We'll have to see when that match comes on, butyeah. No surprises to me today. Every match was pretty obvious in its outcome.
That having been said: I got the privilege of getting to watch the Clutch Gaming versus Fnatic match in its entirety (pregame to finish, albeit needing to leave before postgame analysis started) while it was live.
And while Fnatic did win and in the lategame did smash Clutch Gaming (so my prediction of Fnatic smashing them even though I am rooting for Clutch Gaming and want them to win in spite of thinking they wouldn't, turned out correct), well. Obviously the earlygame was a different story.
At the end of the match, neither team was happy--obviously, Clutch Gaming was unhappy because they lost. Not only did they lose, but they lost after having had a crushing earlygame lead and in the lategame every fight they lost was close. It's not like Fnatic's health bars were all full when they aced/near-aced Clutch; Fnatic's health bars were one ability cast, maybe even one autoattack, away from being killed. So on their end. They know that anything going even remotely better would've given them the win, and knowing it didn't means it sucks for them. Those fights were never a Fnatic stomp, not even at the end. One missed attack/ability on Fnatic's end. One not-missed attack/ability on Clutch's end. And those fights would've gone in their favor, so knowing that they were that close to taking the game and couldn't do it? That's terrible.
But on the other hand. Fnatic was unhappy because while they won the game, they probably didn't feel like they won the game. For those very same reasons. Clutch smashed them in the earlygame. And every time they won a fight, it wasn't clean. They were one ability cast, one autoattack, away from being killed, from being defeated, from coming out on bottom, each and every fight.
Even when they took the gold lead. Even when they consistently won every single fight. It wasn't onesided. It wasn't clean. It wasn't something that they couldn't have lost. And you could tell that they knew it wasn't a game they cleanly came back from and had won. You could tell that they knew that if things had gone even remotely different, even after they had gotten ahead, that they could've lost.
Yes, obviously, Clutch made enough mistakes that Fnatic could win. Yes, obviously, Fnatic won those fights. But they have every reason to be disheartened by how close that was.
And for that reason I feel like in spite of the disheartening loss, Clutch should still be proud of their performance. Yes, they made mistakes. Yes, those mistakes cost them the game in the end. Yes, they could've won the game if one more ability/attack had connected, if they had dodged one ability/attack that they didn't, and so on and so forth. But even when Fnatic got picks, Clutch made it so that they couldn't just get away with it for free; Clutch always was trading blow for blow in that if Fnatic got a pick, Clutch would pay it back and usually prevent Fnatic from capitalizing on that pick.
Even if they didn't get a return kill (which they often did), they forced so much out of Fnatic--summoner spells, ults, mana, health, putting Fnatic in a position where they were forced to back off and be unable to push forward--that it didn't feel like Fnatic getting those kills was actually winning them the game.
Clutch didn't play perfectly; Clutch made mistakes. But they got a 4k gold lead by the 15 minute mark. They did almost everything right. They still lost, yes, but they showed their skill against an opponent who could've smashed them every step of the way and only started to smash them much much much later in the game.
That's something to hold your head high about, even if it's in the bitter feeling of having lost--doing almost everything right and losing to a team who frankly is probably one of the best teams in the world is not something to be ashamed of.
I know that Clutch won't make it in their group. I know that they'll finish dead last in their group. But games like this are exactly why I like to root for them in spite of that. They are just so easy to believe in, they make you believe that, yes, they could maybe actually do it. They are a good team. A team consistently underestimated. They are always the underdogs but they consistently prove that in spite of going up against big names...they can perform well.
Yeah, they're not one of the best teams in the world (at least not yet, not this year, if this team stays in its current form then next year they very well could be), but they can fight against the best teams in the world and make those fights be close. They don't just roll over and die, they fight every step of the way.
And, sure. They make a ton of mistakes. Sure. They have extremely telegraphed champions/playstyles/moves/etc. But they execute their plans incredibly well and even when they lose unless they gamethrew every step of the way (for instance, game five against TL was as gamethrowing as possible by trying to play TL's style rather than their own style, trying to out-TL TL at their own game which was a HUGE mistake and I considered writing a very long rant about their critical mistake; basically, letting Sona through was fine, if they had a plan to counter it, but "let's try to outscale the champion who scales into a monster lategame" was the worst possible 'plan' to 'counter' it possible and was playing into TL's hands), unless they make such big mistakes that yeah you really don't see the point in watching them after making such an atrocious play...
...Unless you have those happen, they are someone who even when they lose, you like to watch play. They deserve to have made it this far. Yeah, they won't make it further. They can't. How could they? The only group they'd have been able to maybe have made it further in was group B (where Splyce is). Given their placement, they were screwed, utterly, because how could they not be? Clutch Gaming's really good in best of fives, but in best of ones they're...not nearly as consistent. And even in best of fives...every team in their group is equally as skilled as best of fives, yet are also better than Clutch at best of ones.
But it's undeniable that they deserve to be at worlds. That they are good. Not the best in the world. But still good. And they get better with time. Every time they lose, they learn from it. And they don't always lose. They are clever players who can still innovate in spite of their telegraphed style. They've got smart planning and usually make really good calls.
They're outmatched this year. They won't go further this year. But they should be able to have pride in performing at the level they are, because they have proven how good they are even when they lose, and each loss only serves to strengthen them.
And that's why I like to root for them.
They went from a team that I didn't care about in the regular season to a team that I never wanted to see lose and was disheartened each time they did.
They're just...I dunno. They are a team you can see visible growth in, and while you can always give them criticism for their mistakes...you can see them perform well and there's no doubt they've earned their spot.