Monthly Archives: December 2013

What to watch for TSM and Lemondogs

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Unless you have been living under a rock you know that Reginald has stepped down as the mid laner for Team Solomid, and they have picked up Bjergsen. In Europe Bjergsen was a little bit overshadowed by all the great mid laners, relatively unknown in NA until he moved into the TSM house and started streaming under the TSM banner. We are all very excited to see how TSM operates without their shot caller, I expect to see TheOddOne be able to make more of his own decisions and maybe play better. Dyrus might be able to expand his champion pool, and get some help from TheOddOne without Regi in the mid lane. Bjergsen should be top 3 if not the best mid laner in NA right off the bat, and Wildturtle and Xpecial are only getting better. I believe this will be a good change for TSM, and they will be one of the top two teams in NA.

Lemondogs will be a whole new team with a bunch of unknown players, their only experience being in the amature scene. Mym will be their top laner, ImSoFresh will be their jungler, Shlaya will be playing mid lane, and Crazycaps and Zeriouz will be their duo lane. I have no idea what to expect out of these guys, it should be interesting.

I expect TSM to win this fairly easily based off individual experience alone, 5 players with LCS experience vs 0 players with LCS experience should tell you everything you need to know about this matchup. It will be fun to see what this Lemondogs team is all about. As for TSM, I’m excited to see if Dyrus and TheOddOne step their game up and take a little bit more of a carry role with Regi gone.

Patch 3.15 Quick Rundown

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Hey guys riot just released the patch notes for 3.15, and we are going to do a quick rundown to tell you everything you need to know so you can get back onto the Rift.

New Champion

Yasuo will be released, see champion spotlight

Champion Changes

-Ahri

Less mana problems early, nothing major.

-Fiddlesticks

Terrify and Crowstorm reduced mana costs. Terrify longer at level 1 shorter at later levels.

This puts fiddlesticks in a better spot in my opinion, the 3 second fear was really unfun to play against, and he can now spam abilities a little bit more.

-Janna

Ult costs less mana, no real changes

-Lee Sin

Safeguard no longer puts the shield on minions or wards that he jumps to, no real power change.

-Lucian

Piercing light has less range and does a little bit less damage early on.

Allows for more counter play in lane, you will now at least be able to trade an auto for his q to even things out.

-Lulu

Passive does a little more damage, Shield is stronger. Ult costs less mana.

I think this puts Lulu up near on the support tier list, you will probably see more of Lulu in the near future.

-Rammus

Changes similar to the fiddlesticks changes, taunt duration reduced at higher ranks, mana costs reduced.

Level 3 ganks got a little bit stronger but I don’t think that is enough to make up for the taunt duration being reduced later, I don’t think rammus will be a very strong pick right now.

-Sivir

Passive now scales up to 50 movement speed weaker early stronger late. Spell Shield duration reduced, shouldn’t effect anything if you use spellshield properly, does allow for more counter play and mind games however. On The Hunt total duration decreased movement speed duration lower at early ranks and cooldown increased later on.

This will put Sivir right around where she should be, skilled Sivir players will still be very deadly, but it will be harder for just anyone to pick her up and dominate.

-Soraka

Armor and base movement speed increased, nothing major. However, something major may be coming in the future.

-Taric

Passive armor scaling reduced. Shatter scaling reduced around the board.

Taric will now be a little bit easier to deal with.

Jungle Items

Ancient golem and Spectral wraith now have the conservation passive, they are less reliant on kills and assist for gold income than the Elder Lizard. Makes them a safer choice.

Trinkets

Red and blue trinkets buffed to make them a more viable option.

Jungle Camps

Ancient Golem and Lizard Elder do a little bit less damage early. Wight gives a little bit more gold on first clear.

First jungle clear is a little bit less painful, nothing major.

Assist gold

No longer ramps up with game time, less snowball effects later on.

Super minions

Damage and armor boost now increased, will make taking an inhib a little bit more impactful.

Masteries

Minor changes to masteries, nothing significant enough to warrant switching your masteries on a champion.

