LPL Series of the Day: OMG vs. VG Day 1

By: Jujubez

Perhaps the most exciting series of the day was the last one between OMG and Vici Gaming. Coming into the series both teams had their own set of unique challenges to face.

OMG has very recently changed their roster, swapping out Gogoing in the top lane, Loveling in the jungle, and Cloud on support for the likes of Xiyang top, JueJue jungle, and Amazing on support. 

In game one, the new roster changes seemed to be a non-factor as OMG systematically dismantled Vici Gaming in 29 minutes. Capitalizing off of early mistakes by Dandy and Carry, OMG were able to get three kills onto Uzi's Sivir by the 8 minute mark. Cool's Azir play in the mid lane was also on point as he was able to keep pressure on HeTong's Cassiopeia, restricting HeTong's ability to keep up with OMG's rotations.

JueJue seemed quite comfortable on Gragas, pulling off multiple ganks and creating immense amounts of pressure. Meanwhile, his counterpart Dandy desperately tried to counter jungle in an attempt to keep up with JueJue.

This early lead allowed OMG to snowball the game, taking objectives as they pleased. OMG's victory would have been near perfect if it weren't for Dandy's baron steal at 23 minutes.

In game two, Vici Gaming took a page out of OMG's book and had acquired their own three kill lead at 8 minutes. Unlike OMG they weren't able to turn their early advantage into a quick win and a couple lost skirmishes kept OMG in the game. After a hard fought close battle, they were able to triumph over OMG in 39 minutes.

This time around, Vici was able to shut down JueJue's Nidalee, killing him three times while he tried in vain to pounce in to take down the members of Vici Gaming.

Despite falling behind early, OMG managed to keep the gold lead even for the most part of the match. Vici was finally able to gain an advantage when Cool made a desperate attempt to keep them off of OMG's second tier mid lane turret, using his Flash and his Emperors Divide in the process.

This led to a baron for Vici Gaming, which allowed them to rotate to take a turret, obtain map pressure, and get their fourth dragon. This finally broke the gold stalemate, albeit by a just a couple thousand.

The last straw for OMG was a teamfight in mid lane which Vici Gaming won convincingly. Four members of OMG went down while Vici Gaming came out unscathed. JueJue's Nidalee was the last man standing for OMG and although he did what he could to stave off the members of Vici Gaming, his spears weren't enough to keep Vici Gaming from taking the nexus.

A brave new world

By Helmight,

Riot's balance team doesn't get nearly enough credit. Part of this is because they're so easy to scapegoat ("how DARE they nerf my main!!!1!"), but part of it is that literally everyone that plays this game thinks they're a better designer. I can't count the number of threads I see on the Boards screaming for Riven nerfs, Zed nerfs, Sejuani nerfs, even Fiora nerfs of all things. And every single poster and commenter on these threads has an unspoken assumption: I know better than Riot's balance team about this champion.

But regardless of the perceived state of balance, the ACTUAL balance is currently phenomenal. Gone are the Season 3 days of the League of Assassins. Gone are the godlike Season 4 siege comps. Gone too are the days of Lee Sin/Evelynn/Elise dominance of the jungle. Instead, what we have is perhaps the widest variety of viable champions since Season 2.


Like playing Lee Sin jungle? Still good. Like tanky junglers like Sejuani and Zac? Equally as viable as the Blind Monk. Like to play assassins mid? Okay. How about mages? Also good. How about AD mids like Ezreal? Let's do it. I mean, for cripe's sake, Urgot and Nautilus are viable champions now. If that isn't a sign of excellent balance, I don't know what is.

And this doesn't even count champions that are good, just underpicked. Remember, the professionals tend to overfocus on a handful of champions because they can't just be passably good with them - they have to be the best. This means that pros have a pool of about 4 champions - MAYBE 5 - that they play on a regular basis. It's no wonder, therefore, that a lot of champions with high winrates are never seen in competitive play. Vel'Koz and Olaf spring to mind, for example.

Now, balance isn't perfect - in fact, I'd surprised if it EVER was. Not every champion will see the LCS, and only slightly more will see play as a  niche pick. That's just the way these games work. If everyone was viable, they'd all be basically the same champion. But there's no doubt that the current state of affairs is much better than everyone gives Riot credit for.

So next time you're thinking of complaining to Riot about the current meta, stop and take a look at the actual game environment. It just might surprise you. 

Champion and Skin Sale: 4/24 - 4/27

By Helmight

A new sale starts tomorrow! For the next three days, you can pick up Vindicator Vayne, Runeborn Xerath, Guerilla Tristana, Nasus, Kog'Maw, and Azir for 50% off their regular RP prices. Continue reading for a look at the discounted content and their sale prices!

