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OMG’s complete dominance of the LPL granted them a ticket to this year’s All-Star event. They’ve played fourteen matches so far, and haven’t lost a single one - a total record of 25:3. Their success stems from their willingness to adapt to patches - something that many Chinese teams have failed to do previously. Not only that, but they have taken advantage of each patch and made it their own. They also swapped bigpomelo and Allen (formerly LoveLin) from Support to Jungle, for the second time. This swap has worked out well for the team, with almost no lag in both players getting back to speed. As reflected in interviews with the team, they see Support and Jungle as major carry roles in Season 4 and have adjusted accordingly. While they have an increased focus on those roles, they still focus on protecting the AD carry. In OMG’s view, Support and Jungle are just stronger tools to allow the AD to deal more damage.
It hasn’t been solely in game performance leading OMG to victory, rather extensive preparation outside of the match. OMG has always received commendations for their well executed pick and ban phase, as well as being prepared to deal with any team with a unique play style or strategy. This is one of the main reasons OMG will be able to take down any team in their way at All-Star, considering the wide range of play styles on offer at the event.
Overall, OMG is everything you want in Chinese team. Strong individual players that aren’t scared to make plays and smash their opponents. They also play somewhat within the international meta, meaning they won’t break down when facing a non-Chinese team. Throw in the occasional off the wall pick or strategy and awesome hype videos - what’s not to love?
Switching from Support back to the Jungle would be a challenge for most players to adapt to - not for bigpomelo. His versatility and game knowledge is shown in every OMG game. He also excelled at snowballing leads as a jungler, something he also applies in the bot lane. Like any good support, bigpomelo also has top tier vision control as well as pressure on global objectives at exactly the right time.
Xiyang
Sitting at the top of the MVP standings, Xiyang has made a name for himself in China this season. Replacing the legend, Cool, was no easy task but Xiyang stepped up to the plate. When he’s not playing his main, Syndra, you will most likely see him on an Assassin like LeBlanc. His presence in a pure 1v1 allows the rest of OMG to forget about the enemy mid laner, as Xiyang will almost always have them dealt with by fifteen minutes.
Image Credit: Riot Games, LPL, OnGameNet