WEEK 1 OGN/LCK BRINGS THE ACTION!

by Jerrod "Thousand Eyes" Steis

The first week of Korea’s professional circuit has completed and we can finally get back into professional LoL. Of course, one week isn't much in the grand scheme of things, but I think there are some good thoughts to take away from what we've seen so far. Keep in mind these are all just off of one series for most teams. This means what we've seen and what we get later on in the season might not match up. It’s also the first time a lot of these teams are working together since the merger and cutting out sister teams. There’s most likely a lot of work that still needs done.

KOREA IS THE FIRST REGION TO LEARN GNAR

Korea has always been known for being the dominant region overall, but they usually aren’t known for being the innovative ones or bringing out new metas. That’s usually reserved for EU or sometimes NA and then Korean players pick up and master it. We saw this with Ziggs, Maokai, and top lane Mundo for example. However this time, with the early start by Korea, they got the chance to be the pioneers. Gnar was almost always first pick or banned on red side. 

You could even bring up the ESL tourneys and say that EU and NA had a chance to bring it out and couldn't. We saw Gnar being played by Balls, widely regarded as one of the best top laners in NA, and he was mediocre on it to say the least. Meanwhile, the Gnar that was seen during Week 1 ranged from pretty solid overall to extraordinary and was an example of why Gnar is so powerful. Granted his 33% win rate wasn't anything spectacular, but even the losses had some good plays involved. 

The one win with Gnar in Smeb’s Game 2 from the GE vs IM series was absolutely spectacular. Not only was he able to win his lane pretty convincingly, but his late game team fighting and overall control of Gnar’s rage meter was impeccable. He was able to teleport at perfect times and control teams with his ults whenever needed. It’s safe to say that IM won’t be playing Gnar any time soon, and eventually he’s going to be permabanned as other pros learn to play him.

On a bit of a side note, it’s interesting to see that Korean players are more open than ever to trying new and innovative things. Wraith picked up not only a Lulu support, when she’s usually a flex mid or top pick, but a Syndra support as well. To be perfectly honest, the Syndra support - while not an optimal position for Syndra - didn't work out all too poorly for Samsung. The peel she had and ability to lower a tank that dove on the carry was pretty effective.

FAKER IS STILL GREAT, BUT CAN'T SOLO CARRY

One of the biggest things I saw was how teams were able to just shut Faker down. Barring his Game 3 vs. Najin, Faker didn't really accomplish much when he played. SKT won their series vs. Najin, but Faker went 1-1 overall. Also in the game he won, he had an early gank from Wolf (who ended up taking the MVP away from Faker who had a pentakill). He needed help getting ahead to become the monster he was always known to be. His Xerath was just not impactful and they even put him in a lane that was destined to lose, as well as giving him a champ that isn't really his playstyle. Easyhoon is outshining Faker on almost all aspects outside of assassin play, which is still only on the outskirts of coming into the meta.

Speaking of Wolf, he’s really shown to be one of the star players with Easyhoon on SKT. His roaming on Janna was top notch and he made his presence known all around the map in both controlling his champion and controlling vision. He almost single-handedly gave Faker his snowball in Game 3 vs IM. Also his Janna became ban worthy after that series which says a lot when you’d rather ban out a support than either mid laner SKT has.

Both Bengi and MaRin looked pretty good in the pre-season, but once they got into the regular season they had a noticeable drop in performance. Bengi just seemed to not know where to be exactly and MaRin lost a few lanes and didn't position his Rumble ults as well as he could have. Combine that with no response to the camping of Faker that CJ Entus pulled off in their second game against SKT and you’ll find a struggling SKT that seemed to pick up where they left off at the end of last season.

RIOT KEPT OUT OF OGN'S BROADCAST

When I saw that OGN would be broadcast for free on Riot’s stream, I was feeling both excited and worried. I was happy that finally the best region in League was going to be as well covered and open to the public as it always should have been, but I had reservations to how Riot would go about it. MonteCristo and DOA are known for their strikingly different style of casting. DOA cracks jokes about the game and talks about his support *insert carry champ* and Monte is very upfront and brutally honest in his analysis of teams play as well as Riot’s decisions in where they move the game.

