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

Social Media & eSports; for Better or Worse

by Louis "Guichex" Lemeillet

In the last few weeks, I've come across multiple articles talking about the influence of social media in eSports, each one adopting a different point of view. A great deal has been written about the departure of Amazing, Dexter and Thorin from their respective structures and, in the end, it all came down to the pressure caused by social media. With the explosive growth of eSports, social media is truly a third power, and it can influence the career of professionals in the field. But as eSports are a worldwide phenomenon and couldn't exist without the internet, social media is a part of this model and can't be rejected. I wanted to discuss the pros & cons of this model and how it could possibly evolve.

           

We've never been so close to our public figures.

Many share the opinion that eSports have created a new way to interact with public figures, professionals, players, game editors and even tournaments promoters; and that it allows everyone to have a role in this big adventure. It's the truth. We have never been so close together with the expansive use of Twitter, Facebook & Reddit. Our questions can be answered by other passionate fans, promoters and professional players themselves. We can ask questions, and expect quick answers. We can offer opinions and they'll be read almost every time if they present some kind of value. We, as social media users, have a “power” we don't have in other traditional sports where most famous public figures are relying on PR agencies to handle their communication and to tell them how to react to given situations. We have none of this in eSports. Each player or professional is handling his own social medias accounts and they give direct answers. Moreover, the streaming possibilities are endless and pro-players appear to us “au natural,” speaking without any control and even giving information on topics they maybe shouldn't talk about.

           

Is it a good model? I can't decide on my own. But it has its perks. I believe that because players are so thankful and approachable, fans give them respect in return. Almost every official match we're seeing crowds cheering for great plays and players, even if they have a favorite in their hearts. We cheer them all, and they thank us by being as close and friendly as possible. There are few lies. It's a short distance between them and us and it gives me a unshakable feel of joy and hope towards human kind. I've never experienced something like this before and I believe that traditional sports should seek inspiration in eSports, and learn that fans enjoy much more hearing honest opinions than premade or shady ones.

Great power means great responsibilities.

In the other hand, every system has its flaws and many great players or contributors of the field have been facing extreme amounts of social pressure, together with work pressure, which can deeply affect their personal lives. Because eSports are still very young, and because it gained an immense amount of popularity in just a few years, people are still figuring out the limits of a system almost entirely relying on social media. In traditional sports, newspapers were here before and they adapted their system to the internet because it became so huge it couldn't be ignored. But eSports were born because of social media. Of course, it is not the first business that emerged due to the internet, but it is the first sport to do so. And as we all know, sports unleash our passions more than other things. Therefore, social media become a double-edged sword: whenever players are performing well, we congratulate them; whenever they are underperforming, we are telling them to get back on tracks (often in a poor way). In the end, we are just expressing opinions as always, but we are not expected to be heard that much and some people don't realize how it impact the one who reads it. And viewers are not the only ones to blame.

           

I don't want to point fingers on people, but it is because of this use of social media that Thorin got fired from Ongamers. But he's not the only one to mix personal feelings and work. Is that something they should work on? Yes and no. Yes, because you have to consider that you're talking through social media to extremely young players. Most of them were shut-in guys with no idea of what fame or popularity could mean, and I believe it is extremely difficult for them to face crude remarks head-on and not feel a thing. In traditional sports, they have decades of experience facing paparazzi, hateful journalists, experts, etc. and they learned how to deal with it. I don't think that's the case for eSports players yet. But you can't shut down social media's hateful comments or journalists picking on you; and as a player you can't be kept in a cocoon where you hear nothing. You'll have to face this problem sometime. If Thorin was fired, it's not because a structure or a pro-player complained, it's because at some point CBS & Ongamers felt he would deteriorate the image of the company, period.

           

Yet, here we are in this Season 4 of League of Legends where two European players went back home because they didn't feel welcome in North America. They bowed to the media pressure, both social and journalistic, and went back to a more comfortable environment. Who can blame them? They are already facing extreme mental pressure on a daily basis because of their work, with few ways to escape even more pressure as Reddit was one Alt+Tab away. It'd be insane to deliberately add more mental pressure on oneself, when they can escape it quite easily as their gaming level will allow them to get back on their feet elsewhere. Nevertheless, it's still a loss for the team they left behind. On the human side, I think it can cause or compound several anxiety issues. It also means a third party destroyed the adventure of a young European player hoping to live big in North America. How would you feel if you went studying in a foreign country and a lot of people picked on you ? I'm not sure any of us would really enjoy that trip.

I still want to be a part of this adventure.

Despite having strong flaws, I believe the eSports model still has more benefits. Being able to feel close to public figures is something we should hold dearly as it reinforces honesty, generosity, solidarity and the warm camaraderie of a shared passion. That stomach churning feeling - when someone is criticizing eSports - is something I hadn't felt before, even as a lover of traditional sports. It's like, the people who come together through eSports are somehow closer and more protective of themselves as a group.

Nevertheless, having a professional flee their team because of social media pressure is quite problematic. What do you do as a team owner when you're seeing one of your biggest players go away just because fans and/or journalists were a bit hateful? Do you try to limit the use of social media so they can avoid the harsh reality? I don't believe it's a solution, as at some point they'll still read what is said and it will still hurt them. Do you try to control it? Then you'll lose all the popularity and monetary perks that come with an interactive sport.

For a team owner, the answer could be to allow PR firms to handle the work and make players focus only on the game. Let them tell you when to go see fans, when to sign stuff, when to wave, etc, but I find this truly horrible. In the other hand, you can't be that idealistic Gale-like friend, coming right out of Hunger Games and saying, “What if no one would bully them? If we stop bullying them, they will feel welcomed.” Yeah, great stuff, except it's impossible. For me, the solution would be to recruit both psychologists and communication professionals inside the gaming structures at the sole service of the pros. We are seeing the beginning of it with  SK recruiting a sports psychologist, but it's not enough yet.

What does a communications professional do better than a PR agency? First, he would be part of the team and would consider only his company's interests. He won't take care of the communication of other teams, or even other companies, and therefore feel better integration and stronger loyalty. Second, he would be almost all the time with teams, players and coaches, and can understand with the help of a psychologist what are their personality and how to take advantages out of it. They can help by highlighting some aspects of the players personalities, developing them into true individual beings and not the same as others; therefore making them realize their uniqueness to boost their confidence against mass hatred.

The players who understood this at some point are very few: Krepo, Tabzzz, Aphromoo, Kiwi, maybe Dyrus and some others. They all use their unique traits to communicate. Krepo is the analyst/adult guy, Tabzz is really down-to-earth and honest without being mean, Aphromoo is just plain honest and respectable, Kiwi is crazy, and Dyrus is often “salty.” But the best part of that combination of comm/psych would be just to be there and act as a constant support whenever players are feeling down or unsure due to social pressure. They could be the part of the staff which helps new players feel at home, and could act as a relay between the head executives and them.

