OGN Semifinals Preview - Ozone vs Blue

This article was originally published on GameSpot's sister site onGamers.com, which was dedicated to esports coverage.

The Teamkill

Blue

Samsung Blue is a team that has been in the shadows of their sister team, Ozone. They’ve now hit a hot streak and are showing some impressive results. After finishing first in group C, Blue played a convincing series versus CJ Frost to put themselves in the semifinal. In some games, they completely dominated, running away with the lead from the laning phase. In the final game, Blue demonstrated the most important quality of any great League of Legends team, coming back to win against insurmountable odds. In game 4 versus Frost, Blue was down 0-4 in towers and 7K gold at 26 minutes. Not only that, but Frost had expansive ward coverage and heavy map control. Blue meticulously played the game out, waiting to make picks and slowly edging their way back into the game and eventually winning the series in 43 minutes.

Dade

Dade holds an infamous reputation for being incredibly inconsistent. However, he seems to be on an upswing in recent months. In the three games that Blue won versus Frost, dade had a total score of 23/4/21. His mastery of Ziggs and Twisted Fate is something to behold. Dade may struggle versus PawN, as his constative style may catch out dade’s over aggressive tendencies.

Heart

Heart fits perfectly into the playmaking support meta. In Blue’s three wins versus Frost, he accrued a total score of 3/6/45. In the third game, he racked up a score of 0/0/21 with Alistar, leaving the former support god Madlife in his wake. This matchup will be particularly interesting due to the fact that many consider Mata to be the best support in Korea by a large margin.

Ozone

Samsung Ozone achieved the title of ‘best team in the world’ after defeating the reigning World Champions in the quarterfinals. This didn’t happen overnight though. Ozone has consistently shown domination so far this season, with a 9-0 record in the group stage and unrivaled play in Masters.

This team has been on both ends of the spectrum. From winning Champions Spring 2013, to failing miserably at the Season 3 World Championship, this team has seen it all.

Mata

“If madlife is God, then Mata is Buddha” has never been more true. In fact, it’s safe to say that Mata is the best support in the world. The numbers don’t lie, Mata has the highest KDA of any support in Champions. As the leader of Ozone, Mata is a brilliant shot-caller, which is apparent in the team’s crisp rotations. In the lane, it’s clear that Mata’s aggressive playstyle fits imp perfectly. His Leona or Thresh can almost guarantee that Ozone will come out of a 2v2 ahead, or he can play Karma and exert strong objective control with the team at his side.

DanDy

As one of the two original members of MVP Ozone, DanDy has created quite the name for himself. He’s picked up the nickname 'King of Thieves' for his repeated abillity to steal Baron or Dragon right out of the enemy’s hand. Not only that, but he is also a master of counter-jungling. DanDy can often utilize his superior game knowledge in order to start off the game with three buffs. From there, he completely neutralizes any threat for an opposing jungler, by securing vision in the enemy jungle and waiting to counter gank. DanDy is, and always has been, a playmaker for Ozone as well as a brilliant mind in terms of strategy. With the resurgence of Xin Zhao, Master Yi and Nocturne in patch 4.5, it will be even more important for DanDy to shut down the opposing jungler as fast as possible.

Final Result

Blue may be on a hot streak, but Ozone was destined to win the season after taking down SKT T1 K.

Ozone 3 - Blue 1

Image Credit: OnGameNet, Inven, Twitter