So I just spent over 30 minutes attempting to change my name to ANY variation of 'Best Kassadin NA'. I have found that no matter how I try to make it, it is taken. Even just 'BestKassNA 40493' or any other random number combination. Is this just a glitch, or is every single variation of that name taken?

Hi all! I'm new to Reddit--I actually sucked it up and made an account just to join this thread after years of lurking/reading threads but never actually interacting lmao
I'm an NA player who's new to Qiyana (only been playing her 3-4 weeks or so), but I looooove her. I love her kit, her playstyle, everything, and I've never grinded a champ so hard/worked so hard to get mechanically better with a champion. I'm talking hours on a smurf account, endless practice tool games, etc. I'm just super into her as a champ and I've fallen flat on my face playing with her SO much, but I really think she's worth it so I'm not giving up any time soon.
For reference I'm a mid main who can also play ADC and supp, and jungle and top if I have to. I've mostly played control mages (Lux, Lissandra, Syndra, Ahri, Anivia, etc.) and I have the most mastery with Lux at about 400k mastery points--so, a very different playstyle than Qiyana for sure. I've never played ranked but my friends who are gold are pretty adamant I'm somewhere in that vicinity--so lowish ELO is where I'm playing. I have a 60% winrate with Qiyana right now but that's tenuous at best. I go on really bad losing streaks, and I can say with a good amount of honesty that I'm not a person who tilts out super bad and starts playing like trash if I'm losing. I'm definitely not perfect all the time, but my general approach is to improve during each and every game, but I'm not sure I can do that by myself without asking for help since Qiyana's so complex for so many reasons.
I'm here because I think I want to main Qiyana, or at the very least master her way more and improve my winrate with her, and I'm struggling with a couple things. I know Qiyana requires both micro/mechanical prowess as well as hella strong macroplay, and as I get better with her mechanics and generally improve my macroplay I'm struggling with a couple things:
1) Playing from behind. Sometimes I get stuck in a losing matchup (for example, I just lost hard to a Talon who I firstblooded but then things went downhill from there--a combination of his team ganking/making plays and him getting ahead with a Goredrinker, and from there I couldn't do anything to him). How can I best impact the game when I'm not doing super well? Do you recommend just farming/split-pushing? Another approach? I just don't wanna be useless to my team and be the reason they tilt out.
2) Tanky/healing comps. Sometimes their team has like two tanks and a bruiser with hella lifesteal/health (e.g. Rammus, Nautilus, and Aatrox) and I have no idea what to do against comps like that. Is Qiyana just a bad pick in situations like that, or is there a way I can build to effectively help my team win the game? Sometimes I pick first and get stuck playing against a comp that's less than ideal for Qiyana. In situations like this I generally try to focus on the squishy backline (usually the ADC, enchanter support, another assassin, etc.), but other than that is there anything I can do to improve gameplay against a tanky/bruisy comp?
3) General itemization. I recently read that the Chinese build for Qiyana almost always includes a Serpent's Fang, which I've started building in matchups where the enemy has a shield (e.g. Kassadin). Is this mostly a situational item? I almost always go Duskblade but I know people build Eclipse as well. When do you go for which? Itemizing with her is probably the thing I'm weakest at right now with her and I feel like I'm blindly building (like I'll build an executioner's calling for anti-heal, but I've heard that's a terrible item for her until late game). I'm just pretty confused about how to build her and when and any and all help in this arena is very appreciated.
4) Trading in lane. I find that too often I go in during laning phase against my opponent, and all of the sudden everything's on cooldown and they're still alive and I haven't done enough damage and I'm stuck behind their minions with no escape. This is DEFINITELY me mistrading/using my combos/abilities poorly. I usually wait for them to use an important ability if I can, then I E(with blue)>auto auto>Q>W(wall)>auto auto>Q. I don't always nail it perfectly, but this is the general idea. Are there smarter ways to gap close/ bettedifferent combos?
Thank you for reading and sorry for the fact that this post is a general "how do I play Qiyana" post lol. I'll keep reading threads and practicing, and thanks to anyone who replies!!

