EU Expansion Tournament Day One Recap

By Reece "Sabrewolf" Dos-Santos 

EU kicked off their double elimination expansion bracket with Giants Gaming, who eliminated the hyped up Millenium, vs Reason Gaming who are made up of previous LCS players.

Giants executed their pick/ban strategy flawlessly removing Zed and Irelia in all 3 of the games rotating the third ban each time. For games one and two they stuck to the solid 4 champ combo of Pantheon, Jax, Jinx and Thresh while using Leblanc in game one and Azir in game two. The true key to this composition was the sheer dominance that their Pantheon pick displayed in controlling the early game and moving the game to his pace.

First bloods went to Giants in both games and Reason’s Lulu jungle pick in game one was completely steamrolled in its attempts to be relevant, often being blown up before even able to execute an ultimate on a teammate. It was particularly interesting to watch how much Kubon struggled against Werelyb at top and how much extra effort Giants invested into ganking and keeping him down. Most people expected that the giveaway of Gnar to Reason would spell trouble for Giants but they proved this doubt wrong many times throughout the course of games one and two.

Game three of the series showed a bit more life from Reason Gaming who secure first blood on Fr3deric, Kubon on Jax even manages to take a 1v1 kill on Werelyb. However the game once again snowballed out of Reason’s control as Kubon again struggled to maintain any kind of relevance.

The MVP of the series in my opinion is Giants Gaming’s Fr3deric who really set his team’s strangleholds into motion and demonstrated a map wide presence that simply couldn’t be handled by their opposition.

If the series against Millennium wasn’t enough to turn some heads towards Giants as favourites to qualify, I’m sure there will be some heads turning now.

H2K vs FAC

The second series of H2K vs N Faculty displayed the same result of a clean 3-0 crushing any hope of a reverse sweep like seen we’ve commonly in the NA expansion bracket. Unlike Reason Gaming, N Faculty had next to no sign of any kind of life during the series, LCS veteran Xaxus was unable to do anything about his team’s systematic take-down.

H2K went into the series with no particular pick/ban strategy other than removing Syndra and Leblanc from every game. N Faculty banned Xerath, Jayce and Lee in games one and two and Jayce, Ahri, Zed in game three.

The games themselves weren’t kill filled thrill rides and didn’t show off anything too flashy or special, the whole series gave off the impression that N Faculty were playing not to lose rather than to win. Barring game three with dragons, H2K displayed a heavy objective control and slowly drained out N Faculty in all areas before taking the series. There was one point where H2K took two completely uncontested towers in middle in game two, N Faculty were simply nowhere to be seen. Soz Purefect had next to no impact and paled in comparison to Febiven who took the carry seat across the series for H2K.

At times it seemed like H2K were taking the games too slow as they never really made any dynamic decisions or rushed plays. The chessboard takedown of N Faculty showed that H2K never really felt any pressure.

As mentioned above, the MVP of the series would have to go to Febiven who lived up to his hype and completely obliterated his opponent.

Giants vs H2K in the winners match looks to be an exciting series but N Faculty and Reason have a lot to work on in their series if they want to stand a chance against the loser of the winner bracket for the second LCS spot. 

by Reece "SabrewoIf" Dos-Santos

Amazing, Niels & Mithy announced for Origen (xPeke’s newly formed team). Contenders for Top Lane Position Here!

By Anel “Musinlol” Musinovic

xPeke’s dream of creating his own team and brand is finally coming to life, and with the new announcement of Amazing, Niels & Mithy, the team is looking promising.

Origen announced the new players via Twitter but has not announced their toplaner yet, therefore the rumor mill is still producing names such as Alex Ich, SoaZ, Kev1n & Zorozero.

Looking at Alex Ich as the first contender and the most talked by the community for Origen’s toplane. 

Alex Ich has been a great midlaner over the years and was a dominant force in the EU LCS for Gambit. After leaving Gambit he joined NiP as their toplaner since NiP already had Nukeduck midlane at the time, but despite a star-studded team they failed to qualify for LCS. Him as a toplaner for NiP didn't seem like the biggest success, which was why he later played midlane. Since then, he has tried to form a team with players such as Kev1n, Impaler, Creaton & KaSing, which again left him to play midlane, but sadly the team disbanded after some shaky ranked-5’s performances which were streamed.

Alex recently signed with the Russian team, RoX.KIS which leads me to believe that he will have a hard time leaving them. Overall, I don’t think he is the best toplaner available, and fits way better in the midlane. xPeke also might see a problem in Alex Ich needing a place to stay with his wife & child. He is really liked by the community and still a decent player but I don't see it happening.

Possibility of happening: 3/10

Looking at the second contender, Kev1n.

With the recent failure of re-qualifying for LCS, Millenium decided to disband. Without a team, the possibility of Kev1n is likely. Kev1n has been in the scene for a long time with teams such as SK Gaming & Millenium and he doesn't seem to be going anywhere. Trying to form a team with Alex Ich & trying to re-qualify with Millenium means that he certainly still has the drive for it.

