Gigabyte Marines' two-week run at the Mid-Season Invitational can be encompassed by one word: commitment. Their incessant playstyle of skirmishing around the jungle pressure Levi creates gives the team an overall goal and clearly defined win condition. This causes a domino effect where GAM commits to this defined style on all levels — in their drafts, in-game strategy and team mentality. Such heavy commitment becomes a double-edged sword, causing teams that carve a niche by finding a definitive style to live and die by that niche. The Marines wore this flaw on their sleeve by losing games to over aggression and failing the execution of their unique champions like in their elimination game against the Flash Wolves. On the other hand, the GPL representatives weren’t even supposed to be playing those group stage games that slipped through their fingers. After scraping by with a reverse sweep in the GPL semi-finals (won finals 3-0) the expectations for GAM were set at falling to Supermassive and VP during the first stage of play-ins. Despite taking TSM to game five and dismissing Supermassive in the elimination match with ease, GAM’s success continued to be trivialized. The key to GAM clearing the bar set for them pre-MSI was their dedication to the mentality and style that got them there, opening avenues to surprise opponents.  

Forcing a Reaction

“Let’s not constantly be reacting. Let’s take it to them.” — Buck Showalter, MLB coach renowned for transforming teams into contenders.  

When you have a concrete approach to League of Legends as a cohesive unit, then you can take the game to your opponent rather than focusing on reacting based on their draft phase and macro-game. GAM's relentless commitment to this approach forces opposing teams to react, allowing GAM to play on their home turf and dictate the overall direction of the match. Without this, the GPL underdogs would’ve never reached the group stage and picked up the few wins they did. Even their games against SK Telecom began to delve into GAM’s prefered chaos where early squabbles found SKT’s Peanut breaking the kill record at 15 minutes with 9. That game two stomp aside, the Marines earned a small nod of respect from Korea’s powerhouse in game one with a Ziggs ban. This ban is recognition similar to Huhi’s Aurelion Sol at MSI 2016; though it has far less impact, Ziggs still unlocks the path to an unorthodox victory. The threat of being cheesed forced teams to ban Slay’s Ziggs in 7 out of 10 games in the group stage even though he ended with a 1-2 record on the champion.This manipulation of the ban phase is GAM’s first step toward putting their opponents in a reactionary mindset, constantly having “what are they going to do next” floating in the back of their mind.

The Marines will then force immediate reactions on the rift by pressuring early game in uncommon ways, like bringing by the lane swap in game two against Team WE. By forcing this chain of reactions during the stages of the match they know how to navigate, the Gigabyte Marines were able to continue the upward trend of wildcards. Beyond the first 10-15 minutes their macro was poor and their decision making was shaky at best, but GAM’s commitment to their style and maintaining this mentality internationally is something major regions can learn from.

Historically even elite teams have had trouble translating their playstyles internationally and end up succumbing to the pressure of performing at a major tournament. Their failures come from a lack of commitment to what got them there in the first place, as 5-time NBA champion and head coach Pat Riley puts it, “There are only two options regarding commitment; you’re either in or you’re out. There’s no such thing as a life in-between.” From the LPL to North America to Europe, some of the greatest chances at coming close to knocking on the doorstep of international success have been shut down by trying to live between commitment. Countless teams have fallen short as a result of trying to counteract the meta and teams at the tournament rather than committing to the strengths of their roster.

Team SoloMid are the most recent to fall on their own sword and though they were pegged to fight for the 4th Knockout Stage slot, their crucial loss against G2 on Day 5 reveals the source of TSM's failures. A lack of overall identity as a team lead them down the path of reacting to their opponents, particularly trapping them in the draft against Europe's finest.

Ivern is a good takeaway first pick for TSM, but after the rotation of Caitlyn/Nunu by G2 they completely change course and just draft three dominant early game laners in a row. Giving G2 free reign to pick a full-scaling composition with waveclear based around Zven presented an ultimatum where TSM either had to end the game early, or lose the game once the 40 minute mark has been breached.

In no way does this mean drafting Nunu and 3 losing lanes is a good draft, but where G2 went right is identifying and committing to an overall style in that game and as a team at the tournament. Akin to G2, European or North American teams that have surpassed expectations or impressed internationally are a product of having a definitive principle guiding them.

The Art of Commitment

Once a team has identified their strengths and created a methodology it slowly paints a picture of how that team can win even when the cards are stacked against them. This commitment to honing your strengths and mentality as a team becomes an art form as the layers of paint are stacked atop each other. It’s the painting that reflects the team’s mentality and playstyle changes with time, morphing to something completely different between weeks, splits and tournaments. If a team begins to paint over what they once learned without keeping it in perspective, they’ll quickly lose sight of the whole picture and regress to a lower level of play. At international tournaments teams can be fooled into starting from scratch and losing sight of the mentality they had domestically. As a result we see the failure of teams like TSM at recent international competitions or EDG at Worlds last year.

On the other side of the coin, a team like GAM that knows how to use the art of commitment properly and thus can flourish and surpass the expectations set for them by outside parties. CLG at MSI 2016 was a prime example of this, using their macro game and steadfast mentality to beat teams with brain instead of brawn, gradually adding layers to their playstyle, evolving from a splitpush centric team to one that innovates with Aurelion Sol and Soraka at the same tournament. Though the Gigabyte Marines didn’t see close to the paralleled success of CLG, they displayed the power of having a strong team mentality where all five players and the coaching staff are committed to their own unique style.

If you enjoyed the piece, follow the author on Twitter at @LolTJae.  

Sources: lolesports flickr, eswiki, oracle elixir