[2019] Riot Jatt's things to watch out for before heading into the semi-finals between G2 and SKT

Early game

SKT and G2 both had 100% First blood in their Quarterfinals. The team with the lead at 15 minutes won every game of the SKT vs. G2 semi-final at MSI. Clid has Killed or Assisted on First Blood in 7/10 SKT Worlds games. Early game is IMPORTANT.

Unselfish, efficient play.

G2 still lead Worlds teams in CSD at 15. On average they have 36 more CS than their opponent at 15 minutes. To me, this proves that their unselfish play is also incredibly efficient. We hear people talk about Caps roaming and “giving up waves” but what’s important to note here is that it’s almost always for the greater good. If Caps gives up a wave mid, it’s to deny TWO waves from somewhere else. The stats back up how efficient these plays are.

Neither of these Mid laners, lane mid.

In Quarterfinals, Caps only spent 48.8% of the early game (first 15 minutes) in mid lane, which was the lowest % of all QF mid laners. In Groups, Faker only spent 55.8% of his time in mid, which was the lowest % for all Groups mid laners. Faker mentioned in an interview that playing G2 at MSI made SKT more flexible, and this is just one example of how. The winner of this mid-lane matchup won’t be determined by comparing their CS, it will be measured on how much they impact the map.

Draft.

This is more complex than what I can cover in an instagram post, but I’m going to name some Pick/Ban unknowns.

Renekton. He’s been 86% presence at Worlds, and has won 10/16 games he’s been picked It’s the 3rd highest p/b champ at Worlds. G2 have played Ornn well into it. SKT have countered it with Quinn. I can’t imagine an 86% presence champ not popping up in p/b, but the fact that both teams have countered it makes picking it suddenly high risk.

Qiyana. Jankos K/D/A is 2/11/10 so far on this champ. On the flip side, SKT banned Qiyana themselves in every Quarterfinal game, and have yet to play it at Worlds this year. Dropping a Qiyana ban opens up draft flexibility for either team, and it feels unreliable for either team to pick it at the moment… but leaving Qiyana open in the semi-final still feels scary.