This is the first "piece" I wrote for Inspire eSports, recounting Week 1 of our team's performance in the League of Legends EU Challenger Series. This is the first taste of what's to come from my interim with Inspire. It's definitely more on the journalism/informative side, rather than the creative side. Enjoy! And for you Reddit aficionados, please comment and upvote!
Original post: https://www.reddit.com/r/leagueoflegends/comments/4311f6/spoilers_eucs_week_1_ie_vs_mou_article_by_inspire/
EUCS Week 1: “Jeepers Sweepers”
What a way to kick off Week 1 of the EU Challenger Series! So far, it has been a Split of no splits as today’s winners rack up the 2-0 match win over their opponents. This year’s Challenger Spring Split is a mix of old dogs and fresh blood, with LCS veterans Copenhagen Wolves, SK Gaming, and Inspire eSports (rebranded from Denial eSports) looking to reclaim their spots at the top, while upstart teams Mousesports, Millenium, and Huma aim to make their first mark on the EU scene after besting the Challenger qualifiers to rise up.
Inspire eSports and Mousesports kicked off Week 1 with the first match of the day. Former top laner Wickd’s departure from Denial to CW was the latest spark of skepticism for Inspire, due to the roster’s history of numerous team swaps. Mousesports, on the other hand, was projected as a strong contender for top 3, due to star players such as Dan and Beansu. This was the time to put up or shut up for both teams, with Inspire looking put on a strong show in the face of doubt, and Mouz seeking to live up the hype as they coast in on their waves of success following their Summer Split performance.
Analysis:
Inspire eSports vs. Mousesports
GAME 1
Early triple ADC picks from Inspire (mid Corki, jungle Graves, Ezreal) inspired doubt from the casters, especially in the face of Mouz’s solid engage comp (Malphite plus Kalista-Alistar). Satorius’ off-meta pick of top lane Gragas in the draft raised a few eyebrows as well. All doubt was silenced immediately as fast pushing from Inspire along with Gragas-fueled siege resulted in a 15-minute inhibitor and a 4k gold lead at 18 minutes. Several sloppy team fights nearly evened the odds for Mouz, but a catch from Inspire into a base chase followed by Baron sealed the game for Inspire.
Scores:
IE Satorius 4/0/5 - MOU Beansu 1/4/4
IE Maxlore 1/2/7 - MOU Dan 1/3/4
IE CozQ 4/2/4 - MOU Sebecks 1/1/4
IE Woolite 5/1/5 - MOU Tarik 3/2/1
IE Wendelbo 0/1/8 - MOU Rhuckz 0/4/5
Game 1 VOD
GAME 2
The strats appeared to have flipped in the second draft. Inspire picks up a similar engage comp to Mouz’s in Game 1 with Kalista-Alistar and Malphite, while Mouz opt for a more defensive disengage comp of Shen, Rek’Sai, Janna. Champion and tower kills stayed fairly even early on, until several Malphite/Alistar knock-up engages etched out the lead for Inspire. A couple botched Baron attempts by Inspire swing control back to Mouz with an inhibitor kill and several tower sieges. However, a messy teamfight following Baron attempt #3 ends with two members of Inspire surviving with the Baron buff to push in mid after team respawns to secure the 2-0.
Scores:
IE Satorius 4/3/12 - MOU Beansu 1/6/7
IE Maxlore 6/2/12 - MOU Dan 2/5/4
IE CozQ 3/2/12 - MOU Sebecks 7/3/3
IE Woolite 6/3/12 - MOU Tarik 3/3/5
IE Wendelbo 0/3/16 - MOU Rhuckz 0/2/10
Game 2 VOD
RESULTS: Inspire 2-0, Mouz 0-2
It has been a great first week in the EUCS for us and we look forward to the competition next week as we take on Copenhagen Wolves! To stay up to date with all news Inspire follow us on Twitter!