Hey there. LPL ratings were a bit of a tire fire. However, it's LCK time!
I will still be ranking each player based on their role in the region and ranking the team's ceiling and future as before. I have a good amount of confidence in the LCK ratings. I've definitely got a lot more knowledge of the LCK teams and their players.
But I still know even with that knowledge, I can always learn more. So yet again, don't be afraid to comment honestly if you highly disagree or you feel like I'm missing something on a playeteam. As I've said before, I can handle the criticism (even if people think I'm insane in some of my rankings). Constructive criticism would be nice this time :P Here goes!
​
10 - Fredit Brion (10th in Ceiling, 10th in Floor)
​
Top: Hoya - 9th ranked Top Lane
Jungler: UmTi/Chieftain - 6th ranked Jungle
Mid: Lava - 10th ranked Mid Lane
ADC: Hena - 10th ranked ADC
Support: Delight - 9th ranked Support
​
This is looking like a tough split for Fredit Brion. Brion is an organization finally coming up from the Challenger scene, due to the LCK franchising. However, the talent they got in the offseason leaves the excitement factor very low. The hopes are that UmTi can continue to play well like last year for JAG, as he really became the glue of a team on his Lee Sin and Olaf. Lava had a very hard time last year, especially on his Galio and control mages, in a mid lane hell that features the best the world has to offer. That is not getting any easier. Hoya brings carry potential from his strong carry pool, especially his Quinn. He just needs to find some rhythm in the LCK. Delight and Hena could be a bright spot. The bot lane is very fresh, but has promise. Hena needs some work in lane and Delight needs more room to roam. This league is a difficult one for a roster of youngsters and proven challenger players to immediately come have success in. They did steal a win in KeSPA Cup off of Hanwha, before they were forced to forfeit due to positive COVID tests. Maybe their growth has some promise and they can ride that momentum to positive LCK performances. Time will tell.
​
9 - DRX (8th in Ceiling, 9th in Floor)
​
Top: Kingen/Destroy - 10th ranked Top Lane
Jungler: Pyosik - 4th ranked Jungle
Mid: SOLKA - 8th ranked Mid Lane
ADC: BAO - 9th ranked ADC
Support: Becca - 10th ranked Support
​
Boy has a year changed the feelings around DRX. The former Worlds qualifiers lost every player but Pyosik in the offseason. Instead of spending high, they went for youth around their roster. That doesn't change Pyosik still being one of the top junglers in the league. Over 4 KDA in Summer 2020 and over 70% KP is insane and he should still be one of the more aggressive and productive junglers in the league. However, his lanes will have a lot of growing to do. Kingen comes in from Bilibili Gaming and had an extremely difficult split last year. His laning needs work and the LCK top laners are not going to give him an easy time in a region change. The rest of the team is very fresh. SOLKA brings an interesting mid lane pool of champions (including strong Cassiopeia play) he showed off in DRX's Academy roster. Still, his control mages (if they are meta) will need work against a very difficult mid lane pool. The thing that could change things is the bot lane. BAO is 9th ranked, but he's got potential to be way higher. He laned quite well in KeSPA Cup and if Becca can bring a more confident trigger finger in making plays, they could prove to be a dangerous bot lane. Still, the solo laners could hold this team back from competing. However, if they hold their own and Pyosik gets going like last year with a strong bot lane, they could be a surprise.
​
8 - Liiv Sandbox Gaming (9th Ceiling, 8th Floor)
​
Top: Summit - 8th ranked Top Lane
Jungler: With Croco - 10th ranked Jungle
With OnFleek - 6th ranked Jungle
Mid Lane: Fate - 7th ranked Mid Lane
ADC: Route/Leo - 8th ranked ADC
Support: Effort - 3rd ranked Support
​
Ohhhhhh Liiv Sandbox. For those who don't know, Sandbox has been my favorite LCK team since the end of BBQ Olivers and the rise of Battlecomics. Battlecomics qualified for LCK and became Sandbox. BOY did this team have promise. Summit and OnFleek were monsters in their roles and the team well rounded into a fourth place finish in 2019 Summer. Everything went wrong since then. Ghost left for DamWon, who ended up winning Worlds. GorillA did not pan out. Summit went from stud to dud in 2020 due to his greed in lane being easily punishable. Not to mention OnFleek will miss half of Spring Split due to a suspension. This team still has a lot of talent. When Summit is given free reign on his bruisers, he can dominate. Fate and Route are extremely capable players, Fate on control mages and Route on a long list of ADC champs, his highlights being his Senna and Ezreal. Still, both are young and in need of confidence on the pro stage. The two big talking points are the addition of Effort and Croco. Effort is the hope. Route can be a great ADC, yet didn't mesh with GorillA. Effort is a proven commodity from T1 last year and one of the best performing supports on the year, especially on Nautilus and Blitzcrank. His chemistry with Route and this team is vital. Then there's Croco. He's 10th for a reason. KeSPA Cup had one strong performance from him and a lot of question marks. He's got a lot to prove from his Brion Blade days of his Lee Sin and Jarvan 4 aggression last year, if he wants to bring a Sandbox team from their lows of last year into new heights. More likely, this team will still be a bottom of the table team, looking for cohesion yet again.
​
7 - NS RedForce (7th Ceiling, 6th Floor)
​
Top: Rich - 6th ranked Top Lane
Jungler: Peanut/Juhan - 5th ranked Jungle
Mid: Bay - 9th ranked Mid Lane
ADC: Deokdam/Wayne - 7th ranked ADC
Support: Kellin - 7th ranked Support
​
This is where it gets interesting. Putting RedForce at seven is more the safe bet. But this team can definitely be a surprise, as they showed at KeSPA Cup. The big move was bringing in Peanut from LGD. One of the most storied junglers in the world, Peanut will look for a better return to LCK after making Worlds on a very good team last year. His storyline Graves was his dominant play last year, though he could face a challenge in the top half of LCK junglers, if he sticks to his normal play style. Everywhere else, this team could be dangerous and on the rise. Rich had wild year on Team Dynamics in Summer, placing second behind T1's Canna for Match MVP points. However, Rich became a "feast or famine" story in Top Lane, as his KDA was drastically swinging, depending on team and lane success. Still, when he carries, he hard carries. Bay is a bigger question mark. A backup on Griffin last year, Bay showed a bit of his control mage prowess in KeSPA Cup. However, once the league knows his play style more, he could get hard countered a lot by the higher tier mid laners. He'll need to bring out some surprise, maybe like his Pantheon he has been seen on in SoloQ. The real intrigue here is the bot lane. Deokdam looked near dominant in Challengers 2020 Spring before having a bit of a struggle in Summer 2020 of LCK. Still, his KeSPA Cup showing is an example of why there's plenty of excitement around him, especially his Aphelios. Then there's Kellin. He split time on GenG with Life, yet found himself benched as the Summer went on. His chemistry with Deokdam has already shown and his tank support play that keeps his partner ADC safe and secure could lead to great things for Deokdam and the hopes of RedForce. This could very well be a dangerous team. But the younger stars need to show there is more of the KeSPA Cup showing to come once the season begins.
​
6 - Afreeca Freecs (5th in Ceiling, 7th in Floor)
​
Top: Kiin/Trap - 3rd ranked Top lane
Jungler: Dread - 8th ranked Jungle
Mid: Fly/Keine - 6th ranked Mid Lane
ADC: Bang - 6th ranked ADC
Support: Lehends - 4th ranked Support
​
The team that could be a real contender. Afreeca made some moves to bring in real talent to this roster. Losing Mystic will be tough for this team, yet Bang is a legend of Korean League. The question is if he can find that form again, or if his time in NA left his better days behind. Bang still was statistically strong in NA. A lot of his team's struggles came to chemistry and Bang not being in a position to hard carry games. If he finds that mechanical prowess with Lehends, he could be very dangerous yet again. Speaking of Lehends, he had his own struggles last year. Alongside Viper, he struggled to find the same success on a mess of a team that Hanwha put out last year. Still, his promise from 2019 and flashes of glory in 2020 make him a very strong support to pair next to Bang. How far this team can go with this bot lane will also depend on the play everywhere else. The biggest question mark of the three is Dread. The starting spot at jungle swapped between Dread and Spirit last year, with neither having consistent success in the role. Afreeca decided on Dread. He will need to show a deeper champion pool outside Lee Sin and Elise for this team to succeed. Fly is a good rock in the mid lane, with a ton of flexibility to play a large pool of champions (13 different champions played in 2020 LCK Summer Split). The best player on the roster right now is probably Kiin, who had another great year for Afreeca. Another player with a huge champ pool (16 different champions played in 2020 LCK Summer Split) and a willingness to take a lot of pressure from opponents for his team to succeed. Still, with the large flexibility of this team and the carry potential, this could be a solid year for Afreeca. If they want to make playoffs, they will need a lot more from their bot lane, a LOT of improvement from Dread and continued flexibility and solid play from their solo laners.
​
5 - KT Rolster (6th in Ceiling, 4th in Floor)
​
Top: Doran - 4th ranked Top Lane
Jungler: Blank/Bonnie/GIDEON - 7th ranked Jungle
Mid: UCal/Dove - 5th ranked Mid Lane
ADC: HyBriD - 5th ranked ADC
Support: Zzus/Rebel - 8th ranked Support
​
Putting KT ahead of Afreeca with lesser overall talent will be considered a hot take. Still, KT could very well play themselves back into the playoffs. The key piece to this team is Doran, coming in off a career year on DRX. His mix between great tank play with Ornn and Shen, along with his team fight potential on Camille and Kennen gave DRX a great compliment to Chovy's domination last year. There might be a question if that was more the god level of Chovy and Deft carrying him, but he very well could have the growth to continue to improve. If he can continue to improve and grow better past Khan and even Kiin and start challenging the best top laners, this team is dangerous. UCal is still a dependable mid laner. His TF was strong last year, but his Orianna, Zoe and Azir (Especially in Summer) left a lot to be desired. He can shine again if he gets more aggressive mid laners to play in the meta, such as Sylas and Lucian. Even if he continues to struggle, Dove is a very capable mid laner in his own right, playing quite well on Sandbox last year. The jungle and bot lane will be a test. Blank comes in off a successful year in the LJL, where he almost qualified for worlds on Sengoku Gaming. Even so, developing youngsters with promise like Bonnie or GIDEON could end up the starters down the line or even sooner if Blank doesn't pan out. Another aggro player like UCal, he will need to keep up the pressure and adjust back to LCK play quickly, like his old days on SKT. In bot lane, HyBriD looked confident and composed in Spring, having three pentakills in 2020 Spring Split alone. However, Summer became a struggle all around for APK Prince. HyBriD tried his best to still be a legit threat, yet it wasn't enough to keep APK competitive. He joins a talented roster in KT with a young support duo in Zzus and Rebel. Zzus will likely be the starter, after a strong showing in Challenger on Awesome Spear. His balanced pool of Thresh, Tahm Kench and Braum, alongside his Morgana that shined in playoffs, will give a lot of agency for HyBriD to shine with this team. At worst, they are a solid team contending for playoffs. At best, they could make some real noise to the four top contenders of LCK.
​
4 - Hanwha Life (3rd in Ceiling, 5th in Floor)
​
Top: Morgan/Dudu - 7th ranked Top Lane
Jungler: ArthuCaD/yoHan - 9th ranked Jungle
Mid: Chovy - 2nd ranked Mid Lane
ADC: Deft - 2nd ranked ADC
Support: Vsta - 6th ranked Support
​
This could very well be the year of Hanwha Life. The trio of LCK Dynasties are looking pretty secure. However, Hanwha has the top level talent level to compete. This team has two superstar level players in Chovy and Deft. Chovy and Deft carried DRX on their backs to the second best record in LCK, just behind DamWon. They both can 1v9 easily and lead this team to victory. Seeing them together has extremely high hopes for an organization yet to find any real success in the LCK. The real questions is outside the superstar players. Vsta returns to the squad after being benched for the Summer Split in favor of Lehends. Vsta does have a play style that works with Deft, as his mainline of tank supports could be great for giving the freedom for the two carries to shine. However, his play will need to adapt, expand and improve to keep up with the top teams. Dudu and Morgan will be fighting to start for the team. Morgan comes from LPL's Team WE. He showcased strong prowess on Ornn and Renekton, but will need to show more to take some weight off of Chovy's shoulders solo lane wise. If Morgan doesn't start, it will be the young promising project in Dudu. Dudu got the lead role for Hanwha last year when CuVee hit the bench due to poor performances. Dudu had some struggles finding his groove and has a similar champion pool to Morgan that he relies on. The biggest worry comes in the jungle. Hanwha has three junglers on their roster, all with weaknesses that need work. YoHan is still very young. While he has a deep champ pool, he will likely need development before seeing the LCK stage. CaD and Arthur split time last year, with neither putting up strong enough performances to lock up the spot for good. CaD is more the setup player, with Trundle, Olaf and Volibear in his wheelhouse. However, he never found good team fights to set up wins last year. Arthur is the favorite to start, with good performances on Rek'Sai, Lee Sin and Sylas last year. He'll likely get the first look, with a lot of pressure and high hopes from the fan base. This team will be depending on strong jungler play from whoever gets the look. If they get it, they could be a title contender. If not, they could find Chovy and Deft 2v5'ing yet again, which could keep Hanwha from their playoffs goals yet again.
​
3 - GenG (4th in Ceiling, 2nd in Floor)
​
Top: Rascal - 2nd ranked Top Lane
Jungler: Clid/Flawless - 2nd ranked Jungle
Mid: BDD/Karis - 4th ranked Mid Lane
ADC: Ruler - 1st ranked ADC
Support: Life - 5th ranked Support
​
Time to get to the real Worlds Favorites. GenG, T1 and DamWon are neck and neck for first place. Looking at all three, GenG is yet against the safest bet of the three to STAY a top three team. They have top players at every single position, which includes arguably the best ADC in the league's history in Ruler. Statistically, he was insane last year. His hyper carry ADC's led GenG to plenty of easy victories, mainly on his pristine Ashe and Ezreal. GenG is also looking good in the support position in Life, who was brought in during Spring Split and shined next to Ruler. His strong play on tanks such as Braum, Tahm Kench and Leona played perfect to the strategy of carry Ruler. He also had the flexibility to play Gragas and Sett in the playoffs. His warding and laning is something to improve on. Include the fact this team lost some leads in their Worlds run with bad positioning from Life at times. Still, Life is a great pair with Ruler that should shine again. Then there's Rascal. On one end, his Ornn, Sett and Renekton really helped set up his team and his laning proved key in letting the team win the slow gameplan they ran often. However, he showed his carry potential on champions like Akali, Irelia, Kennen and Camille throughout the year. Whatever role GenG needed, Rascal showed he can play. This team also possesses Clid, whose fighting for the best jungler in the league yet again. Clid definitely feels more comfortable on setup champions like Jarvan 4, Volibear and Trundle. However, his Lee Sin is very good and his Nidalee was strong as well. While a change in meta to more tank junglers could push him to top jungler in the league, he is very dynamic still. The big place this team can get better is from BDD. While GenG had a lot of success last year, BDD did not get the green light as he usually does. The gameplan on this team drastically changed from his 2019 season. He looked best on Zoe, Azir and Twisted Fate. However, he felt more like the utility on the team with Life than a true carry mid. It's not really on him, with the gameplan they have. With GenG, it really comes down to how flexible they can be. They are an amazing late game, objective fighting team. BDD on a roaming utility, Clid on a team fight setup, Life on a tank and Ruler on a hyper carry, with Rascal filling in whatever else is needed. The strategy won them a ton of games. However, they've been exposed a bit at Worlds in their execution against top talent teams, along with their problems if they fall behind to teams that can properly snowball. This is a roster looking destined for Worlds yet again. However, they could be even more if they look to become a bit more adaptable to other strategies going forward.
​
2 - T1 (2nd in Ceiling, 1st in Floor)
​
Top: Canna/Zeus - 1st ranked Top Lane
Jungle: Cuzz/Ellim - 3rd ranked Jungle
Mid: FakeClozer - 3rd ranked Mid Lane
ADC: Teddy/Gumayusi- 3rd ranked ADC
Support: Keria - 1st ranked Support
Even though they missed out on Worlds last year, T1 is for sure back in the thick of the title race in the LCK. Things started out incredible for T1, dominating Spring Split en route to a convincing Finals win against GenG. However, Summer Split brought a bit of a curveball in the mid lane. T1 decided to split time between Faker and upcoming mid lane superstar prospect Clozer. While it's great to see Clozer get time, the change in players definitely threw the team for a loop, who had struggled with the meta as it came to fruition. It ended with them shockingly losing to Afreeca in the Summer Playoffs and falling 0-3 to GenG in the final qualifier to make Worlds. Still, this team is a legit threat at every position. Canna comes off a split where he proved himself to be the best top laner on the year. His Ornn gave the team good objective fighting balance, yet his carry top laners is where he really shined. Picks like Camille, Wukong, Jayce and Vladimir led to some insane outplays and ridiculous leads for T1, even when the opposing team attacked Canna head on. This team still has the legend Faker and what maybe the future legend of League in Clozer. Both performed incredibly well against the top mid laners of the league and a more aggressive mid lane meta could open the door for T1's dominance again. Cuzz is still a great jungler in his own right, though a meta that enables setup and tankiness from the jungle will probably fit Cuzz better, as Volibear, Sett and Olaf saw the most play from a meta heavy in the carry jungler route more in line with Rek'Sai, Nidalee and Graves. Then comes the bot lane. Teddy on his best day is right up there with Ruler and Deft. His prowess on Kalista is almost a forced ban on it's own, along with the fact he plays Miss Fortune, Ezreal and Ashe incredibly well. Teddy does an incredible job in positioning and team fighting. His pairing with Effort last year was strong, but it could be every stronger with the big addition of Keria. Keria helped bring Deft back into the hyper carry level with outstanding play on enabling engagers like Thresh, Yuumi and Bard. Keria is a very aggressive support and will give Teddy even more space to work his magic. This team is going to play very proactive around objectives and pressure their opponents to make mistakes. With a meta more focused on carries outside the jungle, it could be time for T1 to take back the top spot. The real question is not about T1 being legit. They are a title favorite. It's more about if they are THE title favorite or if there's room in between them and DWG KIA still to be made up.
​
1 - DWG KIA (1st in Ceiling, 3rd in Floor)
​
Top: Khan/Chasy - 5th ranked Top Lane
Jungle: Canyon - 1st ranked Jungle
Mid: Showmaker - 1st ranked Mid Lane
ADC: Ghost - 4th ranked ADC
Support: BeryL - 2nd ranked Support
What is it with Worlds Champions signing Khan? Formerly Damwon Gaming, the defending Worlds Champions made two big decisions this offseason. A new contract with KIA brings a new look and name to the team. Along with that is the reality that Nuguri no longer is with this team, moving over to FunPlus Phoenix. As FunPlus did after their title in 2019, DWG KIA signed Khan to their roster, to pair up with youngster Chasy. The questions around this team all center around Khan's fit. One of the biggest parts of last year's team was Nuguri's ability to generate so much pressure and attention top lane. Khan had some good performances on FunPlus, but he's nowhere near the level that Nuguri pulled off last year. Khan can play a mixed bag of carries and tanks, yet he's just a downgraded role of what Nuguri pulled off. That being said, this team already has grown from a weak point of their roster last year. It may be hard to remember, but Damwon in Spring was not even top three in their region. They finished 9-9 and lost in the second round of the playoffs. The change came from the meta change and the growth of Ghost. Ghost, alongside BeryL, became a lethal bot lane along with laners that dominated their positions all over. Ghost showed glimpses of this from Sandbox way back when, but his growth took new strides this past season. His Ezreal, Ashe and Senna completely took over Summer Split, while his Jhin and Ashe dominated the Worlds stage. A meta change shouldn't hamper him either. He showed two games of Ziggs ADC in Summer Split as well. Add along BeryL, who became the real key to their dominance at Worlds, especially on his Leona and Pantheon. His aggressive play on his support pool tags along well with Ghost and the hyper aggro DWG KIA team. It's a big reason Khan could be a great fit. Then comes the two superstars in Canyon and Showmaker. Canyon popped off in the jungle in Summer Split and Worlds, playing aggressive in attacking opposing junglers and amazing pathing to be in his lanes for ganks at just the right time. The Worlds MVP showed great control around objects and setup. It really shined on Graves at Worlds, where he got massive leads in jungle and made them into major advantages for this team. He's shown he can do it on plenty of champions, like Nidalee, Lee Sin and even Trundle. Oh, and let's not forget the Summer Split MVP Showmaker. Summer saw him pop off on 12 different champions with at least one victory. This really showed in his most popular picks of Zoe, Kassadin and Twisted Fate. TF was the big one, as Showmaker posted a 23.4 KDA on the eight regular season games he played TF in Summer Split. The only real questions on this team are Khan and meta. However, with every bit of their dominance and growth seen in 2020 after the Spring Split of mediocrity, it's a very safe bet that the 2021 Spring Split Finals will include this new iteration of DWG KIA and this team will yet against be a favorite, if not THE favorite, at Worlds 2021.