Kev1n has always been at the top with high KDA even when his teams weren't placing high. I think that he is the most likely contender of the four and if he doesn't get picked I would be surprised. With that said, they have been playing ranked 5’s under the name “ORIGEN” on the client, the toplane account is completely new and I don’t see a reason for hiding it if it was Kev1n since he is without a team right now.

Possibility of happening: 8/10

sOAZ, the third contender.

Soaz, as we all know from Against All Authority & Fnatic, is a toplaner with a great champion pool and he knows xPeke very well. They have been together in Fnatic for a long time and that could be a crucial factor. Rumours have been flying around that xPeke doesn't like sOAZ and therefore doesn't want him in Origen.

sOAZ still seems to be on Fnatic and there is question to be made of whether he wants to take the chance of going through challenger or sticking with his secure Fnatic spot. This could explain the mystery top lane account Origen have been playing ranked 5’s with, since sOAZ is most likely still contracted to Fnatic. Also, the unknown player is presenting quite innovative picks in the toplane - such as Morgana and Ezreal. On the other hand, he has changed his name to sOAZIZSALTY in soloq, which could mean he is salty for being left on Fnatic while three of its five players have left.

Possibility of happening: 7/10

Looking at the last contender, Zorozero.

Zorozero is well known for playing for Lemondogs and NiP, and he was also praised as being the best toplaner in EU. No doubt that he was a great player, but he left for school and he surely couldn't have finished school yet unless he did some of it already. Personally I wish it would turn out to be Zorozero just for the sake of getting him back into the scene. Sadly, I think it is unlikely because of school. If he is finished, he could very well be looking for a team and they are hiding the name of the player under the name “touchmytagada.”

Possibility of happening: 5/10

Why a Ten-Team LCS is an Improvement

by Jerrod "Thousand Eyes" Steis

          Now that the expansion tournament has finished up and we have two new teams added to the LCS (Congrats to Curse Academy and Coast), we have ten teams in the LCS. Having ten teams is a huge step in the right direction for E-Sports and the LCS in general. Whether or not these teams succeed is irrelevant, and to be perfectly honest, without a substantial growth in strategy both in game and picks/bans, neither team will make playoffs. Still, there’s a lot more to gain here than just some new teams added to the split.

Better Strategic Planning

          First off, having two more teams means more diverse and well planned games. No longer will one team have to end up playing twice in one week at times. Each week will be even for every team in terms of strategizing. There were many times last split that we saw random upsets in super weeks, and most of those upsets were from lack of preparation for the “perceived” lower team. Now with ten teams, super weeks are gone from the schedule and teams have a full week to prepare for their games. This will help teams that struggled with consistency at times due to splitting their efforts. Of course, this may or may not be the actual issue that some teams had.

More Pro Players = More E-sports Money

          Having more players in the LCS will mean the overall economy of the LCS will improve. There are more opportunities for sponsors, more players getting paid, more games to watch. The list goes on and on. If as a whole we want E-Sports to expand, it’s integral that we add more teams because it gives more opportunities. More chances for players, but also more chances for all other areas like support staff and such. Hopefully these new teams will be able to bring more people and consequently more money to E-Sports and the LCS.

Expansion Brought Hype to Challenger Scene

          The 4 team double elimination bracket was a great success. No series was a sweep and there were even a few teams that were down 0-2 that pulled out a 3-2 win. The games, while sloppy, were also extremely entertaining and exciting. They got us interested in teams we didn't know before and we watched as some people had dreams come true and others had theirs crushed. While two of the teams didn't make it, they were guaranteed a spot in the challenger series that is on after the LCS every week. The challenger series had always been lackluster in views. Now that people were able to see some of the teams that are involved, it should boost the viewership and fans of the series.

More Teams Creates a Larger More Diverse Fan Base

          One of the large issues with the LCS currently is that with only 8 teams, the choices of what team you want to root for are limited. As the LCS expands, different teams will come in and it will give fans a much richer choice on who they want to support. Whether it’s because of champions that they play or strategies or even if it’s just their personalities. Higher population means higher chance of relating in some way or another.

Better Chance for Players to Grow on LAN

          Finally, the players themselves will have a greater chance to grow on a LAN setting and on stage. There’s always been a large difference between playing on-line and playing live on LAN. Some players excel at it and some players flop. Getting more players to experience it though is great. A lot of players find that they excel in LAN and on stage setting and it’s possible we see that from one of the Curse Academy players. It will also be easier to grasp which players are really able to handle being on stage and playing live and under pressure. Some people just can’t handle being in front of so many people when playing and living in that kind of environment.

          While adding more teams may not immediately enhance the level of play, it will improve the overall outlook of the LCS. We’re a long way from anything the size of the NFL or Premier League, we’re growing and making progress. All great things come in small steps and this is probably one of the most integral steps we've taken so far.

