The previous week showed the Japanese teams' progress towards cleaner and faster games. This week was a continuation of that trend, with the addition of complete, one-sided domination. While the matches beforehand were more or less equal in terms of skill, the last three showed that the gap widened fast. The top half slowly gained momentum and improved at a faster rate, while the rest looked like they faltered further and further behind.

Ozone Rampage vs DetonatioN FocusMe

The drafting phase was all about FocusMe's confidence. Everyone on Rampage was given their comfort picks, as Envy's Lee Sin and tei's LeBlanc were forces to be reckoned with. FocusMe didn't seem bothered by it though. In fact, it was as if they came prepared, forming an AoE lockdown team comp with BonziN as Malphite, a rare pick in the current meta.

Meme appropriate, the game escalated quickly. Alk accidentally took the krugs' experience, gaining a level before Mmeron. Miscommunication then led alk's Leona to dive immediately after leveling up, only for Rampage to give up a double kill right off the bat as Yutapongo on Kalista and Kazu on Thresh kited them around.

Even though Rampage got every champion they wanted, only AMUSE4 on Irelia won his lane. The display of superior skill by FocusMe allowed them to roll over their opponents with ease. Rampage simply stood and watch as their towers fell one by one with no answer in sight. As every teamfight initiated ended up with them outplayed, they just called it quits around the 23 minute mark, making it the first early surrender in the LJL.

DetonatioN RabbitFive vs CROOZ Rascal Jester

The world (well, some people) shook when Zerost, after six Tristana games in succession, finaly chose a different champion. Going for the Progidal Explorer this time, RabbitFive went for a highly mobile pick comp as Awaker on Vi and Estel on Ahri led the charge, while Moyashi on Gnar and 7kane on Janna helped set up. On the flip side, Rascal Jester remade their previous comp attempting to repeat the success they had over FocusMe last week.

However, Rascal Jester fans who were expecting a continuation of their improvement would be severely disappointed. Though apaMEN landed a great gank at bot early on to help Rkp1 and Lille1, everybody on RabbitFive was just better mechanically. Estel crushed scotty one-on-one, and Zerost on Ezreal proved remained as effective as his Tristana. Add to that the return of RJ's lack of coordination, and you got a team that tumbled back to the bottom half of the pack.

Estel and Awaker dealt immense map pressure with their roams while Moyashi splitpushed all day, choking Rascal Jester off resources and vision. While apaMEN and cogcog1 never gave up on initiating fights, they became too easy to read and were simply shut down. Winning by the numbers, RabbitFive slowly and surely decimated RJ's base and secured a convincing win.

7th heaven vs Savage Javelin

Being a Savage Javelin fan is a struggle, with this game sadly being no different than the previous ones. Intension and Raphonitte stayed in their positions, toshibu stepped for the first time, and XiLIUM swapped in for Joke once again. For 7th heaven, it was the return of ThintoN, the most successful sub in the LJL to this date. After yunn's mediocre performance in the last two games, the versatile sub entered once again, with a new champion to boot: Kennen. An AoE combo setup by him, yoshiaki on Jarvan IV, and Clockday on Vladimir looked deadly. Meanwhile, Mueki on Lucian added more poke and chase for his team.

Mueki showed superb dominance and aggression once more as he beat down XiLIUM and Cool with the help of enty's Janna. After yoshiaki's gank, the 7h duo just destroyed SJ's to the point where it looked like they just gave up. ThintoN was unkillable, able to dodge any gank attempted on him throughout the game. His setup with Jarvan (who went for a support item build, favoring Skimisher's Sabre over the usual machete upgrades) meant that Clockday always landed those deadly 3-5 man Hemoplagues.

Savage Javelin never stood a chance in this 34-minute stomp. With a 0-7 record and no chance of getting to the playoffs, the best they could do is recover and learn from their past performances. They need to do something drastic if they want to stay for the next season.

(Credits to owner for cover image) For more information on the LJL, visit the official website here and their YouTube channel here. For more of my work, follow me on Facebook and Twitter @moveslikejuaber