ROX vs. EDG Analytical Breakdown
By: Joe Tortorice
Tags: League of Legends, Esports, Sports, Chicago

Game 1

In game one, ROX looks to pick a poke heavy comp with Jayce, Caitlyn and Zyra while EDG looked to teamfight with Rumble and Ryze. ROX will look to exploit the top lane match-up because Koro1 has not played since spring and Smeb is arguably the best player in the world. Early aggression mid lane from Scout puts the lane in an awkward position for both laners but with no mana Scout must back giving Kuro the advantage in lane. ROX have early cs leads in mid and top with their strong laners while bot lane is even.

The game suddenly erupts as Peanut visits top lane to get first blood on Koro1 while Clearlove and Scout show up bottom lane. EDG dive deep and give one kill to Pray but end up killing off the ROX bottom lane. Kuro roams in late and picks up a kill on Meiko though he could have gotten more. Back in top lane, Smeb and Peanut wait for Koro1, killing him again although Peanut dies as well. ROX take advantage of Smeb winning over Koro1 and take the first turret down top.

ROX also starts up the first Mountain Drake and eventually secure the objective. Koro1 teleports in the river and EDG attempt to engage a fight. Though they get a summoner spell advantage, no one is killed and ROX walk away unscathed. Kuro roams top to help Smeb get another kill on Koro1, really punishing the substitute top laner.

EDG look to set up a fight bottom thinking they had the man advantage but Smeb waits in the bush and surprises EDG. The fight ended up in all ten champions present and ROX get a kill on Koro1. The fight does not stop there as they get the bottom turret and push in for two more kills. After the extended teamfight, ROX end up with three kills and two turrets in the bot lane.

ROX continued to push their advantage and take more objectives off of the map. Smeb has had a presence all over the map threatening kills. But ROX make a mistake as Kuro and Smeb commit too hard for a kill on to Scout and give up a kill to Deft. ROX recovered quickly and got three kills top and rotated to the Baron.

ROX used their Baron to push down turrets and Koro1 was unlucky again to not secure a kill and died. ROX had full control of the game and it did not look they could lose in the position they were in. ROX finish the game easily and got a commanding win in game one.

Game 2

Both teams targeted the jungle champion pool in game two, removing four different junglers. with ROX picking up Lee Sin, this forced Clearlove to play Hecarim. ROX also make a questionable pick with a Maokai top into a Kennen. Koro1 should be able to win his lane this time around. Other than that, ROX picked the same composition as last time.

Clealove ganked mid early and was able to blow both of Kuro’s summoners almost securing a kill. Peanut moved down botside and attempted to kill Deft. Deft survived but ROX looked to set up a dive onto the ADC and support of EDG but backed off when they saw the Rye roaming down. ROX kept four members in the bot lane to get the first turret. EDG attempted to defend but Clearlove was caught and Peanut got first blood again.

Peanut fought Scout and Clearlove in the topside EDG jungle while Kuro roamed bot to get a kill but some fancy footwork from Meiko kept him alive. Though they could not secure the kill, ROX took first turret in the bot lane. ROX got kills in top and bot but Gorilla was also taken down in a 3v2 situation. ROX continued to snowball their lead as they took all three outer turrets and one inner turret in the bot lane before twenty minutes.

EDG looked to take back some control in the game after a good pick on to Peanut, but EDG ended up committing too hard and was aced by ROX. ROX took that into a mid inner turret take, ending with a gold lead of 10K. Just like last game, ROX set themselves up in a position where it would take a miracle from EDG to get them back into the game. ROX take Baron not long after that. After ROX took the Baron, EDG attempted to engage a fight and punish ROX but it quickly turned poorly in their favor as ROX got four kills for one. ROX ended the game in the 26th minute, after steamrolling over EDG bottom side, dominating this series so far.

Game 3

EDG stick with their same line-up in game three and picked a relatively similar compostition. EDG will look to team fight early with Rumble and Aurelion Sol alongside the Olaf. ROX picked an “outplay” comp with Smeb picking up the Fiora and Kuro picking Ryze. Peanut looked to grab first blood again in the third game but missed his skill shot and could not secure the kill. Minutes later, Peanut and Smeb camp Clearloves red buff and Smeb gets first blood on Fiora. Peanut took the red buff and returned mid to kill Scout.

EDG pulled off a nice roam mid to kill Kuro but Peanut quickly replied with a kill on Koro1 top under turret. Smeb is caught top as Scout roamed up to get a quick kill on the Fiora. Peanut tried to reply with a kill of his own but EDG got away. While Pray gets a kill bottom lane, Scout roamed top again to kill Smeb for the second time. A huge fight bottom resulted in three kills for two in favor of EDG and they picked up first turret bot.

EDG take more advantages as they kill Smeb and Peanut and took the top outer turret. EDG also secured a kill on Gorilla getting a 4K gold lead. Another chaotic fight top lane resulted in kills for both teams. EDG get two early kills on ROX while ROX equalize that later by also getting two kills. After the fight finished, the kills were 3-for-3. Scout gets caught top by three ROX members and falls. Smeb waits in a brush again and killed Koro1 with the help of Kuro. Smeb took ROX’s first turret in the bottom lane pulling the game to a 2K gold difference.

An even looking fight turned into a massacre for EDG as Deft was too strong and destroyed the ROX champions. An early pick on to Scout allowed Deft to stand in the back and deal damage to the whole team. EDG secured Baron after getting five kills.

Smeb looked to pull off another brush bait but Caitlyn runs in and takes him down. EDG held on to force a game four in this game as Deft carried the Chinese team to victory.

Game 4

After their victory, EDG banned Aurelion Sol and went with Rumble top and Jayce mid to punish ROX for not locking in the Jayce earlier in the draft. ROX counter with a Kennen pick for Smeb. Koro1 has played well on Rumble this series so it is no surprise they pick that for him but the Jayce pick mid has not seen much play.

The game kicks off in the 10th minute when Clearlove goes for a gank on the bottom lane. Though he did not get a kill he stuck around hoping for another shot. When the opportunity presented itself, Clearlove went in only for Peanut to ghost in and help take down Deft for first blood. The fight is extended as both top laners teleport in and ROX ends up with four kills and EDG only get one.

EDG jumped onto Smeb top after four players rotated up there. The kill leads into two turrets in top lane for EDG. A great rotation helps EDG even the gold in the 14th minute. Pray helps to cushion the blow when he took bot outer turret. Peanut got a massive advantage in the early game, going 5/0 with a 20 cs lead over Clearlove. His presence helped ROX take turrets and apply pressure on the map.

Olaf again used his pressure to grab a kill on Meiko and transition that into two more kills mid lane as ROX secured the middle outer turret. Peanut was so far ahead of Clearlove he could run into the entire EDG team and win. EDG was in a deep hole and it would be tough to climb out. ROX pulled off a beautiful engage and end the game winning the series 3–1.