Gaming
With Worlds getting underway we chat with Vedius to find out if he thinks Korea will dominate once again and what's the best realistic outcome for the EU teams.
The group stage of the League of Legends World Championship 2017 is finally underway and the South Koreans are already showing why they're once again the clear favourites for the competition. The West has been struggling and fans are already looking for excuses as to why teams underperformed. There's still a long way to go, however, and EU and NA fans should still hold out hope for that elusive finals appearance.
While the in-game action hasn’t thrown up too many surprises just yet, outside of that crazy Heal and Ignite Lulu from the Gigabyte Marines, we’re sure that 'll change over the next few days of competition. After all, Worlds always throws up more than a few surprises and with the play-in stage going pretty much to plan, this is where things could start to get crazy.
In order to find out where these surprises might come from, and of course the all important question of if EU or NA can actually make it to the final, we caught up with EU LCS and Worlds caster Andy 'Vedius' Day just as the group stage got underway.
First off do you think this will be the most competitive Worlds yet, has the gap between regions got smaller?
I think this'll be one of the more competitive years that we've seen for a while between many of the major regions, but everyone will still be looking at Korea from afar. While I'm sure they'll lose a game here or there, expectations are still that the Koreans are much further ahead of the rest of the world and many teams will be battling for spots behind them during the group stages.
The play-in stage is done and dusted – did that go as you thought it would, or were there any big surprises for you?
I think a lot of the groups were as expected, aside from perhaps Group D where my expectations were only slightly different from other analysts. The only other real surprise was how Fnatic appeared to struggle versus Young Generations, the second seed from Vietnam. They made a number of uncharacteristic mistakes and even ended up dropping a game. While they still dominated their best-of-five against Hong Kong Attitude, I can understand why fans are a little skeptical of the team and hope they can clean up their play coming into groups.
Do you think any of the play-in teams have a good shot at making it out of their group and potentially even further?
Fnatic have the potential to make it out of groups, although the odds are stacked against them. I rate Immortals quite highly, especially with the recent performances of Xmithie and how much more experience he has over his Rookie counterpart in Broxah. Team WE also have a decent chance of making it out, although they are in a very tough group. TSM and Flash Wolves both come into the tournament looking very strong in their own right, with Misfits being dark horses that have the potential to create many upsets, depending on their preparation.
Which of the groups do you think is the hardest and which is the easiest?
I think because it's the world championship; all groups are really hard depending on which team you look at. I think Group A has a pretty clear favourite in SKT with the second seed being a battle between EDG and C9, where I believe EDG have the edge. I believe that the hardest one to predict is Group D. I think all of the teams are pretty strong and there are ways for every single team in that group to make top two. Originally, it may have been called the group of life, I think that's even more valid now because every single team probably has that perspective, which is what makes it so interesting yet so difficult to predict.
G2 is the best hope that Europe has of making it to the semi-finals
Do you think any of the EU teams have a chance of making it to the final or is that a bit too optimistic?
Finals is a little too optimistic. I'd like to think that G2 are the best hope that Europe has of making it to the semi-finals, but that largely depends on how well they do in groups.
There always seems to be one team that surprises everyone and does well at Worlds, who do you think that will be this year?
Misfits. I think right now, a lot of teams underestimate them and I think they have developed this reputation of preparing really well for their opposition and having a clear plan of attacking their opponent’s biggest weakness. As an analyst, I find it very difficult to say that they are likely to make it out of groups and statistically things don't look great for them, but they've been counted out before and come out the gates swinging, making it all the way to the European finals. I would just keep my eyes on them.
Which two teams make it to the final? Will it be an all Korean affair again?
SKT versus Longzhu, so yes. They might get unlucky and meet in the semis, but I think it's highly likely that we have an all-Korean final.
On the broadcast side of things, what are you going to be doing to make sure this feels different to say a regular EU LCS broadcast?
Well, a simple answer is that I'll be casting with a bunch of different casters! Different styles coming together with different perspectives always makes for a unique and great experience for the fans to enjoy. Personally, I want to make an effort to introduce teams and players that viewers may not know much about to help build new stars on the international stage and get people invested in some of the incredible stories that we have coming into the group stages of Worlds.
What do you think the Chinese crowd will be like – can they match the NA crowd from last year?
I can't speak to what the NA crowd was like last year, but I've been told that to the Chinese fans, the LPL teams are like super stars and they're extremely excited to watch them play. Getting to experience first-hand how passionate the French crowd was for players like Hans Sama and Soaz, I can only imagine what it will be like live from Wuhan.
Is there anything else you would like to add?
I really hope that the West has a strong showing this year. It would be great to see another Western representative in the semi-finals. Preferably an EU team because, you know, EU > NA.
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