What To Watch For: Dignitas Vs. Alliance

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Team Dignitas is one of the more interesting teams, in the battle of the atlantic tournament. Cruzerthebruzer (Cruzer) has taken over the top lane from Kiwikid, Cruzer has been around the amatuer seen, and at the top of NA solo queue for years. He played on Team Legion in the IPL face off in 2012, and more recently accompanied Bigfatlp on the AzureCats on their quest to get into the NA LCS during the season 3 qualifiers. He is known as an aggressive top laner, who is known for his Lee sin Irelia, and Rumble. I don’t know how good he will and his main champions may not be in the current meta, but one thing is for certain he will be fun to watch. Kiwikid hasn’t gone far, just across the rift to support imaqtpie. While Kiwikid doesn’t have much experience as a support, they have been duo- queueing a lot lately and have been playing well, I saw them beat up on XD-GG’s bot lane a few days ago. Look to see if Scarra can find some suitable champions, and start off season 4 better then he ended season 3, and get back on top of the NA mid lane. I fully expect Crumbzz to be the consistent jungler he always has been.

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Alliance has taken over EG’s spot in this tournament, and the next split. Wickd and Froggen remain from EG, two very consistent mechanical players who have been around for a long time. To replace Snoopeh in the jungle they have picked up Shook, the former jungler of the Copenhagen Wolves. To fill the role of ADC they have picked up Tabzz formerly the ADC of Lemondogs. They are also bringing along a player who was not in the last split of the LCS, Kazmitch, a high elo support who is plays a lot of Thresh and Sona. See if Froggen and Wickd, put more pressure on themselves to carry with this new lineup. We are also interested to see how the other players can mesh together, we know they have the individual skill.

This should be a very close matchup, as most people would say that Wickd should easily win top lane, and Froggen should easily win mid. I would agree that chances are Cruzer is not at the level of Wickd right now, but he could catch him by surprise, we don’t know a lot about Cruzer at this point. I’m actually going to give the mid lane edge to Scarra, it wasn’t that long ago that skill wise it would have been a toss up, and Scarra has the synergy with Crumbzz from playing together, while Froggen and Shook have not played together as long. I think the match comes down to the bot lane, Kiwikid and Imaqtpie certainly have fun together, but has Kiwikid learned enough about support yet? On the other side we don’t know how well Tabzz and Kazmitch work together and if Kazmitch can perform on the big stage.

Enjoy the match!

Battle of the Atlantic 2013

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The battle of the Atlantic 2013 starts on Saturday the 14th of December. The top five teams from the EU and NA summer playoffs will be attending. There are 5 best of three matches, with teams of equal ranking from each region facing off. This is the first time we will be seeing many of the teams after significant roster changes. The tournament will be played on patch 3.13, which was before any of the big changes that came in 3.14. However, Riot has said that they will be showcasing some of the new season 4 changes that we haven’t seen yet.

The first two matches will be played in the ESL studio in Cologne, Germany. The first
Match will be played on Saturday between Dignitas (NA) and Alliance (EU). On sunday, we will see Team SoloMid (NA) and Lemondogs (EU).

Over the next few days look for our what to watch for in these two matches, and our rundown of The following three matches will be coming next week.

Thoughts On Showdown 1v1 Game Type

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With Snowdown approaching the League of Legends Live Client, I have been playing the new “Showdown” game type on the PBE.  I absolutely love the 1v1 game type that Riot has introduced, and will explain why.

Rules of 1v1 Showdown:

Draft Pick, 3 bans each

Blind Pick after bans, both players can be the same champion.

First to 100 Minions Wins

First Player to Die Loses

First Player to Destroy the Enemy’s Turret Wins

01010 Day 1…

As you can see there are three ways in which to win a game of Showdown.  The most fun way to win in my opinion is to kill the enemy champion.  I enjoy playing early game champions with fast paced kits, so I mainly play Riven and Lee Sin.  Unfortunately, these champions are usually banned, so I tend to try out a lot of random champions.  Thresh and Blitzcrank were both quite fun, as was Sion and Dr. Mundo.  Showdown is a really great place to try out different champions and test out how they do in low level duals.

My favorite part about Showdown is the ability to capitalize on your opponent’s mistakes.  You don’t need to worry about the enemy midlaner or jungler coming into your lane at any point in the game, so you can control the game however you want.  If your opponent makes a mistake you have the ability to take full advantage of the game and dictate what the opponent can and cannot do for the next few minutes.  If at any point they would put themselves into a situation where they could possibly be killed, you can take that opportunity to finish the game.  I have won countless games at level 3 because of bad positioning and the false sense of security that many players have.  If at any point you see a chance to get a kill, you can go in without fear of being ganked.  The entire game is up to you, which is what makes it so fun for me.

