FW Karsa Shows Off His Credentials As A World Class Jungler At MSI 2017

In their Mid-Season Invitational Play-In Tournament series against Turkey’s SuperMassive eSports, the LMS’ Flash Wolves made it clear they were a class above, with a 3-0 rout of the wildcard team. With all three of their games ending before thirty minutes, Flash Wolves were able to develop early and mid game advantages that were quickly transitioned into game winning macro plays. At the centre of these advantages, was their star jungler Hung “Karsa” Hau-Hsuan. 

Coming into the tournament, Karsa was already known around the world as one of the best junglers in League of Legends, and possibly one of the top few players across all of the roles.  He was clearly the best player in the Taiwanese LMS this split, earning 12 MVP honors, a third more than any other player. At the IEM World Championship in Katowice he was matched against the best junglers Europe had to offer…and came out on top every time.

In the series against SuperMassive, it was much of the same story against opposing jungler Furkan “Stomaged” Güngör. After an early trade blew SUP support Mustafa Kemal “Dumbledoge” Gökseloğlu’s flash in the first two minutes of the game, Karsa would immediately path bottom to secure first blood and set the tone for the series. In two out of the three games he would secure first blood for himself, and at 10 minutes into the games, he was an average of 16 CS ahead of Stomaged. It was obvious there was a distinct skill disparity between the two junglers.

For 10 minutes into the game, 16 CS is a massive advantage (essentially a full kills worth of gold) and to average that lead over three games shows that not only is Karsa creating efficient routes for jungle farming, he is also exerting control over Stomaged’s jungle and stealing away camps… not that he didn’t find time to set up ganks either.

The @flashwolves2013 pick up the pace as they get 4 kills across the map! #MSI2017 pic.twitter.com/nsNOaGcf3C

— lolesports (@lolesports) 4 May 2017

Factor in that Karsa was involved in five kills compared to Stomaged’s two by 10 minutes and you find that not only is Karsa farming much better, but he is also providing more pressure and having a larger influence on the lanes as well. His combined KDA of 15/4/32 over the three-game series attests to just how dominant Karsa was. His 72% kill participation for the series indicates just how much presence and pressure he was able to provide on the map while still maintaining sizeable CS advantages over his opponent.

Flash Wolves are a team who will need to continue to create early and mid game leads to have a chance at claiming the MSI crown, and those advantages will all be centred around the play of Karsa. There may be no player who is more impactful on the tournament as a whole, and he will need to continue to his stellar play throughout the competition. As the carry of the team, he should continue to play his traditional power picks such as Lee Sin, Rengar, and Elise to stamp his mark on MSI 2017.

Already a veteran of international events, the Flash Wolves should feel confident putting their faith in Karsa. A team who 2-0’d SKT at last season’s MSI, coming into this tournament the Flash Wolves may be in their strongest form yet. With stellar performances throughout the LMS and at IEM Katowice already this year, Karsa has already begun to show he will once again deliver on stage for the Wolves and propel them into contention for the Mid-Season Invitational crown.

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CLICKON eSports’ 2017 Mid-Season Invitational Predictions

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