Sunday, January 25, 2015

North American LCS Predictions vs. Week 1 results

Predictions.
1. Team Liquid
2. Cloud 9
3. Team Impulse
4. Gravity Gaming
5. Team Solomid
6. Team Coast
7. Counter Logic Gaming
8. Team 8
9. Winterfox
10. Dignitas

Standings After Week One (with change from predictions)
1. Team Liquid (2-0) +0 ayyyyy
2. Everyone Else (1-1)
10. Cloud 9 (0-2) -9 

Balance

Aatrox
He's fine.

Ahri
Slightly strong, though she might be fine after the upcoming DFG removal.

Akali
While she's top-tier in solo queue, she doesn't see much action competitively. She could use some steeper scaling give her some early-game weaknesses.

Alistar
He's fine.

Amumu
I feel like any buffs could send him over the edge, as he has an incredible ult. He's weak, but not terribly.

Anivia
She's fine.

Annie
She's fine.

Ashe
Of course she's weak, but also she's 450 IP, and she's the tutorial champion. Her passive and her E passive ought to be reworked. Please.

Azir
A bit OP, but deserved due to his skill cap.

Blitzcrank
Only having mana for two Q's at level one is annoying, but deserved due its game-changing ability.

Brand
He's seldom seen, but he's fine.

Braum
Fine.

Caitlyn
Ugh. Fine.

Cassiopeia
Idk, fine I guess.

Cho'Gath
A little weak. Q needs a hitbox rework. I also don't like having to choose between using R to get big and holding R to stay intimidating. Maybe a 2-charge system, as with smite would be nice?

Corki
Is it worlds yet?

Darius
He can be a huge bully, but most know how to play around him. He could be slightly buffed.

Diana
#BuffDiana2015.

Dr. Mundo
Fine. Almost too fine.

Draven
He's seen at least two games of play already this season. I still don't like his passive.

Elise
I think she's a lot better than people see.

Evelynn
lol. She needs buffs to be able to survive her clear. I'd like her to be viable played both AD and AP.

Ezreal
"Who needs a map." I wish he would receive some better AP scalings.

Fiddlesticks
Idk, Fidd is weird.

Fiora
She's insane, but beatable.

Fizz
We'll see after DFG. Hey, that rhymes.

Galio
He's good, I guess. Could use buffs. Galio is good, though.

Gangplank
He can snowball hard with the right items, but in a way that's too cheesy. I wish his kit was reworked to be more straightforward. Sorry, GP mains.

Garen
He's... fine.

Gnar
He could use some cooldown adjustments as well as some Mega Gnar damage nerfs

Gragas
Poor fat guy. He could benefit from some more base damage.

Graves
Fine.

Hecarim
He doesn't neighd much. Okay, sorry, I instantly regret writing that. I've heard some players are good at Hecarim in the jungle, and there's obviously Keane. I think Q could benefit from some buffs, and W could be buffed to actually be noticeable.

Heimerdonger
Fine. I was watching my buddy M3dicated play him in a game, and his R-W almost one-hit a noob. He's seen some play competitively, so I believe he's playable.

Irelia
Morello, are you there? Irelia is too strong right now.

Janna
Could use some CC nerfs or some nerfs to the length her shield that auto-wins trades.

Jarvan IV
He's the strongest jungle pick, but due to his utility. If his stats could be nerfed without wrecking his clear, that'd be cool.

Jax
Fine.

Jayce
Ranged Q could use some nerfs.

Jinx
Fine.

Kalista
So snowbally. Fine, if not a little weak.

Karma
Fine.

Karthus
Fine, with the right build.

Kassadin
Like Akali, and other mobile jumpy dudes, he could use some nerfs to his early game. We see Kassadins out-farming LeBlancs and other laners, and that simply shouldn't be.

Katarina
Receiving changes soon, who knows.

Kayle
Bit on the bad side. Could work for some comps, but overall needs some damage.

Kennen
Needs damage.

Kha'Zix
He NEEDS too be able to utilize all evolutions, like Viktor.

Kog'Maw
Good in specific situations.

LeBlanc
Dfg¿

Lee Sin
Fine.

Leona
Fine.

Lissandra
Should have some higher mana costs.

Lucian
Fine.

Lulu
Fine as a laner.

Lux 
A tad outclassed, could use some more damage.

Malphite
Weak. Molten shield could possibly be buffed.

Malzahar
Annoying.

Maokai
Fine.

Master Yi
Fine.

Miss Fortune
Strong in her own range. She could maybe have a range buff by 25 or 50, or could just get better ratios on W and E.

Mordekaiser
Lil' bit weak. Could use damage. He'll always be useful because of his ult.

Morgana
As a support, she's in an okay spot.

Nami
Fine.

Nasus
Fine.

Nautilus
Pretty bad in the jungle. He needs attack speed or something. I'd say he's better both as an AD and an AP laner.

Nidalee
Slightly weak as a laner. Better built AP. AP jungle is also okay. She could have some of her previous AD nerfs reverted by half.

