From our friends at You Can't Milk Those

Dreams can come true : EU Promotion Tournament

by Jeremy Heimann

NIP vs Millenium - NIP is a team with three players who were on the Season 3 Worlds' stage with expectations to do well from the start, and up to this point they have failed to meet those expectations. Once again they are heavy favorites to win a series for a chance to play in the LCS. They tend to play very safe in laning phase and prefer to stay in lanes as long as possible. Zorozero will usually split top while Nukeduck goes bot. This strategy is called 1-3-1 and is the plan they almost always go with. This style was used very much in the EU LCS spring split to mixed success.

Millenium is just one split removed from being a playoff team and this last split has to be a major disappointment for them. Creaton was able to keep a 4.0 KDA even though his team lost the most games. Kottenx has helped the team play better towards the end of the split. He also seems to like the early gank junglers that should be used against a team like NIP. Lane swaps would favor Millenium and if they can make the game about rotations and taking objectives instead of farming for the first twenty minutes I like their chances.  Prediction Millenium 3-2 over NIP

Cloud 9 Eclipse vs Supa Hot Crew - Cloud 9 Eclipse, the winners of the Coke League playoffs, should be considered the strongest challenger team. Supa Hot Crew don't care how they finished and decided that C9E was a better match-up for them then NIP, and that decision will either be great or a bad call on their end. C9E is without their star jungler, Kou, because of the age requirement.

The match-up to watch is in the mid lane. Febiven versus Selfie - a mid laner that joined the SHC late in the season and came out on fire, but since then he hasn't made many sparks. Febiven could really control the mid lane and that spells bad news for the SHC. I expect bot lane to go even - with the edge going to the SHC. Prediction C9E 3-1 over Supa Hot Crew

Denial Esports vs Copenhagen Wolves-Denial Esports, formerly known as Departed, is among the better teams in Europe and should be considered one of the best. The Polish comparison with Roccat has to be made which won their way in defeating the best of the worst LCS teams. Denial had trouble defeating NIP or C9E so it's hard to give them much chance against the Wolves. Prediction 3-0 Wolves over Denial 

LCS Fans - Get pumped up for Braum, the Heart of the Freljord!

Braum is 'The Interceptor,' putting himself between his teammates and danger and taking the blows for them. He has an interesting skill set with some slow and stun capabilities, but his biggest advantage seems to be his shield. This sounds like the kind of champion who will produce #BIGPLAYS with clutch saves and he should be a lot of fun to watch. 

LCS eSports Question of the Day:

Curse Voice is a third-party add-on to League that allows for team voice chat, but its overlay also includes Champion Ultimate and Jungle timers. Some players love the idea while others feel this is an unfair advantage over people who don't install it. So our Question of the Day, LCS Fans, is: 

Curse Voice...Good or Bad?

And here's what you had to say:

‏@ArronDempers wrote: Bad. Curse seem intent on monopolizing the league scene as far as they can, even in comms. Not a good thing for growing scenes.

‏@ste_coolname123 wrote: I don't need a client to tell me ultimates cd as long as I can follow the action/simply ask teammates, and I think lol is one of those games which should be chat-less so, not even a bit interested in oral communication.

‏@D3nn0s wrote: I don't know.. I like the ult timer of allies but that's it. But I agree with people who say Riot must implement it so either everybody has it or nobody has it. The automatic timer (even tho you have vision) is a terrible thing imo..

‏@Chef_Lu_Bu wrote: haven't used it. I'm not a fan of, as I understand, it keeping track of things like camp spawns and such. I think that memorization of spawn timers is something indicative of a skill-cap. Not every player can FADC in street fighter, and the game doesn't do it for you, because you're supposed to learn it on your own.

‏@Konman81 wrote: I think its good because it is forcing players to get better about timers... Watching diamond games players already time everything.

‏@the_grimmia wrote: It's not like timers are hard to remember. Buffs are five, drake is six, and baron is seven. It's math. Use a calculator rofl.

‏@DungOhBeetle wrote: Jungling since start of season 3, getting the timers wasn't hard for me, people complaining about static timers is moot. I think the only problem is it third party software, if riot patched in auto timers people would still bitch and moan, but at least it would promote some strategy around objectives for those who don't strategize at all in the game.

‏@JamesConnor wrote: I think in the sense of pushing Riot to integrate systems like this into the game, it's good. Dota does fine with voice in game

‏@SearchThisCity wrote: Regardless of the whole spawn timer debate, its a very solid and reliable communication system, its better than skype!

‏@Gregorok wrote: Curse voice is good, doesn't really give unfair advantage. One could only wish that Riot would have done it themselves.