A case study of the win rate depression phenomenon across every role: using statistics to win more just by taking the right runes

Written patch 10.16

Introduction

There are three generalized categories of decisions that a player can optimize: (1) macro, which includes rotations, vision control, and wave management, (2) micro, which includes reaction speed, matchup knowledge, and mechanics, and (3) meta, which includes more theory-related skills such as runes, skill order, and itemization. Meta decisions are generally the easiest to optimize and improve because they don't require the nuances learned from playing hundreds of games. In this post, we justify and discuss the optimization of both keystone and minor runes using recent data from patch 10.16, sourced from Lolalytics.
League of Legends' lead gameplay designer Riot Scruffy recently tweeted that initially, "[the balance team] thought Sona Lux were only OP as a combo." He then implies that Sona-Lux have just recently become individually overpowered when built optimally. However, someone who has been paying attention to win rate statistics would know that Guardian Lux support has been overpowered for the past year, even after she was nerfed back in patch 9.14. In fact, Guardian was Lux's best-performing keystone even at the peak of Aftershock Lux. With just a rudimentary understanding of numbers, you too can use win rate statistics to uncover "hidden OP" champions and get ahead of the curve to climb before Riot eventually nerfs them a year later.

Definitions

Suppose the champion Xasuo has a 50% win rate, and all Xasuo players take Conqueror. Now, consider the champion Yarner that initially appears balanced with a 50% win rate. Upon closer inspection, 50% of Yarner players take Predator and lose all their games, and the other 50% of players take Phase Rush and win all their games. Though both Xasuo and Yarner have the same overall win rate, Yarner is clearly the stronger champion. This is because Yarner suffers from win rate depression—many players are not taking the optimal runes, lowering their win rate. We measure this effect by computing a number called relative difference.
 
How is optimal defined in terms of runes?
A rune page is defined to be optimal relative to others if it wins the highest proportion of games assuming everything else is held constant. For Yarner, Phase Rush is called optimal since it wins the most, and Predator is suboptimal because it does not. Predator is also called detrimental because its win rate is less than Yarner's overall win rate, meaning players who take Predator are expected to lose more games than the average Yarner. An optimal rune page can also be thought of as the rune page a player would take to maximize their win rate if they had to use it forever.
 
What is win rate depression?
Win rate depression (WRD) is when a champion's win rate is lowered because of players making suboptimal meta decisions. For example, since there is a difference in power between the two keystones, Yarner's win rate is depressed by players taking the wrong keystone. WRD can also apply to other facets of meta like itemization and skill order, where building the wrong item or maxing the wrong ability will reduce a player's expected chance of winning.
 
What is relative difference?
Relative difference (RelDiff) is a measure of how effective optimization is for a given champion when compared to the average player. It represents the expected proportion of previously lost games that a player would now win after optimization. For example, the expected win rate of a random Yarner is 50%, but the expected win rate of a random Yarner given that they took Phase Rush is 100%, so RelDiff = (100-50)/(100-50) = 100%. If Yarner had a 48% win rate overall but the optimal keystone had a 54% win rate, RelDiff would be (54-48)/(100-48) = 11.54%. If RelDiff is less than 2%, we say that a champion is solved, since if any optimization exists, it would only marginally benefit their expected win rate. Note that RelDiff, holding the win rate difference constant, exhibits hyperbolic growth with respect to overall win rate (i.e., 99% to 100% win rate is a bigger increase than 50% to 51%), much like how cooldown reduction scales per additional point.

