regalia (2-1)

Hyperion is looking to continue their run of hard teams with a match against Eternal’s sister team, REV Regalia. While a safe bet might be to call for a win against Regalia, this might be more interesting than a first glance might suggest.

This REV team is actually very similar to Hyperion. Not only do they have a strong read on the current meta, but their players, position for position, almost perfectly mirror what Hyperion wants to try and do. Both mid laners want to roam and apply pressure on the map, both junglers want to invade, and both top laners are okay with simply existing. 

I did specify “almost,” didn’t I?

Where these teams really diverge is in their bot lane identity. Hyperion wants to win the 2v2 with an enchanter lane while Regalia wants to get their support, Chubby Chernobyl, on the map. Both of these strategies have merit, so it really does set up for an interesting matchup. 

While I think it’ll definitely be a close series… yeah, I’m going with a Hyperion win. It’ll definitely be closer than a passing spectator might think, but I don’t think Regalia is quite on their level yet.

Prediction: Hyperion 2-1

Player to Watch: Chubby Chernobyl

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REV Eternal (2-1) vs Mystic Cats Gold (2-1)

I’ve done more prep this week against MCG than I think I have against any of my past opponents, and honestly, divorcing “content man TheDean0” from “REV Eternal jungler TheDean0” is incredibly hard for this week in particular.

I will say this again, I do not think MCG is a bad team. Even with their loss to Conduit in week 3, I genuinely believe that they’re a sleeper pick to make a run. Physiology is damn good in the late game, D3adpixel is good on his picks, and Klug is always a threat.

However, comma.

Pound for pound, I think Eternal just beats MCG. This might be “jungler TheDean0” talking here, but I genuinely believe every lane should just, sorta, win. MCG are not bad, but the way they match up against Eternal is just rough, particularly in the bot lane.

What do you mean Eternal is playing with a substitute bot lane?

Yeah, REV is starting General Danobi and YesParade this week due to some player absences, and honestly, I do think it throws a wrench in this series. Both from a communication standpoint as well as a laning point, Eternal are playing with a different deck here.

I have no idea how Danobi will match up against Physiology, but honestly, I really think (read: I am praying) it doesn’t matter that much. As long as Dan and Parade don’t run it, we’ll be fine. Right?

R-right?

Prediction: Eternal 2-1

Player to Watch: the bot lane in general

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Conduit Prime (1-2) vs BDE Typhoon (3-0)

Congrats on your win in week 3, Conduit Prime! For your reward, you will be playing against the sole first place team in the league, BDE Typhoon! No refunds!

Yeah, even with their revamped roster and momentum, Typhoon should just absolutely stomp this series. I don’t think there’s a single lane I favor Prime to win, which honestly sounds way meaner than I expected it to.

No disrespect to Conduit, especially because I do actually think this team has some potential, but Typhoon is just operating on another level right now. Legitimately every player on that team is a carry threat, and a damn strong one at that.

This is maybe the most lopsided matchup of the week, and I feel bad for saying that, but. Yeah.

Yeahhhhhhhhhh.

Prediction: Typhoon 2-0

Player to Watch: yes

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Flannel Zephyr (0-3) vs Nameless Rising (0-3)

This is it. The little one. The clash of the amoebas, the battle for the rags, the rumble in the jungle, the showdown at the valley bottom…

Hang on a minute.

Yeah this is our first matchup between two teams at the bottom of the standings, though you wouldn’t be able to tell that if you had watched any of Zephyr’s games.

This Flannel team is probably the best bad team in the league, and I say that with love in my heart. They just need to stop being MLB level pitchers who throw every game with their entire soul, and they’d be a respectable 2-1 team at this point. It is no exaggeration when I describe this team as being so good until they just decide to be oh so bad.

Nameless Rising deserve some credit for keeping games close early, but much like their opponents this week, they always find a way to lose in heartbreaking fashion. I want to say something positive about this roster, but they keep leaving me with nothing week after week.

Optimistically, I want this week to be where one of these two teams shows me that they can improve to the point where they can make the playoffs race close and exciting. If I can’t get that, then I want a beautiful disaster of a series where both teams somehow end up with 40+ kills.

Vegas odds favor Zephyr here, but I’m not one to go with the grain. While it really could go either way, I have more faith in Nameless to not lose the game than I do for Zephyr to actually win it.

Prediction: Nameless Rising 2-1

Player to Watch: BDuhMana

Please let the playful tone come through, I like these players too much to be mean.

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That’s it for this week’s edition of The Dean’s List. Remember, this is all meant to start discussion and to be taken with a grain of salt. If you disagree or if you have any notes on things I may have missed, please be civil and respectful. With that in mind, good luck, have fun, and we’ll see you on the rift!