Category Archives: Articles

Analysis and Opinion

Blank Check: SKT, IEM, and the Jungler Question

When the reigning World Champions are sitting in the bottom half of their league’s standings halfway through the Spring split, it’s bound to stir up a little conversation. When that team goes out and wins an international tournament using their backup Jungler… Well, that’s bound to really fuel some discussion.

SK Telecom T1 were thoroughly convincing at the IEM Katowice tournament, winning all seven games they played and forcing Fnatic to surrender in the deciding Game 3 of the Finals. The natural response is to wonder if they’ll be ready to translate that success into their domestic play. And in SKT’s unique circumstances, we have to wonder whether Blank showed at IEM that he can be a better solution for his team than the veteran Bengi as they play out the rest of this split.

Before we can draw any inferences about SKT’s level of play with Blank, and whether they should use him moving forward, we have to look at the context of the IEM tournament, the play of SKT’s opponents, and—of course—the stats.

Continue reading at Unikrn →

Check the Data

Win Rates by Map Side

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As of March 2, the Blue side of Summoner’s Rift has a slightly higher win rate across the NA LCS, EU LCS, LCK, LMS, and CBLoL. (I don’t currently have LPL data, but I’m working on it!) Blue side has a 52% win rate, with Red side at 48%.

The tables below break down each team’s win rate on each side of the map.

Notables:

  • The ROX Tigers have dropped just three games this split, and all three losses have come on Blue side.
  • The Jin Air Green Wings and CJ Entus have huge gaps in win rates by map side. CJ Entus have won 77% of their Blue side games and just 14% on Red side, while Jin Air’s Red side win rate is nearly double what they’ve done on Blue.
  • Dignitas and Renegades have not won a single game on Red side this split, but Dignitas are 4-3 on Blue side and Renegades have earned both of their wins on Blue.
  • Fnatic are 6-1 on Blue side and just 2-5 on Red.
  • CLG are 7-1 on Red side but 3-3 on Blue.

NA LCSWins by map side, EUWins by map side, LCKWins by map side, LMS

Analysis and Opinion

TSM at IEM: Looking Back; Looking Forward

One year ago, Team SoloMid lifted the IEM Katowice trophy, conquering Team WE in the Finals to claim their first international crown since 2012, in the days of the limited-field IGN ProLeague. They were on top of the world, if only for a little while. This year they’re pursuing a repeat, but aside from their team name, their Danish Mid laner, and the underdog mentality they’ll be nursing, the circumstances are very different.

Going into the 2015 IEM World Championship, TSM had an 11-3 domestic record, good for 1st place. They had just wrapped up an easy 2-0 week against Winterfox and Team 8, two lower-tier teams who would go on to finish 8th and 7th, respectively, while TSM would take the regular season title. Things were going fairly well for TSM, and they were carrying some momentum as they prepared for the tournament.

This year, TSM is arriving in Katowice with an 8-6 domestic record, three wins shy of their 2015 pace. They’re treading water in the standings, sitting just 4th in North America, and battling with the demons of their own inconsistency: with a 1-3 record in the last four games, and a crushing defeat at the hands of Team Liquid on Sunday lingering in their minds, TSM is certainly not carrying positive momentum into Poland.

This isn’t the stiffest field IEM could have assembled—teams like the ROX Tigers, Immortals, and G2 Esports have been left at home because of IEM’s qualifiers + invites approach—but it isn’t exactly a soft field, either. TSM’s path through Group A features ESC Ever, Royal Never Give Up, and Origen, with SK Telecom T1, CLG, the Qiao Gu Reapers, and Fnatic vying to emerge from Group B. TSM are certainly not among the favorites—Unikrn has given them 15:1 odds, third-worst for the event—but every attending team features its own set of question marks.

Can Team SoloMid repeat their 2015 accomplishment and claim back-to-back IEM World Championship titles? It won’t be easy.

The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

TSM had an offseason to remember, constructing one of the stronger super teams North America has seen—on paper. The reality has been nowhere close to the hype, with the star-studded roster stumbling and clearly failing to find synergy. They aren’t in danger of falling out of the playoff picture, but TSM has actually looked worse than their 8-6 win/loss record might suggest. According to gold spent percentage difference (GSPD), TSM’s +0.6% has them ranked a spot worse, at 5th. Compare that to the league-leading +12.6% GSPD they were enjoying at this time last year.

There have been some positives, of course…

Read at Unikrn →