Examples

This section uses rune shorthand notation (like S2321 D203 X112) rather than typing out the full names of runes. See the first question under Q&A if you aren't familiar with this notation.
We will use data from Lolalytics, Platinum+, patch 10.16. As a general rule of thumb, sample sizes as low as a few thousand are high enough to analyze. When observing a potential effect, use previous patches or different rank subsets to check if the pattern appears consistently; if not, it might just be variance. If the difference in win rates or a sample size is concerningly small, use this z-test calculator to check for statistical significance (select 0.01 and one-tailed).
The optimal rune page for a champion typically won't significantly vary unless there is a large systemic change in a patch. This may occur if parts of the champion's kit or the runes themselves are fundamentally changed in a rework or mini-rework. In that case, use data from and after the most relevant patch as a basis.
 

Top: Darius - (Image)

A solo queue menace, Darius hasn't been changed directly for many patches. Despite the nerf to Nimbus Cloak in patch 10.16, his win rate barely flinched, settling at 51.45%. However, Darius is much deadlier than he appears if you take the correct secondary runes.
Nearly all Darius players take Conqueror and Triumph, but pick rates are split between Legend: Alacrity and Legend: Tenacity. Intuitively, these runes tend to be dependent upon matchup due to their nature, and we can test this by checking the rune win rate distributions of specific matchups. In this case, we find that they are. Next, about a fourth of Darius players take Coup de Grace when virtually all melee top laners should prefer Last Stand, Darius not being an exception.
Despite the consensus of the primary tree, not everyone takes the same secondary tree. Over half take S320 secondary, citing the importance of movement speed. This is actually detrimental (albeit barely)—it turns out that R0x3 are the best secondary runes. Conditioning has the highest win rate of the three in its row, but it appears to be situational following matchup dissection.
The complete optimized rune page is P42(12)3 R0x3 X213. Doing so increases Darius's expected win rate from 51.45% to at least 53.7%, a RelDiff of 4.63%.
 

Top: Fiora - (Image)

After the buff on Lunge (Q), Fiora's win rate increased from an acceptable 50.42% to a solid 52.29% win rate. Already the bane of many top laners, Fiora suffers from WRD in all three types of runes.
In a vacuum, Conqueror and Grasp of the Undying have comparable win rates, but a look at the minor runes in Precision quickly refutes this notion. Immediately, Presence of Mind's 55.1% win rate reveals that Fiora is much stronger than her win rate implies. Then, about half of players take Legend: Alacrity when Legend: Tenacity and Legend: Bloodline appear to be better choices. We again check if these runes are situational by looking at matchup distributions, but this time, Legend: Alacrity's win rate is always lower, suggesting the superiority of the other two runes. Lastly, there's an about even split between Coup de Grace and Last Stand, the latter of which is predictably stronger.
Looking at secondary runes, a full one-third of Fiora players take R130, which barely reaches a 51% win rate, meaning the runes are detrimental. However, Cosmic Insight has a massive 54% win rate. Despite its relatively low pick rate, it turns out that Cosmic Insight has been the highest win rate rune in Inspiration in every previous patch, so we conclude that I201 are the optimal secondary runes on Fiora.
The Sorcery tree is also of note, but pick rates are scattered across the tree, making it difficult to assess the best combination of runes. Noting the high win rate of Manaflow Band, we can hypothesize the optimality of S210 and return to analyze this tree in the future.
Finally, the majority of Fiora players take the Attack Speed shard when Adaptive Force is optimal. The complete optimized rune page is P43(23)3 I201 X113. Doing so increases Fiora's expected win rate from 52.29% to at least 55.1%, a RelDiff of 5.89%.
 

Jungle: Hecarim - (Image)

Recently buffed and then nerfed, Hecarim is a champion that's actually been overpowered for quite some time, assuming you took the correct keystone. In patch 10.16, his 51.35% win rate rocketed to a massive 53.91%. Already absurdly strong, Hecarim can be made even stronger after optimizing runes.
Riot remarks in patch notes 10.17 on "Hecarim players picking up on his synergy with Phase Rush;" the pick rate has since quadrupled since patch 10.15. Also notice that the buffs to Phase Rush in patches 10.4 and 10.7 correspond to increased interest in Phase Rush Hecarim. Looking at the numbers, there's no doubt that Phase Rush vastly outperforms Conqueror, still the most popular keystone by far.
Sorcery secondary is the most popular tree, but this is not unexpected since most Conqueror users still recognize the value of movement speed on Hecarim. I201 has a modest pick rate and a very high win rate, so we prefer that instead.
Recall the optimality of I201 on Fiora; this is a common theme of the optimal rune pages of many top laners like Riven, junglers like Kha'Zix, and even some mid laners like Zed. We note the high win rate of P2(12)0, but due to the low pick rates and the fact that this effect is not consistently observed in previous patches, we cannot rule out variance and shelve this tree for reinspection at a later patch.
There's nothing unexpected in the shards besides the viability of adaptive force instead of attack speed, so the complete optimized rune page is S3322 I201 X(12)12. Doing so increases Hecarim's expected win rate from 53.91% to at least 56.2%, a RelDiff of 4.97%.
 

Jungle: Skarner - (Image)

Next up is Skarner, another recently buffed champion known for his low pick rate. However, despite the fact that he is played mostly by mains of the champion, data on Skarner's runes tell a very disheartening tale: even mains don't know their champion's optimal runes. Needlessly buffed in patch 10.16, Skarner went from an even 50.05% win rate to a respectable 51.76%.
The three most popular keystones in order of pick rate are Predator, Phase Rush, and Conqueror. Though Skarner has nearly a 52% win rate, Predator's win rate is an abysmal 50.4%. Predator is clearly a detrimental keystone, compared to Conqueror and Phase Rush, which have 52.0% and 52.8% win rates, respectively. Like Hecarim, S3322 is a great rune page for Skarner, but it turns out that Transcendence is better than Celerity, with a 53.7% win rate.
Looking at the numbers, the secondary tree is obvious. Though Sorcery primary is optimal, Sorcery secondary is detrimental, but this is in part due to the fact that it is taken with Predator, which is a terrible keystone for Skarner. I201 (again) is the clear winner.
Lastly, the cooldown reduction shard performs much better than adaptive force or attack speed. The complete optimized rune page is S3312 I201 X31x. Doing so increases Skarner's expected win rate from 51.76% to at least 54.0%, a RelDiff of 4.64%.
 

Middle: Cassiopeia - (Image)

Cassiopeia was buff-adjusted out of the blue in patch 10.12 and then nerfed the subsequent patch. In patch 10.16, she held a slightly above average 50.70% win rate.
Cassiopeia mains advise Phase Rush in "dodgeball" matchups against control mages like Orianna, Syndra, and Zoe. This advice generally holds true; S31(12)3 is good against such champions, and notice that Nullifying Orb is superior to Manaflow Band. In other matchups, Cassiopeia usually takes Conqueror. Most players take P4321, which works well enough except for the last rune—Last Stand performs better than Coup de Grace.
Secondary runes lack debate; D201 is optimal.
We see that the cooldown reduction shard is optimal, showing how simply switching a rune shard can make a champion go from above average to strong. The complete optimized rune page is P4323/S31(12)3 D201 X313. Doing so increases Cassiopeia's expected win rate from 50.89% to at least 52.5% for the Conqueror page and 53.7% for the Phase Rush page, a RelDiff of 3.48% and 4.09%, respectively.
 

Middle: Karthus - (Image)

The champion that deals the most magic damage on average in all three of his roles, the Karthus nerfs in patch 10.16 dropped his win rate to a still-decent 51.52%. Despite the nerf, Karthus remains in overpowered territory with a switch of just two runes.
Dark Harvest is the keystone of choice. Cheap Shot and Taste of Blood seem equally viable and Eyeball Collection is uncontested, so the question boils down to Ravenous Hunter or Ultimate Hunter. We see that Ultimate Hunter is a detrimental rune; Ravenous Hunter wins with a 52.3% win rate.
Presence of Mind is the obvious move, but there is a decision to be made between Coup de Grace and Last Stand. Last Stand is absurdly good at a 53.9% win rate, likely because of how it works with Karthus's passive, giving a massive 11% damage bump for 7 seconds. However, Last Stand is in the minority, with 50% more players taking Coup de Grace. This also applies to Karthus's other roles like jungle, where only 13.3% of Karthus players are making the correct choice of Last Stand.
Nothing interesting appears in shards, so the complete optimized rune page is D3(12)31 P303 X113. Doing so increases Karthus's expected win rate from 51.52% to at least 53.9%, a RelDiff of 4.91%.
 

Bottom: Kog'Maw - (Image)

A champion that has not been seen consistently in professional play for a long time, Kog'Maw is generally considered a weaker ADC despite his 52.23% win rate in patch 10.16. However, this is not the case. Especially with the Lulu buffs that appeared in patch 10.2, Kog'Maw has been one of the better ADCs. A champion that suffers from WRD in runes as well as itemization, Kog'Maw is a pick that people are sleeping on.
A large proportion of players take Arcane Comet, presumably building AP and playing as an artillery mage. It suffices to say that this is not optimal. There isn't much to say about primary runes, and this is true for most ADCs in general. P221(12) are the optimal runes.
A glance at secondary runes reveals where most of Kog'Maw's WRD appears. A good half of Kog'Maw players take S303 when I230 is a much better choice, but that's not all: D201 is crazy good with Ravenous Hunter having a 55.4% win rate.
The first two shards are definitely standard: attack speed and adaptive force. Though the scaling health shard tests significant against armor, this effect does not appear in previous patches (nor in other carry champions), so we ignore it. The complete optimized rune page is P221(12) D201 X212. Doing so increases Kog'Maw's expected win rate from 52.23% to at least 55.4%, a RelDiff of 6.64%.
 

