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?
韩国赛区是最强的区域、Faker 是世界最强的中路选手、刺客角在现 Meta 超鸟，
台湾赛区根本是个笑话、NA > EU
这些都是我们在 2015 季中邀请赛之前的想法。在 EDG 从 Donald L. Tucker Civic
中心拿下冠军之后，我们还是有很多疑问需要慢慢厘清。
这次 MSI 带给我们最重要的新概念新认知是什么？它们又对未来有怎样的影响？
Faker is not the best mid laner any more
Faker 已不是世界最强中路
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 表现不错，但仅仅是“不错”可能没有达到大家
的预期。这位韩国中路选手已经宰制了比赛很久，久到大家已经把他当神看。但就
像我们在 Tallahassee 看见的一样，神也是会流血的，会死亡的。Faker 在对
Fantic 的对战中有几次被 outplay，对 EDG 的关键战也被智商压制，Faker 彻底
掉入 Heo "Pawn" Won-seok 的陷阱，选下 LeBlanc，然后被 EDG 的 counter 阵容
痛击。只看这次的 MSI 和之前的 LCK 决赛的话，Faker 搞不好连自己队上的最强
中路都算不上，更别提世界最强中路。
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 的对比，替补的 Lee "Easyhoon" Ji-hoon 整个 MSI 比赛的操作都非常压
制，很多对手也承认她们更加烦恼对战这位新替补多过担心对战 Faker。Easyhoon
的法师农兵玩法很适合现在的 Meta，当然 Faker 如果愿意适应 Meta 的话想回到
世界顶尖应该也没问题，但总之，这几年来的头一遭，我们又得开始争辩谁才是世
界第一中路了。
Taiwan is a legitimate region
台湾赛区不是水货
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，很多粉丝都嚷着要把台湾赛区从世界赛邀请名额里剃除，因为和五大竞争
赛区比较起来，台湾赛区的表现更像是外卡区域的水准。即使 ahq e-Sports 在 2014 年
世界赛小组里和 EDG 并列第二名，TPA 那黯淡的一胜五败纪录仍旧引来了各方对台湾队
伍实力的质疑，如今 ahq e-Spoprts 的表现可算是蹴散了这些怀疑论。
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