           

Of course, it'd cost some money which structures might want to spend elsewhere, but I'd say those guys are one of the most important parts of the infrastructure a team could want. Moreover, even if communication and psychology are their primary mission, they could easily help on other fields like lifestyle coach, analyst, etc.

As eSports are a new model of sports, it brings its perks and disadvantages, mostly because of the use we are making of social media and because of the pressure it can create towards guys who were mostly shy shut-ins three years ago. But a new model brings also its new kind of solution. We must take the best out of traditional sports, and out of eSports, and always be reluctant to just copy a given model. We are already making something better, we don't want to blew it or stop along the road.

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by Louis "Guichex" Lemeillet

Fashion in Esports

by Louis "Guichex" Lemeillet

Is it weird to talk about fashion if we're talking as subjects of a group of teens who are playing hours of video games? Maybe, although I believe even geeks, nerds or whatever you call them, have their own fashion in some way, despite being far away from the “fashion” world you see in everyday mass media. But is it weird to talk about fashion if we're looking at a sport? Clearly it isn't. Every sports has its own fashion. Basketball, American Football, Soccer, Baseball, Golf, etc. they all have a clear set of clothes which is common only to them. So why not eSports? This discipline is still new and unites a bunch of people who weren't used to being in the spotlight before. Still, every successful team is selling its own merchandise and wants to popularize it. What is different from other sports is that eSports doesn't require a special outfit, and a lot of teams seems to have a different idea of what they have to wear mainly depending on their region.

Asia wants to be classy.

Asian teams (Korean, Chinese, South-East Asian) have somewhat united to wear almost the same outfits when they're performing on stage, or at least for the upper body. A lot of teams we saw at worlds are wearing low-key polo shirts with a little room allowed for the team logo and the sponsors. Regardless, they are still visible especially when Riot is making a lot of interviews and close-ups on players. A small difference is visible for EDG & AHQ where they're wearing classic t-shirts but are almost always wearing sports jackets which follow the same rule as before: subdued logos from sponsors.

In some way, the fashion these teams are putting on is really close to what you'd find in golf. And it's quite logical: golf is a sport, but not as intense as some other sports like Soccer or Basketball. Some might categorize it as “not really a sport,” but the same could be said for eSports. Also, Golf is a sport which requires a lot of focus, mental strength and precision. Same for eSports! The only difference here is on the lower body of our favorite players. Koreans are often wearing absolutely horrible sweatpants. I mean, I wouldn't dare to wear those kind of pants outside of my house nowadays, and I don't think it sends a good image around the world, since it'll keep pro-gamers classified as “geeks in sweatpants.” They also keep wearing them in advertisements like Faker did recently. I mean...come on.

Chinese and South-East Asian players are wearing a bit more classy jeans and you have to give them props for it. I know sweatpants are comfortable for playing in, but man, jeans aren’t that hard either. It's not because you wear jeans that you'll perform worse considering the level of those players.

Europe, too much soccer?

Despite being a fan of Europe's performance in eSports, I still don't understand how some structures think regarding their team clothes. I mean, yes, we like soccer a lot, but it doesn't mean you have to copy it and import it into eSports. Why did sports jerseys, of all clothes, make the cut here? My guess is a lot of people investing in eSports come from an average social class, not especially poor or rich, but with a middle-class culture which is obviously greatly centered around the most popular sport in Europe. No other sports come close to it, and it has a clear and vast influence on a lot of people.

Coming from this social class, eSports players and fans wanted to say their passion for video games was as great as some peoples passion with soccer (or as great as their own), and directly imitated its style, importing the sports jersey you can see on a lot of European teams now: Fnatic, Copenhagen Wolves, etc.

I honestly don't think this is the best piece of clothing for eSports. It isn't, properly speaking, a physical sport. It requires a lot of focus, and while you sweat a lot during an official match for sure, I don't think it requires such an outfit. The core “physical” and psychological needs of pro-gaming is mental strength and precision, which are mostly shared within sports like golf, or maybe baseball.

North America went in the right direction but stopped halfway.

North American LoL teams have embraced eSports fashion in a different way than other countries by not trying to make it look like a traditional sport, but almost all the teams have a different style of clothes. White hoodies and sky blue T-shirts create Cloud 9's theme. Dignitas has black hoodies and CLG wears long sleeve cotton shirts. TSM players wear satin varsity jackets and Evil Geniuses scored a fashion knock out in their amazing black leather jackets. Only Curse seems to enjoy the sports jerseys (and they should fit them more, because it looks like they're way too big for some players!)

But unfortunately, the NA teams are almost too convoluted. All of them want to differentiate from the one another too much, and none of them, except Curse, are reasoning as a business by renewing their official clothes regularly. At some point, a new season into LCS should mean a new set of clothes. Fans are generally happy to see those changes and feel like they need to buy the new ones to be a better representative of the team. Yet, a lot of teams are hesitant on this point and just play around with colors to offer more than one set.

In the end, I think eSports clothing styles may actually be too diverse. Hoodies, sports jerseys, polos, t-shirts (and even an attempt at polo-shirts and hoodies from SK) can be a little weird. All these pro-gamers play the same game but none of them are wearing the same thing. It comes across as a bit disorganized. But that just means that eSports has nothing written in stone yet. I like it, because then we can only go up.

Setting up some standardized fashion code might help set values and integrity inside the community. Moreover, it helps show the world that eSports are real, that they are happening here and now and that mainstream industries needs to invest now to get the bigger piece of the cake. I think polo shirts are the best option, but it doesn't really fit with the gamer image we have in our Occidental regions. Nevertheless, it has been shown in recent studies that a lot of eSport viewers are not hardcore gamers, and looking closely into this population might deliver the answer.

by Louis "Guichex" Lemeillet

TOP FIVE EU FREE AGENTS

By Reece "SabrewoIf" Dos-Santos

Europe, for me, has always been a promised land of talent for the League of Legends pro scene. Whenever you think that there won’t be another rising star, three more pop up and burst onto the scene. However, with so much rising talent, sometimes shaky infrastructure, and a tendency to hold onto well-known names too long, EU has a habit of letting some great talent slide into the shadows. So let's take a look at the top five players currently listed as free agents.