My biggest fear was that they would try and tone down Monte and DOA in order to fall in line with what the NA and EU LCS casts were like. The recent news of them replacing the LPLEN stream didn't really inspire a lot of hope either. To my delight though, the OGN steam was left untouched. The only difference is where you go to watch the stream. 

According to Monte, both he and DOA are still contracted to OGN and are not considered Riot employees. This gives them a bit more freedom in their ability to cast within their own style. Overall, I’m very happy to see that nothing noticeable is different on the Korean scene coverage.

CJ ENTUS IS MAKING A (bit of a) COMEBACK

Being a CJ fan, I remember seeing that they played SKT and thinking of how they’d most likely get rocked by Faker and Bang/Wolf. I was wonderfully surprised to see that all the players on CJ stepped up to the plate and really improved their play from the preseason. While overall the games themselves weren't exactly high quality in terms of strategy, CJ still looked much better than before.

SKT was making poor and cocky calls all throughout the series and CJ not only called them on it but came up with some great plays of their own. CoCo really shined this series and Shy also proved to be a very powerful and annoying Mundo. Even Ambition seemed to be getting more comfortable in his new jungle role. 

One of the biggest and most surprising things for me though was watching Space. Space has always been known as the player that held CJ Frost back, that MadLife was stuck in “Space Prison.” This series, however, Space made plays. His Corki was just the right amount of ballsy in order to get in and get out without dying. To be honest, it seemed more like MadLife was holding Space back in the series as he was missing some pretty easy skillshots. His vision control was very aggressive though and he was able to get a few nice flash Flays in the second game on Thresh.

One thing I think CJ needs to work on is their pick/ban phase. They didn't ban Gnar in either game, and while MaRin didn't perform spectacularly in Game 1, the composition almost certainly should have left CJ reeling. Let’s look at the P/B phase for Game 1:

While I admire the Janna ban from CJ they left Gnar open first pick, which was immediately locked in by SKT. The Jarvan and Corki pickups were nice though. Now at this point, it should be noted that Easyhoon is playing mid and not Faker. 

Easyhoon is known as a much more passive player and prefers mages rather than assassins. This becomes important when Xerath gets locked in. Xerath is all about poke, and CJ countered with Mundo and Braum, two beefy guys that can stop the poke. Once those were baited out, SKT locked in Lee Sin and Sivir for the massive engage from Annie, Gnar and Sivir which has almost no way of being stopped. CoCo locked in Jayce as a final pick, which didn't really put a lot of pressure on to Easyhoon in lane like you can with a blind pick Xerath.

Honestly, CJ got played hardcore in picks and bans. They left Gnar open and then fell for the thought of it being a poke comp with Xerath rather than taking a deeper look at the Annie and Gnar picks. Yes, SKT is very mid-centric, but they have other good players as well.

It was through some good objective control and some sloppy play by SKT that CJ could pull out the win in the first game. Shy got too tanky to deal with and literally could fight three people at once while his team mopped up the rest.

CONCLUSION

Overall, Week 1 of OGN brought a lot of interesting stories in ways I didn't expect. I knew that Gnar would be an insta pick/ban in every almost every game. I had also figured, as we got closer to the actual broadcast, that Riot was not going to do much to mess with Monte and DOA.

Seeing CJ wake up and SKT and Faker struggle was a bit of a surprise though. All of the unorthodox picks were really fresh from Korea as well. It’s shaping up to be an exciting split for OGN/LCK. Lots of new teams and strategies, old players, new players, and now a way to see it all for free!

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by Jerrod "Thousand Eyes" Steis

Tips to maximize your Fantasy experience!

by Reece "SabrewoIf" Dos-Santos

Following its success during the Season 4 Summer Split, the Fantasy LCS system is back and re-tuned for the coming Spring Split of Season 5. I'd like to outline a few tips to help your Fantasy LCS experience be as enjoyable as possible.

