User blog:ClonetrooperCobb/Week 3 & 4: Reader Mailbag, Patch 5.10, and LCS Standings

Note: We want to apologize for how late this post is, many things kept us busy and delayed this article, including items intended to improve this endeavor, which will be noted at the end of this post. We have decided to make this a dual weekly post with information from this last week and the one prior.

These last weeks in League of Legends were busy with hype from all aspects of the game. Patch 5.10 incorporated some interesting changes with its implementatiom, bringing about Ekko, tweaking the latest powerhouses in the jungle, revamping Karma, and slightly buffing a few items. The LCS also kicked off the Summer Split and we'll take a look at the standings. A HUD update hit the PBE as well. ''' '''

 Highlights of the Weeks 


 * Reader Mailbag
 * Patch 5.10
 * HUD Update to PBE
 * LCS Standings

Reader Mailbag This week we received another great email covering an important aspect of the game,

"Yo

'I'm an unranked player playing from NA. I am a fervent jungler with a love for Shyvana, Maokai, some Diana, and Twitch.  I just want to say a couple things.' 'First off, you guys are awesome. Thanks for writing this blog and sharing it on the wiki. I really like your champion analysis and other aspects of your blog, including the patch rundown.' 'Secondly, this is a more personal question. I want to pick up one last champion before I hit level 30. I'm thinking either Nautilus, Elise, or Nami. I like all three of these champions, and I've played all three of them to some extent. I wonder if you can give me some advice?' 'Lastly, I wonder if you guys could shed some light on the tank meta? Maybe give an explanation of why it's currently well, the meta.'

Thanks For Reading :0 Splinterflame"

AZA: Tanks win games. Simply put. The game wasn't designed to be glass cannons vs. other glass cannons. It can happen, and relies heavily on the individual champions kits, but when durability is added, and tanks come into question, things become much more interesting. You offer the chance to soak up damage while your carries go to work, have more detailed target priority, and very importantly, usually offering a type of CC the carries lack. It's a very different job. It doesn't matter how much damage Akali can do if Maokai isn't there to root the target in place, know what I mean?



CT:  Firstly, thanks for the email! I'll piggy back off of AZACOR. Honestly, a lot of the reason for the tank meta is the large scale rework of the jungle. Throughout most of Season 4, when I was starting out, assassins and solo carries were the meta, especially those that thrived in the jungle. Kha'Zix, Rengar, Shaco, Evelynn, and Elise were some of the most popular. As Season 4 ended, a slew of champion nerfs, buffs, and the large scale jungle rework, specifically the new tank jungling item, Juggernaut (now Cinderhulk) prompted a resurgence of tanky junglers. These tank junglers survive much better in the new, more aggressive jungle, making it difficult to find success as an assassin jungler. With tank junglers thriving, this creates more team comps with primarily tanky components, usually a 2-3, 2 carries and 3 tanks (based on the assumption that top lane and support pick tanks), thus producing the tank meta.



As to who you should buy before level 30, I would personally suggest, and I know AZACOR would agree, Nautilus, otherwise known as Captain Crowd Control. Being a tank and offering CC, Nautilus brings a lot to the table for any team composition. He can also be played as a Jungler or Support, filling in gaps for two different positions (refer to AZACOR's answeron our last email discussion for how you should build your champion roster). As stated above, tanks win games, and adding such a tank as Nautilus, I bet you will be pleasantly surprised with the results.

We hope this answered your question, and that the insight was helpful.

 To have your question, comment, or opinion discussed, email us at [mailto:lifeinlowelo@gmail.com lifeinlowelo@gmail.com].

<p dir="ltr" style="color:rgb(204,204,204);font-family:Arial,Tahoma,Helvetica,FreeSans,sans-serif;font-size:15.8400001525879px;line-height:20.5919990539551px;"> ​ <p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;position:relative;">Patch 5.10 <p dir="ltr" style="color:rgb(204,204,204);font-family:Arial,Tahoma,Helvetica,FreeSans,sans-serif;font-size:15.8400001525879px;line-height:20.5919990539551px;">Patch 5.10 was much anticipated and certainly delivered on the hype it had been experiencing. With the release of Ekko, the League community has gone nuts, and I can honestly say that he holds a 100% pick or ban rate in all my normal and ranked games. Ekko is by far the most hyped champion Riot has released in awhile, so kudos to them.

<p dir="ltr" style="color:rgb(204,204,204);font-family:Arial,Tahoma,Helvetica,FreeSans,sans-serif;font-size:15.8400001525879px;line-height:20.5919990539551px;">The rest of Patch 5.10, although not too flashy, has the right changes to create a shift in the most played junglers. Minor balancing changes round out the rest of the patch.