In no special order:

Gillius

Gillius technically didn't qualify for Worlds 2014; he was only brought in to sub for Svenskeren due to his unfortunate racial incident in Taipei. Prior to this, Gillius had only garnered experience from playing on SK Prime and Unicorns of Love in the challenger scene. Despite this, Gillius still put up a pretty solid showing for a rookie, at times even looking better than some of the actual team veterans who struggled to adjust and compete at their best level. While one would think that Gillius would go back bringing a wealth of experience and growth for newly LCS bound Unicorns Of Love, the team made the rather shocking decision to bench him, leaving him in the unfortunate position of having played in Worlds...but not the LCS itself.

Best Team Choice: Copenhagen Wolves

The Wolves have always been EU’s hub of promising talent, I believe they would greatly benefit from Gillius’ newly gained experience and solid playstyle.

Nukeduck
Nukeduck, in his prime, was arguably one of EU’s best mid laners and a real force to be reckoned with, especially at the height of the Season Three assassin meta, which greatly suited his playstyle. The whole of the Lemondogs' squad were some of EU’s best in their positions and the degradation of the team and the eventual suspension of Nukeduck and Mithy was a huge waste of talent. However, with his suspension over, Nukeduck now has another opportunity to explode onto the scene and every team should honestly give him a look. The recent rumours surrounding him and Woolite possibly moving to Roccat would be amazing for the team, as a Nukeduck/Jankos partnership has the raw potential to be one of the scariest if they gather good synergy to accompany their individual talent. With so much time off to work on his attitude, his work ethic and mechanics he should now be ready to take the EU LCS by storm.

Best Team Choice: Roccat

The more I think about it, the more I believe Nukeduck can take Roccat to higher levels. I’m really excited at the prospect of a huge playmaker and arguably EU’s best Season 3 mid laner paired with arguably the best jungler from EU Season 4. I also believe Overpow might be able to properly benefit from the more farm-centric style of the top lane, where there will be less expectation to hard carry Roccat games.

Forg1ven

After the Copenhagen Wolves had to give back Rekkles to Fnatic, many people doubted their ability to gather another AD carry who could have anywhere near the impact that Rekkles had. Then Forg1ven was picked up and all the doubt was silenced. Forg1ven was a monster AD Carry during his split with the Wolves, setting GPM, Total Gold, CS per min and Total CS records for EU and he was hailed by many as the best AD Carry in EU. Unfortunately, his fall out with the Wolves management left him unable to play during summer, but he is now free to be picked up and, in my opinion, is one of the biggest free agents EU currently has on the market to offer. His wealth of talent, fierce achievement-driven nature and prior LCS experience will get great assets to any team that take it with a pinch of salt.

Best Team Choice: Roccat

AD Carry-wise, most EU LCS teams are in a good spot. Every team expect Roccat, who currently doesn't have one. If the rumoured acquisition of Nukeduck is any kind of upgrade, the further acquisition of Forg1ven would catapult them into godly levels of potential. It would also likely leave Woolite on the Wolves allowing for Unlimited to actually play more than one split with a particular ADC.

Mithy

Mithy, like Nukeduck was a member of the overnight sensation team, LemonDogs, and was one of the three who transferred to NIP only to lose their slot in the LCS, eventually leading to Mithy’s suspension with Nukeduck and Zorozero’s retirement. Regardless Mithy’s suspension time is also nearing its end and with his eligibility for the 2015 LCS spring split, he should be a big consideration for teams in need of a solid support. It should be remembered that Tabzz and Mithy were one of the best, if not the best bottom lane in Europe by the end of Season 3.

Best Choice: Supa Hot Crew (now Meet Your Makers) or Millenium 

It would just so happen that Supa Hot Meet Your Makers are missing a support player following the teams rebranding and its release of Impaler and Kasing. It has also been heavily rumoured that Amin and Mithy will be the ones to fill in the newly freed up roles. Personally, I’m not too sure whether Mithy will gel well with the rest of the team, especially Amin, but MrRallez has shown himself to be the ADC equivalent to Unlimited, putting up good performances and easily building synergy with any duo lane partner he’s presented with. Alternatively, if MYM doesn’t work out another good destination for Mithy would be Millenium. With the departure of Kerp, Millenium is a team in dire need of a leader and a fresh start. Kev1n, Kottenx and Creaton are all top class players on the right day and I feel on most days, Jree just doesn’t allow them to perform to a peak of their (especially creaton’s) potential.

Kerp

As briefly mentioned, Kerp has now left Millenium in search of a fresh start. If he doesn't find a new team to settle down with, LCS casters and broadcast producers will surely be fuming at the loss of all the script they have to discuss his famous use of a trackball mouse. Despite how attractive it is to discuss, it isn't Kerp’s only asset. His raw talent is absolutely amazing and his ability to hard carry on assassin type champions is next to the best in EU. On top of this, his careful play on champions like Ziggs also provides a healthy switch between mid lane playstyles, which is impressive considering he was a top laner one season ago. Its also worth noting that Kerp was a Fantasy LCS superstar - bringing huge numbers (on his good days) for anyone who played him

Best Choice: SK Gaming or Copenhagen Wolves

If there was a better way to say I think Kerp is better than Soren and Jesiz, I would say it - but I can’t really find one. All three look the same in terms of being rather inconsistent, but generally Kerp can do a lot more a lot better and I think both teams would do well to consider how serious they are to be competing for the top spots with their current mid lane choices.

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by Reece "SabrewoIf" Dos-Santos

Impaler : Team could be seeing some changes.

by Reece "SabrewoIf" Dos-Santos

We've approached the half-way point for the 2014 League Of Legends group stages and the games have lived up to their expectations providing both dominant performances and huge underdog showings. I managed to run into Matthew "Impaler" Taylor, the Jungler for EU LCS’s Supa Hot Crew at an event being hosted by my university, and I slipped in a few questions about his view on Worlds so far and what his outlook is for Supa Hot Crew.

Watching Worlds:

Have you been watching worlds and what are your impressions so far?

Impaler: I’ve watched the first few games and I think the Koreans are going to dominate. They’re on a whole new level compared to all the other teams and Samsung White have definitely proved that in their games.

Rengar: 

We've seen quite a few Rengar picks at worlds so far. As one of the best Rengar players from the west, what is your opinion on how he’s been played?

Impaler: I’m actually surprised that Rengar has been played so much, especially considering his ult got nerfed, it’s been pretty good so far. The Koreans and the Chinese have a much better grasp on the mechanics and key skills than the western teams.

Supa Hot Crew:

How has it been for the Supa Hot Crew since the end of the season, do you think you could be challenging for worlds next year?

Impaler: I’m not too sure. The team has been kinda of shaky at the moment and the line up isn't certain. We could be seeing some changes. We’re really disappointed that we messed up against Roccat, but I think we could take SK Gaming in a best of five.