1. Fantasy LCS isn't region locked.

One of the best parts of Fantasy LCS is the fact that you don’t need to stick within your region like when playing League of Legends itself. You can join a league with anyone from North America, EU West, EU Nordic East, Brazil, Oceania, Latin America North, Latin America South, Turkey and Russia.

However, this freedom should be taken in moderation as the drafting period takes place when the owner of the league decides to start it, meaning it’s in your best interests to join leagues with people you have a good means of communicating with. It is also in a league owner’s best interest to ensure each of the players in their league is available for one specified time to draft. Poor draft organisation can lead to having to wait for 1 minute per round for each missing player which can really slow down and drag out the process since each missing player is a guaranteed 10 minute wait (for the 10 available draft slots).

2. Tactical drafting, know the scene.

One of the cleanest ways to secure a Fantasy win is to be tactical about every single player you draft. When you go to draft a player, think about what they could bring to your team and how they play rather than simply if you like them or if their estimated scores are high. A close eye should also be paid to who is left on the board when it comes to your turn and who is most likely to be picked by your rivals (TSM players and Mid Laners go really fast). Sometimes drafting a player who might be outside of your original game plan can help you secure worthwhile trades and deals later on.

The scoring criteria are as follows:

Players:
Kills: +2
Deaths: -0.5
Assists: +1.5
CS: +0.01
Triple Kill: +2 bonus points
Quadra Kill: +5 bonus points
Penta Kill: +10 bonus points
10+ Kills: +2 bonus points
10+ Assists: +2 bonus points
Teams:
First Blood: +2
Dragons taken: +1
Barons taken: +2
Towers destroyed: +1
Victory: +2

If you know that a particular player is known for being bloodthirsty it might be in your best interest to pick them up; however, it is also a good idea to have a backup player available to swap in for the games where your bloodthirsty player might gift away too many deaths. Teams that have great objective control are also very worthy pick-ups, as that is basically the whole criteria of a team’s points spread. Players like Kerp were goldmines of points on days where they hit their stride but in matches where the pressure was reversed, an oasis of points can quickly turn into a drought.

One of the biggest missteps people make during the drafting process is tunneling too hard on estimated point values. While they’re there to guide you, they’re not a prediction of the future. This is where knowledge of the scene and of the true value of every player to his team comes in handy.

As an example: Copenhagen Wolves and Counter Logic Gaming have for a long time played a style that heavily favoured their AD Carries. Woolite and DoubleLift owners prospered as a result of this. On the flip side, Seraph and Youngbuck owners didn't see as much of a flood in points due to their more supportive playstyles and tendency to be the men to take one for their team, usually in order to help said carries.

3. Stay alert on player news.

Sometimes the unexpected can happen, a player can be hit with an expected illness or be banned from playing for a week. One case to be aware of in the coming season is ZionSpartan’s inability to play for CLG in the first week. There were a few moments in the last season where certain players were unable to attend and one rare moment where Copenhagen Wolves flat out forfeited a game. When a player is unable to play their substitute is later added to the free agents pool where anyone can pick them up, meaning you could be left in a bad position if someone tactically signs them before you can and you’re left with a player who isn’t playing. Quick reactions and an alert watch over the scene can help you not befall any of these fantasy tragedies.

4. Don’t overlook supports.

A common thing I saw from drafting periods was the overlooking of support players in comparison to Mid Laners and AD Carries who were drafted off rather quickly. An A-Tier support can and often is the difference between a win and a loss in Fantasy LCS. In a lot of cases, the sheer amount of assist points picked up by players like Yellowstar and Aphromoo can help clinch tight matches. While it’s easy to see kills and carries as the most important factor to gaining points, supports will usually pick up the most assists on their team and assists are worth only 0.5 less than kills. In addition to this, supports won’t be getting points from stats like kills, CS, or kill streaks, and they often pick up a lot of deaths in tough games. So investing early in a high-assisting and or low risk-taking support can really aid your season.