<p dir="ltr" style="color:rgb(204,204,204);font-family:Arial,Tahoma,Helvetica,FreeSans,sans-serif;font-size:15.8400001525879px;line-height:20.5919990539551px;"> <p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;position:relative;">Patch 5.10 Highlights

<p dir="ltr" style="color:rgb(204,204,204);font-family:Arial,Tahoma,Helvetica,FreeSans,sans-serif;font-size:15.8400001525879px;line-height:20.5919990539551px;"> <p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;position:relative;">Ekko <p dir="ltr" style="color:rgb(204,204,204);font-family:Arial,Tahoma,Helvetica,FreeSans,sans-serif;font-size:15.8400001525879px;line-height:20.5919990539551px;">
 * Ekko
 * Jungle Power Shift
 * Karma Revamp

<p dir="ltr" style="color:rgb(204,204,204);font-family:Arial,Tahoma,Helvetica,FreeSans,sans-serif;font-size:15.8400001525879px;line-height:20.5919990539551px;">AZA: Ekko is here. And I want to say that a more in depth feature shall be written later in the week, just formulating a more solid opinion. But let me be clear, I have not been this excited over a champion since Braum. True story. He reeks of out play, and is finally a Mid lane assassin that you feel can fit into massive lockdown comps, or up tempo pick and roll, while offering CC potential and AOE wombos. Look for the more detailed review this week, and I highly encourage all Mid's to be running Lich and Luden's while you can.

<p dir="ltr" style="color:rgb(204,204,204);font-family:Arial,Tahoma,Helvetica,FreeSans,sans-serif;font-size:15.8400001525879px;line-height:20.5919990539551px;"> <p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;position:relative;">Jungle Power Shift <p dir="ltr" style="color:rgb(204,204,204);font-family:Arial,Tahoma,Helvetica,FreeSans,sans-serif;font-size:15.8400001525879px;line-height:20.5919990539551px;">

<p dir="ltr" style="color:rgb(204,204,204);font-family:Arial,Tahoma,Helvetica,FreeSans,sans-serif;font-size:15.8400001525879px;line-height:20.5919990539551px;">CT: Some of the top 3 junglers of the current meta, Gragas, Rek'Sai, and Sejuani, all experienced nerfs in this latest patch. Gragas, who received the smallest nerf of the 3, has had his E's moving collision radius shortened as well as the ending collision radius. These number changes are only to reflect the visuals seen on Gragas' E, but Riot did hint at a larger change in the near future.

<p dir="ltr" style="color:rgb(204,204,204);font-family:Arial,Tahoma,Helvetica,FreeSans,sans-serif;font-size:15.8400001525879px;line-height:20.5919990539551px;">

<p dir="ltr" style="color:rgb(204,204,204);font-family:Arial,Tahoma,Helvetica,FreeSans,sans-serif;font-size:15.8400001525879px;line-height:20.5919990539551px;">Rek'Sai took a hit against her early game with a base health reduction 611.2 --> 570. This stat change should make it less likely you will see an early level gank in your lane, and if it so happens she does, she should be low enough to possibly take her out.

<p dir="ltr" style="color:rgb(204,204,204);font-family:Arial,Tahoma,Helvetica,FreeSans,sans-serif;font-size:15.8400001525879px;line-height:20.5919990539551px;">

<p dir="ltr" style="color:rgb(204,204,204);font-family:Arial,Tahoma,Helvetica,FreeSans,sans-serif;font-size:15.8400001525879px;line-height:20.5919990539551px;">Sejuani's nerf is certainly the most critical, but Riot warns that the change has not been implemented yet, although her tooltip for her W will show the change. When the change does become active, Sejuani's W will do significantly less max health damage to her target. In fact, her W fully leveled up, 6% max health now instead of 10%, is less than her W at level 3 prior to the change, which was 7%.

<p dir="ltr" style="color:rgb(204,204,204);font-family:Arial,Tahoma,Helvetica,FreeSans,sans-serif;font-size:15.8400001525879px;line-height:20.5919990539551px;">

<p dir="ltr" style="color:rgb(204,204,204);font-family:Arial,Tahoma,Helvetica,FreeSans,sans-serif;font-size:15.8400001525879px;line-height:20.5919990539551px;">What does all this mean? The rise of Gragas to reign supreme in the jungle. No joke. Until this "bigger change" happens for Gragas, his jungling seems to be superior after both Sejuani and Rek'Sai took some hits to their overall game. Gragas has decent clear times and good engage abilities for ganks that equal or surpass the other two in quality. Look for more Gragas picks, or bans, in the coming weeks.