Last thoughts:

Lastly who do you think is going win worlds this year?

Impaler: I think its going to be Samsung White. Player for player they’re better and much more mechanically adept than any of the other teams and their team play is unchallenged. If I had to pick a team to challenge them, I’d say Samsung Blue have a pretty good chance as they've taken games off of White and can do so here. Basically, I’d pick any Samsung team to win it this year. Personally I’m a big Dandy fan. I’ve learnt a lot from watching his play and I think if you really want to learn how to be the best at League of Legends, you need to be watching the OGN over the LCS. 

The Delicate Case of YouPorn

by Louis "Guichex" Lemeillet

As you might know already, there have been several rumors about YouPorn investing in the field of eSports by sponsoring professional players in various popular games. Nothing is written in stone yet, but rumors are YouPorn is talking with a Dota2 team and some Hearthstone players who don't mind getting their nicknames linked to the “YP” tag.

What started out as what seemed like a joke is now maybe about to happen, since officials from YouPorn recently revealed their official eSports jerseys in a Reddit AMA. The jersey isn't as ugly as some expected it to be, as long as you're okay with pink. But fashion is not what I want to talk about. What is truly interesting me is the fact that YouPorn might get into the eSports scene. Some may find it fun, others might be worried about the image it will convey, and still others will be totally against it because...you know...Pr0n.

Wait so... This is not a joke ?

We still don't know for sure that YouPorn is actually sponsoring eSports players or not since nothing has been officially announced and contracts still need to be signed. But the real question is if they sponsor something like an official Dota 2 team, is it a joke or not? Just imagine Alliance vs YouPorn Gaming in the semi-final of the International 4. That would be...special.

Of course, it would make some people laugh, but it would probably send a really bad image to the world about eSports. Various companies like Riot, Valve, ESL, and others have worked hard for years to improve the image of eSports and make it mainstream. Moreover, they tried to make it very "pure," by getting it as close as possible to traditional sports: high quality competitions and streams, professional journalism (we saw the first press conferences in the last The International,) strict rules, salaries for pro players, professional visas, etc. And I don't think having a company affiliated with a morally suspicious sector will help in moving towards this greater goal that is having eSports recognized as a true sport.

We're facing the crucial step of assessing eSports as something “real” that everyone will have to acknowledge, and on the other side we're facing people who still think that it is not a serious business. And since it's geeks and nerds we're talking about, everything is allowed. Even porn. Because geeks spends time on their computer so they go often on porn sites, right? So...we can do it, right?

Let's say it once for all. No, you can't. Porn, although it is allowed in our “civilized” countries, is not something that you can show to the public and advertise. If we allow YouPorn to have sports teams, then they could also rent giant billboards. That would be completely insane. And illegal. Nevertheless, eSports are not properly legislated and maybe they could do it without being punishable. But at the same time, it would ruin any hope of eSports becoming a real sport, with its own legislation, at least for a few more years.

The reasoning behind it is simple. If you allow a morally questionable industry to sponsor some team, then the team becomes morally questionable. And if the team becomes part of a major tournament, then the whole field is morally questionable. Therefore, it can't be allowed.

What are the police doing?

It seems that the logical point of view would be to not allow a YouPorn eSports team to compete in any competition since it would damage the competitions image, and therefore, it would be stupid for any pro player to join this team since they won't be allowed to compete. And yet, few have spoken up to this topic by saying, “This is not right.”

Even if I'm pretty sure companies such as Riot or Valve won't allow a team sponsored by YouPorn, I'm still getting a little worried about how nobody is trying to stop them from what they're doing. And what is truly scaring me is the answers they got on their first tweet, like Araneae saying “Good idea” (even if he was being facetious.)

As soon as this topic arose, some of the biggest actors in eSports should have spoken up and said that YouPorn can't join the eSports world. Yet they still seem to think that they can come in with their team and join the party.

So I have two concerns right now. The first one is that YouPorn just walks right in and get themselves a team in some pro-gaming competition, but I don't find it realistically happening since no company will have the guts to take such a risk. Mainly, because there is no perks to allow it, aside from making a bunch of guys laugh for a week - until you get everyone on your back, transforming this whole funny story into a scandal.

The second one is that some companies will say, “No, it's really really bad. You can't,” and take the little path instead of the main road. Then YouPorn will say, “Okay,” and create “YP Gaming” or whatever, and come back with, “It's not YouPorn. YouPorn is financing it, but it's not Youporn. It's a 100% legitimate company.” With this solution, we will never have to face a YouPorn logo on the team jerseys, but it'll be harder for eSports companies to refuse their participation. In the end, nothing has changed because it still is a team sponsored by a porn company, but unofficially. And I have a feeling that what's really important in that last paragraph is the word “financing.” Youporn is probably one of the most visited websites in the world and so it could invest a lot of money into the eSports world which is currently trying to develop itself even further. This whole case could probably turn into a battle of ethics against money - a fight we often see money win in our actual societies.

Behind the curtains, this is a great deal for eSports.

Companies such as Riot or Valve would have problems refusing that kind of team into their competition because it'd be a 100% arbitrary decision, legally speaking. If YouPorn decides to go all the way, the mainstream media will continue to see eSports as a joke since we'll face a juridic battle between one eSports company and YouPorn. Even if a porn company doesn't win, the story still happens and the image of the eSports world is still damaged in association.

A story like a porn company, or at least a morally questionable one, trying to get into eSports is something that was probably bound to happen with all the fuss the eSports community is making, but officials are really under-reacting to this matter. If played well, companies could make their case in front of the law and ask for a real recognition to avoid such matters. It could be the trigger, maybe not to make governments totally acknowledge the eSports thing, but towards the development of a proper legal environment, the beginning of writing specific laws which would further be applied by each company.

As mainly Riot, but also Valve, Blizzard, and many others are trying to develop eSports as a whole, with a very “pure” image of it (fining players or structures for their behavior, etc.) they could have foreseen this kind of problems and deal with it instantly, maintaining their purity and further developing the community.

By letting this matter run on on its own, we're probably bound to face the official announcement of YouPorn buying and sponsoring an eSports team, where it will create a massive fuss. It might even be relayed into some mainstream medias and hurts the image of the community. And it'll be too late to say, “We never thought they would actually do it.”