Nocturne
A very good niche pick competitively and in solo queue. Fine.

Nunu
Fine.

Olaf
He's okay. He could use a boost to... something.

Orianna
Fine..

Pantheon
Fine in the jungle, okay in lane.

Poppy
She's getting reworked, but in her current state... she's broken.

Quinn
Underrated. She's like a less mobile Kalista, but with more damage.

Rammus
I don't know.

Rek'Sai
Still strong even after nerfs. Some more slight nerfs will help.

Renekton
Haven't seen much of him. I'll say he's fine.

Rengar
Good.

Riven
See Fiora.

Rumble
Fine.

Ryze
Not much place for him. Could use some mid-game help.

Sejuani
Fine in both jungle and top.

Shaco
I don't know.

Shen
Teleports are always good,

Shyvana
Out of place in the meta. I don't know, though.

Singed
Fine.

Sion
A bit too good, needs some damage nerfs. See Gnar.

Sivir
Fine.

Skarner
Needs love.

Sona
Needs damage and/or heal nerfs. Good lord.

Soraka
Annoying, but not invincible.

Swain
Swain isn't seen much, but with just a few kills he can become unkillable -- even with ignites and Morellonomicons.

Syndra
Needs her stun to be fixed, but fine, if not a little strong.

Talon
Lackluster after his Q nerf, but playable.

Taric
Surprisingly strong as a laner, pretty bad bottom lane. Needs to lean more as a tank or as a healer.

Teemo
He's fine.

Thresh
Fine.

Tristana
Fine.

Trundle
Who?

Tryndamere
Cheesy.

Twisted Fate
His passive could be reworked again. Slightly weak, but teleports are always useful.

Twitch
A bit weak, could use some R buffs or something.

Udyr
Good.

Urgot
Currently, he is weak. Hopefully a rework is coming soon.

Varus
Bad. Could just use base AD.

Vayne
Fine.

Veigar
Good, maybe not as much after DFG leaves.

Vi
Fine. Too fine.

Viktor
Good.

Vladimir
Fine.

Volibear
Poor terrifying bear. He could benefit from clear buffs.

Vel'Koz 
Great botlane, pretty weak mid. W buffs would help.

Warwick
Fine, even after 5.1.

Wukong
Could benefit from clear buffs.

Xerath
Could use minor damage nerfs across the board.

Xin Zhao
A very good bursty laner and an interesting jungler. Could benefit from clear buffs.

Yasuo
Apart from having the worst base health in the game, he's okay. Good with a composition built around him.

Yorick
He should be reworked to actually be fun towards both players.

Zac
Needs clear help.

Zed
I believe Zed is the strongest laner in the game. Early game cooldown nerfs could bring him under control by forcing him to make a harder decision between shoving, farming, and harassing.

Ziggs
Still okay, but slightly outclassed.

Zilean
His passive nerfs really hurt him. But I think it's safe to say we've all had enough of his shenanigans.

Zyra
Zyra needs some minor buffs across the board to be once again viable in mid as well as bot.


Friday, January 23, 2015

I Suck at Predictions

Predictions.
1. Elements
2. Gambit Gaming
3. Unicorns of Love
4. SK Gaming
5. Roccat
6. H2k Gaming
7. Copenhagen Wolves
8. Fnatic
9. MeetYourMakers
10. Giants Gaming

Standings After Week One (with change from predictions)
1. Fnatic (2-0) +7 
1. Giants Gaming +9 
1. SK Gaming +3 
4. Copenhagen Wolves (1-1) +3 
4. Roccat +1 
4. Elements -3  
4. Unicorns of Love -1 
8. Gambit Gaming (0-2) -6 
8. H2k Gaming -2 
8. MeetYourMakers +1 

Sunday, January 18, 2015

Spring 2015 Power Rankings

Surprise, I'm back. And I'm ready to make to ballsy predictions based on nothing rather than rosters, the recent IEM tournaments of San Jose and Cologne, my legendary intuition, and good ol' bias.

North American LCS Spring 2015:

1. Team Liquid

Team Liquid has seen very little competition since Summer 2014, when they were under the title Curse, but after the off-season acquisitions of Fenix (formerly Jin Air Greenwings) and Piglet (formerly world champions SKT T1 K), their roster is looking scarier than ever.

2. Cloud 9

After a confident win at IEM San Jose, Cloud 9 are favorites coming into the season. They are almost too favored and that's why I can't give them the #1 seed.

3. Team Impulse

This fedora-tippin' team is completely made-over and ready for the new season. Boasting the newcomers of former world champion Impact, Rush, Apollo (Wizfujin), and Popstar Adrian, TIP is looking mysteriously powerful.

4. Gravity Gaming

Gravity Gaming, formerly Curse Academy, contains the ex-Curse players Saintvicious and Cop, and is therefore destined to finish fourth. Led by their pony-riding midlaner, Keane, they are sure to pull out some interesting strategies and exciting games.

5. Team Solomid

After getting rekt 0-2 by seemingly weak European newcomer Unicorns of Love in San Jose, TSM is looking shady. The season will likely look like this: strong 4-0 start, shaky mid-season, strong finish.