Champion and Skin Sale: 4/17 - 4/20

 By Helmight

A new sale starts tomorrow! For the next three days, you can pick up Blood Knight Hecarim, Arctic Ops Varus, Spooky Gangplank, Syndra, Leona, and Anivia for 50% off their regular RP prices. Continue reading for a look at the discounted content and their sale prices!

Debonair Galio now available!

By Helmight

"By your command" - Debonair Galio is now available for purchase for 750 RP. 

Free-To-Play Rotation: 4/14 - 4/21

By Helmight

The new free-to-play champions have just been announced! For the next week, the following ten champions will be available for everyone:  Annie, Azir, Dr. Mundo, Ezreal, Gangplank, Gnar, Rek'Sai, Sivir, Vel'Koz, and Zilean. Continue reading for a closer look at these champions, in addition to their regular store prices!

Champion and Skin Sale: 4/14 - 4/17

By Helmight

A new sale starts tomorrow! For the next 3 days, you can pick up Blood Knight Hecarim, Arctic Ops Varus, Spooky Gangplank, Syndra, Leona, and Anivia for 50% off their regular RP prices. Continue reading for a look at the discounted content and their sale prices!

Champion and Skin Sale: 4/10 - 4/13

By Helmight

A new sale starts tomorrow! For the next 3 days, you can pick up Rune Wars Renekton, Uncle Ryze, Little Knight Amumu, Mordekaiser, Rumble, and Yasuo for 50% off their regular RP prices. Continue reading for a look at the discounted content and their sale prices!

Ryzin' to the Top: Ryze update

By Helmight

Riot's ChampUp team has finally unveiled the next champion in line for an update: Ryze, the Rogue Mage. Ryze has long been a feast-or-famine champion, either getting played or banned in every game, or not seeing play at all. This is largely because Ryze's kit is always on - his passive, in conjunction with his Q, made it so that his abilities were always available, provided he had enough mana. With the update, Riot hopes to give Ryze moments of weakness and moments of strength to help people both fight against, and fight as Ryze.

Keep reading for a better look at the blue mage's updated kit!

Omega Squad Teemo now available!

By Helmight

"You want Teemo? Come and get him " - Our newest legendary skin is now available! You can pick up Omega Squad for 1820 RP, or snag the Omega Squad icon for 250 RP.

Patch Note Rundown: 5.7

By Helmight

Hey everyone! It's time for another patch note rundown. As always, I'll be tl;dr-ing the changes that came up this patch, giving brief insight as to why they happened, and picking out the highlights. Patch 5.7 is coming in the wake of 5.6's Buff Barge, provided extra help to champions that might have fallen off while knocking down those who've been sailing smooth for too long. Keep reading to take a look at the most important changes!

Champion and Skin Sale: 4/7 - 4/10

By Helmight

A new sale starts tomorrow! For the next 3 days, you can pick up Ravaged Nocturne, Jailbreak Graves, Demolisher Nunu, Varus, Vayne, and Udyr for 50% off their regular RP prices. Continue reading for a look at the discounted content and their sale prices.

Free-To-Play Rotation: 4/7 - 4/14

By Helmight

The new free-to-play champions have just been announced! For the next week, the following ten champions will be available for everyone:  Cho'Gath, Karma, Lulu, Nasus, Quinn and Valor, Sejuani, Singed, Swain, Trundle, and Twitch. Continue reading for a closer look at these champions, in addition to their regular store prices!

Game of the Day: Copenhagen Wolves versus ROCCAT (EU LCS Spring Split - Week 9 Day 1)

By Helmight

            It was do or die for ROCCAT today. One game separated them from the Copenhagen Wolves, and a win against the Wolves in today’s matchup would have led to a tiebreaker to see who made it to playoffs and who didn’t. ROCCAT played exceptionally well, stalling out the Wolves’ offense into the lategame – however, they just didn’t have enough. In a 59-minute epic, ROCCAT fell to Copenhagen, dropping out of playoff contention in the process.

Let's Play Bard: First Impressions

By Helmight

 Welcome back to another Let's Play article, this time featuring Bard - the League's newest addition. Though the Wandering Caretaker is a rare sight on the Rift, I was able to play enough games with and as him to get a sense for how he plays out. Under the break are my thoughts on the champion - keep reading to take a look!

Patch Note Rundown: 5.6

By Helmight

Hey everyone! It's time for another patch note rundown. As always, I'll be tl;dr-ing the changes that came up this patch, giving brief insight as to why they happened, and picking out the highlights. Patch 5.6 can be best described as "Buff Barge 2: Electric Boogaloo." A whole slew of champions picked up buffs in this patch, though a few outliers got kicked off the barge and back into the Nerf Seas. Keep reading to take a look at the most important changes!