Battle At The Top: A Review of the EU LCS Match of the Week

By Ethan "AkeyBreakyy" Akey


For the third match of W10D1 (week 10, day 1) Fnatic took on the EU LCS leading team, Alliance. On a seven game winning streak, Fnatic hoped to continue their streak and tie with Alliance, who was sitting at the top of the leaderboard. As we saw in week 9, Fnatic made quick work of the Cophenhagen Wolves, and Rekkles earned the first Pentakill of the Summer Split. If Alliance allows Rekkles to pick Vayne, they could be in for a world of hurt. Rekkles currently holds the highest KDA for any Player/Champion combo when he is on Vayne. If Fnatic can lock up Vayne for their ADC, they could have a better chance at tying this series up with the EU LCS leader. Fnatic needs to tie up the series between Alliance, which it currently sits at a 2-1 in favor of Alliance right now. Both teams are coming into this match in their best playing form.

With the majority of the bans going to eliminate top tier junglers and mid laners, sOAZ locks up Gragas with the first pick for Fnatic. In return, Alliance pick up Kog’Maw and Oriana for their first and second pick. With Lee Sin being banned, this opens up Elise, which is one of Cyanide's top picks. For Fnatic’s second pick, Cyanide decides to go with Jarvan instead. Fnatic uses Jarvan as their signature dragon-stealing champion, and Fnatic looks to ride their aggressive playstyle into this match-up with this pick. With Fnatic’s third pick, YellOwStaR gets his Thresh, which is his go to champion. This is YellOwStaR's eleventh game on Thresh, with eight victories under his belt - potentially the strongest Thresh player in the EU LCS. Riven and Morgana are locked up for Alliance with their third and fourth picks. While Fnatic may have a very strong Thresh, Nyph is undefeated on Morgana for Alliance. With Fnatic now needing a lot of burst damage to take down the shields of Riven, Oriana, and Morgana, they grab Jinx and Ziggs. Jinx is an interesting pick. Vayne could have been more of the hyper-carry that Rekkles excels on. If Fnatic can chain their crowd-control together, they can easily shut down Shook on Riven. Wickd rounds out the final pick for Alliance by taking Irelia. Fnatic and Alliance jump in to the Summoner’s Rift to see if one team can level the score or if Alliance can pull ahead even further.

To start this match, Shook is tested by Fnatic after he is invaded by the entire enemy team. Being forced to blow his Flash within the first fifty-five seconds of the match, this could really shake up his confidence and force Shook to play very passive for the duration of his cooldown. Fnatic displays a very aggressive start to their match against Alliance by forcing three of their members to pop Flash within the first three minutes of the match. With more than half of Alliance without their summoner spell, this is the strong and strategic start Fnatic needs that can allow them to put the pressure down on the enemy turrets or to secure kills.

YellOwStaR proves to be the impact player in the early phases of this game by picking up the first blood for Fnatic and puts on a display to show he is not afraid to roam from top to bottom in order to support all of Fnatic's lanes. Around the 8:00 minute mark, all of the lanes start to normalize with the teams rotating their ADC & Support duos back to the bottom lane. With Alliance having their duo back in the bottom lane, this allows them to secure the first dragon of the game. Shook, on the other hand, hasn't been much of a factor up to this point, being bullied from the start and having his jungle buffs stolen from him.

Fnatic gives up one death for a dragon kill, but Rekkles picks up a kill on Froggen with a Super Mega Death Rocket. Soaz scores a kill as Wickd gets caught out under the middle turret, and Fnatic, with three turrets down, pulls ahead with a 2k gold lead. Here Fnatic puts on a show with Jarvan and displays just why they utilize him as the dragon-stealing pick, as Cyanide does just that on the second dragon of the game. Alliance is still waiting on Shook to get involved. Fnatic is too mobile and Shook hasn't been able to have much presence this game. Soaz is still playing catch-up on Fnatic's side but Wickd, on the other hand, needs to pair with Shook to pick off Rekkles right away in team fights.

Alliance catches Peke with Fnatic turning around and splitting up. With this very important engage, Fnatic loses dragon, and Alliance picks off both Peke and YellOwStaR.

This match has been all about the strategic level. Fnatic punished Alliance and got their baron and, in return, Alliance punished Fnatic's mistake and got a tower, dragon, and two kills. We haven't seen a real full-on team fight, partially due to the fact that this game could end with one convincing team fight. One mistake from any player could cost their team the game. All of these champions can melt enemy towers, and get through them very quickly. Both teams are playing a very passive and careful style, almost avoiding any team fight because of how easily they can sway the match.

Alliance gets the baron, gaining the confidence they need to push in to Fnatic's base. With this baron, they break through the defense of Fnatic, taken their middle turret, middle inhibitor, and their top lane inner turret. The indecisiveness by Fnatic has lead to them being pushed past their own inhibitors. At this point, Fnatic also know the fear of being clumped up and annihilated by the AOE potential of Alliance. 

At the 52 minute mark, two men down for Fnatic, two inhibitors down, and the numbers advantage for Alliance, this spells defeat for xPeke and the boys. With a 6-3 victory going to Alliance, they shut down Fnatic and become undisputed leader of the EU ladder. After Fnatic took the first baron, Alliance nailed their aggressive playstyle down even harder. If Fnatic had played more aggressively, could they have saved their win streak? Both teams demonstrated the strengths and weaknesses of their opposing compositions. In the end, Fnatic just didn't have the damage to burn through Morgana, Oriana, and Irelia. Alliance secures their spot at the top of the ladder with this win over Fnatic and currently holds a 3-1 series lead between the two teams. Viewers can only hope that this is just a glimpse of what is to come at the Summer Split finals.

Who’s on Track for Season 4 Worlds?

by Reece "Sabrewolf" Dos-Santos

This season is shaping up to be the first season of NA where the three spots for worlds are not completely predictable. The NA LCS, by the half-way point, has already seen a good share of upsets, turnarounds, and explosive matches. By week six, the usually dominant Cloud 9 have already picked up their most losses in a split and appear to mirroring their European counterparts, Fnatic, in putting up inconsistent showings that vary from world class dominance to frighteningly average slumps.  When looking at the NA LCS with an objective view of only this split, it’s hard to deny that the three teams currently in pole position look to be the ones that push for the three NA spots.

The NA LCS:

CLG have consistently shown superiority in rotations, and mid to late game clarity in their game play.  They know what they’re working towards in almost every game and cleanly achieve their goals. The only team CLG cannot seem to overcome at this moment is Cloud 9, who delivered two of their four overall losses. LMQ got off to an electrifying start in the NA LCS, and while there were concerns about their ability to hold it up, they have been addressing the critics with particularly strong performances from Vasilii and three time "MVP of the Week," XiaoWeiXiao. Performances that are being backed up more and more by an improving Ackerman. Meanwhile, Dignitas have shown that they mean business with their additions of ZionSpartan and Shiphtur, and they have honestly shocked many watchers with their overpowering form in the first half of the split. However, like the other two front runners, Dignitas show signs of cracks. These cracks were clearly evident in their complete decimation at the hands of compLexity. Dignitas, out of the three, has had the best showings, but also put out one of the worst. The key to securing the Worlds' spot for them is simply consistency.

