THE TOP TEN DEADLIEST ADCS

by Tristan "verlashcaster" Jakobsen

Perhaps they aren't the Best ADCs, but they certainly are the most dangerous as far as your healthbar is concerned. Between their kill count, KDA and pure potential, these are the guys you're most likely to see just before your screen losses its color.  

Number 10: The Adorable CandyPanda 

With the help of long-time pro, nRated, CandyPanda took to the botlane for SK Gaming in the European LCS. This lad from Germany is a player that mostly lies in the middle of the pack when it comes to AD Carrys. His KDA rests on a rather unimpressive 3.8 and his GPM lies dull steady at 380. In fact, per stats, he wouldn't even have made it on this top ten list if it wasn't for his tendency to play passively throughout almost the whole split and then explode into a killing machine that eats champions for breakfast - kind of like Gnar, but with more arrows and less boomerangs. His Vayne at worlds is a perfect example of when the Panda goes all hulk and actually shows up. In his match vs TSM, he played the whole game according to what needed to be done, and when TSM made the decision to rush and scatter into SK’s base, that’s when the game was decided.  

Here’s some of CandyPandas' Vayne mechanics. Even though he goes in recklessly and dies, he still manages to wreak enough havoc for SK to win the fight.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Sbd204IUC4&feature=youtu.be&t=40m26s

So what about next split?
Whilst CandyPanda left SK Gaming and is now a free agent, it would be interesting to see him in the LCS again. He’s a major sleeper (and boy does he sleep for long hours) but, when you wake the panda up, he’s not all that cute and cuddly anymore. 

Average KDA: 3.8

GPM: 380 

Support: nRated

Most Played Champion: Lucian.

Number 9: The Lawful Cop 

Cop has the fifth lowest GPM (377) of all AD carries in the LCS. He’s a rather passive player and often relies on the rest of the team to win the game, but even though he’s shaky in many areas, you cannot deny his KDA is monstrous. Showing up with an impressive 5.8 average, you know that he and Xpecial made a really good team. Do you remember the game vs Complexity that went on forever? (You know, that game where there was so much chaos and back-and-forths your eyes got exhausted being in the same room as your monitor?) It was here Cop probably made his biggest play of the summer split. His Kog’Maw kites here are just amazing.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iysBJ2jSubI

What about next split?
Cop was replaced this season by none other than ex-SKT T1 K’s Piglet, which is almost unarguably an upgrade. Still, you should expect Cop to show up and be one of the best players in the NA Expansion tournament as part of Curse Academy. 

Average KDA: 5.8

GPM: 377

Support: Xpecial

Most Played Champion: Corki.

Number 8: The Wild Turtle 

Although not so ‘yung’ anymore, WildTurtle is still one of the most famous League of Legends players in the world. Known to be an incredible solo queue player, he will sometimes do reckless things without thinking. It's a habit he brings to the LCS, and while it doesn't always work out the way he thought, it still works.

Most people assume Turtle would place higher on this list but, in all honesty, even though TSM won the NA LCS Summer Split, his performance wasn't top notch. However, you cannot deny the fact that he’s a motivated player that has sick mechanics, even though he sometimes has problems translating them into team oriented plays (which might have to do more with him switching support two times during the season.) There’s a significant point when you look at Turtles' stats, and it’s obvious they improved when Lustboy replaced Gleeb in the TSM starting roster.

And, of course, let's not forget the very last teamfight of the summer season, when he secured a triple kill and the cup for TSM.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BE2qfZ9Z8rA&feature=youtu.be&t=49m14s

What about next split?
WildTurtle is still part of TSM and has kept practicing and improving with Lustboy. Predictions are he’s going to improve his stats during the next split.

Average KDA: 4.6

GPM: 381 

Support: Gleeb / Lustboy.

Most Played Champion: Lucian.

WHO IS NEXT IN OUR TOP TEN? CHECK OUT THE REST OF THE LIST! 

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by Tristan "verlashcaster" Jakobsen

MonteCristo Criticism : Legitimate or Schadenfreude?

By Jodi 'PunkLit' McClure

The first time I saw MonteCristo, I was surprised by how fragile he appeared. He was tissue thin, like if someone sneezed on him, he would instantly crumble into a tiny pile of bone and ash. He knew League though, and he was beautiful, and those two things quickly off-set any preconceived notions I had about his size. From regular appearances on the LCS, I grew acquainted with his smoldering bedroom eyes, his perfectly chiseled features, and, more importantly...his notoriously imperious attitude. Being American (and a stalwart TSM fan,) I was quickly perturbed by his continuous bashing of NA and EU teams. Who cared about the Koreans and how much better they allegedly were than us? How dare he come into our house and run his fancy white-gloved finger across the dust. But, unfortunately, time and again, Worlds proved him right. And eventually I had to admit it was true. Somehow, we were lacking.

I don't recall at what point I stopped hating MonteCristo and starting hanging onto his words like he was Jesus, but it was probably somewhere around the start of Season Four. I found myself valuing his keen, experienced insight. He never failed in his predictions. Clearly, he was all-knowing. And even when he was delivering venomous swipes of his knife, he always remained so angelically calm and soft-spoken that the poison was practically negated. But he did like to swing that knife, frequently and sometimes cruelly, at every kid who played in the LCS. It's a habit that has caused him to have a fair share of haters, (with many a pro player among them).

