Bougeois Francais! (from the SKT vs NJS semifinal match)

First, pictures:

(We made it to the fan poster page. Also, Nientonsoh signed my B.F. Sword.)

The short version of what the sign means: "It[, the B.F. in B.F. Sword,] stands for Bourgeois Francais. While the working class often has to make do with a longsword or a pickaxe, this basic weapon is quite popular among the French middle class."

The long version, since I'm fairly sure that almost no one at the game got the joke except for this one cool kid who probably wasn't old enough to drink (I'm 31): "Bourgeois" means "middle-class", and the concept is sort of a big deal in the Communist thinking of Karl Marx; in his view, they're afforded a higher income at the expense of the "proletariat," or working class. "Francais" means French. Since the B.F. Sword weighs in at 1550 gold, it is decidedly a mid-grade item, and one of the most expensive basic items in the game. Thus it makes perfect sense that it would be a very popular weapon among the Bourgeois, who (unlike the elite) can't afford its upgraded forms, Infinity Edge or The Bloodthirster.

Anyway, enough of that.

Christine and I went to the (League of Legends Season 3) semifinal match between Najin Sword and SK Telecom 1. It was a good match that went to 5 games out of 5. Ultimately, the team who deserved to win did so - in my opinion as a lowly Silver V player (I'm CountBuffon on the NA server).

I'm not super familiar with either team, so it could have just been an off day. But man, did Najin Sword lose by throwing. Often when watching high-level playing, I don't even see any particular mistakes from the losing team; the team who loses looks great to me, and the winning team just won by being even more super-humanly good in ways that I only begin to understand by watching the slow-motion replays. This is how the quarterfinal match between Royal Club and OMG looked to me.

Najin Sword, on the other hand, just derped around and got caught a lot. They had a lot of good moves and were often great in teamfights, but they just got caught a lot. They also threw the last match pretty decisively, as pointed out by the shoutcasters: NJS's Shen ulted Ahri for no good reason, broadcasting to the entire SKT team that Ahri was going to engage, giving Orianna plenty of help in setting up a three-player ultimate.

My low-level thinking about the final is that Royal Club is going to win the whole thing. I thought OMG looked great in the group stage, and I was amazed at how Royal Club shut them down so hard, just inching forward by very small amounts before winning one or two teamfights and opening the floodgates and smashing the Nexus. On the other hand, with SKT having so much trouble with Najin Sword, it just seems impossible that they would be able to beat Royal Club. SKT looked good in the group stage, though, so it might be a good game. I'm predicting a win for Royal Club, and I wouldn't be surprised by a blowout.