Groups


Traditionally, the Taiwanese teams have been the most dominant in their groups and the tournament as a whole.  In GPL Winter 2014, the Azubu Taipei Assassins and Snipers took first and second respectively, and ahq e-Sports Club took third.  This spring, four Taiwanese teams enter the fray—in place of HK Attitude representing Hong Kong in the winter—so the question is, will it be a top four lock?
 

Group AGroup B ahq e-Sports ClubAzubu Taipei AssassinsAzubu Taipei Snipersyoe Flash Wolves Imperium Pro Team Manila Eagles Insidious Gaming Singapore Sentinels Bangkok TitansSaigon Fantastic Five Saigon JokersFull Louis

yoe Flash Wolves



Current roster: SwordArt, REFRA1N, NL, Mountain, Steak

Qualifier Record: 13-8
2014 GPL Winter Placing: None
Most Picked in Qualifier:
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 Cho "Steak" Lu-Hsi
Hsueh "Mountain" Chao-Hung
Chen "REFRA1N" Kuan-Ting
Hsiung "NL" Wen-An
Hu "SwordArt" Shuo-Jie
 

Much of this roster attended the Season Three World Championships as the Gamania Bears, but the team disbanded temporarily due to age restrictions before the Winter season of GPL.  They reformed under the yoe Flash Wolves to participate in the League of Legends Nova League for the Taiwan/Macau/Hong Kong region, which did not contain an age restriction.   Coming into the new 2014 GPL Spring, however, player Huang "Maple" Yi-Tang was moved to the substitute position, as he is still sixteen, and the team's new jungler acquired after the departure of Winds, Chen "REFRA1N" Kuan-Ting, has become the mid laner.  Reportedly, he bears a champion pool similar to Maple, with an emphasis on assassins.   The team still must test the waters with their new jungler, Hsueh "Mountain" Chao-Hung, but his champion pool is more late game and farm focused than REFRA1N's or Winds'.  Both of these junglers favored the likes of Elise and Lee Sin in LNL, which could make it difficult for the Wolves' laners to adjust; they are used to regular ganks and being spoon-fed kills.     Though Taiwan's bottom lanes are some of their biggest assets, and Hsiung "NL" Wen-An and Hu "SwordArt" Shuo-Jie are no slouches, Chou "Steak" Lu-Hsi is the playmaker of the team as one of the front-runners who brought Shyvana to the scene.  Still, bringing the team back during their period of adjustment to their new jungler could be a tall order for the top laner, and we predict the Flash Wolves will struggle the most of the four Taiwanese representatives.


Expected placement: 5th-8th
 

Azubu Taipei Snipers
 

Qualifier Record: 13-8
2014 GPL Winter Placing: 2nd
Most Picked in Qualifier:
// // // // //

 Lyu "Zonda" Jhong-Da
Chen "Winds" Peng-Nien
Chou "OhReal" Chun-An
Wang "GoDJJ" Yong-Jie
Chang "Awei" Jia-Wei

The history of the Azubu Taipei Snipers and the Azubu Taipei Assassins if frought with ups and downs.  With the retirement of World Champion and team shot-caller, MiSTakE, few question if the Snipers can live up to their promise.  With Chou "OhReal" Chun-An switching to mid lane where his kill securing and high mechanical skill are more than welcome and the acquisition of Chen "Winds" Peng-Nien, early aggressive jungler, the team was shaping up to be the best in GPL.

When MiSTakE decided to retire, however, Chang "Awei" Jia-Wei was being groomed to replace him.  Both LNL and GPL Winter saw Awei take the stage on several occasions, but his appearances were seldom successful, leading to the team's worst week in LNL with a loss to Hong Kong team, YouCantStopMe, which ended the season in the bottom four.


Awei has massive shoes to fill.

Of course, during this time, TPS were experimenting with their roster in other ways.  OhReal tried to find a place in the bottom lane, and the team struggled with the decision to remove long time mid laner, NeXAbc.  Still, it is likely that MiSTakE's decision to slowly begin to back out of TPS led to some of the lower points in LNL.  We imagine the team will experience quite a few growing pains in the coming season.  

Still, OhReal's assassin play, and Winds' proficiency with Elise cannot be denied.  Nor can Wang "GoDJJ" Yong-Jei's power in the bottom lane.  With MiSTakE, they looked good enough to take GPL Spring, but without him, they'll find a spot a bit lower on the ladder.