So it was with a great deal of pleasure and satisfaction that his many adversaries watched CLG go down to Curse in a fast 3-0 during Playoffs, and the german term, schadenfreude, applied. Lord, they were quick to swarm social media sites and jump on Monte's ass, thrusting fingers in his face, gleefully cackling, "You said everyone else was bad, and yet, your team has failed. Where are your Korean Gods now?"

For MonteCristo, whose skin is as thick as his ego, these words have little effect. He is a consummate professional, and is fully capable of taking what he dishes out. Having bullets fired at him comes with his job and like Superman, he stands there smirking while they bounce off his chest. But for his team, whose hopes and dreams rode on his wisdom and guidance, it's was hard not to feel the sting, and I don't doubt Doublelift wasn't the only person on the team who considered retirement in the uncomfortable days that followed. So, we can't help but ponder the possibility...did MonteCristo actually fail them? 

A coach must be equal parts teacher, mentor and drill instructor, trying to find a way to bring out the best performance in each and every one of his pupils, and I don't double Monte tried to be those things. According to him, he spends hours and hours each day watching films and working with his team over Skype. But I have a quote from him that's sat on the left sidebar of this site forever. "'Potential' is bullshit. Results are the only thing that matters."   

Monte focused his coaching on changing how the team communicated and having them understand strategy at a very high level. He felt he had a better grasp of what champions were coming up and what strats were being used. Big picture tactics, as he called it. But he probably sees a much different scene gazing out his big picture window in Korea than one might see from Manhattan Beach, and it's possible that by asking his team to look out his window, he took them too far from the reality of their own. 

  

Opinions on Reddit and Twitter seem to vary. There is the more base, raw emotion of 'He talked shit about other teams, he deserves it,' to the reasoned, 'He's not a bad coach but he needs to spend more time with his team,' to the extremely forgiving, 'He can only do so much. It's up to the players to perform.' But the truth probably lies somewhere between all these. Dexter admitted stress was an issue, and expressed nothing but relief when their playoff game was over. It's possible that by taking the team to Korea, Monte put his boys too far into the center of our cross hairs at a time when they needed less stress, not more.

At the end of the day, at least for now, we can only speculate. MonteCristo once said, "There's nothing that effects me in eSports more than whether CLG wins or loses," but the repercussions from this - their most devastating loss - still remain to be seen.

The Awkward World that is Player Vlogs

Doublelift sits at a desk in a disorganized room filled with empty Coke bottles and discarded clothing. Light glares through the curtains behind him, shining in on what little we can see of Chauster, who toys with a new soundcard while hunched over his computer. Random chatter can be heard from his CLG housemates in the background, and the ever-present sound of frantically clicking keys.

Doublelift winces as his video begins. “It’s just another boring me talking to the camera thing,” he sheepishly admits, rubbing his chin with a selection of ‘um’s’ and ‘so...yeah’s’ while dishing out the mundane details of his day.

It’s a common scene in player’s vlogs, those little video slices of life that every pro is doing. Most of them are awkward at best, with uncomfortable hosts staring at the camera, straining for something to say. Even Meteos, so well-known for his fun banter during his streams, is often left speechless. “I don’t like vlogs,” he mumbles apologetically to his viewers. “They’re so hard to do.”

But whether it’s Zuna cooking chicken strips at four in the morning or LemonNation getting a haircut, dedicated fans can still be counted on to watch them. Daily vlogs can boast over 30,000 views, with some of the more infamous of them garnering 150,000 views or more.

Normally, vlogs are just a few minutes of unscripted rambling, with the pros touching on things like what they ate today or commenting on their performance in a game, followed by a quick shout-out to sponsors. Doublelift talks about everything from setting up their new televisions, to his Ashe play, to going to the gym with his teammates.

“Yeah, like you work out,” his landlord interjects from the hallway.

Doublelift glances over his shoulder. “I was going to work out. I was going to...!” he shouts back, his cheeks turning two shades of red.  

While not always that entertaining, vlogs give you a pretty accurate view of a player’s world outside the game, proving that their daily life is just as humdrum as our own. Tours of their environments reveal unmade beds and dishes piled in the sink, or grumbling teammates half-asleep in generic hotel rooms. It’s a world not unlike that of any gaming nerd, and it’s a comforting affirmation that we’re not alone.

Once in a while though, vlogs can be incredibly poignant or insightful. Memories of Xpecial’s heartfelt confession, “we’re having a bit of a rough patch,” readily come to mind. It was an honest bit of soul searching that resonated with its viewers, followed by over two-thousand replies of (mostly) encouraging words.

As hard as it is to see distress on a player’s face, Esports fans are notoriously drawn to team drama. Elementz, often the whipping boy in r/leagueoflegends, received an outpouring of support after he posted a gut-wrenching vlog where he addressed his trash-talking teammates. Dyrus got an earful of armchair counseling when he asked his fans to drop their attacks on Reginald, and CLG gained a ton of renewed fan love when the normally arrogant Hotshotgg humbly choked out, “the way things have been going, I’ll be left with nothing.”

Moments like that stand out all the greater when you've seen these players on an ordinary day, sharing a meal with their teammates and smiling at each other’s jokes. Because you've been made a part of their private lives, you experience the emotions with them, and it ties you to them on a very personal level.

No other sport asks its players to make vlogs, but it’s fitting for a game whose main fan base is online. Internet audiences are used to having that kind of intimate connection. And on a map where players are represented by digital champions, it’s nice to be reminded they’re still human.