Bottom: Vayne - (Image)

One of the flashier, mechanically intensive bot lane carries, Vayne was not among the several ADCs buffed in patch 10.16. Her win rate only slightly decreased, sitting at an unassuming 50.82%.
Press the Attack is the go-to keystone, but everything else in the Precision tree is a situational choice between two runes. There's not much notable for Vayne's primary runes.
For secondary runes, about half of Vayne players take S303, but this is detrimental. A small but meaningful amount of players exchange either Nimbus Cloak or Gathering Storm for Celerity. Though it performs above average, like Kog'Maw, the best secondary runes are actually D201 with a 52% win rate.
Once again, there's nothing unusual in the stat shards. The complete optimized rune page is P1(12)(13)(12) D201 X212. Doing so increases Vayne's expected win rate from 50.82% to at least 51.8%, a RelDiff of 1.99%. This shows that Vayne is solved with respect to runes, meaning her win rate is more or less an accurate reflection of her true strength in the current meta.
 

Support: Bard - (Image)

Aside from some unusual hitbox interactions on Cosmic Binding (Q), Bard is seen as a high skill cap champion that isn't very unfair to play against. With just one damage ability but boatloads of utility, Bard crept into the professional meta and has been a top 5 support in terms of presence for quite a while. Even after his last nerf in patch 10.16 bringing him from a 53.29% win rate to 52.07%, Bard remains a very strong champion—assuming, of course, that you're taking the right runes.
Last season, Electrocute on Bard was nearly universal. Since then, Guardian Bard (AKA "Bardian") has shot up in popularity as more and more players realize that it is the optimal keystone. Nowadays, only a stubborn 20% of Bard players still take the inferior Electrocute. Indeed, flipping through data from previous patches reveals that despite Guardian's 55% win rate throughout the end of season 9, the pick rate did not reach 50% until Guardian was buffed in patch 10.12. Bard players take Demolish, but in general, Demolish is not statistically a good rune compared to Font of Life for supports. Then, every rune in the third row of Resolve is situationally good and Revitalize is the best rune in the last row.
Secondary runes are all over the place, but in a rare occurrence, the most popular D013 also turns out to be optimal.
Both adaptive force and attack speed are situationally viable for the offense shard, but the flex shard is weighted in favor of resists, perhaps because Bard has minimal scaling with AP. The last shard is the standard armor rune. The complete optimized rune page is R32x2 D013 X(12)22. Doing so increases Bard's expected win rate from 52.07% to at least 53.3%, a RelDiff of 2.57%. Compare this to pre-nerf Bard in patch 10.3, where Bard with a nutty win rate of 54.10% had an optimized win rate of 57.1%, a RelDiff of 6.54%.
 

Support: Lux - (Image)

Lux support has recently emerged as the best support (and arguably, champion) in the game. The Sona-Lux duo popularized in patch 10.15 approached Master Yi-Taric funnel levels of win rate and was not nerfed until patch 10.17. Even discounting this duo win rate inflation, Lux has been overpowered for a long time and remains strong despite the recent nerfs.
Even after the popularization of Guardian, nearly one-fourth of players still go Arcane Comet, which despite having a win rate above 50%, is detrimental due to how overpowered Guardian Lux is. Summon Aery is much better with a 52.7% win rate, but still fails to come close to Guardian's win rate at 57.1%. Assuming every Lux playing Sona-Lux takes Guardian, its win rate would still be 55.5%, which is close to what we see in patch 10.14 and earlier.
Next, both Font of Life and Shield Bash are good on Lux, but the latter is optimal. Then, like Bard, the next row seems to be situationally viable. Though Conditioning has the highest win rate by a long shot, we do not observe this effect in non-Lux-Sona patches, so we can't say for sure that it's the best of the three runes. Lastly, Revitalize is unsurprisingly optimal.
For secondary runes, though I201 and S310 have high win rates in patches 10.15 and 10.16, they are not historically good, whereas D013 has been consistently good before Sona-Lux. This means that the win rates of I201 and S310 are potentially inflated by Sona-Lux. It's hard to tell since Guardian Lux support was not very popular before the introduction of this duo, but previous patches tell us to go with D013.
Adaptive force is the best offense shard, but the data then tells us that resists are better than more adaptive force. The complete optimized rune page is R33x2 D013 X123. Doing so increases Lux's expected win rate from 54.68% to at least 57.1%, a RelDiff of 5.34%. Compare this to when Guardian was buffed in patch 10.12 and Lux support had an insane RelDiff of 11.94%.

Q&A

How do you read rune shorthand notation?
Most Yasuo players take P(34)21(12) D201 X213. This means Precision primary: Fleet Footwork or Conqueror (3 or 4), Triumph (2), Legend: Alacrity (1), and Coup de Grace or Cut Down (1 or 2). Then, Domination secondary: Taste of Blood (2), nothing (0), and Ravenous Hunter (1). Finally, X is for rune shards: attack speed, adaptive force, and magic resist.
The defense rune shard is typically based on matchup, but we put 3 to show that Yasuo has a significantly higher win rate in AP matchups. Junglers usually take armor for a healthier clear, but some junglers can take magic resist if their clear is good enough and they plan to fight enemies who deal primarily magic damage in the early game.
If every rune in a row is equally viable (or situational), we denote this with a lowercase X (e.g., P3x32).
 
Which League of Legends stats sites are useful?
Lolalytics is the most complete site; use this the most. It's crazy how good this site is. It contains many rank and time period subsets and conditional distributions, something no other site has. The site is also periodically updated with user-requested functionality.
The second most useful stats site has a paid option so it cannot be named (rule 9). It is homonymous with a brand of boots. It doesn't come close to Lolalytics in terms of completeness, but it has a few features Lolalytics doesn't yet have, like duo statistics (e.g., gold difference at 15 minutes).
League of Graphs is useful for trivia stats, like win rate of blue side vs. red side or surrender rates by tier. Other than that, it's not too useful.
 
What League of Legends stats sites should be avoided?
Avoid Champion.gg because it's missing a lot of important stats, and the stats it does provide lack context and thus may be misleading. Avoid using op.gg for stats because it only pulls data from the Korean server (but the site's other functions are great). Avoid Probuilds because pro players make suboptimal meta decisions all the time.
 
How can you know if a keystone is the best for a champion without actually playing many games on them?
Champion expertise isn't the most important thing when considering optimal meta decisions. Otherwise, all League of Legends analysts would be out of work—even pros don't always take the right runes, max the right abilities, or build the right items. Nevertheless, though win rates are the quintessential (and realistically, the sole reliable) indicators of strength, they alone do not provide a mechanism to justify why something is optimal; this is indeed something that may require champion expertise.
 
Can keystones be situational? For example, many Kassadin players take Fleet Footwork in certain matchups.
Yes, but whether or not something is situational is easily testable by checking data from conditional distributions, which for most champions will show that the overall optimal keystone is still optimal in the majority of specific matchups. Besides, most players on most champions take the same keystone regardless of matchup. On the other hand, minor runes are often situational. For example, for Darius, Second Wind is good against Teemo and Bone Plating is good against Renekton.
 
Can some runes be taken by smurfs, inflating their win rate? For example, smurfs might take Dark Harvest since they plan to get a lot of kills.
If the smurf effect existed in runes (as opposed to itemization), it would be negligible. Dark Harvest is not really the smurf's version of Electrocute. There are champions where both of the keystones have high pick rates, but Electrocute has a much higher win rate. If the smurf effect were prevalent, Dark Harvest would have the higher win rate all the time.

Conclusion

This about wraps up the post. The big takeaways are: even dedicated mains don't always know the best rune page for their champion, and that "hidden OP" champions are everywhere if you know where and how to look. I hope this information helps you climb in the last split of this season.
Disclaimer: before diving into ranked with a brand new rune page that isn't similar to the one you already use, do some research on champion-specific subs and statistics sites or play a normal game to see how you need to adjust your playstyle.

Top
Ornn vs Aatrox, with Yone to counter mages (replaces Jayce), and Maokai if too many top laners are banned.
Ever since Liandries nerf, I doubt many people will play a mage top, unless it's Heim (54% wr)
Mid
Fizz/Galio exclusively with Night Harvester
Annie for Luden's (possibly might see Azir this season)
Anivia will be the best Liandries user to counter tank comps
Zed
Jungle
Kha'zix Kayn Olaf Karthus (teams with melee mids will favor Karthus/Kayn, and Kayn/Kha to counter Olaf/Karthus)
Bot
Jhin/Mf/Varus/Ashe are item favorites this season, everything else is stuck with Kraken but Varus is best with it atm. NA will still play Kai'sa for no apparent reason, maybe the lazy last hitting with Q lol.
Naut/Leona/Rakan/Alistar or a random mage support (Zyra/Nami from Korean teams that have a wide champ pool). Could see lane Lulu again, but non mythic heal/shield items are pretty garbo (looking at water staff and ardent lol, so naturally we will see more tanks with redemption to stack with Aatrox)
Lulu notorious for buffering Aatrox (Kind of like Orianna Reneckton back in the old days).
Item changes
If Tear gets another buff (archangel) we will see Kassadin/Cass again, but Luden's with magic pen and 40% void staff pretty much means burst mages like Annie/Syndra will dominate. There is always a buff nerf between the cycle of mages.
Liandries has pushed AziAsol/Anivia into top contender spots since they outright beat Fizz/Galio/Zed, and Fizz/Galio/Zed are better into your Luden champs (Annie/Syndra)
Really wish the game would push for a later Dragon/Rift Herald, because any champ top/jg pick that is stronger than the other team will always lose double skuttle/rift into mythic and dragon control. (The reason those four ADC's I mentioned earlier exist, because they give you bot lane prio and better dragon fights).
So your typical scaling ADC's like Vayne/Cait(Jhins a better Caitlyn btw)/Kai'sa won't ever net your team a good early Dragon. Tristana might be the only well designed ADC that can content with the stronger ADC picks (Jump and her strong early game lol)
Matches will be very short at start of the tournaments, while quartesemis will drag on longer (since people die so fast you can get punished for being so aggro).
Solo queue matches are especially rough thanks to plates and rift like I mentioned before (jungle gap), ganking is ever so more impactful, since it gives you the juicy plates, double skuttle and rift control. Ganking bot lane seems to be a waste, since mid/top are better focal points for team fights and mythic rushes).
Like if a Jungler camps mid, and the opposing Jungler camps bot, a Luden's Annie will just straight up 1 shot your bot lane with their Kraken Slayer nonsense. Or a top laner like Aatrox/Ornn will still roll your bot lane. Not always true, but generally correct here.

