VIPL Third Place – Redemption

In the third round of the group stage games, Invincible Armada competed against pQq in a match that made many spectators scratch their heads. Despite the strength shown by each of these teams, it seemed that Invincible Armada wasn’t taking pQq seriously as they swapped their jungle and roam player positions, and also attempted to make Petal work in the jungle.

Invincible Armada lost that game against pQq and it cost them dearly, as pQq went undefeated in the group stage, forcing Invincible Armada to work their way through the wildcard round. Invincible Armada had a set of impressive games, but didn’t have what it takes to power through Hunters in the semifinal games. After losing 0-2 in the semifinal, Invincible Armada is now looking at redemption. With another shot against pQq, can Invincible Armada prove themselves as the strongest team in Korea?

What to Watch For

The lane matchup in this series will definitely be a point to watch. Druid and Sangho are both considered some of the strongest lane carries in Korea, but they specialize in different heroes. When we compared Druid to IraqiZorro, Druid seemed to be a tiny step behind in every stat, but super close in most of them (-2 cs, -0.33 kills, etc), but when we look at Sangho’s numbers he seems to have a very different playstyle.

This comparison is shocking because these two players were in the same group stage, playing against the same teams. Despite that similarity, the stats paint a different picture.

While Sangho has more red in his stat column, there are intangibles to Sangho’s game that must be considered.

1. Sangho seems to spend more time out of lane, helping his jungle duo,
2. Sangho likes to consistently pressures the enemy laner, and
3. Sangho has shown his proficiency with both Vox and Ringo.

Between Sangho and Druid, one of them has beaten GankStars in a competitive setting, while one of them has not. Considering GankStars advanced to the finals, they are currently the team to beat, and Invincible Armada’s performance in the Vainglory World Invitational was enough to beat them. If they can find some of that magic, it might be enough to beat the likes of Druid, Rain, and Mauloa.

Rain and Wine

While this section’s title sounds like a song title, it’s actually just the names of our jungle matchup. I can’t wait to see this chess match of picks! If we look at Rain and Wine’s favorite jungle hero picks, Rain typically plays Krul or Taka, while Wine plays Glaive, Joule, and Taka. In a generalized sense, Taka > Krul > Glaive > Taka > Joule > Krul. If you don’t follow my angled bracket nonsense, I’ll break it down for you.

Taka gets the bonus of his perk in the form of damage and sustain that lets him quickly burst down a target in the early levels. This is the kind of aggro that Krul can’t deal with early on. If Krul itemizes well then he has a chance to turn in the mid- to late-game, but competitive teams won’t let that happen.

Krul can beat a Glaive with just a Reflex Block purchase, which we’ve seen be a very popular purchase throughout the tournament. Either Glaive attempts to punt Krul into a field of enemies, or Glaive puts himself in melee range of the scariest brawler on the Fold. If Krul blocks the shove, then Glaive is just a meat bag that Krul gets to build stacks on.

Glaive has too high of a health pool for Taka to easily burst through. Because Glaive has damage that doesn’t require a target, he can actually hit Taka out of stealth, which is a huge disruption to Taka gameplay.

Taka is so highly mobile that it makes it very hard for Joule to land her Thunderstrike, Rocket Leap, or Big Red Button on his slippery frame. He effectively dodges so much of Joule’s damage, that Joule is almost forced to be played weapon power, which potentially doesn’t split Invincible Armada’s damage type, allowing their opponents to itemize defense easily.

Joule can easily predict where Krul will be standing or which direction he will be walking, and can cut him off and lock him down. A stunned Krul is a dead Krul. Another interesting interaction between Joule and Krul is that Krul’s From Hell’s Heart can’t be used on Joule as she jumps away. If Krul wants to stun Joule with his sword he needs to hit her with it before she jumps, or while she jumps towards him. The drawback of that is Joule can jump on an ally of Krul’s and delete them while Krul watches helplessly from too far away to be an impact. If Joule is partied with a Catherine then Krul is doomed.

With all these pick dynamics, the pick of Rain and Wine is an interesting battle of wits before the game even begins. If Rain thinks Wine will play Glaive, then a Krul pick would be perfect. If Wine thinks Rain wants to play Krul then he can counter with Taka or Joule. I’ll be watching to see who the junglers pick to see if they planned to beat their opponent or if they picked to fit their comp.

Stream Time

If you want to see these two teams battle then you’ll need to tune in before the VIPL Finals on OGN’s official Twitch.tv live stream. These games will start at 9 PM PDT on Saturday / 6 AM CEST on Sunday. Tune in to cheer for your favorite teams as both the third-place match and the finals will be played back to back!

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