Ionia vs Piltover - April 13th

The City of Progress comes out strong, as two Rioters help to lead the charge in Victory over Ionia

                                                         

Lane Matchups: Ionia | Piltover

Top Lane: Irelia (r0mb0) | Jayce (Riot Taco Storm)

Jungle: Lee Sin (SodaGod) | Vi (Pride Incarnate)

Mid Lane: Kennen (Hvidskygge) | Orianna (Mr Schtiffles)

AD Carry: Varus (TinGar) | Caitlyn (Deathnoob)

Support: Soraka (DizsceZ) | Janna (Riot Baconhawk)

Pre-Game Analysis: With two Rioters on the team, Piltover has an incredibly potent poke comp with Caitlyn, Jayce, Orianna and Janna standing way back and having the ability to disengage at any time. However, with a strong counter engage from Ionia with Irelia and Lee Sin, and some strong Crowd Control abilities overall, it could be a rough game for the Ionians if they can't stick to their opponents.

                                              

Riot Taco Storm made his presence in Factions very early, as a quick Lee Sin jungle invade turned very quickly against him, allowing Vi, Orianna and Jayce to collapse in on him and despite a very close call for Lee Sin, Taco Storm would land the Accelerated Shock Blast to pick up the First Blood. As the teams continued to farm, Orianna and Kennen would trade ultimate kills, allowing them to reset the mid lane while Lee Sin and Irelia would combine powers to take out Jayce in the top lane, giving Ionia a slight kill lead 7 minutes into the game.

Around 10 minutes into the game, Kennen would begin to roam for the Ionians, moving to the bottom lane and picking up a strong gank onto Janna and Caitlyn, picking up Janna, but leaving his mid lane exposed gave Vi and Orianna the chance to counter with a kill onto Lee Sin. However, Kennen would make it back to his lane in time, allowing for Kennen to pick up a 2^nd kill onto Vi behind his turret. Despite all this, Ionia would only hold a 500 gold advantage about 12 minutes into the game.

A few minutes later, mid lane became the source of the action, as Kennen and Lee Sin would quickly rush in on Orianna to try and take the kill. However, a great Shockwave onto both the Ionians, and the appearance of Vi's Assault and Battery would allow Orianna to trade her own life for a double kill and with Irelia moving towards the bottom lane, Riot Taco Storm would take the first turret of the game at 15:40, with the bottom turret for Ionia falling about 40 seconds later, keeping the gold dead even at 21.3k each at this time. As Taco Storm would roam back to top lane to save his turret, he would be found by Kennen, and the Slicing Maelstrom under turret would allow for another kill onto Jayce.

Back in mid lane, the action quickly came back, with Baconhawk seemingly baiting the Ionians into a fight by quickly using his ultimate to start the fight, after a 2 for 2 exchange after a Varus snipe, the Caitlyn Ace in the Hole, followed by yet another accelerated Shock Blast would give Taco Storm another kill, this time onto Soraka, giving Piltover the slightest of leads as we near the 20 minute mark.

Around that 20 minute mark, the first Dragon fight would appear. Despite the incredible poke from Piltover, Ionia would take the time to be aggressive. Irelia would dive onto Caitlyn as Lee Sin would secure the Dragon gold for Ionia, and with a split Piltover team, they would only pick up one kill while Irelia would pick up 3 kills for herself, giving the first definitive lead of the game to Ionia at 22 minutes.

An amazingly play in top lane would slightly bring Piltover back into the game with Orianna and Caitlyn baiting 3 low members of Piltover into a tough spot. Without an Orianna ultimate, Ionia felt confident with Soraka, Irelia and Lee Sin...but it was not meant to be. Orianna would finish off Irelia and Lee Sin, while another Ace in the Hole would finish Soraka for the 3^rd kill, while Varus continued to push in the bottom lane for Ionia and got the 2^nd turret in bottom and the 4^th overall for Ionia. Piltover would counter with their own mid lane push, giving them their 2^nd turret of the game.

Ionia looked to fight second dragon, however, it may have been their first mistake of the game, as Piltover would fight in a small corridor and show their true power of disengage and power overall, as Orianna and Caitlyn would continue to poke and dominate fights, losing dragon but winning a team fight with an ace against 2 deaths for Piltover and then a turret, dropping the gold deficit to just 1.2k, as Baron was then fought over giving it to Ionia..until Vi would sacrifice herself to steal the Baron for Piltover and would even up the gold count at 33 minutes.

Suddenly, Piltover swung the game completely around as Lee Sin would push the top lane in. Piltover, 5 strong, would suddenly burst through the gates of Ionia, stomping out Irelia first, followed by Kennen, and quickly marching down the middle of the base. With Lee Sin too late back to the base, what looked like Ionia in control suddenly turned into a Piltover victory, as Science would prevail yet again.

                                                                           

Final Scores/VOD's : Will be added when found

MVP's of the Game: Orianna (Mr. Schtiffles) and Caitlyn (Deathnoob)

As much as the two Rioters may have had an impact on the game, Orianna and Caitlyn's poke, disengage and raw power would seal many team fights for Piltover and allow them to win the game with incredible displays of champion prowess. Well played for the City of Progress in defeating the Ionians!