I've played for 6 years. I one tricked Morde for 4, before he was changed.
I consistently out farm my opponents. I focus objectives. I ward.
Most of the time, I'll kick the enemy laner's ass and than BAM, 3,4, and 5 top.
All I know is Bronze. Even if I win all 10 placements, I still get Bronze.
I just don't know what to do after all these years. Even when I get fed, it's still not enough sometimes.
Am I really that bad? I guess so.
There is no escape from elo hell, y'all. No escape.
EDIT:
Op.gg:
https://na.op.gg/summoneuserName=The+Tilt+Blade
https://na.op.gg/summoneuserName=Worst%20Morde%20NA
Olaf is my best champ. I've learned Aatrox, and he is great, yet if I get fed on Aatrox, I still lose in most cases. I've also picked up Kassadin and Trynd. I'm trash at Kass, and even tho my Trynd cs is bonkers imo, I still don't do well enough with him

Im that idiot btw
disclaimer: im not looking for advice for noobs, but rather some more mindblowing stuff that i wouldnt have considered before
hi, im a gold1/plat4 talon/viktor mid or camille top player and ive recently started playing kassadin into stuff (e.g. ekko) that counters my main champions, or into broken crap like syndra and akali where i cant be bothered to play a losing matchup for talon/viktor
over every champion there is that one thing that the mains do, that everyone else cant.
for example, rengar triple q, talon flower combo, master yi meditate auto reset etc
ive heard from eoba (one of or the best talon NA) in his talon vs kassadin matchups that "a good kassadin will start w"
tl;dr what is the KassadinMains family secret?
jokes/memes and stuff all welcome, im trying to fit in :)

A friend of mine just started playing League and wanted to get into watching the LCS but didn't know which team to root for since there are no location/regional affiliations like in traditional sports. My friends and I broke down LCS teams for him based on the closest NFL comparisons we could make! Obviously my opinions concerning NFL teams are biased, but I tried to be as objective as possible...
He has decided to become a FlyQuest fan and root against TSM!
What do you guys think of the breakdown? ____________________________________
Cloud 9 - Kansas City Chiefs
Great Offensive Coach. Great front office. Relentlessly aggressive team. Until the last split they hadn't won in a really really long time, but lead by a young 2nd year superstar they introduced the league to one of the greatest displays of offensive league of legends we've ever seen in NA. Now, they're the clear favorites to become back-to-back champions.
Drawbacks to being a C9 fan? If you join now you're clearly a bandwagon fan, but very few NA fans "hate" C9. ____________________________________
100 Thieves - The Las Vegas Raiders
Their management just invested in a pretty dope ass facility and their GM was once a massive media personality but transitioned into a management role. His roster building skills have been questioned recently due to him picking up an Australian import who is struggling to keep up with the top midlaners in the league, but there are some solid foundational pieces on the team like their Top laner and their ADC. If they just found a way to bring in TARZANED/Dardoch/Forg1ven for 2 weeks and then fired him for toxic behavior, the comparison would be perfect... But tbh, they are a pretty stylish org with cool merch and fun personalities, albeit a somewhat lackluster roster at the moment.
____________________________________
FlyQuest - Philadelphia Eagles but with a hippie fan base
Year after year they seem to get better. Solid front office. No prolific and superstar players but they play as a team and their midlaner especially is quickly making a big name for himself. All roles can go toe to toe against their counterparts, with the exception of their ADC which seems to be their biggest weakness. IMO, in LCS ADCs are pretty compatible to Wide receivers in the NFL. They placed 2nd last split and look to be a solid contender, though for some reason no one really talks much about them... Their fanbase however is not really as "edgy" like Philly fans tend to be. They're pretty mellow and wanna plant trees and shit. Currently, they are a worse version of C9, but their fanbase is growing and seem to be making great staff/roster decisions. The future is bright.
____________________________________
Team Solomid - If Tom Brady joined the Cowboys
You're either with them or against them! They're the villans of the LCS. According to TSM fans, this team can contest the best of the best. According to everyone else, they're consistently less than the sum of their parts and will struggle to make Worlds. They got management drama, inept coaching, and media can't stop talking about them... BUT, they consist of some of the biggest names in LoL, they're a prolific and historic team. In recent times their fandom hasn't really correlated to any tangible success, but they never fly under the radar. Now, with a sudden, surprising, and somewhat controversial turn of events, they've added the Tom Brady of the LCS to their roster. Doublelift was/is pretty unanimously held as the best NA player of all time, but many say he has hit his peak and he's falling off the cliff. Can DL rewind the clock and bring both himself and TSM back to their glory days???
____________________________________
Golden Guardians - Seattle Seahawks
Yes their solo lanes are solid, but with how bad their bot lane is their only real win-condition every single game is Closer (Similar to Russel Wilson) popping off and hard carrying. If you like hero ball this is the team for you. No one expects them to make it deep, but they're surprisingly competitive in most games they play even against the best teams...
____________________________________
Dignitas - Tenesse Titans except replace Derrick Henry with Frank Gore...
Extremely 1 dimensional playstyle that somewhat worked in the past, but isn't really scaring anyone anymore. Weak toplaner, solid rookie ADC, 1 dimensional mid-laner, average jungler, and somewhat washed-up support. As long as they have Froggen and Aphromoo there will always be a skill-cap for this team... Reasons to root for Dignitas: There's this 1 larger than life media personality that's pretty addictive to listen to and he's like the biggest Frank Gore (Froggen) fan of all time.
____________________________________
Immortals - The French Browns
French Mid, Top, and Ex-Coach. Their top laner talks shit about the region though most consider him one of the worst top laners in the region. They benched their best player. They just fired their GM and coach after receiving a ton of public criticism. Their midlaner is mediocre and may be the most flamed individual in the LCS. They have no idea how to build a cohesive roster. BUT....They are 0-4 and probably cannot get any worse... Now's the time to buy low??? Positives for supporting IMT: You may be their first and only non-family-member fan.
____________________________________
Team Liquid - Pittsburgh Steelers
Fantastic Coach and GM. Great staff/front office. Solid foundational pieces and seem to be really good and finding undiscovered talent (similar to C9). However, it's hard to tell whether losing/replacing their superstar ADC (similar to Antonio Brown) will be a good move for the long term. They have another solid young adc (like Juju), but only time will tell if Tactical can provide TL with the fire-power they need to lift another trophy... However, no one can take away their championships and they have the veteran leadership to go deep in any bracket. Many would consider them a Top 4 team :P
____________________________________
Counter Logic Gaming - The Bills
They like to think they have a rivalry with the patriots (TSM) but in reality the patriots don't even know they exist. They don't really win much but they try really hard. Apparently they've been doing really well in scrims so maybe this is their breakout year.... but that's also what we thought last year... and the year before that...
____________________________________
Evil Geniuses - Baltimore Ravens
Besides Cloud 9, they have the most aggressive mid/jungle duo in the league. They playMVP caliber Jungler and a fucking batshit crazy mid-laner (kinda like Lamar Jackson and Mark Ingram). They have a pretty 1 dimensional playstyle, but that doesn't mean their opponents can stop it... With the recent growth in their top laner, Kumo, they might just give C9 a run for their money this split... if they don't pick Kassadin mid. They also seem to have a level headed coach and a management team that isn't very stingy at all.

Hey Reddit! I'm a challenger player in all 3 sets of tft on OCE and also Challenger in Set 3 on NA. I am also Master on OCE for set 3.5. You may have seen a similar post by me regarding the 10.7 patch and 10.8 patch which after a little hiatus to grind snapshots I've decided to do again! After playing 30 or so games on the first day in challenger lobbies, many pbe games and challenger in-house lobbies i have a pretty good idea about which comps will be strong. Use this as a way to get started in 10.12 until the meta settles and maybe get a little free LP before everyone catches on. If you have any questions feel free to leave them here or ask me on my stream (twitch.tv/chatskiiees) i should be live for the next 12 hours or so grinding back to rank 1 shortly after this this post goes live. Let's get into it!