<p dir="ltr" style="color:rgb(204,204,204);font-family:Arial,Tahoma,Helvetica,FreeSans,sans-serif;font-size:15.8400001525879px;line-height:20.5919990539551px;"> <p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;position:relative;">Karma Revamp <p dir="ltr" style="color:rgb(204,204,204);font-family:Arial,Tahoma,Helvetica,FreeSans,sans-serif;font-size:15.8400001525879px;line-height:20.5919990539551px;">

<p dir="ltr" style="color:rgb(204,204,204);font-family:Arial,Tahoma,Helvetica,FreeSans,sans-serif;font-size:15.8400001525879px;line-height:20.5919990539551px;">CT: Karma is a champ that executes well at what she does, but is there anything in her kit that really stands out, makes her unique? Not really. This is Riot's purpose for the revamp, to give her more directed strengths in certain areas, while negating some of her minor, past powers, all together creating a more distinctive champion play experience. For exact numbers, check out the patch.

<p dir="ltr" style="color:rgb(204,204,204);font-family:Arial,Tahoma,Helvetica,FreeSans,sans-serif;font-size:15.8400001525879px;line-height:20.5919990539551px;">

<p dir="ltr" style="color:rgb(204,204,204);font-family:Arial,Tahoma,Helvetica,FreeSans,sans-serif;font-size:15.8400001525879px;line-height:20.5919990539551px;">Her passive has been buffed to generate more cooldown refund. Her W has been buffed to target jungle monsters as well as champions, and its AP ratio has increased from .6 --> .9. (Karma jungle anyone?) Her ulted W increases the duration of her normal W's root if triggered again, however, the additional damage has been removed.

<p dir="ltr" style="color:rgb(204,204,204);font-family:Arial,Tahoma,Helvetica,FreeSans,sans-serif;font-size:15.8400001525879px;line-height:20.5919990539551px;">

<p dir="ltr" style="color:rgb(204,204,204);font-family:Arial,Tahoma,Helvetica,FreeSans,sans-serif;font-size:15.8400001525879px;line-height:20.5919990539551px;">Karma's E, shield, has lowered cooldowns and mana costs to allow more spamming of the shield, yet the shield itself has been slightly nerfed to keep it balanced. Her ulted E now grants a stronger shield to the targeted champion, while giving 50% of the targeted's shield to adjacent allies, but all damage has been removed from the ability.

<p dir="ltr" style="color:rgb(204,204,204);font-family:Arial,Tahoma,Helvetica,FreeSans,sans-serif;font-size:15.8400001525879px;line-height:20.5919990539551px;">

<p dir="ltr" style="color:rgb(204,204,204);font-family:Arial,Tahoma,Helvetica,FreeSans,sans-serif;font-size:15.8400001525879px;line-height:20.5919990539551px;"> With this set of changes, Karma's roles at both Mid and Support have been enhanced, with the exception of some negated damage on certain abilities, hindering slightly her mid position. Riot certainly has fulfilled their task in making Karma stand out more. I expect to see her played more often, however, this increase will be gradual as people begin to learn how to play her and then become comfortable enough to the point where Karma is seen often on the Rift.

<p dir="ltr" style="color:rgb(204,204,204);font-family:Arial,Tahoma,Helvetica,FreeSans,sans-serif;font-size:15.8400001525879px;line-height:20.5919990539551px;">

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;position:relative;color:rgb(204,204,204);font-family:Arial,Tahoma,Helvetica,FreeSans,sans-serif;">HUD Update to PBE

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<p style="color:rgb(204,204,204);font-family:Arial,Tahoma,Helvetica,FreeSans,sans-serif;font-size:15.8400001525879px;line-height:20.5919990539551px;">CT: Riot has sent its updates for the HUD to the PBE this week. This is excites me, especially after looking over the intended changes, which puts a lot of information into a central area without being overwhelming. The HUD looks more refined and is cleaned up to package the information in a more single area instead of in all corners of thte screen.

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<p style="color:rgb(204,204,204);font-family:Arial,Tahoma,Helvetica,FreeSans,sans-serif;font-size:15.8400001525879px;line-height:20.5919990539551px;">The scoreboard, for instance, features both teams side-by-side and allows the player to rearrange where each champion is listed similar to the spectating interface. It also shows how many towers have been destroyed by both teams.

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<p style="color:rgb(204,204,204);font-family:Arial,Tahoma,Helvetica,FreeSans,sans-serif;font-size:15.8400001525879px;line-height:20.5919990539551px;">Overall, information has been moved to the bottom and bottom right of the display, allowing for more clarity and increasing the visual space of the field of play. The update will allow for quicker, more strategical and tactical play. For more information, click here.