Despite being the favorites and the biggest NA names, Cloud 9 and TSM have had some substandard performances and only recently began clawing their way back. TSM, in particular, have begun to find some sort of form since the addition of Locodoco as a coach, but their main problem as a team is their inability to take games from the top teams in NA. They have a clean 6-0 record against the bottom three but are 0-5 against the top three. If TSM can work out how to challenge the top teams, they can push their way in for one of the spots at worlds, but unfortunately, a perfect record against EG, COL, and CRS won’t get TSM anything more than a mid-table finish. In almost a complete opposite regard, Cloud 9 are 2-0 against CLG, yet they haven’t been able to pick a win against the two bottom teams in the NA LCS. Whether it’s an issue with underestimating the lower tier competition or simply a bad clash of match-ups, Cloud 9 are sitting in fourth place solely because of their inability to take games from the lower tier competition. Both Cloud 9 and TSM can make it to Worlds, but only if they look at each other’s weaknesses and learn from them. The NA LCS is no longer their playground - it’s a battleground.

NA LCS Dark Horse: Evil Geniuses

The Evil Geniuses were mediocre at best last split and looked to repeat that form this split until they swapped out Snoopeh and Yellowpete, who honestly were well past their prime. The additions of Altec and Helios have completely revitalized the team and seem to have brought out the best in Pobelter, Krepo and Innox. Their performances have suddenly become fluid, calculated and hard-fought, and they only look to get better and better as they become more adjusted to each other - which is a scary thought when considering how good they looked in Helios’s first week. EG may sneak their way into playoffs and could be the team to upset the war between the Top Five.

The EU LCS: 

EU, however, isn't as much of a tight contest compared to NA.  Alliance are already an almost guaranteed spot with a completely dominant 10-2 record, with losses against SHC and GMB which honestly seemed like they had simply removed their foot from the gas pedal. Alliance was a team created by Froggen to go Worlds, and honestly it seemed shaky at the start of the Spring Split, but then the team grew used to each other and almost perfectly synergized. We have to give it to Froggen, he knows how to create a top tier team. At this point, the only plausible way Alliance could not make it to Worlds is through a monumental internal explosion between them, the chances of that are highly unlikely. But EU have shown that any team can slump their way out of first place in the blink of an eye. Alliance’s test now is merely breaking that stereotype, which shouldn't be hard for them.

The other team that looks jet set for Worlds is SK gaming who, like Alliance, completely shot out from the bottom of the table into complete bliss in the second half of spring. SK has shown complete dominance in their team-based game play and map rotations, and clarity in ending games where they are comfortably ahead. Jesiz, in particular, has blossomed into a hero that SK Gaming can rely on in almost every game, along with consistent performances from CandyPanda and Nrated, with Freddy and Sven rarely making mistakes themselves. Two of SK’s four losses are against Alliance and  that's perfectly understandable considering the depth of Alliance’s dominance in the first few weeks of summer.

The third EU spot for worlds is where things heat up as there is no clear team that looks set to take it. The main battle seems to be between Supa Hot Crew, Fnatic, and Millenium, all of whom have put up good performances but still have consistency issues that hold them back. The one thing that unites all three teams is the talent of their mid lane: Kerp, Selfie, and xPeke are all world class mid laners who can easily carry their teams on a good day, but have also shown that they are not exempt from being shut down. Similarly, all three teams also have standout ADC’s in Creaton, Mr RalleZ, and Rekkles, who are complete monsters when left unchecked. The battle between these three teams is where EU playoffs will become interesting, as SHC and MIL have mirrored Alliance and SK’s resurgence from the bottom two teams into top of the table powers, but Fnatic are three split champions for a reason. They always find a way to weasel themselves into pole position when it matters, but this split will be their hardest test yet.

EU LCS Dark Horse: Roccat

Roccat are undeniably talented. They are one of many teams to deny NiP a space in the LCS and showed overpowering form in spring that led them to finish third place overall. They, however, inherited the “first place slump” that so greatly affected Fnatic, and have only recently begun to recover with two back to back 2-0 weeks (partly due to one of the matches being a forfeit). Roccat’s point to work on is simply closing out games and playing with more of a passion rather than playing not to lose. Their overly passive game play was the main catalyst of the ward chanting and Mexican waves from the London LCS crowd that sought entertainment.  

The Anatomy of a Base Race

by Jerrod "Thousand Eyes" Steis

The Weakness of the Split Push

LCS Week Four brought two intense base-race games. Victory came before a lot of people even realized the game was ending. The games were split, ironically, between NA and EU. Fnatic vs. Alliance and EG vs. LMQ. In both games the advantage seemed to be going in favor of the eventual loser. Fnatic had a strong kill lead and they were in control of the speed of the game. EG had been ahead in gold even after the game was over. Both Alliance and LMQ made critical choices to swing the momentum of the game in their favor and force the enemy into a hard decision.

First up, Fnatic against Alliance. Everyone was looking forward to this game as a close match-up. Fnatic were the winners of the Spring Split but were looking lackluster and sloppy in their first few games this summer. Alliance were the front-runners and despite their few losses, they looked like a powerhouse. I’d like to take a moment to look at the lineup for each team.

Fnatic in my opinion had the better pick/ban phase here. Banning out the popular Lee Sin jungle is always good because he’s far and away the best right now. Jax was nice as well because Fnatic’s comp just isn't built to handle a late game Jax (No one could stop his split push) and Wickd has been known to pull it out.

Fnatic first-picked Braum as soon as they saw he was left open. This was particularly surprising to me and I’m sure Fnatic as well. What was more surprising was after Alliance made their two picks, Twitch was still open. Rekkles had an outstandingly scary game on Twitch the day before against SK and to leave the rat open and not pick him away from Rekkles is either a slap in the face or stupid. To be fair though, Alliance did pick away Lucian because of the synergy that Braum and Lucian’s passive have. Cyanide also picked up Evelynn at the same time to go with the stealth theme. Then they rounded it all up with a Twisted Fate and Shyvana pick-up. All around, Fnatic built a solid team that not only was full of champs that are strong in the meta, but also work pretty well together.

If you look closely, Fnatic’s team is really focused on controlling the map and forcing mid game team fights. Twisted Fate, Evelynn and Twitch can all show up on someone without them realizing how out of position they are. Once the fight starts, Shyvana can come flying in if needs be and Braum can protect the possibly slightly out of position Twitch. Laning would be the weakness for Fnatic if one would guess. Especially if you look at their match-ups.

