Garen Flow Chart

I have to say that this is pretty accurate. Garen's a boss in-game. Passive OP

Week 3 NA LCS

Last week, week 3 started off with TSM vs LMQ. This was a game to be watched by all players where the most fan favorite TSM played the rising team LMQ. It was the first time (in pretty much forever) where the fans vote didnt head in TSM's favor.

This match, LMQ seemed to have been in full control the whole game. Ackerman (top lane) played Kayle  who ended the game going 6/1/7 with Zhonyas and a Deathcap. Frightening to anyone playing against such a strong Kayle. LMQ demonstrated very strong positioning skills and objective control. I believe they took every dragon that was up.

With TSM they made mistakes and continue to look rough in games. They were mis-communicating and often at a team fight, half of them would be committed and others would be running. It looked very uncoordinated. GG and GL to both teams.

Week 3: Day 1 TSM VS LMQ

Onto the next game, EG vs C9. This game was suspenseful and surprising. C9 and EG both had very close total gold even when EG had about 10 more kills then C9 on the board. C9 had better objective control and manage to keep up with EG who was controlling the game. C9 Metoes even stole baron at the 28 mark for the team however with two man left, EG pushed up middle and took the inter middle turret.

Altec playing Twitch was almost untouchable and a twitch is the last thing you want to have on the field. The peel and protection that EG had for Twitch made this into a horror for C9. Lulu's ult, Thresh support and a Trundle front line who pillars all day made it very hard to reach Twitch.

At the end team fight, C9 manage to kill Twitch at the cost of Sneaky on Lucian and Hai on Khazix going forward who died soon afterward. Afterward, it was simply EG cleaning up who pushed up and ended the game. It was a close nail biting game. GG and GL to both teams.

Week 3: Day 1 C9 VS EG

2nd last game of the day, CLG vs DIG. This was a crazy game where the gold lead for CLG was around 2,000 the whole game. CLG played a poke comp. where DIG had Kassadin and Kayle for a team fighting comp. It was really back and forth all the way up til baron.

With CLG having no vision on baron, DIG starts baron in hopes that CLG would fight them. CLG played this really well and pushed up mid to take the inhibitor which is worth more than baron for them. The composition that CLG played, they needed structures and map control to use their poke comp. effectively. Link played Nidalee very well with the spears hitting priority targets. 

The last team fight, CLG had better positioning walking down middle where DIG was near baron. CLG runs down mid and DIG tries to chase them however with CLG's poke comp. they got poked before fighting. DIG was on the wrong side of the map and was outsmarted by CLG. It was an amazing match. GG to both teams. 

Week 3: Day 1 CLG VS DIG

Patch 4.9

Visual Update

• Karthus - we finally get the chance to see the new karthus visual, slight changes to lay waste(Q) and wall of pain(W)

Champion Changes (major ones)

• Braum - As expected, nerfs are coming this way. Damages are lowered and bonus MR and Armor from W are lowered 
• Kassadin - Just a slight nerf on the damage on his Nether Blade (W). His movement speed decreased from 350 -> 340
• KhaZix - BIG CHANGES to this guy, one huge change is his ult which no longer gives 50% reduction in stealth
• Soraka - her Starcall now reduces the cooldown of Astral Blessing in the early levels more

You can click here to find the changes: List of Changes on Champions

An upcoming skin is: Woad Scout Quinn 

LCS 2014 NA Summer W2D2

DIGNITAS vs TSM

This match was a very close game where nobody got first blood til around 24 minute.

Looking at the team comps, we can see that TSM ran more of a team fight oriented comp. Shyvana and Volibear to tank while Thresh is great for protecting the ADC. Lulu's shield and wild growth to keep Kogmaw alive gives TSM a very strong team fighting potential. DIG ran more of a split push comp with Ziggs to clear waves and Jax on Zion Spartan to split push like his always does. Ezreal and Lee Sin with a Nami has great escapes/disengage making it hard for TSM to get a favorable team fight.

TSM again kept getting caught out of position and mis-communicating. The first baron where DIG started it and TSM came in and manage to steal. This was a good point to start a comeback for TSM. Baron wears out without much being done for TSM and then a fight breaks up where 3 members of TSM were caught. No casualties but if TSM kept getting caught like that, the game would be over.