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<p style="color:rgb(204,204,204);font-family:Arial,Tahoma,Helvetica,FreeSans,sans-serif;font-size:15.8400001525879px;line-height:20.5919990539551px;">What are your thoughts on the HUD update? Email us at [mailto:lifeinlowelo@gmail.com lifeinlowelo@gmail.com]

<p dir="ltr" style="color:rgb(204,204,204);font-family:Arial,Tahoma,Helvetica,FreeSans,sans-serif;font-size:15.8400001525879px;line-height:20.5919990539551px;"> ​ <p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;position:relative;">LCS Standings

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;position:relative;">NA LCS

1. Counter Logic Gaming 3-1: Things seem to be going well for the team afer a decent start but can they bounce back after a crushing loss to TSM?

1. Gravity 3-1

1. Team Dignitas 3-1: "Wait... Dig is 3-1... what?"My thoughts exactly.

1. Team Liquid 3-1

1. Team Solo Mid 3-1: The reigning LCS champions are still holding strong against some fierce competition, I expect them to continue their reign.

6. Enemy Esports 2-2: The new LCS team has shown some potential, I expect them to meet or break .500 this season.

6. Team Impulse 2-2: They have just come off a nice win against Cloud9. They will once again be a late bloomer and show dominance later in the split.

8. Cloud9 1-3: Will Cloud9 have the determination again to fight their way back to the top 2? It's still early, but honestly, my confidence in C9 as a powerhouse team is waning.

9. Team 8 0-4

9. Team Dragon Knights 0-4: I realize it's still early, but I just want to say I called it. After an 0-4 start, I just don't see the TDK clawing their way out of relegation, much less a playoff spot. Looks like it's between TDK and T8 to see who will be last split's Team Coast.

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;position:relative;">EU LCS

1. Fnatic 4-0: Expectations are nothing less for the European powerhouse and last split's EU LCS Champions. The addition of Rekkless seems to be beneficial.

1. Origen 4-0: xPeke's team is showing some great play and the ability to finish games. Maybe not what many expected, but Origen has strong talent and for the moment, it is being used effectively.

3. Giants Gaming 3-1: I can't say I expected this from Giants, but when a team knows they have to change some things around and do something different to win games, any team can be better.

3. H2K 3-1

3. Unicorms of Love 3-1

6. Copenhagen Wolves 1-3: Can we call the Wolves the good, bad team? The Wolves can put up great numbers and destroy a team, yet next week look pitiful.

6. Elements 1-3: It seem the team is experiencing difficulties with the new roster. They'll need to start making things work if they'd like to do any better than 7th place this split.

8. ROCCAT 1-3

9. Gambit Gaming 0-4: It looks like the great acquisition of last split's EU MVP hasn't quite worked out the way Gambit was hoping. FORG1VEN has put up very disappointing numbers and cannot seem to lead this team to any victories. Has Gambit returned to their former, bad selves?

9. SK Gaming 0-4: I doubt anybody thought SK would find themselves at the bottom of the barrel two weeks in. They had better patch this sinking ship, or else they could find themselves at relegation.

Who do you think will end the split at the top? Email us at: [mailto:lifeinlowelo@gmail.com lifeinlowelo@gmail.com] <p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;position:relative;font-size:22px;">Tip of the Week <p dir="ltr" style="color:rgb(204,204,204);font-family:Arial,Tahoma,Helvetica,FreeSans,sans-serif;font-size:15.8400001525879px;line-height:20.5919990539551px;">

<p dir="ltr" style="color:rgb(204,204,204);font-family:Arial,Tahoma,Helvetica,FreeSans,sans-serif;font-size:15.8400001525879px;line-height:20.5919990539551px;">CT:  Experience can make one of the biggest differences in any game, and it sets apart the noob from the veteran. To quote a favorite movie, "In my book, experience outranks everything." That statement rings true in all aspects of League, because I'm not just talking experience with champions, having experience for different situations and understanding where to go and what the next goal should be just as, if not more important.

<p dir="ltr" style="color:rgb(204,204,204);font-family:Arial,Tahoma,Helvetica,FreeSans,sans-serif;font-size:15.8400001525879px;line-height:20.5919990539551px;"> <p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;position:relative;font-size:15.8400001525879px;line-height:20.5919990539551px;">Note

AZA and I have been working on a few things to improve and advance the blog, possibly expanding it to include more than a blog. In fact, we are working towards a podcast, featuring all the things you see here, and more. Check back for updates and more information in the near future. <p dir="ltr" style="color:rgb(204,204,204);font-family:Arial,Tahoma,Helvetica,FreeSans,sans-serif;font-size:15.8400001525879px;line-height:20.5919990539551px;">

<p dir="ltr" style="color:rgb(204,204,204);font-family:Arial,Tahoma,Helvetica,FreeSans,sans-serif;font-size:15.8400001525879px;line-height:20.5919990539551px;"> To see everything that was in this article, visit: lifeinlowelo.blogspot.com

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