Show Your Team Spirit!

This guy, kingfr0st, on deviantArt made a full set of NA LCS smartphone backgrounds. Check them out, he's got one for every team! I put this here as a sample, but please download them from him, not me!! :)

Dignitas - EG - Curse - compLexity - LMQ - CLG - TSM - C9

EU LCS W3D1 PREVIEW

Alliance 5W - 1L vs Roccat 1W - 5L

Alliance is unstoppable. Roccat is in so bad a slump that replacing its bot lane with potatoes might help. Generally, in the bizarro world of the LCS, this means we can expect Roccat to surprise win.

SK Gaming 4W - 2L vs Millenium 3W - 3L

SK is showing consistant play. Mellenium is still wavering. If Week 1 Kerp shows up, Millenium will have a shot. If Week 2 Kerp shows up, Mellenium will lose. It's a Tale of Two Kerps.

Copenhagen Wolves 2W - 4L vs Gambit 2W - 4L

Both teams are trying to find synergy with their new players. Both teams are slowly improving. However, niQ is still finding his stride with Gambit, while the Wolves' new players are at the heart of their progress. Based on this observation alone, I expect the Wolves to really come together and make a strong showing in this game.   

Supa Hot Crew 4W-2L vs Fnatic 3W - 3L

Fnatic lost to Gambit. Lost...to...Gambit. Meanwhile, Supa Hot Crew are on a Supa Hot Streak. Once again, this should mean a Fnatic surprise win, but Fnatic like riding roller coasters and I expect them to beat Roccat on Friday, so, unfortunately, today will have to be the down side of 'up and down.'  

What Are You Doing Under There?

 League in the Land Down Under 

by Jodi "PunkLit" McClure

Hyper-excited shoutcasters are calling the end of a game. Colored lights flash over frenzied fans, who watch the match with raised arms. The clacking of thundersticks is heard as the nexus explodes. Riot's logo appears, followed by a smoky beige video of players posed with crossed arms, appearing dangerous and determined as they stare down the camera. It looks, for all intents and purposes, like any other day in the LCS, save for one interesting factor. This is the Autumn Regionals in Australia, and you've probably never heard of most of these fellows.

While we generally pay attention to European and Asian Leagues, we give very little notice to what goes on in the land down under. League in Oz is as mysterious to us as life in the outback, and it's only during the wildcard phase of Worlds that we tend to give the Oceanic scene any consideration at all - but they're certainly not unworthy. 

     

Prior to receiving their own server last year, Australian league fans had to endure terrible pings and crushing lag. Despite this, their team Immunity still managed a valiant showing at Worlds, holding their own against CJ Blaze and finishing the group stage tied for second.

Even though the Oceanic League resembles our LCS, it's layout is very different. Teams qualify for the Autumn and Winter Regionals through a number of smaller tournaments, and then the top eight teams play in what is known as "the round of 8," an online, streamed B03 event that runs for three weeks.  The top four teams then compete live on stage in the Autumn or Winter Finals, and the winner gets a buy into either the Winter Regionals or the Wildcard Tournament, with the hopes of moving on to the World Championships in Korea.

Viewership of these Regionals (and playing of LOL in general) has been growing at a rate quite similar to what the NA LCS experienced in its first year of production. Riot now rebroadcasts the NA LCS on Twitch during primetime Australian hours. Combine this with big NA names such as Dignitas and Curse picking up Australian rosters, and Australian fans are starting to pay a lot more attention to the NA LCS. The broadcast definitely has its fans.

Among the Oceanic League, Team Immunity has the largest following, although Avant Garde Ascension is knocking on their door. Each team has its own gaming house, a strong social media presence, and its share of popular streamers. (Like Minkywhale from Avant and Raydere from Immunity.)

Assuming the Oceanic Regionals continue to follow the path of the LCS, given a few more years, the Australian teams should be achieving the same large scale growth and fame that EU and NA LCS players are experiencing now. Currently, the Aussies have just completed the first week of their Winter Round of 8, so if you have any interest in watching, now is the time to check them out! 

How Well Do You Know Your League Champions?

Quizzes by Quibblo.com

How will Braum change the LCS Meta?

by Reece "Sabrewolf" Dos-Santos

Braum’s release into live play has had a huge impact in solo queue and normal games. With the highest win rate of all the champions so far, it’s hard to deny that this new support is more than free elo. The question, however, is how much of an impact he could make on the LCS meta-game and, in my opinion, he has the potential to change a lot.

First and foremost, Braum will most likely be picked or banned most of the time. It’s hard to deny how useful he is in many situations: he brings invade potential, hard engage, hard disengage and powerful shielding with the absolute negation of one piece of damage. His level 1 is crazy strong because not many supports can reliably trade with the stun he brings out, especially if it’s synergized with a Lucian double shot. Braum/Lucian will likely be a very popular lane considering how Lucian is already picked in almost every LCS game as the main contested ADC outside of Caitlin or Twitch, who are more situational. However, Braum’s kit also enables the play of ADC’s like Jinx and Kog’maw that can dish out tons of damage provided that they are kept safe from being blown up. Kog’maw has already begun to see more play in recent times and now is the perfect time for him to ascend the ranks as one of the highly-contested ADC picks. Jinx already is a situational pick as she is considered by some as the best ADC to play when you have enough protection for her high damage output.

In the same light as Jinx and Kog’maw, another lane that could be affected greatly by Braum’s release is the mid lane. Froggen at the All-Star event showed the world what can still happen when Anivia is allowed free reign. He mentioned himself that Anivia simply doesn't fit into the meta which is why he cannot play her on a regular basis in the LCS. However, with the protection of Braum as well as the synergy of a potential stun lock between them, Anivia might actually be able to sneak back into the Meta and could be allowed to wreak havoc in the mid lane. Her wave clear, lane control and high burst have always been valuable assets to a team; they just always needed a shield to stop her from being bursted. The same could be said for other double-edged sword mid laners like Vel’koz, who never actually made it into regular competitive play or even live play due to an inability to dish out the high sustained damage he brings without being completely exploded. The second that Velkoz is caught out or while he is channeling his ultimate, the protection of Braum could allow him to quickly re-position and be valuable to the ensuing fight. The synergy of Braum’s ultimate knock-up and the Life Form Disintegration Ray could also prove deadly if played right and in unison. This could finally be Vel’koz’s patch to shine.

But with setting up many champions to do well, Braum will also push some champions out of the Meta. Braum has the ability to push some champions that rely heavily on single target damage out of competitive play because of his main ability: Unbreakable. Champions like Nidalee and Leblanc will see their effectiveness reduced greatly in siege situations where they rely on the ability to blow up one key target. Added in with a Yasuo wind wall and that’s a near impossible situation for Nidalee, in particular, to get any poke damage with spears without a monumental mistake being made by the enemy team. Provided that the Braum is quick, Rengar’s ability to burst out a squishy target could also be completely negated by the power of Unbreakable.

But of course this is all still speculation for now and we won’t know the true extent of Braum’s impact on the LCS until he makes it through. But if the regular play stats are anything to go by, he could completely change the flow the duo lanes or simply force teams to re-evaluate their ban choices which could allow other contested picks to get back onto the rift.