Free-To-Play Rotation: 3/24 - 4/1

By Helmight

The new free-to-play champions have just been announced! For the next week, the following ten champions will be available for everyone:  Ahri, Amumu, Braum, Corki, Fiddlesticks, Graves, Malphite, Taric, Tryndamere, and Xerath. Continue reading for a closer look at these champions, in addition to their regular store prices!

Champion and Skin Sale: 3/24 - 3/27

By Helmight

A new sale starts tomorrow! For the next 3 days, you can pick up Redeemed Riven, Lord Mordekaiser, Shadow Evelynn, Aatrox, Galio, and Shaco for 50% off their regular RP prices. Continue reading for a look at the discounted content and their sale prices.

Free-To-Play Rotation: 3/17 - 3/24

By Helmight

The new free-to-play champions have just been announced! For the next week, the following ten champions will be available for everyone:  Darius, Diana, Draven, Fizz, Jax, Kog'Maw, Lux, Morgana, Shyvana, and Warwick. Continue reading for a closer look at these champions, in addition to their regular store prices!

Champion and Skin Sale: 3/17 - 3/20

By Helmight

A new sale starts tomorrow! For the next 3 days, you can pick up Giant Enemy Crabgot, Glacial Malphite, Dreadknight Garen, Shyvana, Akali, and Lucian for 50% off their regular RP prices. Continue reading for a look at the discounted content and their sale prices.

Champion and Skin Sale: 3/13 - 3/16

By Helmight

A new sale starts tomorrow! For the next 3 days, you can pick up Bioforge Darius, Midnight Ahri, Ruthless Pantheon, Fiora, Lee Sin, and Heimerdinger for 50% off their regular RP prices. Continue reading for a look at the discounted content and their sale prices.

Bard now available!

By Helmight

The latest addition to the League of Legends has just been released! Bard, the Wandering Caretaker, will be available for 975 RP or 7800 IP for the first week, after which he'll drop to the regular price of 6300 IP. You can also get both Bard and his release skin, Elderwood Bard, in his release bundle for 1462 RP through March 16th.

Patch Note Rundown: 5.5

By Helmight

Hey everyone! It's time for another patch note rundown. As always, I'll be tl;dr-ing the changes that came up this patch, giving brief insight as to why they happened, and picking out the highlights. With the release of 5.5, we've got a bunch of buffs for tank junglers and a few other long-suffering champions, in addition to a few minor nerfs on popular LCS champs. Let's dive into the changes, shall we?

Free-To-Play Rotation: 3/10 - 3/17

By Helmight

The new free-to-play champions have just been announced! For the next week, the following ten champions will be available for everyone:  Ashe, Cassiopeia, Kalista, Nami, Rammus, Riven, Talon, Teemo, Thresh, and Zac. Continue reading for a closer look at these champions, in addition to their regular store prices!

Champion and Skin Sale: 3/10 - 3/13

By Helmight

A new sale starts tomorrow! For the next 3 days, you can pick up Officer Caitlyn, Wicked Lulu, Sakura Karma, Quinn and Valor, Renekton, and Xin Zhao for 50% off their regular RP prices. Continue reading for a look at the discounted content and their sale prices.

Game of the Day: Copenhagen Wolves versus Elements (EU LCS Spring Split - Week 7 Day 1)

By Helmight

            Five dragons were taken by both teams, two Barons fell, and Elements and the Copenhagen Wolves only had three towers between themselves when all was said and done. In a 67-minute epic, the Copenhagen Wolves managed to outlast Elements and pull victory out of the jaws of the defeat in dramatic fashion.

Champion and Skin Sale: 3/6 - 3/9

By Helmight

A new sale starts tomorrow! For the next 3 days, you can pick up Reaper Hecarim, Nightraven Fiora, Undertaker Yorick, Vel'Koz, Ahri, and Sion for 50% off their regular RP price. Continue reading for a look at the discounted content and their sale prices.

A Tiny Master Falls

By Helmight

Presumably by this point you all have at least had a chance to play with Veigar following his changes. I think it's safe to say that Riot did not, in fact, give him compensatory buffs. Instead, they took a champion that was already not very popular and nerfed the crap out of him.

Before the Veigar changes went through, I already knew that his E was going to get nerfed. Simply put, Event Horizon is an ultimate-level ability with a basic ability cooldown and mana cost. If Riot wanted to put power into Veigar's kit, they would have to change something about his E. I was okay with that, in all honesty. Nerfing the E, but giving him more safety or damage would be a fair tradeoff in my eyes.