5. Don’t judge a player based on one week’s performance.

I myself was a victim of this as I removed Amazing from my squad immediately when he failed to score any points worth mentioning one week very early on, I was then disappointed when he went on to find his stride and become a key player for TSM securing a lot more points. Just because a player has a bad week doesn't necessarily mean they deserve the boot. Manage your team with a calm mind and properly evaluate who is a good fit for your team. The best time to make some roster changes, if needed, is not until week three or four in my opinion, because by then you have a good backlog of performances to make a more informed decision on.

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by Reece "SabrewoIf" Dos-Santos

Team Rosters Solidified as Spring Split Schedules Arrive!

The Spring Split Line Ups are ready, the players waiting...all we need now is for Opening Day to arrive! I can't wait! You can't wait! Let's start up the pre-season #HYPE!

NA LCS ROSTERS

EU LCS ROSTERS 

Support Lanes 101: To Dive or Peel

by Jerrod "Thousand Eyes" Steis

Choosing when to dive or peel is probably one of the biggest mistakes made in low ELO support. A lot of supports have kits that function well for both diving the enemy and keeping their carry safe. Doing the wrong one at the wrong time can cost your team the game. The full answer isn't as simple as “Oh, you’re Leona, you dive.” It requires an analysis of your own team, the enemy team, the status of both team's carries in terms of power and what cooldowns are available.

First, take a look at your own champion before anything else. What kind of support are you? Tanky supports have a better time diving the enemy than mage supports, but that alone doesn't decide it. Keep in mind, just because it is easy to dive doesn't mean you should. There are champions like Leona and Alistar that are great at diving into the fray and being a huge nuisance, but they sometimes have to sit back and peel. That being said, there are mages that can effectively “dive” or at the very least use their spells to interrupt the backline. Janna is great example of someone who fits that bill. She can throw tornadoes back deep and even flash ult if she wants to sacrifice herself to disrupt a fight in an extreme way.

Once you’ve established what your champion is best at, look at your team composition. Every decent team comp will have an ADC, the same one you helped grow and feed. Is this an ADC that needs to be protected and, if free from enemy interference, can win the game for you? An example of this kind of ADC would be Vayne or Kog Maw. These ADCs absolutely require help from somewhere if they want to stay alive long enough to output damage during a fight. Others, like Caitlyn or late game Tristana, are a bit safer in their range and escapes. They still are the backbone of damage on your team and need to stay alive.

Of course you could make the same argument for any ADC, so it’s kind of irrelevant in the grand scheme of it all. What is more important is looking at your solo lanes and junglers. Do you have an assassin or traditional mage in mid? Keep in mind that you’ll have a larger backline to keep safe in a fight if you have a mage, while assassins will need help creating picks and killing off the enemy. If you look over at top lane, you can have a multitude of different champions, and the same goes for jungle. There’s hyper tanks, bruisers, assassins, mages, supports, etc. Overall as a general rule, the more big bodies you have to clog up the middle of a fight, the more reasonable it is for you to dive. At least when looking purely at your own team's comp.

The reason for this is that you’ve got a much more cluttered area going on in the middle of the scuffle and as each of the team's tanks and bruisers are trying to get past each other, both ADCs will be outputting damage.

Next up, you want to take a similar look at the enemy composition. Pick apart what their strengths are. Have they got an assassin like Zed that can jump into your team? That’s a point towards peeling in that case. If they have an Anivia, however, you can go in the other direction and try and get in her face.

Finally, what I could consider the most crucial part is evaluating the gold distribution. Once the teams have gotten into game a bit it’ll become clear who on the enemy team is a threat, and who on your team is dangerous as well. Going back to the Zed example, if the enemy Zed jumps on to your ADC in a fight, but he’s 0/4/1 and doesn't have any of his spike items(brut/botrk) he isn't going to do anything. If the carry is someone like Lucian or any other ADC with mobility, they can just kite him around and be fine. If the same Zed jumps in but instead of 0/4/1 he’s actually 3/0/2, then he is a problem and kiting him out most likely won’t be enough. You’ll have to sit back on your ADC and keep them safe.

