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Stats Theory

Are Mountain Drakes Overrated? Statistical analysis of the value and priority of dragon types

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Ever since Riot introduced the concept of randomly-spawning elemental drakes, there has been consistent debate around the relative value of each dragon type. Consensus dictates that infernal and mountain drakes are the most valuable, with cloud and ocean as also-rans.

Currently, the trend of opinion among many experts–somewhat unexpectedly–is that mountain drake is the most useful dragon, above even the ever-popular infernal.

Curiously, the data does not bear out this opinion.

Based on statistical analysis of 2017’s games to date, the value of mountain drakes is much lower than popular perception. Inferno drake is statistically the most valuable by far, while cloud and ocean drakes continue to be underrated. Continue reading Are Mountain Drakes Overrated? Statistical analysis of the value and priority of dragon types →

Articles

P1 Fly: Short interview following 3rd-place match

After an intense five-game set in the NA LCS third-place match, Phoenix1 head coach Kim “Fly” Sang-chul shared a few thoughts with Oracle’s Elixir about leading his team through the series and the spring split as a whole.

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TIM: This series there were lots of worrying, scary moments. What was it like watching that from back stage?

FLY: It was extremely difficult watching back stage. It kind of induced anxiety, you know? And even after winning, I still felt a little nervous almost! Continue reading P1 Fly: Short interview following 3rd-place match →

Check the Data

EU LCS Finals: G2 vs UoL Stats Comparison

Ahead of the EU LCS 2017 spring finals this weekend between G2 Esports and the Unicorns of Love, here’s a statistical breakdown of how they performed in the regular season.

Takeaways

G2 spent more of their time this season playing from ahead. They had a much higher early-game rating (EGR), based on taking a lot of early towers.

The Unicorns did a lot of their work in the mid and late game, comparatively. They had an average EGR but still won most of their games, largely because they pushed the pace with combat. UoL fought the most of any team in the league. In fact, they had the second-highest combined kills per minute (CKPM) across the five major regions. Only the LPL’s LGD Gaming had a higher CKPM, but LGD’s numbers were heavily driven by deaths, with just a 0.76 K:D ratio.

Jungle control is a big point of differentiation for the two teams. G2 dominated the jungle farm game, with the second-highest jungle control in the five major regions (behind only AHQ eSports’ 57.1%). The Unicorns, by contrast, had below-average jungle control, which was likely related both to their propensity to group up and fight instead of playing a controlled farming style, and also to their low vision output, which made the neutral parts of the map more dangerous.