Analysis and Opinion

Chaser: Free Agent Jungle Superstar

Korea has a long lineage of superstar Jungle talent. Players like KaKao, Spirit, Dandy, and Bengi are international household names. After the 2015 exodus of Korean talent to China and elsewhere, the LCK Jungle talent pool was heavily depleted, with three of the four players I just listed leaving the Korean scene.

Other players stepped up, trying to fill the void. One stood out above the rest: Chaser of the Jin Air Green Wings. Now he has declared free agency, and may be following his better known compatriots overseas, or perhaps simply looking to find a better chance to win at home.

What makes Chaser worthy of comparison to the great names I’ve listed? Let’s start with his Summer split stat line.

Continue reading at Unikrn →

Analysis and Opinion

The New CLG: What We Learned at IEM San Jose

A month ago, when the unthinkable happened and Doublelift left Counter Logic Gaming for their archrivals, Team SoloMid, the esports world erupted with commentary. Beyond the drama and storylines, most of the analytical work focused on TSM’s prospects and the partnership between Doublelift and Bjergsen. CLG’s side of the transaction was thoroughly dissected for drama and mined for memes, but there was far less conversation about the roster that had been left behind, and what might become of it.

The CLG fanbase was rife with skepticism, some fans saying their loyalty would follow Doublelift to TSM, others simply bemoaning the team’s future. Significant questions were being raised: how might roster changes at AD Carry and Mid lane—where Huhi had already supplanted Pobelter—change the team’s dynamic? Who could possibly fill Doublelift’s shoes?

At Intel Extreme Masters San Jose, we got to watch the new CLG roster in action as they made a run to the Finals. During those games, some questions about the new CLG were answered; others were raised. It was clear that we were watching a different CLG, but how different? Let’s take a look.

Continue reading at Unikrn →

Check the Data

Mid Laner Play Styles in the Early Game

4 Comments

The stats tables below show the average kills+assists, experience gained, and creep score for Mid laners from the NA LCS, EU LCS, and LCK during the 2015 Summer split, including regular season, playoffs, and regional tournaments.

NA Mid laners stats by 15

NA Mids were the least effective at balancing out early combat with farming. Only Cloud9’s Incarnati0n had a reasonably balanced mixture of K+As, XP, and CS.

Bjergsen and FeniX stand out as farming very effectively, but not getting involved in much combat. That’s partly a commentary on the non-aggressive NA LCS meta, but also speaks to how their teams played out the early game as a whole. Compare to Keane and Goldenglue, who were even less involved in combat but couldn’t keep their farming up to compensate.
EU Mids stats by 15In Europe, the standouts are Febiven, nukeduck, and Froggen. All three had decent early aggression, while also keeping up their farming numbers. Meanwhile, xPeke, PowerOfEvil, and Betsy lagged behind in both combat and farm during the first 15 minutes of games.
LCK Mid laners stats by 15

Has anyone ever told you that Faker is an aggressive player? Well… he is. His 1.91 kills+assists at 15 minutes is incredibly high, especially relative to his own region. But Faker still managed to keep his average CS up at 131.7, which would have put him fourth in the NA LCS, though it’s slightly below-average for the LCK. Check out Ggoong, Coco, Easyhoon, and Nagne, as well, for good balance of combat and farming.LMS Mids stats by 15

In the LMS, Maple stands head and shoulders above every other Mid laner in the early game, though westdoor kept his experience gain up and Toyz and Chawy had reasonably balance, as well.

What players or numbers stand out to you?

The premier source for League of Legends esports data, analytics, and insights