I feel Alliance really fell behind right from the start with their picks and bans. First of all, letting Braum though was a bit of a mistake. It literally forced them to pick up Lucian and let Twitch through to Rekkles. Ziggs was a nice ban, however, as was Morgana since Nyph picked up Thresh. The early Kayle pick was actually very well-played. Kayle has the amazing versatility of going almost anywhere (of course her professional viability has been top and mid). This left Wickd and Froggen the ability to trade Kayle off into whatever lane they felt would be better. She ended up going top to handle Shyvana, with Froggen taking Leblanc with the final pick to bully Twisted Fate early on and make sure his Level 6 ganks would be forced with either low health or after backing to base. Elise was a pretty standard pick, considering Evelynn and Lee Sin were off the board as of that time, leaving her as the only standard left.

 Alliance built their team around picking people off when they tried to rotate. While Kayle was a nice flex pick, I don’t really think she fit well with this composition. Kayle is a constant damage mage who can make a hyper carry invulnerable for a short amount of time. No one on her team can make a lot of use out of her ult other than herself. Lucian should be able to kite effectively with The Culling and Relentless Pursuit, and Froggen is all about bursting people and leaving immediately. Invulnerability is never a bad thing to have, but it’s value on this team is lacking compared to what some other top laners may have been able to bring. The rest of the team, however, can grab someone and burst them down before the enemy knows what happened to them.

Game

Now into the game. Shook on Elise starts with a pink ward over extra pots. This is a very smart pick up from Shook. He knew he could use the spiderlings to tank jungle minions and used the extra gold to try and track down Evelynn. Both teams set up and protect their buffs, a much different strategy than what had been occurring that day. In fact, we ended up with standard lane match-ups. It’s important to note this because this is a huge win for Alliance.

Alliance had a team made of people who were strong laners/dueling champs. If Fnatic had forced a lane swap and given free farm to Twitch and later on let Shyvana get some after lanes had pushed, they would have been able to avoid most fights until they hit their mid to late game spike. Alliance would have had to force picks and make themselves vulnerable.

When I saw the composition and how the lanes had worked out to be standard, I had expected Shook to try and make an early gank and play off the advantage all of the laners had. Shook never even attempted a gank until late in the game, and even then he wasn't successful. At the 5:00 mark, there had been almost no immediate action in the game. Alliance’s passiveness was making them lose before they even fought. Even worse, Soaz’s Shyvana was outfarming Wickd on Kayle. It was only a slight lead, but the fact that Kayle hadn't dominated that lane was a bad sign.

Thirty seconds later, Cyanide made the first gank at bottom lane. YellOwStaR jumped forward on Braum and got a quick start on his passive onto Thresh. Twitch followed up and Evelynn showed herself right after. Nyph flashed backwards to try and escape, but the sudden pressure was too unexpected. He went down and Tabzz escaped. Rekkles was already 1/0/0. A minute afterwards, Evelynn goes bot one more time in the same fashion. Still no pinks bought by Nyph and there’s a similar outcome. This time Wickd on Kayle tries to turn things around with a teleport to a ward, but they get nothing from it and run off. Twitch gets another kill.

At a quick glance you’d say Rekkles is already way ahead, but if you would look at CS at this time, Tabzz’s Lucian was up 25 creeps. So if we assume a 400 gold first blood plus a second kill at 300, Rekkles has 700 gold extra. However, take an average of 22 gold per CS and Lucian makes up 550 of that gold, putting Rekkles up only 150 - not even enough for a non-consumable item. The fact that Lucian was that far ahead in CS was huge in keeping him in the game. If they had been even, Rekkles most likely would have run away with the game.

There’s a lull in the action until 9:00. Fnatic coordinates a tower dive on Kayle in top. The combination of Evelynn, TF's ult, and Shyvana is enough to overpower Wickd’s ult and they take a clean kill with Soaz’s Dragon’s Descent being used to escape the tower aggro. This was a well-played gank which led to Fnatic taking the first tower. However, Alliance realized how many members were in the top lane, and took dragon right afterwards, unknown to Fnatic. Despite Fnatic completely controlling the game and making all of the early moves, they’re only ahead by 1k gold.

At 12:15, Fnatic make a bold move and pull a 5-man gank bottom using both TF's ult and Shyvana teleport. The gank is successful in gaining a kill on Thresh for Shyvana, but with all of the resources used, Kayle is able to free farm top. Fnatic split up afterwards, and while sitting in the bottom mid brush, Evelynn is caught out. After a small tussle, Shook’s Elise takes the kill. He is chased down by Xpeke directly afterwards, making it an even trade. Of course, an even trade is better for a team that is behind. It seemed like Fnatic wanted to take the dragon, but they didn’t realize Alliance already took it.

While trying to siege mid around the 14:40 mark, Nyph tosses out a hook and hits Shyvana. At first it seems Alliance just wants to poke at her for a  bit, but they keep poking into a full engage. After spending so much time and energy on Shyvana they have no abilities to use on anyone else when Fnatic tower dives. Cyanide gets a revenge kill on Elise, and Lucian is chased out through the jungle by Braum and Twitch. With a quick flash, Rekkles takes the kill. Alliance did, however, keep their tower up through all of this.

16:00 in,  Alliance take the second dragon. At this point Fnatic have improved their lead, but only to 2k gold. Considering the amount of pressure they’ve been flaunting and control they had, most people would have assumed they were far ahead, but Alliance’s dragons and CS on Lucian were keeping them in the game.

Finally, Fnatic get the mid tower they had been sieging at 17:15. However, after all of this time Alliance has taken Fnatic’s mid tower low as well. Fast-forward to 21:08. Xpeke TF ults down into bottom. A critical thing to notice here is this is 45 seconds before the next dragon spawn. Fnatic had no timer and if they did, I doubt they would have used TF’s ult so soon. They get no immediate kills out of it. At the same time, right at dragon, Leblanc and Kayle  get split by Braum and Evelynn. Braum ults onto Froggen and Evelynn pops her ult on Kayle. At first, it seemed like they were going to split targets, but right after the Braum ult, YellOwStaR turns right around and jumps onto Cyanide. Wickd ults himself, moves over to the red side wall and flashes over. Fnatic have control for the third dragon, but head to bottom in order to siege the tower first. Remember, Fnatic don’t have the timer for dragon..

