Dignitas were already out of the world championships by the time this game came around but there was still plenty of pride to play for. NaJin were already safely into the Ro8 but making it through and clean sweeping your group are not the same, no phoning it in from them.
Bans
Dignitas: Evelynn, Nidalee, Malphite
NaJin Sword: Alistar, Katarina, Skarner
Picks
Dignitas: Ezreal, Udyr, Irelia, Diana, Blitzcrank
NaJin Sword: Shen, Sona, Lee Sin, Corki, Anivia
NJ.S started the game off with a bang, stealing Dig’s blue and slipping up to top lane to kill Irelia with a slick flash-taunt. Dig returned the favour instantly when Blitz landed a nice hook on Sona and she was summarily blown up, the kill going to Ezreal. Irelia’s early death put her significantly behind. Being 22 CS behind Shen at 6 minutes is bad, but it’s even worse when that equates to a two level difference. Shen used the fact that he was level six and Irelia was level four to fantastic effect and picked up an easy 1v1 kill, extending his lead. This was made worse still when immediately after Shen ulted down to botlane and picked up another kill.
A great engage in botlane allowed Dignitas to pick up two kills, one for Blitz and one for Ez. Lee Sin came down for revenge and managed to down Ezreal, but overall Dig came off that trade ahead and the gold cap closed slightly. Toplane remained a problem however, by 14 minutes Shen had twice the CS of Irelia as well of two kills and two assists, he’d taken the tower and just as Dig were about to three-man gank him he ulted away, taunting as he went.
NaJin had extended their lead to over 5000g when they got overconfident and overcommitted to a fight in Dig’s jungle. Ezreal landed a sweet ult to egg Anivia and scarra scored a double kill. While NaJin were still 4000g ahead they needed to play somewhat more carefully, their lead was not unassailable. They did not immediately do this and great hook from Blitz allowed Diana to pick up yet another kill and Dig took down their first tower of the game. This led the gold difference to shrink 3000g, Dig had closed 2000g in a few short minutes.
NaJin recognised that their momentum had been stopped and rather than make aggressive plays to pressure Dig under their tower, they set a trap that Blitzcrank walked right into. Despite missing a taunt he was quickly killed and this lead to brutal teamfight where Dig lost four for the price of Shen. Speaking of Shen he did some serious work in this team fight, sticking on Ezreal like a crazed leech, flashing over the trees directly under Dig’s tower to make sure he couldn’t escape. When MakNooN gets ahead, he makes insanely good use of it. This fight plus a Dragon and Udyr getting caught in botlane extended the gold lead to 5000 once again.
Another team fight and another fantastic execution from NaJin, achieving an ace for one and edging ever closer to the golden 10k lead that is usually the first verse of the fat lady singing. However, like the first time NaJin seemed to be pulling very far ahead, they made a mistake- Shen got baited to his death. Blitz chose this time to land a glorious hook onto Anivia and this sparked another full-scale teamfight. Without Shen and with barely any contribution from Anivia, Dig proved the stronger and won themselves three further kills for one death. Dignitas took this seemingly good opportunity to start Baron, not an action they have historically had the best success with. This time proved no different when Blitz hooked Sona into the pit and Shen respawned, ulting onto the Sona and picking up two kills. This ended the Baron attempt and pushed him to 8/3/7 and 250 CS. Monstrous.
Another Baron attempt for Dig and once again it ends up not being worth it. This time they did succeed in taking the big worm down but lost the big team-fight that erupted right after, taking four casualties. This allowed NaJin to take the first Inhib of the game and pushed their lead up to 8000g. They quickly exposed a second Inhib and almost managed to destroy it before Dig pushed them back out. It was a costly victory however and NaJin extended their lead even further, past the golden 10k mark. They wrecked the recently spawned Inhib and the one they exposed earlier, then looked to be heading to Baron. But NaJin were not hunting large worms... they were hunting Dignatas. They hid in a bush, caught Dig split-up on their way to Baron and slaughtered them like black and yellow sheep. They put the final nail in the coffin shortly after and secured their 3-0 score in the group stages.
MVP MaKNooN. Without any shadow of a doubt. All of NaJin played very well, but no one, not in the entirety of Group B, dominated as much as MaKNoon in this game. Sure he had help, the level one gank gave him a nice little lead, but holy hell did he exploit that lead. He ended the game 15/3/11 with nearly 300 cs, an unkillable taunting machine.
Wrap Up Not the closest game ever to grace our screens, but far from a stomp. Dignitas put up a really solid fight and twice looked like they were going to come back from a severe deficit. One wonders if it would have snowballed out of control quite so hard if Irelia hadn’t died at level one and opened the door for Shen, destroyer of worlds. Nevertheless NaJin showed how strong they are; of particular note is a trait they share with iG- committal. When NaJin go in, they all go in. The confidence they have in their team to make risky plays is a breath of fresh air. Too often in LoL these day it’s not so much about who wins as who loses and this has led to less aggression and more care. The teams from the East have no such fear and they showed, throughout both groups, that with enough commitment, trust and skill- aggression wins. Every. Single. Time.
- Jaszon ‘Lightblind’ Alexzander
Source : ign[dot]com
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