Vestigial and Reverse face off against each other this Sunday at 3pm in the Semi-finals of The Legends Circuit 2016. Here are five storylines that are important to understanding the context behind this matchup
1) Ex-VTL Fearless
The core philosophy of Vestigial has been to build the strongest team possible by having the strongest players possible. This management philosophy shows little loyalty to players and is governed by a simple rule, if you aren’t the best player available in your role, out you go. Fearless has been known as one of the stronger top lane carry players for quite a while and has shown up on several occasions while playing for the likes of Proioxis in the GPL. Before the season started, he was slated to be the toplaner for Vestigial, but was soon replaced by Ly4 after scrims saw him die a few too many times. League has evolved into a game that places a heavy focus on team based play, as evidenced by Vestigial’s failure to capture any titles in the previous season, yet they still placed an emphasis on individual strengths that saw Fearless dropped from the roster. Facing off against his previous team, he will definitely want to prove to his former teammates that they had made the wrong decision.
2) Haru vs Mexi, who is the better ADC?
Originally one of the original players on Reverse (then 7th court), Mexi was supposed to be the Marksman for the team, but left after internal conflicts and began his team hopping spree. Filling in to replace him was Haru, who seemed to be a better fit for the team allowing them to reach the top of the league series in the previous split. Mexi often claims to be the top AD Carry in the server and Haru’s success with Reverse where Mexi failed seems to be the anti-thesis to his claims. While they did face off against each other in the 3rd/4th placing match last split, a series that saw both go relatively even, the lack of their starting jungler for Reverse proved to be too much of a handicap and Mexi won that encounter 3-1. This time around, Haru will want to prove foil to Mexi once again.
3) Who should have been the starting midlaner last GPL?
Another key matchup we will want to look at would be the midlane. Both Arykelic and Pandapaws filled in for the makeshift Rigel squad in GPL Spring, with both swapping around between matches. It was a topic of debate in the community who should’ve been the starting midlaner for that tournament. Team Pandapaws believes hid consistent domestic proficiency on mages should make him the better candidate over Arykelic, who had been rather hit and miss as of late in broadcasted games. Team Arykelic felt that Pandapaws’ champion pool was simply not up to date and too small to succeed on the regional stage, most notably missing the cornerstone of the meta – Azir. While it might not directly answer the time and context sensitive hypotheticals of what ifs, this series would provide the players an opportunity to find validation over each other.
4) Bit better than who?
BBTY has been often considered the best jungler in the scene, clinching the no.1 spot on the ladder despite his national service duties. Despite his limited time and availability to play the game, he displays a cerebral knack for the game and isn’t afraid to step up, claim resources from teammates and take the game from there. BBTY was a major force in Reverse’s run into the semifinals the previous split with his ability to dictate the pace of games with his ganks, and he will be eager to boost his status as the top jungler of the Singaporean scene by shutting down the very team he had helped the previous split. On the other side of the coin is one of the breakout rookie of the previous year, Yohno. The 17 year old international student from Korea can be considered a genius in his own regard when you take his school and ranking on the Korean solo queue ladder (Diamond 1 with 120 ping) into account. Filling into the void that BBTY left on Reverse, he has not only filled those shoes but enabled the team to develop aggressive tactics that they had lacked before.
5) Ending the finals drought
The semifinals always seems to be the biggest stumbling block for Mexi, with him never having reached the finals of The Legends Circuit Before. With both NyZ and Rigel on the other side of the bracket, this would be his best chance at making the finals and getting one step closer to his goal of winning TLC. However, is not the only member who is hungry for a title, playing for as long as Mexi in the game, Pandapaws is also on the hunt for a finals appearance, despite having played in the GPL twice already. Mentality would become a big issue here as repeated losses at certain points have shown to become mental barriers for players as they cave in to irrationality and superstition. Should Mexi or pandapaws be able to win this series it would be a huge release for them and give them and their team a strong momentum going into the finals
Prediction
Vestigial 3 – 1 Reverse Vestigial are the better team on paper with the way they assemble their team. It is always going to be hard to throw a prediction in the other direction. Reverse has had the shakiest showing out of all the semi finalist teams so far and will be put to the test in this matchup. Expect Yohno to be able to catch BBTY off guard in one game for Reverse to take a win off a strong mid + jg combo.
