Rift Rivals Draftkings Notes 6/28

Rift Rivals Notes

Friday June 28

Draftkings has once again given us two slates.One at 3 PM ET and another at 5PM ET. Both two game slates.

3:00 PM ET (2 Games)

TL vs G2

G2 came out of the gate swinging in the first game of Rift Rivals against C9, they completely and utterly dominated C9, making quick work of NA's second best team. The game was even won against a "broken" Sona/Taric bot lane and it was not even close. G2 played their style and completely shut down any hope that C9 had for that game. While I don't expect the same level of dominance against a better team in TL, I struggle to find a way that G2 can lose this one, they are one of the best teams in the world and are showing it once again against North America's best teams. TL are not typically the type of team to cheese an unorthodox strategy, so playing traditionally does not help them.

TL is clearly the best North American team at this event (not saying much). C9 and TSM are just not the top level teams that they aspire to be, and even TL is still beneath the top European teams. However, they were playing a very good game against FNC (undefeated first place EU team) and were in the lead heading into the mid game, then Jensen threw hard by getting caught and essentially handed the game over to FNC. Despite this, it showed TL "can" compete against the upper echelon of EU teams, but I do not like their chances against G2. They did lose 3-0 to G2 in the MSI finals not long ago, in the fastest finals ever. They got stomped last time, and I expect them to lose again.

G2 should win this game, I am not sure if it will follow the same trend as MSI because perhaps TL has learned a thing or two since then. Either way TL could not even beat FNC with a rookie substitute jungler, so my hopes are not high for an upset against a better team with no substitutes.

Pick: G2 

Players to target: Jankos, Caps, Mikyx

Once again the whole team is viable for G2, but these are my favorites. Caps always seems to get the better of Jensen when they face-off, including multiple solo kills. I just don't think Jensen can hold up against Caps' aggressive play-style. Wunder is also a good pick, but Impact has typically been TL's best player internationally, so Wunder could potentially get camped and "shut down".

C9 vs OG

C9 played 2 games on Day 1, and they lost 2 games on Day 1. In the first match against G2, I didn't give them much of a chance, they were completely outmatched and run over in 21 minutes. I saw a tweet that mentioned that "The fountain laser almost has more kills than C9 this game." Basically G2 died more by suiciding into the enemy base than C9 could do themselves. I chalk that game up as 2 teams who are not even remotely in the same tier of skill. Against FNC they had another poor showing, they did alright during the early game, but repeatedly got caught out and picked off due to poor map awareness and smart plays from FNC. C9 tried their best to make it a C9 game by continuing to start fights and make the game a fiesta, but in the end there were just too many poor team decisions that led to an even bigger deficit.

OG on Day 1 defeated TSM in another one sided stomp for the European teams. They looked very good and showed a different look with their mid laner and ADC switching roles. Nukeduck especially has a very big champion pool, and can play multiple positions so it can keep teams on their toes. It was a clean game from OG, not many kills but there was really no chance for TSM to come back at all. It is exactly what I expected from OG. Yesterday I called them a good, respectable team that plays smart League of Legends, and they executed perfectly vs TSM. They may not be the most exciting and aggressive team in the world like fellow Europeans G2, but they get the job done.

OG will not blow C9 out of the water like G2 did, these teams are slightly more comparable in that sense. C9 may have a fighter's chance by getting the game away from OG's more calculated style and turning the game upside down, but even then the odds of that happening are still slim in my opinion. Until C9 show me they can make the right decisions and commit fewer errors, they will be lucky to win a game this tournament.

Pick: OG

Players to target:  Kold, Alphari, Nukeduck

 5:00 PM ET (2 Games)

G2 vs TSM

I have already mentioned how I feel about G2, but to reiterate: I think they are one of the best teams in the world at the moment, and are a league above any NA team, especially TSM and C9. They play a wonderful aggressive style of LOL and have no issues ending games quickly. They punish mistakes and make proactive plays that usually end up in their favor with the amount of talent they possess in every single position.

TSM played a very poor game against OG, they got down early and ended up conceding pretty much every objective without much resistance. They got choked out of the game, slowly losing and they weren't able to find any moment to try and gain some ground back. Essentially, once they got behind they pretty much just sat there and lost. This is pretty much in line with how I view TSM as a team, they play really undecisive LOL, and struggle to play clean games even in NA against weaker competition. They do not have good late game decision making, and they couldn't even make it to late game to make their classic mistakes in their first match. I do not expect much from them this tournament.

G2 should breeze through this matchup just as they did with C9. At least with C9 in my opinion, C9 can be wacky and unpredictable and potentially fight their way to a win in some uncoordinated skirmishes. With TSM, I just do not expect them to do anything proactive, they typically wait for teams to make mistakes in late game scenarios to win games, but against G2 they won't have that luxury.

Pick: G2

Players to target: Jankos, Caps, Mikyx

TL vs OG

I have also previously mentioned my thoughts on both these teams individually, but this matchup itself is rather interesting. I think this is a game TL can win, and it could be one of the few wins that NA picks up at all during this tournament. This is because I think the way that OG plays benefits TL's style. OG is not the smashmouth in your face type of team that G2 is. They are a more calculated, slower team that may not take as many early game fights if they aren't guaranteed to be advantageous for them. This is the type of game that allows TL to play their style. In the FNC game, TL was pressured hard early and often in their strongest lane (bottom). They never really were able to recover that deficit from bot, and eventually got run over by the enemy ADC. However, without a couple of glaring mistakes during that match, TL were in the lead for the early-mid game and were in a good spot to win. One terrible throw later and the game was over. TL is a much better team that TSM, and I think that OG will not find it so easy to accumulate the early advantages that they had against TSM. In late game scenarios, I trust TL's experience and veteran leadership to take them over the top if they do not crumble early. 

Pick: TL

Players to target: Doublelift, CoreJJ, Xmithie

This will be a close match and could go either way. Like I mentioned, if OG are able to get a similar early game lead like they got against TSM yesterday, they should be able to snowball that into a victory, as TL are not the best playing from behind. If the game can get to a late-game state without too much of a lead either way, I think TL will win the game. The slightly more likely option in my eyes is that TL can make it to a mid-late game relatively even or ahead, then close out the game from there.

That's it for Day 2 of Rift Rivals from me, I am much less excited about the results as a North American fan, as it is pretty clear EU are the better region, but I am always excited to cheer on the NA teams hoping for an upset!

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