Expected placement: 3rd
 

Azubu Taipei Assassins


Current roster: Jay, Achie, bebe, DinTer, Morning

Qualifier Record: 15-6
2014 GPL Winter Placing: 1st
Most Picked in Qualifier:
// // //

 Chen "Achie" Chen-Chi
Xue "DinTer" Hong-Wei
Chen "Morning" Kuan-Ting
Cheng "bebe" Bo-Wei
Li "Jay" Chieh

The only member on the team to remain from the Season Two World Championship roster is Cheng "bebe" Bo-Wei, but that doesn't slow the team down in GPL.  They are fresh off a first place finish from the winter season, and they're the only Taiwanese team to have kept their roster intact through the offseason—with the exception of the removal of sub, Sarsky.

With bebe taking the reins, the team has seen a lot of innovation: blue Ezreal, no AD carry compositions, and AP Teemo or Lulu bottom to name a few.  Yet bebe can't make these compositions happen by himself.  The versatility of both Chen "Achie" Chen-Chi and Chen "Morning" Kuan-Ting to execute these master plans does not go over-looked.  Either can play an assassin or bruiser, and Achie is almost wholly responsible for the continued popularity of Jax in Southeast Asia and the Taiwan/HK/Macau region.

Li "Jay" Chieh is an accomplished Thresh player, but his champion pool might be limited beyond that pick, as is the case with many who wield the wife-stealer in GPL.  Xue "DinTer" Hong-Wei may be the weakest member of the lineup, but his strength as a supportive jungler still places him on the list of the top four (in case you're wondering, we favor SofM, Naz, and Winds as our top three GPL junglers).

Though ahq e-Sports Club consistently bested TPA in LNL Winter, and the two teams split even in GPL Winter, TPA will have their innovation and their consistent performance with their current roster to keep them strong as GPL experiences it's first full split in Season Four.  Innovation will win the day in 2014 GPL Spring.

Expected placement: 1st
 

ahq e-Sports Club


Current roster: Prydz, GreenTea, westdoor, GarnetDevil, Naz

Qualifier Record: 20-1
2014 GPL Winter Placing: 3rd
Most Picked in Qualifier:
// // //

 Chen "Prydz" Kuang-Feng
Chen "Naz" Tien-Chih
Liu "westdoor" Shu-Wei
Lai "GarnetDevil" Yi-Meng
Sa "GreanTea" Shang-Ching

During the winter events, ahq e-Sports Club, typically dominant in both Taiwan and SEA, flirted with MrAlbis, a previous AD carry, in the mid lane.  The results were, for the most part, business as usual, until the team faced OhReal, newly minted as mid laner for the Azubu Taipei Snipers.  He created a struggle for MrAlbis in the semifinals of 2014 GPL Winter.  Subbing in Liu "westdoor" Shu-Wei didn't help as the OhReal and Winds combination made short work of mid lane and OhReal's Leblanc went legendary.

Of course, the scenario may not repeat itself exactly this season, especially with MrAlbis playing for ahq Fighter, but the best of three series exposed a weakness in ahq's armor we're sure GPL teams will exploit; they cannot handle mid lane pressure: with MrAlbis or westdoor.

Otherwise, ahq e-Sports Club is still an exceptional team, if not the best in 2014 GPL Spring.  Chen "Naz" Tien-Chih's reactions to TPA's running AD carry-less compositions were the best of any jungler in Taiwan, even when ahq ended up losing games to them.  Naz also consistently has some of the strongest objective control you'll find in GPL.  

Though some of their top picks from qualifiers are now outdated, the list shows that every member of the team is comfortable with flavor of the month, including the now-favored mid Lulu, which ahq had a hand in innovating.  Chen "Prydz" Kuang Feng consistently plays whatever is called for in the team composition, seldom losing lane, and only to the likes of Achie or Zonda on occasion.  ahq's bottom lane is also quite strong, with the exception of Sa "GreanTea" Shang-Ching's rare, though nearly legendary, fumbles.

Ultimately, we even like ahq better with westdoor in the mid lane, but the team had its reasons for putting MrAlbis there in the first place.  Combine that with GPL Winter's semifinal performance and TPA's apparent strength and innovation going Season Four, and we predict a heated final match between the two, resulting in a second TPA GPL first place finish for 2014.

Expected placement: 2nd


More GPL Previews:

Thailand and Vietnam
Philippines and Singapore

More GPL:

GPL Coverage Hub
VODs from GPL Winter

Image Sources: Leaguepedia, GPL