AdyEndrus, Author at League of Stories

Riot’s Predictions: EU LCS Summer Split Week 5

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Last week’s predictions were eerily accurate. Riot predicted a 1-7 Roccat club to go 2-0 with matches against Copenhagen Wolves and Supa Hot Crew. Roccat shocked the world (sans Riot) when they posted their perfect record this week. Because of these amazing predictions I can’t help but do another week’s worth of predictions, this one slightly more in-depth to try to dive deeper into individual player stats. Welcome to another week of Riot’s Predictions!

TEAMS

Saturday:

SK vs Alliance = Alliance will win. This will be the harder of Alliance’s two match-ups this week, so expect to see 2-3 deaths on Wickd, and 1-2 on Tabzz. However, closer game = longer game, so count on high fantasy points. Alliance will be getting first blood, plus at least 6 turrets (5 needed to win).

SHC vs Copenhagen Wolves = Supa Hot Crew will take this one. Wolves are in a down-ward spiral and are estimated to drop both of their games this week. This might be when Mr Rallez dumps in for some of his 650 predicted CS this week.

Millenium vs Roccat = Millenium beat Roccat this week. Millenium had looked solid all split and even more so last week when they went 2-0. We’re not expecting another 2-0 week from them, but expect to see Jesiz go at least 4-2-6.

Gambit vs Fnatic = Fnatic aren’t losing a game this week, so Gambit won’t change that. Gambit has been struggling, Fnatic has been gaining better footing. sOAZ has been climbing each week (31, 39, 42) in points. xPeke keeps breaking fantasy records. If you have a Fnatic player, get them on your list this week. It is predicted to be a good day to be a Fnatic!

Sunday:

Roccat vs Gambit = Bottom of the bracket has to go to a team, and Roccat are slated to win this one. Poor Gambit just can’t catch a break. Their estimated points are plummeting until they start putting up numbers or winning games. Losing in a stomp is a good way to net negative numbers, which is Edward’s forte.

SK vs SHC = SK can win this game. They opened the split in first place, and SHC is just breaking even. I wouldn’t count SHC completely out, Mr Rallez can pack fantasy points in, even when they lose. SK is going to cash in some points this game.

Fnatic vs Millenium = Fnatic continue their dominant week. Again, this could turn out to be a close game, which results in a longer game, which results in more fantasy points. xPeke is predicted at 38 points on the week, and he did more than that in one game last week. He has been a fantasy all star and he’s showing no signs of slowing.

Alliance vs Copenhagen Wolves = Alliance continues their 2-0 week. Wolves had a roster swap last week and will be trying to get their mojo back. Hopefully they can prolong a game against Alliance for fantasy’s sake, but doesn’t count on it. Alliance has changed from their old EG ways and are ripping through games these days, which scares fantasy owners!

SUMMARY

I think Riot’s predictions are a bit conservative this week. No one has managed to maintain xPeke, even when his team loses, but his fantasy point estimate is still very low.

Riot’s Predictions: NA LCS Summer Split Week 4

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Last week I noticed that in the Fantasy LCS weekly predictions different teams were predicted to win games. By knowing that coming match-ups, and relying on the fact that each match would need a winner, I was able to deduce that Riot predicted which team would lose in each match-up. I did the same for the NA LCS Summer Split week 4, and here are the predictions.

Cloud9 and Evil Freaking Geniuses are predicted to go 2-0 in their matches this week. Cloud9 is set to beat TSM and Dignitas. Both of those games should be fun, close matches. Cloud9 has a better record against teams above .500 than other top teams, but they have struggled against teams on the lower end of the bracket. With two games against teams at or above .500 expect Cloud9 to post good fantasy numbers this week, doing what it takes to “drag” games out and win.

Evil Geniuses play against LMQ and CLG this week. LMQ seems like they would match up well against EG, but as EG gets more experience they seem to be meshing well, and maybe Riot knows something that we don’t that is affecting their prediction. CLG has been getting better and better. Dexter is still improving (54.17, 25.07, 28.20 week by week) in fantasy. Aphrolift are still winning lane and helping to win the game. The current 4v0 start meta is really benefitting the late game potential of that bot lane, letting Double farm safely, and letting Aphro make plays with the cow.