Key Information (Gameplay)

• The flow of the game, like at the beginning of all new patches, heavily favours win-streaking. Win-streaking generally is always better than lose-streaking but even more so at the beginning of a new patch. Playing from behind when uncomfortable with compositions and unit strengths is a recipe for disaster. Consider lose streaking when playing heavily contested comps that require specific items, but remember its always a gamble; Inting for protector asol spat will lose you more games than it will win you.
• The ability to sell units for their full gold -1 (except 1 star units) makes the game much more difficult in my opinion. One of the biggest mistakes I've seen people do on this patch is get baited by upgraded units. Sure its reasonable to upgrade units and run them instantly in order to win streak and save health, and this is what you should be doing, but you have to have a good understanding on the strength of units vs. the strength of synergies in order to transition before you bleed out. Make sure you play a lot of games and figure out which units are good to keep and which ones need to go. For example, mort has said space pirates spike at 2-6, the round where they have the highest winrate, then begin to fall off. Knowing when to take out that early spike for synergies is pivotal, especially when holding a 2 star Darius can cost you econ.
• Speaking of econ, how you are managing your econ depends heavily on two things on 10.12. The first is the galaxy you are playing on. Most people understand the need for adaptation on specific galaxies and many are self evident (you can trade health for money in medium legends for example) but ensure you aren't trading one too heavily over the other. Furthermore, when you start playing in higher elos against the same players every game, your typical econ strategy becomes very easy to read and counter-able. Consider playing against the norm on galaxies in order to press advantage when you are comfortable with your position. A tip i always give on my stream is that the game isn't just about making yourself win, it's about making the other players lose. The second thing it relies on is your rng. Play off what you hit and attain a complex understanding of board strength. Understanding your relative strength to the lobby and assessing that based on your health total is probably the most important skill in TFT.
• My favourite thing about 3.5 is that you can play 3 cost carries, 4 cost carries or 5 cost carries. The rebel patch that started set 3 was 5 cost carries, then it was 4 cost carries, then back to 5 then bang bros but now there's a lot of diversity. Vayne, Cassio, Syndra, yi and probably a few others can all hold carry items and be predominant damage dealers. 3 cost carries have also been buffed by the pool changes to 3 cost units (16-18), as well as the fact that you now have a 30% chance to find 3 costs at 9 as opposed to 25%.
• Speaking of carries, multiple instances of damage is key to comp success on this patch. Save for a few comps that have synergies revolving around particular units (like mech or prot. asol) there exists so much damage and target removal (looking at you urgot you big fucking boi) that you can easily get unlucky in a teamfight and lose 20+ hp. Consider splitting carry items where possible (gs irelia and gs vayne is better than two gs irelia in a lot of circumstances)
• Reroll comps for 1* units are pretty dead, the addition of two 1 cost units and removal of only 1 ruins the pool a little, but more so they can't keep up with the new big bad motherfuckers in 3.5. What can xayah do when its kfc time for urgot PepeHands.
• Riot have said they want to push the game away from linear comps that run 6 of the same units, like star guardians, sorcs, cybers but that is really not the case anymore. Running your end game synergies like 4 prots, 4 snipers 6 cyber etc. is key to late game now. Understanding when to sell your upgraded units to spike off synergies is extremely important (ties in what i was saying about people getting baited by upgraded units).
• Reroll comps are fine but risky. Reroll comps have always had a pretty good late game generally as 3* units are obviously better than 2* units and the general relative strength of a 3* two cost is slightly above a 2* 4 cost. Protector reroll is definitely the best reroll comp, but i've seen people have success with rebels and vanguards, though vanguards is probably the worst of the 3 due to everyone running them for sniper early game.

Key Information (Units/Synergies)

• Most units that were in set 3 have kept their niche (its too early to tell if there's a substantial change in what a unit wants to do in a comp) but there are some important notes for new and old units.
• BARD IS A MONSTER BAIT 99% OF THE TIME. Guys i understand. Bard is a cutie pie and hes a money machine that you just want to run him every time but seriously don't. The trade off of losing 20% of your units at 5, 16.66% at 6, 14% at 7 is monstrous when you think about it that way. The only time i run this unit is if i get a lucky two star and i'm running some kind of cassio carry. Also if u neeko this on neekoverse i'm gonna find you and kill you (in game).
• The new one costs are ok idk what else to say they do their job and 2 infiltrator is always gonna be a good early game.
• The relative strength of 5 cost units has gone way up. Ekko, Asol, Urgot, Janna, Gangplank (as always) etc. are all game changing when used correctly. Some of them can be run in a variety of comps to increase strength (like janna or ekko) but these are going to be win conditions in certain comps. Item stacking these units is probably your best bet post stage 4-7 pve.
• All the new 4 costs (except riven) are pretty good. Vik Gnar and Teemo are all pretty good and fit the comps that they go into well, though gnar is the only one that is flexible he's kind of like the brawler wukong. You'll notice i left out riven cause she is pretty bad. I understand that she is good in 6 sorcerers but the late game for that comp is pretty mediocre at best. Sure you can win games with it but whenever i play 6 sorcs i find myself prioritising viktor, mech or xerath instead. Theres just no way i'd rather run qss / rabadons /ga on a riven 2 over a qss guinsoo on a xerath. Consider using her as an item holder for xerath/gangplank.
• Cassio is super item dependent but really good when she has blue buff morello. Vayne is the same, very effective with items and worthless without.
• Vanguards > brawlers almost always. Vanguards are just way more effective and flat hp while effective due to the red buff nerfs is just sub-optimal when compared to a massive armor boost.
• It's really early but if i had to rate 6 battlecast out of 10 i'd give it a hard 0 this synergy does pretty much nothing but someone remind me in a week if 6 battlecast becomes meta and you guys can laugh at me. The synergy is just so much weaker than the other ones and the units are all pretty mediocre since they are predominantly 1-2 costs. Urgot doesn't really benefit from the buff much aswell compared to say kog, who is kind of weak as a 3*. We will see though.
• Zed is the new early game lucian he kinda nutty. Run him as ad item holder in cybers/rebels (remake him in rebels later.)
• 4 protector is gross lmao expect hot fix, good thing this comp sucks when contested or we would have another 10.6 fiesta on our hands.
• Mystic gonna get nerfs too. Consider pivoting to 4 mystic late game at the cost of some of your supporting synergies where necessary.

Key Information (Items)

• Blue buff change was a really good idea by riot it makes the game much more easier to balance. All this really did was kill overpowered strategies like ziggs 3* and syndra double seraphs.
• IE is a really good item on alot of units now. Guaranteeing crits on comps that scale highly with attack damage and flat damage buffs such as cybers and rebels creates a nutty combination. It's sad that last whisper provides 20% crit chance so in conjunction you are losing alot of value (yo mort just change ie to 80% and add like 10% crit dmg yea i know hire me riot balance team) but the two items work well together that its worth the trade off. IE + GS > IE + LW in my opinion.
• Chalice is in that weird 'good but i'm never thinking about making it' niche that tft has always had. It's like zhekes, good but just make it when you can't make the items you actually need. The only thing i'll say about this though is that if you already have ionic spark this can be really helpful in sorc comps if you don't need tear but who doesn't need tear in sorcs?
• Warmogs is the new wave you heard it here first boys and girls slam this shit ASAP. Chucking this on xin 2 will get you all the way to stage 4 easy breezy and the best part about this item is that its a tank item and a carry item! Giving 1000 hp to your jinx, irelia, wukong, xin, urgot, gangplank, asol you name it just never feels terrible. Make sure you finish your core items first however.
• Giant slayer really good run it on your jinx your yi your vayne even your mech! (ok maybe not mech but some people think its good, i don't personally.)
• Titans resolve is really good now they didn't change it but if you run this on mech or xin it will put in monster work. Maybe because there are alot of tanks running around fights are slower so this has a lot of value. Bramble is probably close now in priority not sure which is better but generally bramble since it beats ie and has a better early game.
• I don't think i've seen anyone make bloodthirster in 40 games but i think gunblade is a little underrated where you can fit it on an ap carry. I've won a few games playing ga seraph gunblade viktor in 6 sorcs.
• Ludens is pretty good, slam it if you wanna winstreak or save the components if you are a greedy boy like me. The main takeaway is that it isn't useless late game and gets a lot of value on units with low mana pools like cassio or ziggs.

