Mass Destruction (Day 130)

The first day of the League of Legends Battle of the Atlantic is taking place today. It's an international tournament pitting North American pro teams against European pro teams. Other than a cash prize, there's not a ton on the line in these matches--some of the pros consider them little more than glorified show matches. However, there is an issue of pride because European teams have traditionally been considered stronger overall.

Dignitas versus the newly formed Evil Geniues (now called Alliance) took place today. Krepo, Snoopeh, and Yellowpete have departed to North America, forming a new team with Innox and Pobelter in an attempt to qualify for the North American LCS--ballooning the European count in NA to six players. Wickd and Froggen stayed behind, introducing Shook, Tabzz, and Kazmitch to their roster. Dignitas is no stranger to roster swaps either--their support player Patoy is now gone, replaced by their former top laner KiWiKid. Cruzerthebruzer is now assuming top lane responsibilities.

In short, the games were a slaughter. Although Dignitas was not entirely without promise, their entire strategy was incredibly unpolished. In the first game they fielded an incredible roster of comfort champions but completely choked against Alliance's flawless teamplay. Froggen and Wickd won their lanes handily, and Shook made sure that Qtpie and KiWiKid could never even get foothold in the bottom lane. His jungle pressure on Elise was phenomenal--Crumbzz just could not keep up on his Olaf.

Although the second game was not quite as onesided, it's clear that Alliance was confident enough to play the game in a more relaxed fashion. Wickd hapilly built a Trinity Force on top lane Malphite and proceeded to win every trade with Cruzer's Shyvana. A disastrous countergank from Crumbzz's Evelynn went terribly, resulting in getting all three members involved killed in the 3v3.

Despite some impressive plays from KiWi's Karma in both games, Dignitas just looked lost. Alliance were confident and having fun in both games, laughing and smiling to each other. Scarra and co. shared somber faces and vacant stares. They were clearly not happy with their performances--and neither, I imagine, were their fans.