Another thing that I love about Showdown is how fast paced it is.  Sometimes I don’t even look at the minions and just wait until I have a chance to either trade very well or get a quick cheesy kill at level 2 after they burn their abilities on the wave.  Lee Sin and Riven are both great for this early game strategy.  Sometimes I win games without even touching the minion wave.

My main suggestion for Showdown is to bring Flash with you.  Many people go fully aggressive with Ignite / Exhaust or Ignite / Barrier.  This can work, but against aggressive players like Riven who will try to all in you early it doesn’t help.  Anytime I see that the enemy doesn’t have flash and I do I know that I can force a fight, and if it is a favorable fight I will be able to chase them down with flash and end the game.  It is also great for surprising your opponent with an engage that wouldn’t be possible without the quick blink across the screen towards them.  I tend to run Flash / Ignite in every match-up.

Make rune pages!  Remember that you don’t need to worry about a lot of the threats from Summoner’s Rift, and you also don’t need to try to scale to late game.  Focus on winning the game early, and adjust your Masteries and Runes accordingly.  Make sure to create a few rune pages with and without Magic Resist, as a lot of the champions used in Showdown do not deal magic damage.

This is your chance to really improve your laning skills as well as testing the limits of a champion.  I already feel a lot more confident in 1v1 situations because of Showndown, and I will only get better as I practice more and expand my champion pool.  This is also a great place to test out unfavorable match-ups and trying to cheese your way to victory with a quick, smooth play before the opponent can even react.  Focus on your strategy in Showdown, watch for mistakes, work on your mechanics, and have fun!

– Steve

Scarra Stream Review

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Name- Scarra

Link- http://www.twitch.tv/scarra

Roles played: Mid, jungle

Champions- Right now he is playing a lot of different mid champions, known for his gragas, diana, and kat play.

Description- Mid laner for team dignitas, north american all star. Doesn’t stream very often at the moment, but when he does it is a treat. He gives very good insight into his decision making, and even will comment on other players good or poor play. He is a pretty funny guy his streams often lead to some hilarious face palms.

Rating- Challenger

Teaching A Friend How To Play League Of Legends

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No doubt some of you have tried to teach a friend to play League and some of those friends catch on more quickly than others.  I have had several friends try to teach me to play League and they all have had different advice for me.  So, I thought I would write a small list of the do’s and do not’s when you try to teach a friend how to play League of Legends.

Do not’s

Do not get angry with them

 Although this is obvious, some people forget how difficult it was the first time they played.  We all have to start from ground zero, so be patient.

Do not let them play against people first

I am guilty of this; I always wanted to play against people thinking it would be easier to pick up. Plus I had someone with me who knew how to play the game so I thought I would be invincible.  Unfortunately, their skill did not transfer over to me so I would get owned each time.

Focus on their gameplay not your own

 It can be hard drawing focus away from you own play, but remember they are new and they need a lot of guidance.  Also they might feel left behind if you are off making plays on your own.

Play with them for multiple games – don’t go solo yet:

If you have the patience and kindness in order to play with your friend for multiple games it will help immensely.  They will start remembering what to do and when. Plus it helps gain confidence having someone in game that you know can help on the spot.  The practice is necessary.

Do’s

Explain the different types of champions

You may think that they are not paying attention when you do this.   But this is very vital to your friend getting into League.  You want to make sure they are picking the type of Champion they want to play, not you.

Ping where you want them to go

Remember that you have played this game an astronomical amount more than your friend. When you say go to the bush, ping the bush you want your friend to go to. By you pinging it helps them to remember where it is.

Don’t overwhelm them with information

 I have had some friends try to tell me everything about strategy the first game and it is too overwhelming.  I did find some of the strategy vital to me learning the game, so just tell them the obvious things.  Remember that information overload occurs and the people don’t process anything after this.

Point out things they do well

 If they do something that is good tell them.  It makes them feel better about themselves as a player and will help them improve quicker and not get discouraged.

Final Thoughts

Even though I am not a huge League player I hope this helps those of you who are trying to teach your friends.   Give your friends a break.  My experiences with all of my friends who have tried to teach me have been unique and I have learned something different each time. This short list is a great start to getting someone started in League.  Hopefully these suggestions will not only help you but help your friends learn League as well.

Sincerely,

DowJ (Richard)

Edited by Barttpwnz (Grant)