TSM is predicted to beat Complexity. LMQ is expected to beat Curse. Dignitas is slated to beat Curse, and CLG will probably hand it to Complexity.

Curse and Complexity both have zero wins to look forward to this weekend. Might be a good week to bench Voyboy. Just be happy Riot predicted eight winners this week rather than the seven they predicted last week.

Riot’s Predictions: EU LCS Summer Split Week 4

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Last week I noticed that in the Fantasy LCS weekly predictions different teams were predicted to win games. By knowing that coming match-ups, and relying on the fact that each match would need a winner, I was able to deduce that Riot predicted which team would lose in each match-up. I did the same for the EU LCS Summer Split week 4, and here are the predictions.

SK and Roccat will both go 2-0 this week. Supa Hot Crew, Alliance, Fnatic, and Millenium will each end the week with a win apiece, and Gambit Gaming and Copenhagen Wolves should end up with no wins.

Any time it has teams going 2-0 or 0-2 I can just immediately give their two opponents a loss or a win, depending Riot’s prediction. Then the 1-1 teams are decided via process of elimination.

Historically speaking close games result in more points for fantasy owners. If some of the 2-0 teams this week stomp their opponents don’t expect to see as many fantasy points this week.

Season Two Called; Moscow Fi… Gambit is Back!

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In Season Two a young and talented Moscow Five (later Gambit Gaming) team started their professional careers with eight months (count ’em, eight) of top two finishes. Their dominance under the Moscow Five name began in January at the Intel Extreme Masters (IEM) Global Challenge Kiev. In the first event they participated in they stole first place away from Team SoloMid.

Team SoloMid was considered one of the best teams in the Season Two meta, but the meta was a delicate thing that Gambit gave no regard for. Gambit were innovators in a stagnant meta. They were quoted to say “We only play OP champs,” and rotated through champions on such a regular basis that it was impossible to keep up or ban them out. Their innovations led to picks such as Shyvana top, Evelynn mid, Urgot marksman, Ignite support, and more.

While Gambit didn’t have the strongest individual players, what they lacked in personal talent they made up for in team play. It was standard procedure to see four members of Gambit Gaming surrounding a lone defender of a turret for First Blood, or for the top-laning Shyvana to roam into the enemy’s jungle and take no prisoners.

These abnormal strategies were quickly picked up on by other professional teams trying to keep up with the hottest team in Europe. It wasn’t long before Gambit was crushing events and changing the meta.

After a brief time as part of Curse, Edward returned to be a part of Gambit and it’s fair to say “Gambit is back!”

On November 24, 2013 Gambit Gaming raced through the rounds of the IEM 8 Cologne event. In the rounds leading up to the final they bested a lesser known team (The RED) and the American powerhouse Cloud 9. Gambit looked like they hit their stride as they managed 2-0 victories over both of these professional teams.

In the finals Gambit was looking to keep their perfect tournament hopes alive, but their daunting foe was Fnatic. Season One World Champions, and a first place in the EU LCS Summer Playoffs, Fnatic is a juggernaut of team play. Led by their mid laner, xPeke, Fnatic has had impressive LAN records since the beginning of League of Legends competitive play. Gambit reunited, ready to change the meta, facing off against one of the oldest and most dominant EU teams really set the stage for these finals.

These teams are no strangers to one another, facing off many times in the EU LCS and in tournaments for the past couple of seasons. In the first game Fnatic banned Kha’Zix, Renekton, and Annie, respecting a pick for Alex, Darien, and Edward. Gambit banned Nidalee, Kassadin, and Shyvana, which is a tip of the hat to xPeke and sOAZ. Fnatic was forced into choosing a mid laner as Gambit saved it for last pick. Without knowledge of who Gambit would be taking mid xPeke decided to play Ziggs, after having a rough game against Ziggs, played by CLG’s Link. As a veteran League of Legends player, I can’t think of a single “good” lane pick against Ziggs. However, Alex didn’t miss a beat. He picked Malphite for last pick and loaded into the first game.

