Category Archives: Articles

Analysis and Opinion

The Tigers are dead, long live the Tigers: an IEM preview

The ROX Tigers first take to the Champions stage as the HUYA Tigers in rugby-striped crew-neck sweaters, competitors in the LoL Champions Korea qualifier. It’s the introductory season of the LCK, and the Tigers — an assembly of experienced players discarded by other teams — are pegged as a team that will end up a middling performer in the new league.

Instead, they storm through their first split. Although the Tigers lose to SK Telecom T1 in the 2015 LCK Spring Finals, they impress throughout the season. The sweaters become a Tigers staple, propelling them first to cult fandom and later, worldwide adoration. They’re a playoff team again that summer, and are the only team to take a game off of SKT at the 2015 World Championship.

In 2016, the Tigers grow into one of the most innovative and enjoyable teams to watch in League of Legends history. They win their first LCK title that summer. Their semifinals match against SKT at the 2016 World Championship is one of the greatest LoL best-of-five series of all time.

This image of the ROX Tigers — Song “Smeb” Kyung-ho’s ascension, Kim “PraY” Jong-in shoving aside retirement and returning to the stage, and later Han “Peanut” Wang-ho unleashed after a rough year with NaJin e-mFire — accompanies the name.

The Tigers are Smeb, Peanut, Lee “KurO” Seo-haeng, PraY, Kang “GorillA” Beom-hyeon, and even Lee “Hojin” Ho-jin and Hae “Cry” Sung-min. They are iconic.

They are not Heo “Lindarang” Man-heung, Park “Shy” Sang-myeon, Yoon “SeongHwan” Seong-hwan, Son “Mickey” Young-min, Gwon “Sangyoon” Sang-yun, and Kim “KeY” Han-gi.

Continue reading The Tigers are dead, long live the Tigers: an IEM preview →

Analysis and Opinion

Lane efficiency: case studies from the NA and EU LCS

In professional play, some teams do a great job of managing minion waves and controlling the lanes. It’s a complex part of the game, with influence over many things, including gold income, map control, setup for objectives, and both extension of leads and defensive stalling while behind.

Lane efficiency is a new statistic that measures how well teams manage minion waves, securing as much lane farm for themselves as possible while denying farm from their opponents. For a full discussion of the theory and measurement of the statistic, take a look at the methods article.

Below are the lane efficiency (LE) statistics for the NA LCS and EU LCS, presented alongside jungle control (JNG%) and kill-to-death ratio (K:D) to paint a more full picture of teams’ play. For the NA LCS, the Immortals are discussed as a case study, while H2K are presented from the EU LCS. Continue reading Lane efficiency: case studies from the NA and EU LCS →