OhReal takes down MrAlbis for his eighth kill of the game; this pickoff nets his team their first inhibitor.

GPL Winter semifinals finish with Azubu Taipei Assassins just squeezing by the Saigon Jokers and the Azubu Taipei Snipers dominating ahq eSports Club.

The results of this week's semifinal matches might surprise any avid GPL viewer.  On Wednesday, the Azubu Taipei Assassins struggled against the Saigon Jokers after defeating them handly in both their group stage matches.  Ultimately, the series went 3-2 in favor of the Taipei Assassins.  

It seems the pickup of Optimus in the mid lane has improved the overall aggressiveness of the team of the Jokers.  Blue side also proved instrumental in these games, as it netted either Junie or Jay the coveted Thresh, which spelled certain victory with Thresh going 4-0 in the series.  Both support players proved themselves capable of setting up plays and carrying their teams in their own right.

The second semifinal series, however, had even more shocking results.  Over the course of the GPL Group stage, ahq eSports Club only lost two games out of ten.  Their record in Taiwan's LNL is even more impressive at fifteen victories and only one defeat at the hands of HK Attitude.  Over the course of the season, ahq had yet to lose a professional match to the Azubu Taipei Snipers.

Again, roster changes in the mid lane proved important for the underdog team.  OhReal's strong mechanics have often netted him kills, but it has been difficult for him to convert these kills into success for his team from the jungle.  Azubu Taipei Snipers have shuffled roles around during this season of GPL and LNL, picking up Winds as a permanent fixture in the jungle and trying out various role swaps, including placing OhReal on marksman champions.  

It seems, having watched today's semifinals, that OhReal has found a place as a mid laner.  His Gragas set up excellent plays for his team, and his Leblanc and Riven proved themselves capable of crushing MrAlbis in the mid lane.  The team attempted to switch out MrAlbis for Westdoor in the second game, but the results weren't much better.  In addition, Winds and OhReal worked well together, picking up objectives across the map in all three games.  It will be interesting to see if the Snipers replace NexAbc with OhReal on a more permanent basis after today's semifinal success.

The schedule hasn't been released for the third place and final matches, but with the Jokers proving themselves capable of upsets and the Azubu teams holding an even record for their LNL games this season, one expects them to live up to the anticipation.

Headline Image: Leaguepedia