Edward lost his Flash early to a jungle invade by Fnatic, but escaped with his life. First Blood didn’t happen until after the six-minute mark when Darien was able to catch sOAZ too far from his turret. Gambit maintained lane pressure until the nine minute mark when they picked up the first dragon almost unnoticed. Near the 15 minute mark Gambit took both the outer top and outer bottom towers, then rotated to Dragon. Fnatic took the outer mid turret in response.

While the first 23 minutes of this game did result in a farm fest, when the team fights arrived they were full of action. Gambit swung into action after sOAZ caught Diamond in Fnatic’s jungle. While Diamond fell in the pursuing team fight, Gambit were able to trade their jungler for three members of the enemy team, and Baron. Darien and Diamond slipped in a two-man Baron before the 27 minute mark, undetected by Fnatic.

The strength of AP Malphite shone shortly after when Alex was caught in bot lane by sOAZ, Rekkles, and Cyanide. Seeing that he was going to die, he expended the resources at hand and used Deathfire Grasp, Ignite, and Unstoppable Force all on Corki to secure that he would die in a 3v1 situation. Gamers can now get their hands on vanguard hack and make the game a lot more interesting.

When Alex respawned he walked down mid lane, found Rekkles alone, and with a Deathfire Grasp, Unstoppable Force, and Ground Slam combo, was able to change Corki’s screen to black and white. This was the turning point in the game. Alex hunted down Rekkles, and Gambit sieged like Gambit likes to.

Gambit sailed on to win the first game of the Intel Extreme Masters finals in Cologne.

TIL: Limited Edition = Not Limited Edition

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Riot Games, creator of the hit MOBA League of Legends, recently made a controversial announcement regarding limited edition skins that celebrated holidays from December 2009 through October of 2011.

Due to the immense growth in the League of Legends community, Riot Games realized that only an extremely small percentage of the game’s players were able to use and enjoy the limited edition skins. They were faced with an interesting conundrum where they want to cater to the expanding player base, but they didn’t want to hurt their veteran consumers who had been investing in their game since 2009. How do you keep both parties happy? Here’s what Riot decided to do.

Skins should come back to benefit the masses.

This actually came as a shock to me. I’ve been playing long enough to have skins like Bowser Rammus, UFO Corki, and Urf Warwick so to see Riot re-release 34 skins that were promised to be “Limited Edition” it was quite surprising to me. This creates a win-win situation for two of the parties involved. This allows players who started playing after October 2011 to get these skins that were never available for sale to them. This also allows Riot to generate revenue without making a new product. We love Riot, we want Riot to do well and make us nice things. What better way to allow them the ability to create better things than to give them a bunch of money without stealing away any of their precious development time?

Legacy skin owners should not feel cheated or lied to.

With Riot Games making this announcement they definitely stepped on the toes of those that believed their skin was “Limited Edition” or “Vintage” or “Legacy”. Speaking with owners of these original skins I could easily detect animosity. They felt cheated, lied to, and deceived. What could Riot do to make this right? It’s hard to buy someone back after they feel like they were lied to. Riot went with a method that seemed fair and decided to do a 100% refund for all skin owners. If you bought any of the 34 skins returning to the store, you are receiving a bundle of free RP from Riot Games. A full refund can be considered generous, but is it enough?

On top of the refund Riot Games took it a step further by offering a Summoner Icon if you owned one of these “Legacy” skins. A Summoner Icon doesn’t carry any intrinsic value because they are not sold in the store. However, they do show the age of an account, letting other players know you were around for some of the original themed skin sales.

Riot Games also are working on an additional loading screen banner so if you play with the skins that you bought originally other players will see that your skin was an original. I would almost prefer the option to disable this so that I can see the full skin during loading screen, rather than a slightly covered version.

Which party is satisfied?

Now that we know who got what, we should consider if this was fair for players and Riot.

[poll id=”3″]

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