           

This was a mistake as once again, Alliance move forward and start dragon at 22:00. Nyph zones out Fnatic once they realize and make their way over with a well-placed box. Kayle and Leblanc poke while Elise and Lucian take the dragon with their better sustained damage. Alliance takes the third dragon and as Fnatic attempts to back off, YellOwStaR moves late and is caught by a Thresh hook. He’s low health from the small engage before and is quickly taken out.

Here is where the magic happens. Because Alliance made a good pick and had kept themselves in the game as far as gold is concerned, they rush mid to take the low turret. As most of the team takes mid, Leblanc runs interference in the jungle by wraiths, forcing Soaz and Cyanide to take a much longer route into their base. Note that it’s only Shyvana and Evelynn though. Rekkles and Xpeke have gone back to bottom to try and counter push.

With all five mid, Alliance are able to out shove the strong pushers of TF and Twitch. As they take down the inhibitor tower, Soaz sits back and Braum moves up to try and stall, but he is hooked when the tower gets low. Once the tower is down completely, they go all in and kill YellOwStaR once again, following up on Shyvana right after. Evelynn finally comes in behind Alliance as they close in on the nexus. This whole time Twitch was pushing continuously. Xpeke, on the other hand, had second thoughts and started walking back to base. However, as Soaz went down he changed his mind again and popped his ult to go back to push with Twitch.

Xpeke and Rekkles back as their nexus turrets go down, but at this point it’s too late. Alliance closed it out and won the game with some great strategical play that set themselves up to capitalize on Fnatic’s positioning. While this was definitely some great play by Alliance, Fnatic really mispositioned and had split their calls in what they wanted to do. Alliance made a great play in not only starting the dragon, but starting it from the side where they could easily transition into the mid tower that was about to die. The fact that they kept going was purely because of Fnatic’s misplay from there.

To avoid redundancy, I’m going to look at the pick ban phase and only the shift for EG/LMQ.

All in all EG have a solid team fight team, right off the bat you can tell their plan is to let Jax get big and just sustain under tower while he split pushes. Ziggs and Lucian have all the abilities necessary to keep their towers alive and just hold out. I believe the Lee Sin pick was partially because of Helios’ ability to make plays with him and to get Jax rolling early. The bans that EG focused on were things that would either shut down Jax in top lane or basically anything that they felt would let LMQ get a lead early. LMQ have a great ability to snowball a lead when ahead.

LMQ built a composition based on poking out EG. It’s an interesting concept and late game one would think EG would have the advantage, barring some great Caitlyn Peacemakers and Nidalee spears. Braum is great for disengaging and Shyvana is just going to tank out the Ziggs and Lucian damage, since Shyvana can’t handle Jax late game. LMQ’s bans were similar to EG’s in that they were attempting to ban out the strong/known champions that EG plays. Also, Lulu and Corki would be able to clear waves, and while they did let Ziggs through, that’s about it.

Game

4:00 in Helios ganks top and First Bloods Ackerman’s Shyvana with a quick tower dive, but Shyvana gets a kill in response. The kill went over to Jax though, which is exactly what they wanted to get out of that. If Jax can split, EG will win.

At 6:45 Helios is caught out trying to snowball Pobelter’s lead in mid. NoName and Mor had roamed to help Nidalee, who was getting poked out. After some dancing and Pobelter being zoned out, XiaoWeiXiao tosses a spear from the distance to get the kill. The fact that Mor was able to roam came from how Vasilii had dominated with his Caitlyn in lane, gaining 52 CS at this time over Altec’s 36 on Lucian.

Once we hit 10:00, we see Helios and NoName, who had been mirroring each other all game, connect by LMQ’s red buff. While taking a pink, Helios gets cocooned, but Pobelter was quicker on the draw - following up and as soon as he’s free. He combos with Pobelter’s bombs to kick NoName back for the kill. While all of this is happening, Innox and Ackerman were having a brawl, with Innox about to die. Pobelter and Helios made the smart roam up after their kill and gave Jax a jump out, and Ziggs cleaned up the kill on Shyvana afterwards. At this point, EG was still down in gold from lost dragons. They had traded this off in order to get Jax fed, which was working well.

After Jax gets a solo kill on Shyvana, EG made rotations and took all three outer towers, pulling themselves up to a 6k gold lead. Jax, having a Blade of the Ruined King and a Phage at this point, was becoming a late game terror, compared to Ackerman - who had no complete items at this point. At around 19:00, EG decides to pressure LMQ’s blue buff. Nidalee is caught with a binding after LMQ laid down some poke. Mor jumps to protect his mid laner and is successful, but a clutch teleport nets Jax a kill as they disengage. Meanwhile, Helios takes down Elise back further in the jungle. EG, up until this point, had been pressuring their lead well, and getting their Jax fed enough to split.

And once again we come to the base race. At a whopping 46:20 total time, LMQ had taken Baron and were sieging mid lane as five. As Jax split pushes the bottom, Lucian drops The Culling to deter LMQ off of the mid inhibitor tower. Ziggs drops the Mega Inferno Bomb as well. Mor shields The Culling, and the Mega Inferno Bomb does not hit many targets. This prompts LMQ to engage, knowing they had an ultimate advantage in fight, as well as the fact that they were baroned-up and able to tank tower because they were at late game status. As the tower went down and the Culling ended, Braum uses his ultimate and knocks up Pobelter. Krepo makes a mistake here and shields Altec’s Lucian (who had a Banshee’s Veil spell shield) and not Pobelter, who receives all of the knock up and is immediately deleted.

Altec and Krepo focus their damage on the tanky Elise, and Helios uses his kick on Shyvana on the side of the fight and achieves nothing with it. LMQ lost Braum in exchange for Ziggs, and is still strong enough to win a 4v3 fight. Innox and LMQ both take inhibitors and move on to nexus turrets. However, the crucial fact here is that Ziggs is down for EG. They have no way to keep all of LMQ off the tower. All of their damage left is single target. That, in addition to all of LMQ having a way to speed up their attack speed. Jax had no way of matching their speed. He makes the mistake of trying to teleport back to a dying tower, wasting any possibility of winning the game.

Closing Thoughts

So what has been learned? If you’re planning on split pushing, you have to be able to stall while your fed duelist takes towers as soon as it turns into a base race. Even the most fed split pusher will lose out to more bodies on the opposing team. Fnatic couldn't agree on what they wanted to do. They floundered and let Alliance walk right into their base. And when Fnatic called their bluff, Alliance went deep in and took the game in the confusion. EG’s mistakes came from not pressuring with their top laner enough. They got Jax ahead and did nothing with it while LMQ slowly poked their way back into the game. The fact that LMQ ran a poke team was what really won them the game, because it became a fight of who could hit skillshots, and the last fight especially showed that LMQ was on top of that.