League of Legends news » INTZtant classic: Wild start

In one of the most shocking upsets in Worlds history, Brazil’s INTZ e-Sports toppled China’s Edward Gaming on the first day of the 2016 World Championship.

No one expected to fall in love yesterday. But no one expected INTZ to win. INTZ -- a squad with so much pride in their country that they carried their country’s flag during the opening ceremony -- was sticking it to one of the most hyped-up teams in the world. They looked happy to just be there during the introduction.

Even INTZ’s jungler, Revolta, when asked how he’d respond if someone told him before the match that he would win, replied, “I would have told them they were crazy. We came into the game so hopeless.”

But thanks to a pep talk from their analyst, he remembered what to do. He says, “Our analyst came to me in particular and said, ‘Don’t forget to have fun.’ I realized that if I didn’t have fun, then I wouldn’t be playing my best.”

Fun is, perhaps, a bit of an understatement. It’s easy to get lost in the moment. The emotions take over and suddenly you’re telling your friends, “Yeah, I was an INTZ fan this whole time.”

Maybe we all were and we just didn’t know it. I want to look at this game, though, and try to understand why and how this happened. I’m going to slow down the game and try to isolate the exact moment I applied for Brazilian citizenship.

Well, I always ban Irelia when I play, so I guess that means EDG won the pick and ban phase. Actually, EDG’s composition lacks a true tank. It has pseudo-tanks in Vladimir and Irelia, but there isn’t anyone who can actually eat the INTZ crowd control and come out OK. Irelia also needs to get ahead or she becomes less useful than Gnar in a team fight scenario in the late game -- she must constantly have kill pressure on him in a split-push scenario.

Additionally, Graves pressures Lee Sin into making plays early for fear of being out-scaled. But either way, EDG doesn’t have much in terms of engage. They’re basically telling INTZ they have to make the plays to win. INTZ on the other hand has CC on all five of their champs, including a global initiate in Ashe’s arrow. Lee Sin must continue to make plays throughout the game, or he will be a useless pick.

0:00: Definitely still clinging to American soil here. Zero plans to travel to Brazil. It was hard to imagine the game even being close.

1:03: INTZ bot lane not afraid to trade with EDG’s. Thinking -- yeah, get ‘em!

1:16: Deft might have auto-aim on Ezreal Q.

2:05: Nami spits on opponents. Rude. It's important to actually note, though, that the Ezreal and Nami lane is really powerful. That's especially so against a Braum, whose only real presence in lane is as a deterrent and Targon proc. Supports generally dictate the lane phase, and Ezreal meshes very well with poke champions -- these things combined make it very difficult for ITZ to return these trades. They’re also very difficult to gank until 6, so ITZ’s bot lane is tasked with dodging Ezreal Qs. But, as I just mentioned, Deft is very good at hitting them. So I'm thinking the early game should see action in the solo lanes, and particularly top.

3:35: Graves secures a big advantage in lane for Vladimir, but it’s OK because Scuttle Crabs have already been secured -- this provides vision for that part of the river and creates a powerful zone to fight around for the team in control.

4:25: Both junglers are top side. We see a great counter-gank from Clearlove, and this is one of the reasons he’s the top ranked jungler going into Worlds.

4:48: All-in pre-6 as Ashe + Braum is really risky because it’s reliant on proccing Braum’s stun -- additionally, relatively speak, their level six spike creates immense pressure on opponents. ITZ's bot lane probably felt pressured because they were getting poked out so hard. Deft flashes his EDG flair, as does Meiko from death -- I didn’t even know you could do that!

6:13: Twitter hashtag in favor of ITZ. So much faith.

7:00: Revolta secures a great play in the bot lane for a double. Comes on the back of greedy trades from Deft.

7:50: Nice kill on Graves, but Vladimir cleanup is very scary. Irelia dies in a close fight after that thanks to a smart roam from Syndra. When action happens on one side of the map, that generally means the other side is more vulnerable. Because Syndra was slow to follow, that means she can either shove mid for small advantages or go to top to try to counter the pressure. She does the latter and turns the tide on Irelia, who could have snowballed with the solo kill.

9:15: Quick fight in the top river as Vladimir is caught out -- makes sense with bot lane flashes back up and top lane in danger of swinging heavily against Irelia.

10:10: Dive is successful for ITZ -- Irelia loses two waves of minions and the turret, thanks to another great roam from Syndra. It was only possible because of the quick fight a minute ago that pushed Vladimir back.

11:05: Jatt starts talking about a “what-if” if EDG loses. Thinking -- eh, whatever, Jatt, that won’t happen.

11:40: Rift Herald take grants Gnar an even bigger advantage in a 1v1 against Irelia. EDG’s split-push win condition is starting to look… Graves (it’s not good and is reliant on Clearlove).

12:45: ITZ trades Dragon for top lane T2 and another kill on Irelia. It's looking really bad for EDG. They lose Baron pressure very early on in the game because they’re down turrets, and Mountain Dragon doesn’t do much for you if you’re stuck defending.

15:00: EDG hides Irelia in the bot lane. ITZ finds her. This is successful because they rotated their bot lane to top, which forced Vladmir -- their strongest champ -- to respond because Irelia can’t be there anymore.

16:09: “Is this where you start to believe?” -- Quikshot. No, Quikshot, not yet.

17:56: Mid outer falls. EDG is getting crushed on the macro level because of the top lane discrepancy. Plus, they can’t fight because they don’t have engage, as was mentioned earlier.