‏@PyunTaeFoo  wrote: I think the idea is great, but not releasing it in full limits teams, if you have it you have an advantage and if you don't, well..Knowing timers is just gonna tell you when dragon or baron respawns, it still won't save bad players from bad rotations. Koreans play in windowed mode and keep timers in a wordpad, this is basically the same except you don't have to manually enter it.

‏@Fighter9363 wrote: Its good with all the timers and stuff and the chat thing when you can talk with your teamates is awesome!

‏@spdivr1122 wrote: Good. All it does is give you ult timers and baron/dragon time if you had vision. Nothing else.

@GoonLvOver9000 wrote:  the voice comms part is golden, the timers are broken and bad for the game

LCS eSports Question of the Day:

Question of the Day:


How long do you think the LCS can conceivably last on its present map?
Here were some of your responses:


‏@TheRealTZT wrote: Until the internet dies and explodes #LCS


‏@AverageGuyNA wrote: I give it 3 more years, just like anything, everything has to end.


‏@nuggetsauce wrote: I think they're already expanding the map with NACS. They need to open up LCS size though, and perhaps double the number of games.


@Joe_Sorci wrote: I think for LoL to be relevant in the future They need to make the bad champs good You see the same champs every game #GetsOld


‏@SFFpunk wrote: StarCraft is still relevant today and it went competitive long ago. I think LOL is more popular, so I don't see it going away soon. I can see Riot making minor tweaks to Rift, but sports don't change fields, and I view LoL as more sport than game.


‏@CheetahBotVeLoL wrote: Considering competitive Tetris is still around...League will be alive & an e-sport for quite a long time if Rito plays this right.


‏@Matheson_Allen wrote: 2 more seasons


‏@Prof_Random wrote: Depends on how many champions are going to have getaways that let them go through terrain. Thresh is broken for that in a way


@CoC_Pepitas wrote: Truthfully it's hard to say. Starcraft had a 10 year cycle and was never this ingrained in the culture. I'm saying 5+.


‏@Zeke640 wrote: No other pro sport changes it's field, I don't see why LCS needs to. New champs, players, and strategies are what keep it alive.


‏@RobMeyer7 wrote: Seems the history of MOBAs + LoL presents different maps as diversions or alternates to the *main* 5v5 map. Obviously MOBAs =/= RTSs when it comes to map rotations. Has any MOBA ever switched its main focus map? So I guess my answer is: how long the present map lasts is equal to how long the LCS will last & since that itself is a non-answer to your original question, I say LCS will last another 5 years, all on its current map. :)


@SabrewoIf wrote: A S-Rift Upgrade will come at the right time and bring a whole new feel to the game, thats why SR hasnt gotten any skins recently

Esports : NACS PlayOffs : Today's Matches

Today's Matches : 

1. Curse Academy vs compLexity Black for Third Place

2. LMQ vs Cloud 9 HyperX Tempest - Finals 

C9 Roster: Yazuki - Top , kez - Jungler, Bischu - Mid, Altec - ADC, Gleebglarbu - Support

LMQ Roster: ackerman - Top, NoName - Jungler, XiaoWeiXiao - Mid, Vasilii - ADC, Mor - Support

Want to know more about these teams? Check out @RedShirtKing's site, lessthanlegends. He's got everything you need to know there to help you enjoy the games. :)  (Then..erm..come back here!)

LCS eSports Question of the Day

What do you think could be done to get more girls/women into LoL? Here were some of your responses:

‏‏@TiaraKind wrote: More word of mouth and support from current lady players? Band together, vixens!

@ThatGuyBranch wrote: Fix the community. Have a good example of a professional team for it and not be like the Sirens.

@AnnPragg wrote: Make it not a competitive video game.

@eSportsLawyer wrote: Boys play to win, girls play to have fun. More fun game modes (#URF4eva). Better focus on player experience, and maybe mentor mode.

@Donaldson_Andy wrote: Hmm, I think it just comes down to general taste tbh :O I dont think its about gender much :/ if you like LoL as a game....

@strawbrarie wrote: More yordles

@mentazero wrote: Less sexism in the community could help

@CoC_Pepitas wrote: I think the LCS and eSports is the key. While playerbase is 5% female, LCS viewerbase is 33%. Noticeable difference.

@SushiDucky wrote: Better funding and scouting into female oriented brands/Diamond(chall) Players/Diamond(Challenger) teams.

@SabrewoIf wrote: I think more girls just need to want it. I don't think there's anything stopping them, they just need to push for it

@Prof_Random wrote: Lots of girls/women already play, you can blame Teemo for that. But I'm guessing you're question is leaning more on the esports side.

@elisanuckle wrote: Would love to see some pro League female players. Or just more in esports in general.

@AbePringle wrote: Dudes playing could stop being douchebags elitist wanna be thugs.

Got an opinion? Send your answer to @punklit and we'll add it to the forum.