Korea is the best region. Faker is the best mid laner. Assassins suck
in the meta. Taiwan is a joke. NA > EU.
We had a lot of preconceived notions heading into the 2015 Mid-Season
Invitational. After Edward Gaming raised their championship medals at
the Donald L. Tucker Civic Center, we're still left with many lingering
questions to ponder over.
What were the biggest takeaways from MSI, and what do they mean going
forward?
韓國賽區是最強的區域、Faker 是世界最強的中路選手、刺客角在現 Meta 超鳥，
台灣賽區根本是個笑話、NA > EU
這些都是我們在 2015 季中邀請賽之前的想法。在 EDG 從 Donald L. Tucker Civic
中心拿下冠軍之後，我們還是有很多疑問需要慢慢釐清。
這次 MSI 帶給我們最重要的新概念新認知是什麼？它們又對未來有怎樣的影響？
Faker is not the best mid laner any more
Faker 已不是世界最強中路
Sang-Hyeok "Faker" Lee played well at MSI, but for many, that's not good
enough. The Korean mid laner has dominated for so long that he's been
touted as a God for his achievements. But as we saw in Tallahassee, even
Gods can bleed. Faker was outplayed at several points against Fnatic, and
outsmarted in the deciding game against Edward Gaming. He fell directly
into Heo "Pawn" Won-seok's trap after picking LeBlanc, and was punished
mightily for it when EDG ran a composition to counter it. Given the events
of MSI, and the LCK finals before it, Faker may not even be the best mid
laner on his own team, much less the whole world.
Sang-Hyeok "Faker" Lee 在 MSI 表現不錯，但僅僅是「不錯」可能沒有達到大家
的預期。這位韓國中路選手已經宰制了比賽很久，久到大家已經把他當神看。但就
像我們在 Tallahassee 看見的一樣，神也是會流血的，會死亡的。Faker 在對
Fantic 的對戰中有幾次被 outplay，對 EDG 的關鍵戰也被智商壓制，Faker 徹底
掉入 Heo "Pawn" Won-seok 的陷阱，選下 LeBlanc，然後被 EDG 的 counter 陣容
痛擊。只看這次的 MSI 和之前的 LCK 決賽的話，Faker 搞不好連自己隊上的最強
中路都算不上，更別提世界最強中路。
On the other hand, Faker's substitute Lee "Easyhoon" Ji-hoon was
mechanically dominant throughout the tournament, and many of those
competing in the event admitted to being more worried about the newcomer's
strengths than they were of Faker's. With Easyhoon's mage-based, farming
playstyle being complemented by the current meta, Faker could certainly
return to the top if he's able to adapt. But for the first time in years,
we don't know who the best mid laner in the world is.
Faker 的對比，替補的 Lee "Easyhoon" Ji-hoon 整個 MSI 比賽的操作都非常壓
制，很多對手也承認她們更加煩惱對戰這位新替補多過擔心對戰 Faker。Easyhoon
的法師農兵玩法很適合現在的 Meta，當然 Faker 如果願意適應 Meta 的話想回到
世界頂尖應該也沒問題，但總之，這幾年來的頭一遭，我們又得開始爭辯誰才是世
界第一中路了。
Taiwan is a legitimate region
台灣賽區不是水貨
Before MSI, many fans clamored for Taiwan to lose its auto invites to
Worlds, as it was deemed more like a Wildcard region than one of the five
major regions of competitive League. Though ahq e-Sports Club managed to
tie Edward Gaming for 2nd Place in the Group Stage at 2014 Worlds in Taiwan,
TPA's lackluster 1-5 record led to widespread skepticism about the quality
of Taiwanese teams. It's fair to say that the new ahq e-Sports club has
silenced doubters.
在 MSI 之前，很多粉絲都嚷著要把台灣賽區從世界賽邀請名額裡剃除，因為和五大競爭
賽區比較起來，台灣賽區的表現更像是外卡區域的水準。即使 ahq e-Sports 在 2014 年
世界賽小組裡和 EDG 並列第二名，TPA 那黯淡的一勝五敗紀錄仍舊引來了各方對台灣隊
伍實力的質疑，如今 ahq e-Spoprts 的表現可算是蹴散了這些懷疑論。
After coming in as one of the true underdogs of the tournament, ahq defeated
Team SoloMid and Fnatic, and nearly defeated both EDG and SKTelecom T1 in
the Group Stage behind great performances from all members of the roster.
Ahq's performance shattered preconceptions about the team being just
"Westdoor plus four." With yoe Flash Wolves' performance at IEM Katowice
and ahq's performance at MSI, it seems that Taiwan has responded to its
criticisms