19:00: Uncontested Infernal Dragon goes to ITZ. Infernal Dragon gives the most confidence to a team. Source: anecdotes.

20:45: Game is at a bit of a lull as Ezreal hits all of his frosty Qs. It’s too early for ITZ to safely secure Baron, so they’ll just be managing the waves before trying to pressure mid for a while -- all while hoping to get a pick. They’re in very little danger of being caught out by EDG.

22:10: Spooky Gnar hides in bush. Nothing comes from it, though.

22:50: Deft secures red with Ezreal ult. Nami then hits several good bubbles, which allows PawN to initiate. Big morale boost for EDG, but they can’t translate it into any objectives.

23:45: Revolta and Yang making BIG plays to catch out EDG’s bot lane. Ezreal has two flashes and still dies? ITZ immediately turn to Baron.

24:37: Baron drops. Crowd audibly louder. I’m getting chills. I’m looking up the process for becoming Brazilian. I'm thinking, "This is just going to make it all the more heartbreaking when EDG still wins, right?"

25:30: ITZ secures another dragon -- this time Mountain. Combined with Baron,the turrets appear to quiver.

25:50: All six outer turrets fall, and EDG is relegated to their base as the only safe space.

26:34: Deft lands a Q on me as I am writing this -- this guy is insane with that skillshot. Straight through time and space!

26:50: EDG forces an engage thanks to Pawn and Meiko. They snag two kills and manage to grab their second turret of the game.

27:45: Yang trades 1.5 for 1, as he loses his Guardian Angel and life to take Mouse out with him. This is the kind of play that the term “beating a dead horse” was invented and then repeatedly misconstrued for.

28:34: Jatt says the game is teetering on the edge of swinging away from ITZ -- starting to get sad for them here.

29:30: Irelia’s build is interesting -- Mouse opted for magic resist second even though he’s mostly been dying to Gnar and Lee. All in on the teamfight, it seems.

29:50: Cool cross-map arrow from micaO. Must have watched the Ashe part in the Ignite video.

31:30: Ocean Dragon will help ITZ handle the poke coming out of Ezreal. As the game scales, the same problems still exist for EDG, though. They’ve only managed to fight when PawN flashes on Vladimir after a well-placed Nami bubble. That’s their sole win condition with Irelia being so weak. ITZ seems content with waiting for Baron.

33:50: Clearlove eats an arrow -- should have flashed it and they’d have been fine, but this results in EDG losing three members and the Baron. Right about now is when the first wave of fans feel confident about ITZ winning. I, however, still expect a turnaround.

36:40: Braum valiantly defends a cannon minion against Ezreal. The Heart of the Freljord, indeed.

37:00: EDG's mid inhib turret finally falls. ITZ seems happy with the take and retreats back home. Their focus shifts to Elder Dragon, which is a big death trap under many circumstances. This is EDG’s chance to come back -- they can pincer ITZ inside the Elder Dragon pit. But they still don’t have engage, so a bait is very dangerous.

38:10: Elder Dragon secured. EDG isn't necessarily scared of checking -- they just have nothing to check it with. Anyone who eats an arrow dies.

38:55: The siege begins with both bot inhib turret and mid inhib turret down. ITZ moves in with Mega Gnar and take the bot inhibitor for free -- but retreat after a brief siege in mid lane. They are content to play it slow.

40:07: ITZ retreats again -- still hard to believe ITZ will actually win this, as EDG manages to survive both Baron and Elder Dragon. Surely, EDG is still a force in teamfights thanks to Deft, right?

41:06: Clearlove is caught out by Yang. Why is he shoved up that far at this point in the game? Are they still underestimating ITZ or are they just tilted? Who the heck is Yang and when did he become Brazilian? What the hell is going on?

41:36: ASHE ARROW HITS EZREAL. HIS QSS IS DOWN. LATE FLASH AGAIN.

41:41: HOLY. I NOW REALIZE I’M A BRAZILIAN MILES FROM HOME. WHAT’S GOING ON EZREAL JUST GOT KICKED BACK. VLAD FALLS, TOO. HEADING TO BRAZILIAN EMBASSY TOMORROW.

42:00: CROWD AUDIBLY GOING NUTS. PICK’EMS BUSTED. KABUM SMILES. BRAZIL GOES WILD.

During the kick, Revolta said, “When I saw the arrow, I thought, ‘Oh my god, it’s happening! It’s happening!’ I said, ‘Ezreal! Ezreal! GG! GG! GG! We did it!”

Revolta was the happiest person I’ve ever seen in my life. You could give a toddler an ice cream cone with sprinkles and Revolta would still make them look miserable when placed side-by-side. He was beaming and happy to talk and talk some more about what happened in that game.

This, surely, was the next step after we got a peek into his life with Legends Rising. And on that, he said, “I looked through my career and my life. [Legends Rising] made me realize how things could have gone other ways. I really value my life now. I really value my teammates. Everything. Look back two years, I could have retired. Coming into the biggest tournament you can actually come into is super great if you look back on your life and realize where you are.”

This moment, though, is one he probably still doesn’t fully realize. There isn’t much time to revel in it or to celebrate. The games go on. But for the rest of us -- the fans who have a chance to step back and breathe -- we can take this for what it is. And that’s as one of the most incredible moments in World Championship history. This one goes out to every game you’ve ever won where the odds were stacked against you. Every adversary and foe. This one’s a toast to that. And to Brazil. And to INTZ e-Sports.