Taipei Assassins
Taipei Assassins (TPA) are the first professional League of Legends team originating from Taiwan. The team was formed by MiSTakE meeting Stanley in ranked solo queue, and introducing each other to close friends. There are two things that set TPA apart from the rest of the teams, which are; Their team has seven members and their substitute support is a female.
Current Roster:
Top: Stanley
Mid: Toyz
Jungle: Lilballz
AD: Bebeisadog
Support: MiSTakE (Captain)
(Substitute) Support: Colalin
(Substitute) Mid: NeXAbc
MiSTakE, explains that having seven members in their team gives them a distinct advantage. Having two substitute players, means that if one person cannot make an event they still have a player who they play with regularly to fill in. Most importantly, it makes it s that everyone continues to form at their best, as if they are not performing well they can always be benched. TPA is also one of the only teams in the competitive scene right know that has a female in the roster. Colalin, fills the substitute support role, and talks about how females put further attention to detail into things than males do. Things such as ward placements, knowing enemy ward placements and map awareness are what Colalin prides herself on.
As far as major LAN events go, TPA has not had as much exposure compared to the European and North American servers, but this works as a two way advantage. Meaning whilst they are less experienced in LAN events, they also have the factor of not many teams knowing what their play style is. TPA finished first in the Go4LoL Pro Asia, competing against many other major Asian teams such as Xenics storm, NaJin Sword and Invictus Gaming. TPA’s first major showing was the at the IPL 5 Taiwanese qualifiers in which they claimed first place. This enabled them to compete at the Taiwanese regional finals. If they could get a favourable finishing, TPA would qualify for the Season Two Finals in Los Angeles. TPA managed to defeat CorSair 2-0 in he regional finals to guarantee themselves a spot in Los Angeles in October.
TPA are well known for their tanky dps play style and set up. A typical team could consist of, Urgot and Soraka bottom, Ryze mid, Jungle Mundo and Shen top lane. This kind of team comp offers a very devastating mid game, meaning that they are tanky enough to control buffs and force objective fights. In the mid game, these tanky champs put out the optimal damage, due to the levels they have behind them. As the game continues, the damage drops off dramatically and so the games are usually won by snowballing the mid game to a hefty advantage.
As far as the Season Two Championships go, where are TPA expected to place? Due to the unfamiliarity of the team, not many people are aware of just how strong they could be. Secondly, because of TPA’s lack of LAN experience, nerves could be an issue in which they are not used to. All in all, I don’t think TPA are expected to place in the top four, but we can expect a finish of around 5-8th from the Taiwanese greats. That being said, anything can happen, and I think the Season Two Championships will really bring out the best in players.