Instead, what we got was a net nerf almost across the board for the Tiny Master of Evil. Event Horizon become a nigh-unusable ability, going from a mere .5 second cast time to a whopping 1.25 second cast time, with warning particles. Unless your enemy isn't paying attention, getting a stun is all but impossible for Veigar to achieve.

This is a huge issue for Veigar, since it's his only way of staying safe. Unlike other immobile midlaners, Veigar only has one option to keep himself safe, and it's on a 14-second cooldown. If he misses the ability, or uses it prematurely, or has to use it to peel for himself, he's worthless in a teamfight. Veigar has no survivability outside of Event Horizon and no other reliable way of keeping assassins and tanks from turning him in mincemeat.

To make matters worse, Veigar also lost .2 off his ultimate's ratio, which at this point is just adding insult to injury. The Q change was arguably a buff if you just looked at it on paper, but in practice it's a net nerf as well. Adding additional range to the ability and letting it double-down on CS doesn't make up for the fact that Veigar needed the ability's reliable damage in order to pull off his burst combo.

And to compensate for all these nerfs? Minor buffs to the mana cost and cooldown of his W. Thanks Riot, you've been a big help. 

Now, I would have been okay with the changes if Riot had said, up front, "we're nerfing Veigar because of (X)." It would still be an unnecessary nerf in my eyes, but at least we'd have some kind of context about why it happened. But the fact that Riot is trying to call the changes "compensation buffs" is why they rub me wrong. These are objectively not buffs, and Veigar's winrate after the changes will attest to that.

I don't think Riot's necessarily wrong for nerfing Veigar. I don't think they're trying to enforce the mobility metagame that Veigar counters so well, nor do I think they're "evil" for changing one of the least-played champions in the game. But I do think that Riot needs to seriously evaluate both how they communicate their changes and what changes they actually make to their champions.

What are your thoughts on the Veigar nerfs? Let us know in the comments below!

Champions and Skin Sale 3/3 - 3/6

By Helmight

A new sale starts tomorrow! For the next 3 days, you can pick up Mafia Graves, Sad Robot Amumu, Marquis Vladimir, Gnar, Orianna, and Twitch for 50% off. Continue reading for a look at the discounted content and their sale prices.

Free-To-Play Rotation: 3/3 - 3/10

By Helmight

The new free-to-play champions have just been announced! For the next week, the following ten champions will be available for everyone:  Karthus, Olaf, Soraka, Udyr, Urgot, Vayne, Vladimir, Xin Zhao, Ziggs, and Zilean. Continue reading for a closer look at these champions, in addition to their regular store prices!

Game of the Day: SK Gaming versus Elements (EU LCS Spring Split - Week 6 Day 2)

By Helmight

            Today’s game between front-runner SK Gaming and Summer Split champions Elements was supposed to be a good one. Elements had been struggling to find their stride in a league full of good contenders, but had finally broken their losing streak with a win yesterday over Meet Your Makers. Meanwhile, SK Gaming had been on a slide, losing 3 straight games after Fnatic handed them their first loss of the season. Both teams desperately needed a win here today- but only one could have it. As it turns out, the game wasn’t even close – SK Gaming fixed their mistakes from previous matches and annihilated Elements in a one-sided, 32-minute contest.

            SK was solidly in the lead of this game from square one. Though they were running a similar midgame-oriented team like the Copenhagen Wolves from yesterday’s article, they actually managed to make it work. FORGIVENGRE’s Graves was always an item and a half ahead of Rekkles’s Jinx and absolutely annihilated Elements in teamfights. On top of that, SK Gaming had finally learned from their mistakes in earlier games and were much better about playing the vision game. Though Elements still outwarded SK, it was by a much lower margin than normal and SK certainly played with more confidence thanks to their increased vision.

            With the vision advantage and a better team in the midgame, SK was able to shut Elements down out of almost every objective and keep their team alive through teamfights. It was a low-kill game, but that was because Elements wasn’t able to contest any of SK’s moves. On top of that, Elements squandered two to three ults on nRated multiple times throughout the early game in the hopes of getting picks, only to find their hopes dashed when nRated simply walked out of the fire – or when Svenskeren and Fox showed up to take a kill of their own. With Elements out of sorts and out of time, it was easy for SK to close out the game.

            The addition of Krepo looked to be a solid move on the part of Elements during yesterday’s game, but the LoL veteran wasn’t able to help his new team pull it out this time. Elements had picked and itemized solely for the lategame, leaving itself absolutely helpless against SK through the early- and midgame. Only two players on Elements managed to pick up kills throughout the game, and they looked weaker than they ever had before against the league leaders. One thing is for sure – something has to change within the team if they want to have a chance at making Worlds this year.

