Game of the Day: H2K versus Elements (EU LCS Spring Split - Week 4 Day 1)

By Helmight

For a team supposedly plagued by shotcalling weaknesses, H2K certainly didn’t play like it. Time and time again, H2K outrotated and outplayed Elements in a 30-minute rout of the current split champions.

             Though H2K’s inconsistency left fans wondering how the game would play out, they almost certainly didn’t expect such a strong showing. KaSing in particular proved his mettle in this game, landing clutch hooks at crucial moments to force Elements out of the game. With a total of eight assists by the end of the game, his substitution for Voidle has been cemented as a brilliant move by H2K.

            The rest of the team didn’t make any flashy plays, but H2K’s map control and rotations were excellent. No trace of their shotcalling issues was present today – every team member was where they needed to be, when they needed to be there. Ryu and Hjarnan turned in solid performances, securing the lion’s share of the kills and playing generally excellent.

            Elements meanwhile looked completely out of… well, out of their element. From champion select, Elements looked like they didn’t quite know what they were doing. Running a double AP composition into a Maokai is never a good idea, but Elements also failed to pick a hyper carry for Rekkles. This squandered the usefulness of Wickd’s Lulu and Nyph’s Janna, who could have kept a champion like Kog’Maw safe from harm.

            But it wasn’t the only time they made questionable decisions. H2K was able to secure multiple objectives – including a Baron – without a fight simply because Elements didn’t have the right team members in the right place at the right time. Rekkles was sent to farm bot, even though Wickd’s Teleport was up. Three Elements members were sent to shove toplane while H2K was pressuring inhibitors elsewhere. No matter where H2K roamed, it seemed as though Elements just couldn’t get there at the same time.

            After a mere 25 minutes of play, it was clear that H2K had Elements completely under control. One Baron and a small teamfight later, they were able to push through the remainder of Elements’ base for the win.

 

H2K (W)					Elements (L)
Kills	Turrets		Gold		Kills	Turrets			Gold
10	10		53.5k		4	2			42.4k
Lineup
Position	Player		Champion	K/D/A	Position		Player			Champion	K/D/A
Top	Odoamne		Maokai	1/1/4	Top	Wickd				Lulu	0/3/2
Jungle	loulex		Jarvan IV	1/0/5	Jungle	Shook				Rek’Sai	2/2/1
Mid	Ryu		Ahri	2/3/4	Mid	Froggen				LeBlanc	2/2/2
ADC	Hjarnan		Sivir	6/0/3	ADC	Rekkles				Graves	0/0/1
Support	kaSing		Thresh	0/0/8	Support	Nyph				Janna	0/3/1
Bans
Nidalee		Lissandra	Gnar		Zed			Annie	Kassadin

2015 LCS - Bigger and Better

By Helmight

            It’s official. The 2015 LCS season will have ten teams competing, as reported by lolesports.com. According to RiotNickAllen, the two additional spots in the LCS will be filled by a one-time Expansion Tournament that is planned to take place after Worlds. Slots for this tournament will be filled by top Challenger teams from the region, as well as losers of the Promotion Tournament. The top two teams in the Expansion tourney will earn a berth into the 2015 season.

            Additionally, RiotNickAllen mentioned that Riot has been considering adding some form of circuit points to the LCS. Currently, the Spring Split means relatively little in terms of a team’s World Championship dreams – provided they don’t get relegated, they still have just as much of a chance as any other team. Circuit points would make every match count, especially playoff games. However, this hasn’t been officially added to the LCS yet.

            Personally, I’m excited for the expansion of the LCS teams. As mentioned in our previous article, more teams will make the whole league more competitive and solve a lot of organizational headaches on the part of Riot. Much though I loved Super Weeks, five games a day for six days is a lot to watch and a LOT for teams to handle. Kudos to Riot for going ahead with this change.

            The circuit points, on the other hand, I’m not so sure about. Circuit points have always been a bit of a mystery for me and I’m sure they’re even more confusing for people who’ve never seen professional League of Legends before. Their addition would take a little bit of time to get my head around, and homogenize EU and NA’s competitive environments in terms of how the rest of the world operates. However, I do like the idea of having each match count – it would certainly keep teams from leaving the region during Super Week (lookin’ at you, CLG), and make Spring Split a little more exciting to watch. Only time will tell if Riot actually adds circuit points to the LCS, but I think there are more positives than negatives in this idea.

            Overall, the 2015 LCS season is going to be far better than before thanks to the addition of two more teams to the mix in each region, and could get even better with circuit points. Worlds hasn’t even happened yet, but I’m already excited for what’s to come.

What are your thoughts on the new and proposed changes to the LCS? Leave us your comments below!

The Magus Ascending: Xerath in the LCS

By Helmight

            Though Xerath has been an obscure pick in League of Legends for a long time, the Magus Ascendant has been getting way more time in the limelight as of last week. With a battery of incredibly long-ranged spells at his disposal, Xerath serves his team as a magical artillery cannon and pokes down enemies with impunity. As he slowly rises in popularity, one can’t ignore Xerath’s immense poke and siege prowess.

            Though Xerath has always been a relatively unknown champion, he has been picked before during the Season 3 LCS in a couple of games. However, only rarely did the Magus Ascendant stand out as a midlane pick and for the most part was forgettable. Since then, Xerath has received a major ability rework, giving him a longer-ranged stun, a global ultimate, and a fourth damaging ability inspired from his old ult. On top of this, the traditional siege mages of Ziggs and Nidalee have received substantial nerfs throughout Season 4, setting the stage for Xerath’s rise this last week.

            It didn’t take long for Xerath to catch on – he was played in 50% of the games this week by seven different midlaners and managed a respectable 62.5% win rate. Pros have favored him due to his reliable long-ranged waveclear and good damage. “If you get ahead it’s almost impossible to lose a game as Xerath,” said Alliance midlaner Froggen in an interview shortly after his second game with the champion. “You can just run them down with your ultimate and it’s impossible to dodge at that point.” NA midlaners have recognized his potential as well, and according to Curse’s midlaner Voyboy,  this is just the start. “Xerath is a really good pick now, I would expect to see him constantly through this week,” he said in a post-game interview.

 Xerath’s strengths are many. His Q, Arcanopulse, can completely annihilate a minion wave after a few items, and its low cooldown and huge range allow Xerath to poke enemy champions from well behind their towers. In addition, Xerath packs a 2-second stun on his Shocking Orb, placing him in a tier alongside Morgana and Elise when it comes to long-ranged crowd control. With all three champions on a team, a single enemy can be locked down for a total of 7 seconds – a truly staggering number. What makes Xerath one of the strongest mages though is his range. None of his abilities have a range below 1000 units, with his Arcanopulse stretching all the way to 1400 units. Meanwhile, his ultimate is a global ability that can either deal good AoE damage to entire teams, or snipe off low-health targets as they attempt to leave a fight. Either way, it’s a powerful tool to have in poke compositions.

However, Xerath is not without flaws. Like his fellow siege mage Ziggs, Xerath is immensely squishy and weak at close range. His Shocking Orb only stuns for .5 seconds if used at point-blank range and all of his abilities feature decent cast times. Xerath is also fond of crowd-controlling himself – Arcanopulse slows him down while he charges it and Rite of the Arcane completely immobilizes Xerath while he’s bringing down the artillery. Gapclosing champions like Vi and Lee Sin can take advantage of his lack of mobility to initiate on him, while assassins like Zed and Fizz can easily blow him up in teamfights. It takes a good composition around him to keep Xerath alive and firing from the backline – but if you can do it, God help your foes.