2nd baron happens where TSM starts it but then commits to a fight. The AOE from Ziggs took chunks of health from TSM at the start of the fight. Then a beautiful Nami ult hits four members and a bubble lands on Kogmaw. With Kogmaw locked up and then taken out of the fight, TSM didn’t have any more damage to continue fighting. DIG after takes baron and top/mid inhibitors. Later the bot inhibitors. This led to a push to the Nexus and took the game at 40 minutes. It was a very well-coordinated game by DIG.

I think the scaling from Jax was more important than the scaling of Kog. It was a gamble by DIG to play against a Kog because late game, he gets really strong. However, Jax was able to split push, becoming tanky and have damage, doing more for the team. Kog had the damage late game but thats all he can be. Jax was always putting pressure somewhere on the map and because its a Jax, you cant send one person to deal with him, usually you need more. Jax was very well played by Zion.

GG to DIG and TSM.

If you want to watch the match, here it is: 

LCS 2014 NA Summer W2D1: CLG vs TSM

In this weeks LCS, we kicked off with the old rivalry of CLG vs TSM. TSM was the team voted to win however, CLG played extremely well and when you see Doublelift going unkilled, you know who won. CLG aphromoo played the famous cow alistar and CLG Link played orianna leading to some beautiful plays. Although TSM was even with gold at about the 15 minute mark, one team fight where orianna shockwave combined with alistar demolished 4 members of TSM leading to mid inhibitor going down. This is when the game started to favor CLG.

CLG started pushing the top inner turret where TSM responded by grabbing the mid lane outer. This was not worth it for TSM because CLG group as 5 had more pressure and was able to take the 2 towers along with another inhibitor. Without doing baron, CLG regrouped and took the mid inhibitor again and at the 28 minute mark, CLG pushed through the nexus towers and ended the game.

It was a very solid game from CLG. TSM were often out of position, underestimating CLG's movement speed. TSM needs to regroup and refocus. TSM were often known for their great team fighting potential. In this game, TSM were rarely seen as 5 and died 1 by 1 before a 5v5 team fight could happened.

GG and GL to CLG and TSM.

Here is the match if you would like to watch it: 

SuperWeek NA LCS

Sadly, I am always busy on weekdays and cant watch the EU LCS and only manage to catch the NA LCS on weekends.

The top 3 standings so far is: TONS OF TIES

1) LMQ (4-0)
2) Team Dig and TSM (3-1)
3) C9 and CLG (2-2)

Its not surprising for LMQ to be first with their mid laner Xian "XiaoWeiXiao" Yu who is stomping people in the lane and doing awesome. Not just him, the whole team has a very high KDA with Wei-Jun "Vasilii" Li at 17!

Both teams (DIG and TSM) tied for second having a big change in their line up are doing pretty well too. Zion and Shiphtur both joined DIG who are previously seen on Team Coast. DIG is seen as a really solid team now and performing extremely well, way better than what was initially expected of them. TSM got Amazing and Gleeb as their new jungler and support. TSM is seen as an almost completely new team with Bjerg in mid who only joined last split and now Amazing and Gleeb.

Cloud 9, known as the champions who won two splits in a row is currently on a rough start going 2-2 along with CLG. C9 is having some trouble getting back into how the played previously because Hai (mid laner) was out for a while due to being hospitalized for a punctured lung. He is better now and is playing but you can see him making mistakes here and there. CLG picked up on a new top laner after Nien stepped down. Shin "Seraph" Woo-Yeong is the new top laner and he hasnt been heard of before, it'll be a nice surprise as to what he can bring to the table.

This split somehow turned into like a EU LCS where anyone can beat anyone! Its a ton of ties and everyone is fighting hard because the spots for Worlds are from this split! The pressure is ON!!

Oddone's Retirement

It is sad to hear that TheOddone is retiring after being in the scene for so long. He's been on TSM for literally right from the beginning. He will be stepping down as the jungler but will be moving to a coaching position for TSM which can lead to good things.

Brian "TheOddone" Wyille has provided tons of laughable moment with his hilarious personality. It is not possible to not laugh watching him stream. There are tons of funny stuff from him such as:

THE ODDONE'S FINEST HOUR

 

He will be remembered as the General who is always there to support his troops when in need or when there's a baron to be stolen! 

This is an interview where Oddone talks about retirement: Oddone's Interview

He will be missed for sure! Lucky for us he is always streaming still! Love the General!