Tendencies in the First Competitive LoL Week of 2016
After the first week of LCS/LCK/LMS/LPL, it’s clear that no team has figured out the best way to play League of Legends yet. However, some interesting trends are emerging. Let’s take a look at a few of these tendencies.
In this article, we will mainly focus on LCK and EU LCS, as we haven’t watched LPL or LMS games in 2016.
Shorter Games
The most obvious observation when looking at the games is the number of games that finish in less than 30 minutes. Two main changes from the preseason contribute to this. First, towers are now less durable, especially in the early and mid game. Second, killing an inhibitor not only buffs the minions in that lane but also on other lanes. As a result, once an inhibitor is taken, all lanes start to push towards the enemy base, giving the winning team an even stronger advantage.
Although not all games have been one-sided, like the close match between Jin Air and SKT, the overall tendency is towards faster games.
Almost No Comebacks
Due to the more snowball-heavy games and shorter game times, there have been almost no comebacks so far. The only exception is the game between SKT and CJ, where SKT managed to win despite being behind early. However, even in that game, SKT finished quickly, and it was not a comeback from a significant deficit like losing an inhibitor.
In the LCK, there hasn’t been a single game that didn’t end with a 2-0 victory for one of the teams. This suggests that teams are struggling to adapt to their opponents’ strategies, possibly because of lack of practice and experience on the current patch. Teams like KT and Jin Air have won multiple games using almost the same strategy, with their opponents unable to stop them.
A Lot of Marksmen
Last year, the AD Carry role was considered weak. However, it has been buffed significantly in the offseason, and the results are evident this week. Three to four Marksmen per game is now normal, with five or six being possible. Marksmen have been played in every role except for support. Champions like Graves and Quinn are regularly seen in the Top Lane, and Kindred and Graves can be played in the jungle. Corki has also seen a lot of play in the mid lane, and of course, Marksmen are still being played in the regular AD Carry position.
One of the reasons for the rise of Marksmen is the changes to minions and structures. Early pushing has become more important, and Marksmen, who excel in pushing and killing towers, have naturally become more valuable.
Dragon has Lost Importance
In 2015, Dragon was one of the most important objectives in the game. Sacrificing a tower to obtain a Dragon was often worth it. While the first Dragon is still valuable, the later Dragons have lost their significance.
This is due to the shorter game time. It has become unlikely for teams to acquire all five Dragons and get the huge buff that comes with it. Instead, it is more important to focus on getting early towers and snowballing the game, leaving Dragon less important and sometimes untouched for several minutes.
Less Wards
With the removal of Green Wards from the shop and the reduction in Sightstone’s capacity, there are fewer wards in the game. Additionally, yellow trinkets can no longer be upgraded into Greater Stealth Totems, limiting the number of wards non-support players can place. Trinket wards also have a shorter duration. As a result, many players are now upgrading their warding trinkets into blue trinkets, which can place a ward from a long range, with the downside of being visible and having low health.
On the other hand, the cost of Pink wards has been reduced, leading to more of them being placed and normal wards being cleared out.
Conclusion
We can expect to see these trends continue in the NA region. However, players and coaches have had time to watch games from other regions and may have already thought of strategies to counter or exploit these tendencies. It will be interesting to see if this changes the flow of the games or if teams need more time to adapt. Additionally, it will be intriguing to see if Riot has any plans to address these tendencies in future patches.
Esports, League of Legends, competitive gaming, professional gaming, LCS, LCK, LMS, LPL, trends, shorter games, comebacks, marksmen, dragon, wards.