SK Gaming (W)					Elements (L)
Kills	Turrets		Gold		Kills	Turrets			Gold
11	8		57.9k		2	1			42.7k
Lineup
Position	Player		Champion	K/D/A	Position		Player			Champion	K/D/A
Top	fredy122		Morgana	2/1/6	Top	Kev1n				Maokai	0/2/1
Jungle	Svenskeren		Rengar	1/0/6	Jungle	Shook				Lee Sin	1/2/1
Mid	Fox		Zed	2/0/6	Mid	Froggen				Orianna	0/2/2
ADC	FORGIVENGRE		Graves	3/0/6	ADC	Rekkles				Jinx	0/2/1
Support	nRated		Annie	3/1/5	Support	Krepo				Thresh	1/3/1
Bans
Kassadin		Lissandra	Ahri		Nidalee			Lulu	Rek’Sai

For stats, builds, and other information, check out the match history. In the meantime, let us know what you thought of the game below!

Game of the Day: Gambit Gaming versus Copenhagen Wolves (EU LCS Spring Split - Week 6 Day 1)

By Helmight

            No one expected Gambit Gaming or the Copenhagen Wolves to end up as mid-tier teams this season, let alone end up with a sizeable win streak. However, with their head-to-head matchup this week, one of them was destined to finally drop a game. The Wolves’ excellent dragon control and terrifying AoE teamfight composition looked to give them an edge over Gambit’s lategame-oriented team, but in the end they were no match for the Russians. On the backs of P1noy and Betsy, Gambit outfought Copenhagen to take a 33-minute win.

            Copenhagen did everything right in the early game. They got the 2v2 matchup they wanted in the bottom lane, and then made Cabochard’s life difficult in the top lane thanks to Airwak’s jungle pressure. On top of that, the Wolves were able to secure a pair of dragons without so much as a whisper from Gambit. They looked to be perfectly on track to end the game before P1noy’s Tristana and Diamond’s Sejuani could hit their lategame potential.

            But they hadn’t counted on Gambit’s incredible ability to turn objectives into kills into more objectives. A single pick for Gambit in the bottom lane led to another pick in the mid, then to a Baron attempt. Though Copenhagen was able to contest it with 4 members, and despite Diamond’s early smite, Gambit secured the buff and took a close teamfight victory. From there, it was a matter of time – Copenhagen was unable to deal with Gambit’s splitpush strategies and with P1noy’s insane tower threat. A few minutes later, Gambit pushed in and ended the game after one final, lopsided teamfight.

            Though Copenhagen has looked good over the last couple weeks, this game was a far cry from their previous performances. Instead of pressing harder for towers, the Wolves preferred dragon control – which would only really pay off for them in the lategame, when Gambit is stronger. By the time Gambit had swung the momentum back to their side, Copenhagen was then too late to react and yielded pick after pick. Going into next week, they’ll certainly want to up their shotcalling and strategies if they want to start another winning streak.

            Gambit, on the other hand, looked better than they have in years. Gone are the lackluster Season 4 performances – this is a Gambit that more closely resembles the Moscow 5 than anything else. P1noy in particular is proving his worth, demonstrating the reworked Tristana’s tower-taking capabilities and being an absolute menace in teamfights. Betsy meanwhile is showing off exactly why Gambit had him replace niQ – he’s only played in 3 LCS games, but has demonstrated excellent command of Zed and Ahri. Going forward, Gambit will certainly want to rely the pair of their carries for wins.

Gambit Gaming (W)					Copenhagen Wolves (L)
Kills	Turrets		Gold		Kills	Turrets			Gold
18	9		63.5k		8	3			51k
Lineup
Position	Player		Champion	K/D/A	Position		Player			Champion	K/D/A
Top	Cabochard		Kennen	5/2/9	Top	YoungBuck				Maokai	1/6/3
Jungle	Diamond		Sejuani	2/0/12	Jungle	Airwaks				Jarvan IV	2/6/3
Mid	Betsy		Zed	5/1/7	Mid	Soren				Ahri	2/1/3
ADC	P1noy		Tristana	5/2/8	ADC	Freeze				Graves	1/1/3
Support	Edward		Morgana	1/3/12	Support	Unlimited				Annie	2/4/2
Bans
Draven		Cassiopeia	Kalista		Nidalee			Kassadin	Rek’Sai

  For stats, builds, and other information, check out the match history. In the meantime, let us know what you thought of the game below!