League of Legends LCS playoff preview: OpTic vs. CLG – the ultimate underdogs
By Josh Tyler
Middle
Tristan “PowerOfEvil” Schrage vs. Lee “Crown” Min-ho
Both these players were snubbed from the recently announced all-LCS honors (I would have put both ahead of both Bjergsen and Jensen in my rankings) so this should be an epic showdown. In truth, these two players are quite different in their play styles.
Crown thrives on engage and split-push mid laners like Sylas and Twisted Fate but has some less impressive stats on control mages like Azir and Viktor. On the other hand, PoE’s most-played mid laner on the split is Orianna, and he loves playing Corki, Viktor, and Azir.
Considering the two players’ competing goals, I think that who wins the mid lane won’t really be up to the mid laners themselves. If PoE can withstand early pressure from Crown and Meteos to hold his tower and scale up, he’ll win. If Crown can get pressure and roam to influence side lanes, he’ll win.
The players are statistically quite similar, so the question will be in execution from themselves and their teammates. Since I’ve already detailed that I think CLG has an advantage in the top side of the map with Wiggily and Ruin, I think PoE has the advantage in being able to stay safe and get help absorbing pressure.
Advantage: CLG