This chart shows all of the champions with 50% or higher presence (pick + ban rate) in patch 10.16 in the top 4 esports leagues, compared against how often they are blind picked (chosen before the enemy champion in their role) or counterpick (chosen after the enemy champion in their role).
Caitlyn is 100% pick/ban and 100% blind picked. Graves and Renekton have also been blind picked in every game where they were played.
Nidalee, Tahm Kench, and Gangplank have been seen a ton, but are often picked after they know their matchup.
You can see these numbers for all champions and any set of leagues you’d like in the Oracle’s Elixir champion stats explorer.
Team Liquid and FlyQuest have similar profiles: both have well-distributed talent across their roster, primary carries in the Mid lane, control-oriented Junglers, playmaking Supports, and a preference for winning through mid-game team fights and objective control. During the regular season, the teams split their games 1-1. In last week’s matches, Liquid took our Golden Guardians 3-0 while FlyQuest dispatched Cloud9 3-1. With so much similarity, from recent form to play style to head-to-head, it’s almost tempting to make a 3-2 series prediction with a coin flip to pick the winner and say we’re just hoping for some high-quality games…
Okay not really. Well, yes, I’m hoping for high-quality games, but I actually think there’s a decent favourite here.
Both Cloud9 and TSM have hit some very low points in their playoff journey to this point, falling into the Lower Bracket by losing series they were favoured to win. But their most recent matches have both been victories, Cloud9 constructing a reasonably convincing 3-0 over Evil Geniuses and TSM barely outlasting the Golden Guardians 3-2 in a rematch from the Upper Bracket.
With C9’s stronger regular season performance and better result in their most recent match, it might seem they are clear favourites to take out their long-time rivals and claim the final North American slot at the World Championships. But TSM should not be counted out whatsoever: the Golden Guardians were their kryptonite, while TSM have been able to go toe-to-toe with C9 all year, even when Blaber and friends were at the peak of their powers in Spring.
C9 vs. TSM promises to be a close, exciting series, as well it should be with so much on the line.