6. Team Coast

While Coast is just an expansion team, their European  imports of Impaler and Jesiz looked terrifying in their 3-2 win over Fusion in the expansion tournament. They will likely upset some of the top teams, but lay low throughout most of the season.

7. Counter Logic Gaming

Counter Logic Gaming put up an okay performance at IEM Cologne. While poaching Scarra and Zionspartan from the hands of Dignitas might have seemed genius at the time, HotshotGG is rapidly running out of money to throw at the team and buy success. CLG probably would have liked to follow the path of every other NA team and buy and import from Korea or Europe, but after the disappointment that was Seraph, CLG has stayed with an All-American lineup that isn't likely to find much success soon.

8. Team 8

It's right in the name. Team 8 was hands-down the strongest challenger team during their climb to the LCS. In minor tournaments since, they have looked contrastingly sloppy. Like Coast, they have the ability to knock off big names, but in a league as competitive as the NA LCS, they will struggle to find wins.

9. Winterfox

Formerly EG/Velocity, Winterfox has a strange roster. They have the powerful wonderchildren that are Pobelter (the original P.O.B.), Altec (comparable to Fabby), and Helios (he's Korean). However, when they looked on the Korean menu, all the main, good dishes seemed to be taken already. They picked up the solo-queue players of Avalon and Imagine, both with little-to-no competitive experience. Despite boasting the 3/5ths compromise limit of 3 Koreans, Winterfox is likely to be a bit too cold throughout the season.

10. Team Dignitas

Dignitas struggled against Turkish team Aces High and was crushed convincingly by Gambit at IEM Cologne. Despite Korean imports, they are nothing without the lord and savior QTpie.

European LCS Spring 2015:

1. Elements

Unlike Elementz, the self-proclaimed superteam is likely to find great success in the upcoming season. After snatching Rekkles away from fnatic, they have a stronger roster than ever, and have by now worked out the kinks that plagued them near the beginning of the formation of the team.

2. Gambit Gaming

Gambit convincingly 2-0'd Dignitas and 3-1'd CLG at IEM Cologne. The team has been full of momentum ever since their strong finish in the last week of the Summer LCS. I don't know how it works, but they seem to produce wins.

3. Unicorns of Love

These LCS newcomers are full of tricks up their sleeves. Bringing out the Poppy in their promotion matches, along with a jungle Twisted Fate against TSM, UoL is scary and unpredictable. PowerOfEvil, their midlaner, plays more meta champions terrifyingly. 

4. SK Gaming

SK has a decent roster, including arrivals Watdefox and Forgiven. They will likely perform well, but be marked with fines after Svenskeren cusses out someone in solo-queue.

5. Team ROCCAT

Roccat played okay at IEM Cologne. They recently picked up ADC Woolite, and they seem to be a rather average team.

6. H2k Gaming

They have a strong roster that includes ex-KT Rolster player Ryu, but I'mma be honest: the only reason I chose H2k for this spot is because of their off-season coach pickup, Pr0lly.

7. Copenhagen Wolves

Newcomer Freeze has finally reached the LCS again, after a many close come-by (look up the Freeze Curse). Now that he's finally here, we're unsure whether we'll see a rage-filled beast or a man tired from his struggles.

8. Fnatic

Fnatic is a completely revamped roster, save support YellowStar. With the additions of Koreans Huni and ReignOver, you would think they would get a higher ranking, but Huni is from solo-queue and ReignOver is from Incredible Miracle. No high expectations here.

9. MeetYourMakers

MYM (formerly Supa Hot Crew) has three of its members from last season: Mimer, Selfie (now Kori), and Mr. Rallez. After coming near worlds last year, the team has fallen back a little bit. New acquisition H0R0 was lackluster in his performance in the expansion tournament with Millenium.

10. Giants Gaming

While the all-Spanish team did manage to beat Korean-filled Millenium in the expansion tournament, their only recognizable star is Rydle, formerly of G2. They also saw very little competition during the tournament, going 10-4 with 6 of their wins being against Reason Gaming.


Jawn's Worldwide Top 25 Power Rankings

CHINA, EULCS, NALCS, LCK, SEA/Taiwan, Wildcard.
1. OMG
1. LGD
1. Edward Gaming
1. Invictus Gaming
5. Star Horn Royal Club
5. GE Tigers
7. Snake
8. CJ Entus
9. Master3
10. SK Telecom T1
11. Vici Gaming
12. Jin Air Green Wings
13. Najin e-mFire
14. Elements
15. Team Liquid
16. Cloud 9
17. Gambit Gaming
18. Incredible Miracle
19. KT Rolster
20. World Elite
21. Taipei Assassins
22. Unicorns of Love
23. Detonation FocusMe
24. Avant Garde
25. Saigon Fantastic Five

Taipei Assassins - LMS (Taiwanese league)
Detonation FocusMe - Japan
Avant Garde - Oceania
Saigon Fantastic Five - GPL/VCS (Vietnamese league)