You still want to do the same for your own team, too. If the enemy team wants to dive deep into your team to kill the 1/6/2 ADC while your solo laners go to town in their backline, don’t make the mistake of trying to help the ADC. While it’d be nice to have that ADC get back in the game, they are currently your weakest link and you need to play to your strengths. If you help the ADC rather than helping your solo lane bruisers/assassins you run the risk of having a lose/lose situation where both the ADC die and your solo laners didn't do enough. It’s a similar concept as when a jungler ganks a lane that’s already winning but a little bit. You put your eggs in the basket that looks like it’s gonna win.

As you can probably tell, trying to do this decision making on the fly is pretty hard. It’s one of the things that makes the professionals a cut above the average player. After you break it down a few times it gets more and more doable, eventually to the point that it becomes second nature. Learn your matchups and use them to help you understand what to do when, and don’t flounder in making your choice.

TL;DR:

Look at your champ’s skills (Better at dive or peel?)

Look at your team’s skills and needs (Need lots of peel? Can dive free?)

Look at the enemy team’s skills and needs (They have a lot of protection? Want all over your carry?)

Look at how gold is distributed (Assassin fed, Carry not? Vice-Versa?)

Be sure to check out my other articles:

Support Lanes 101: How to Pick your Support

Support Lanes 101: Part 1.5: (Pocket Pick Supports)
Support Lanes 101: Itemization Choices
Support Lanes 101: Warding
Support Lanes 101: To Dive or to Peel
Support Lanes 101: Be the Annoyance
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By Jerrod "Thousand Eyes" Steis 

Giants Join H2k and 8 other teams in the EU LCS!

H2k and Giants breach the gates of LCS after a successful expansion tournament for both teams.

By Anel “Musinlol” Musinovic

H2k - Miles Ahead of any Challenger Team
Odamne, loulex, Febiven, Hjarnan & Voidle

H2k goes completely undefeated and therefore sweeps their way into the LCS. They have been trying for a long time and with their poor performance vs CW they failed the first time around. Everybody was expecting H2k and Millenium to swoop their way into LCS, but only H2k deserved their faith.

Strengths: H2k showed next to no weaknesses. Febiven, especially, was extremely strong but also Odamne was looking promising. Febiven was even impossible to ban out. We saw Reason Gaming try but they ended up getting 3-0’d due to Febiven going big. 

When you win every single game it is hard not to look good but loulex also did fine. In the whole of Expansion tournament we only saw him pick out Lee Sin, Jarvan & Kha’zix. Despite the Lee Sin being banned out often, no one tried to ban out all three of these champions which I would have loved to see. Questions might be made around his champion pool, but he has some time to work on it for the LCS if that is the case.

Weaknesses: With all games won, weaknesses might be hard to find but Giants botlane did seem to dominate H2k’s botlane of Hjarnan & Voidle. Being a challenger team previously they might struggle against the better LCS teams in laneswaps or wave management. They will scrim the LCS teams coming into LCS so they might have fixed some of it.

Giants - Avoiding Relegations

Werlyb, Fr3deric, xPepii, Adryh & Rydle 

Giants 3-0 Reason Gaming twice in a row and sends themselves into LCS! The Spanish side surprised everybody with their 2-1 win over Millenium and made themselves serious contenders. Many wonder if Giants are really LCS level, and they will be trying to avoid that last spot and the relegations.

Strengths: Definitely the botlane in Adryh & Rydle. Rydle landed some amazing skillshots and Adryh had an exceptional performances on Jinx. Rydle is definitely a quality Thresh but it will be interesting seeing him on other champs as well.  They seemed like an LCS-level botlane but we will have to see how they do going up against stronger botlanes. Rydle will definitely be happy that Gamers2 decided to released him. 

Weaknesses: The three other players, Werlyb, Fr3deric & Pepi has shown that they can be shut down, especially against better teams as H2k. They are really aggressive but sometimes when they shouldn't be. They will have to fix a lot of team problems if they want to have any chance of avoiding relegations. They will be trying to avoid finishing last so they can choose not to face Origen in the relegation matches.

By Anel “Musinlol” Musinovic