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By Jerrod "Thousand Eyes" Steis 

Looking At the Gold Efficiency of the Patch 4.21 Dragon

By Kennan French

With Riot increasing their “strategic diversity” in terms of objective control, dragon now gives non-monetary rewards instead of the global gold it gave in Season 4. The most widely-appreciated of these rewards is the bonus percentage AD and AP. However, the balance team at Riot decided that the 8% bonus given in Patch 4.20 was a bit overtuned, so it has been changed to 6% in 4.21. For those not familiar with gold efficiency, it is the idea that champion stats have a certain gold value based on the basic items for that stat. In other words, it is a ratio of your benefit to your cost of buying an item.

This idea of gold efficiency can be extended to the dragon changes—a team can be thought of as forgoing the old global gold of the dragon (190 gold for each team member when dragon is level 7) to “buy” this 6% increase in AD and AP. For example, if someone got 190 gold worth of stats from the dragon, then they could be said to have 100% gold efficiency compared to the old dragon. Note that this is a sort of “scaling” gold efficiency, since we’re comparing a percentage AD/AP bonus (which increases over time) to the constant 190 gold a player would have received in Patch 4.19.

So let’s get into the numbers. An average time for first dragon (as computed by random games from various solo queue elos, IEM, and OGN) is something like 10-13 minutes. On Patch 4.20, the dragon bonuses would have been (roughly) as follows:

AP Champions
Role	Approximate AP@10	Bonus AP	Worth of Bonus AP	Gold Efficiency@10
AP laner/jungler	80	6.4	139 gold	73%
Support	Negligible        ------------------------------------------------------>

AD Champions
Role	Approximate AD@10	Bonus AD	Worth of Bonus AD	Gold Efficiency@10
AD solo laner	120	9.6	346 gold	182%
ADC	100	8	288 gold	152%
AD jungler	105	8.6	310 gold	163%

These approximate AD/AP values are estimates based on the base values of popular champions, common rune and mastery pages, and a few “normal” builds for those popular champions.

On 4.21, here are those same values with the 6% bonuses:

AP Champions
Role	Approximate AP@10	Bonus AP	Worth of Bonus AP	Gold Efficiency@10
AP laner/jungler	80	4.8	104 gold	55%
Support	Negligible        ------------------------------------------------------>

AD Champions
Role	Approximate AD@10	Bonus AD	Worth of Bonus AD	Gold Efficiency@10
AD solo laner	120	7.2	260 gold	137%
ADC	100	6	216 gold	114%
AD jungler	105	6.3	227 gold	119%

It is also important to understand the changes to the vales from 4.20 to 4.21, so here they are:

Role	Change in Bonus Value@10
AP laner/jungler	Lost 35 gold
Support	Negligible
AD solo laner	Lost 86 gold
ADC	Lost 72 gold
AD jungler	Lost 83 gold

This effectively means that champions which scale with AP were hit less by the 4.21 dragon changes—buying AP is cheaper than buying AD, after all. The dragon buff is still typically “gold efficient” on AD champions, but is just barely halfway to being gold efficient on AP champions (until they get 146 AP, when they “break even” compared to the old rewards). It is worth noting that since AP champions tend to amass much more AP later on in the game than AD champions buy AD, the scaling gold efficiency is better for an AP champion. An Orianna with 650 AP, for example, gets 39 AP, which is around 850 gold. That makes it 447% efficient, whereas a Zed with 330 AD gets only 375% gold efficiency.

To conclude, dragon in Patch 4.21 still benefits AD champions more than AP ones in the early game, and this reverses as the game goes on. Until AP champions get enough AP to break even with the old dragon gold, they aren’t too happy about the changes; once they hit 146 AP, though, they think maybe it’s not so bad after all.

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 By Kennan French 

Deck the Halls with Coast and Curse Academy!

by Jodi "PunkLit" McClure

Get ready, LCS Fans...ESL is about to launch into another full weekend of Expansion Tournament excitement, and I know you've all been good boys and girls, so Santa is bringing you some early Christmas goodies! First, we have a super fun opener match! It might not be very even; MakNooN and Nien are so far up the #GODLIKEHYPE scale that Final Five can't even see them from where they stand, which is down in a basement, where Storm left them after the NACL Winter Tournament the other day, but...Final Five should provide enough resistance to allow Fusion to put on a great show. (ShorterAce is amazing yo.) No matter what the score you should be highly entertained! And after you're good and warmed up...

Coast vs Curse Academy will be an amazing match worthy of an array of Super Bowl snacks. Buy a couple of subs, a big bag of Doritos, and some spinach dip or something, light a fire in the fireplace and curl up on the coach with a warm blanket while you bask in the glow of your big screen TV because this is the LCS's version of your favorite Christmas cartoon. It's a gift in a pretty silver box with a shiny red ribbon. And it's all yours to open a full two weeks before the real event. It even comes complete with it's own nativity - a real live Saint and a Sheep!! Santa is doling out the HOT goods, boys! I guess it pays not to rage in League!

The games kick off at 2pm est (+5 gmt)...barring any technical problems. (But it's live from ESL's studios in Burbank, CA...so what could possibly go wrong?)