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IPL 4 in Review: An in Depth Look
IGN Pro League Season 4 was one of the biggest tournaments to date with over 300,000 viewers. Eight top flight teams gathered to compete for 50,000 dollars in Las Vegas. Take a look inside for an in depth and comprehensive review.
The Tournament in Review
Eight top flight teams met in Sin City: Las Vegas, Nevada to face off for a prize of $50,000. The three day LAN was a true landmark for the evolution of eSports with over 200,000 viewers on stream with an additional 150,000 plus in the audience during the Grand Finals.
The production value was some of the highest quality and most ambitious we have seen so far for League of Legends and North America. The tournament brought out sponsors like Kingston, AMD, and even included commentators like former
EpiK gamer, Dan 'DanDinh' Dinh, as well as Riot’s own Phreak and Rivington III.
Thirty four games, a long and arduous slug fest to the end, crowned Team SoloMid the winner, standing victorious with a comeback from their previous disappointments earlier in the season like Extreme Masters Hannover. 
Counter Logic Gaming claimed second, followed by Team Dignitas in third.
Image courtesy of IGN
A total of 54 of 95 champions saw a presence in the tournament as either a pick or ban. We saw Lulu, the newly released champion make her debut in professional play, and saw some interesting tactics, like Soraka mid.
So what does all of this mean then? Keep on reading to hear the full story behind IPL 4.
By Alex 'Faerum' Noether
Apr 27, 2012 16:47
IGN Pro League Season 4 was one of the biggest tournaments to date with over 300,000 viewers. Eight top flight teams gathered to compete for 50,000 dollars in Las Vegas. Take a look inside for an in depth and comprehensive review.The Tournament in Review
Eight top flight teams met in Sin City: Las Vegas, Nevada to face off for a prize of $50,000. The three day LAN was a true landmark for the evolution of eSports with over 200,000 viewers on stream with an additional 150,000 plus in the audience during the Grand Finals.
The production value was some of the highest quality and most ambitious we have seen so far for League of Legends and North America. The tournament brought out sponsors like Kingston, AMD, and even included commentators like former
EpiK gamer, Dan 'DanDinh' Dinh, as well as Riot’s own Phreak and Rivington III. Thirty four games, a long and arduous slug fest to the end, crowned
Team SoloMid the winner, standing victorious with a comeback from their previous disappointments earlier in the season like Extreme Masters Hannover. Counter Logic Gaming claimed second, followed by Team Dignitas in third.
Image courtesy of IGN
A total of 54 of 95 champions saw a presence in the tournament as either a pick or ban. We saw Lulu, the newly released champion make her debut in professional play, and saw some interesting tactics, like Soraka mid.
So what does all of this mean then? Keep on reading to hear the full story behind IPL 4.
>> Next Page: The Top Picks and Bans
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12 comments
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< 3 TSM!
...And I am totally unaware of any comments having been removed.
The way this article is made with 3 different sub pages also means that comments only appear under the page where the comment is made. My thoughts are on the page 3 (Strategy of Sustain) comments. Sorry for 'overreacting', was really surprised when my comment was gone.
Dignitas running three supports was indeed something new, absolutely. But I still believe that running that kind of composition was the safest play possible. Running a heavily defensive team is a totally normal reaction because to that kind of unpredictable and diverse play that M5 threw out in Hannover. But I think in the long run, if that's a strategy that will be continuously utilized there will be diminishing returns. I am a firm believer that by continuously being on the defensive or employing conservative play, the probability of winning is against you.
Now, I really do however doubt that this heal/sustain strategy will continuously reoccur throughout further tournaments later on in the circuit, but I was disappointed that it became so prevalent at IPL. I can understand the philosophy of it working, so why fix it, but it just felt so stagnant as we saw match after match in a major tournament setting. It really would have been more exciting, and I say this intending it on numerous levels, not simply to watch - to see a host of strategies used as the tournament progressed.
What is going to happen when these teams head back into an arena where a wide variety of nations are represented? I really would like to see if running some similar strategy continuously throughout a tournament would have the same effects it did at IPL.
Where you see this defensive tactic as a failure for the future I see this tactic as a testament to the ability of NA teams to adapt to the meta and thus a success for the future. Maybe next tournament there will be a different meta, but we now know that the NA teams can react to it.
You live and play now, not tomorrow. It's important that you have a tactic that will make you win now. Perhaps you'll lose tomorrow using the same strategy, but that's a concern for tomorrow. :)