Going Out in a Blaze of Glory
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The League of Legends World Championship is the biggest international tournament for the game where teams engage in unrelenting games. However, teams arrive at a point where there is no longer any hope for them to advance to the next stage.
When teams are assured an elimination regardless of the outcome of their remaining games, fun picks tend to appear. This year we have been graced with the appearance of two Yasuo mid lane picks.
Gambit’s Gift to the World
Gambit Esports was in a 0-3 hole and guaranteed last place in their group. They took the chance in their last game at Worlds 2017 against Team WE to put on a show for the crowd. GMB fielded Yasuo in the mid lane and Nunu in the Support position.
Gambit picked the Yasuo into a clear losing matchup against Xiaohu‘s LeBlanc pick. This mismatch resulted in Xiaohu gaining an early advantage for RNG. Yet despite numerous deaths in the mid lane, the Gambit Esports facecams clearly displayed their players laughing and having fun. The CIS representatives were truly enjoying their final game at Worlds.
G2 Execute the Yasuo Gambit
The first seed from Europe also found themselves in a no-stakes game after losing to Samsung Galaxy. G2 Esports mid-laner Perkz had promised EU caster Deficio that he would pick Yasuo at Worlds 2017 and he delivered in their final game.
The Yasuo was locked in for the G2 mid lane in their final Worlds 2017 game against 1907 Fenerbahce Espor. G2 were playing the majority of the game on the back foot against a surging FB mainly due to Yasuo being a non-issue in the mid lane. However, G2 managed to pull of a miraculous late-game defense to push back Fenerbahce and secure a baron buff. The EU representatives managed to push in towards their enemy’s base to close out the game after a 4-for-nothing exchange.
The current meta has long drifted away from having melee assassins in the mid lane. The Yasuo mid pick has not been prevalent in the competitive scene since 2014 where Dade saw a lot of success on the champion. Now that the meta prefers tanks, mages, and the occasional Lucian mid pick, there is hardly any room for a Yasuo pick besides the troll games.
There are still two groups that have yet to complete their round robin matches. So there might be a chance that another team falls into a no-stakes situation and will field troll picks for their final game at Worlds 2017. I’m looking at you EDward Gaming.
The Worlds 2017 group stage continues tomorrow at 12:00NN with Team SoloMid fighting for a quarterfinals slot!