10.12 Team Compositions

(A+/S++++ (No asol/Asol)) 4 Mystics Protectors. Protectors are back and yea its just as annoying as last time. Xin lives forever, eats everyone, and rakan thinks its fun to knockup your whole team for no reason. Urgot 2 makes this comp giga busted and a perfect item of this comp (in the asol version) is pretty much a guaranteed 1st. The skill expression on this comp comes with your personal discipline. You have to know when its a 3 starring xin game and when its a push levels game. Typically, i push levels with early spat to find asol as soon as possible, or when contested. If uncontested, i'll make a decision on 4-1 whether i'm going to keep rolling ( i typically slowroll on 6 to find all my upgraded protectors and cassio 2) or going to push levels. Cassio 3 is the win condition in this comp without asol. 9 for 4 celestial in both variations.
*You can also play 4 mystics with 4 vanguards with cassio carry, but this is weaker and typically lacks damage in the late game without 3* cassio. You can win with this comp if you winstreak with 4 vanguards however, as you will usually last till top2-3. Run xin items on wukong.
(S) Astro Snipers. This comp is the bread and butter of NA right now but gets very little play in my region, between 0-2 a game. The comp however is still very effective. 4 Snipers seems core from my experience as 2 snipers doesn't let jhin carry fast enough and your frontline gets overwhelmed. There is debate on BIS for jhin but nothing beats double runanas dblade in my opinion. IE/LW/GS are all fine however. You can also prioritise a xerath 2 with guinsoo if you are playing a heavy vanguard lobby. Teemo items are very important in this comp as well do not overlook them, jhin is priority however. Go 9 for mystic 9 is key for this comps success in the late game.
(A+) Cybernetiks My personal favourite comp has a new friend in vayne and she's pretty lit. This comp plays fairly linearly but the debate comes in the form of irelia carry or vayne carry. Personally, i prefer irelia, especially when uncontested as 3* 4 costs when you are winstreaking is pretty reliable when uncontested, but vayne 3 also packs a big punch. The items are BIS for irelia and vayne imo. Celestial feels really bad to run now with no kassadin. If you are running vayne play jhin for sniper and if you are playing irelia play blademasters. Go 9 for thresh or fizz if you have good ekko items.
(A+) RebelsThe days of ziggs rebel is over so we back to jinx. The jinx nerfs are noticeable significantly on 3 star jinx but two star jinx feels as good as ever. People might condemn me for saying firecannon is best in slot but honestly try it out and you'll never go back. You can reroll with this comp if you are close to hitting or are on trade sector but for the most part i go straight to 8. Play 6 rebels at 7 with blaster and it should carry you to 8 where you can play ekko or gangplank. Ekko is exceptionally good in this comp with zed granting infiltrator and the stasis effect of ekkos ult allowing asol to drain the opponents mana ( as he continues flying during stasis). Play whichever 5* you don't have in at 9 (gangplank or ekko) though sometimes i skip gangplank if no ga or no upgrades and keep malphite, running gnar alongside him for more frontline, taking out ziggs. Run Urgot over gangplank or ekko if you hit protector spat for asol and i've even had success playing 6 rebel 4 protector at 9 with asol protector.
(A-S-S+??) Sorc Mech/ standard Variations of this comp is probably what i'm most unsure of, though i have played a lot of games of each type. Sorc mech is definitely strong as a comp, 3 piece mech with titans and 6 sorc just obliterates teams. Viktor is typically my carry in this comp unless i play the 6 star guardian variant. Viktor positioning is extremely important and viktor 3 is the win con (beating any other comp ive found including prot asol.) Play to reach level 7 deciding what variation of 6 sorcs to play (star guardians, mech, riven, viktor or gangplank) rolling till you have the core units and a holder for rabadons/ga (viktoriven ahri 2 etc.) . If i get star guardian spat i run viktor carry. I mostly play the mech variant with viktor carry. What you put in at 9 depends on which comp you run.
​
(B At best) Blaster brawler i mean this is probably still ok cause jinx is good but don't play this. Same as ever just another blaster over mf and gnar over cho. I know from experience this comp for reddit is like the gospel truth but seriously this is just worse than the other comps. Play it if you don't like having to think.
(D) 6 Darkstars / 6 Battlecast / 6 Chrono

Final Thoughts and TL:DR

Thank you so much once again for reading my guide on the 10.12 patch and i hope you got something out of it. I expect the accuracy of my predictions to be on par with the last and i reiterate that the meta may change but this guide should get you started well. Make sure you aren't hard forcing any of these comps unless you are extremely confident in doing so as the game is extremely balanced right now and it is better to play based on what items/units you hit. Play comps and watch streams (like mine at twitch.tv/chatskiiees) to improve. Make sure you don't autopilot while playing and if you want to climb the game needs 100% of your focus. Always remember that tft is like any sport/discipline in that imitation will only ever get you so far and true excellence requires creativity, adaptation and artistry. I'll be streaming this patch on my main in high OCE chally and doing lolchess/AMA for probably the whole day today! Feel free to leave comments below aswell i always try to answer them all. GLHF!

Hey guys, so the last few times I've made videos about league champions, I went over to the the champion mains reddit and asked them about their main champ. This has worked great, and I was able to find out a lot of information and draw inspiration! Now, it's time to do a new one, about your guys Quinn!
For context reasons, I am not too familiar with Quinn. Although I do play top lane, due to Quinn not really being that popular for pretty much her entire lifespan as a champion, I rarely see her. I plan to structure the video around 5 main topics.
Release: Probably the champion with the biggest "identity problem" I have ever seen in League of Legends. The original Valor-Control ultimate has to be the worst possible ult for an ADC, and she felt like she had no direction, no chance of succeeding in the bot lane, and didn't have the CC or late game of a top laner + her jungle clear wasn't very good either.
Mini Rework: A lot better approach on paper... but ultimately still fell flat. Giving her the niche of hyper-roaming, something only matched by talon several years later, allowed riot to at least have some kind of direction and gameplay feeling. You pick quinn to roam. It's clearly not perfect, but it was a start.
Strong Season 6: The year of thunderlord's has to be her best year ever as a champion, with a very strong win rate in solo queue for the entire season, abusing the new ghostblade, and huni even getting a penta kill on her in NA LCS.
The Tyler1 Phase: Remember when T1 showed the whole ladder you gotta Quinn-it to Win-it?
​
Overall champion problems: Why is she so neglected? What makes her so unpopular? What about Quinn has made it literally impossible for riot to get right?
​
For all these talking points as well as any additional information, feel free to let me know down below!! Thank you guys!
Here is a link to the other documentary videos I have made for Ivern, Kassadin, Kalista, and Lee Sin if you'd like to see them for reference. Thank you!!!
Ivern - https://youtu.be/9WF1PTt33Y8
Kass - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=czo5P9z_zj8
Kalista - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vDOYVAX6C3Y
Lee - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V9CddG4TLyk

Waaaaaaay back in 2011, a dude named Giltia Zero posted a thread on the League forums giving metal themes to every League champ. I thought it was dope, so I revived it in 2013. Seven years later, it feels like a good time to update it again, yeah? Here's my last thread, which includes a link to the last GZ thread as well.
Disclaimers: Metal often contains explicit lyrics including violence and profanity. Listen at your own risk I guess. One song per band. Personally I lean towards classic heavy metal, thrash, sludge, and power metal, but I'll try to be diverse. Comments with "GZ" are from Giltia Zero, the maker of the OG thread, everything else is from me.
You're free to suggest songs for champs, but I'm also free to ignore them. It's a list, not a constitution, it's here to have fun and help people find sick new metal to listen to. Enjoy!
Spotify playlist here. (Thanks T-Snacks!)
Youtube playlist here.
Recent Changes:

• Darius: Exmortus -> Anaal Nathrakh
• Hunting for songs for Lillia and Yone.

Aatrox: VLTIMAS - "Total Destroy"
Ahri: Mötley Crüe - "Looks That Kill"
Akali: Iron Sphere - "Shadow Dance"
Alistar: Mastodon - "Trampled Under Hoof"

This list needed some of my favorite metal band.

Amumu: Candlemass - "Solitude"
Anivia: Crimson Glory - "Lady of Winter"
Annie: Mercyful Fate - "Welcome the Princess of Hell"
Aphelios: Nails - "Into Quietus"
Ashe: Sabaton - "White Death"

GZ: The Frost Archer is a suitable candidate for the theme of Simo Hayha, the deadliest man to have ever lived.
Quick shill from OP, almost all Sabaton songs are about real war stories and war heroes. It's dope. Here's the story of Simo Hayha.

Aurelion Sol: Twilight Force - "The Power of the Ancient Force"
Azir: Mystic Prophecy - "Hail to the King"
Bard: Soilwork - "Whispers and Lights"
Blitzcrank: Black Sabbath - "Iron Man"

GZ: Lot of people would stick this to Morde, I feel it suits Blitz better.

Brand: King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard - "Self-Immolate"

If you haven't heard this fantastic throwback thrash album, do yourself a favor. Just don't expect any other King Gizzard album to sound anything like this, they change up styles constantly.

Braum: Beast in Black - "Cry Out For A Hero"
Caitlyn: Anthrax - "I Am The Law"
Camille: Fear Factory - "Autonomous Combat System"
Cassiopeia: Angel Witch - "Gorgon"
Cho'Gath: Bal-Sagoth - "Behold, the Armies of War Descend Screaming from the Heavens"

GZ: Everyone's favorite voidborn horror deserves nothing less.

Corki: Saxon - "Fire in the Sky"

I would love to put Aces High here, but... Fiddlesticks.

Darius: Anaal Nathrakh - "Forward!"
Diana: Demons & Wizards - "Lunar Lament"
Dr. Mundo: Helloween - "Mr. Torture"

GZ: Power metal for Mundo? Mundo goes where he pleases.

Draaaaaaven: Steel Panther - "All I Wanna Do Is Fuck (Myself Tonight)"

Hair Metal Draven, let's fucking go.

Ekko: Tyr - "King of Time"
Elise: Rage - "Strings to a Web"
Evelynn: Symphony X - "Eve of Seduction"

Ended up giving Elise's song to Eve because Eve isn't The Widowmaker anymore, so this is a better fit for her.

Ezreal: Saor - "Forgotten Paths"
Fiddlesticks: Iron Maiden - "Fear of the Dark"

GZ: I will NOT be giving this to Nocturne because you like Nocturne better. If you can't at least suggest a BETTER replacement, don't bother. I will not entertain anything beyond a superior song for Fiddlesticks.

Fiora: Dragonforce - "Die By The Sword"
Fizz: Early Man - "Feeding Frenzy"
Galio: Gorod - "The Sentry"
Gangplank: Alestorm - "Keelhauled"
Garen: Manowar - "The Dawn Of Battle"
Gnar: Behemoth - "We Are The Next 1000 Years"
Gragas: Korpiklaani - "Juodaan Viinaa"

Option 2 would be "That Famous Ol' Spiced" by Alestorm or the other 500 Korpiklaani songs about various kinds of alcohol.

Graves: Overkill - "Charlie Get Your Gun"
Hecarim: Slayer - "Ghosts of War"
Heimerdinger: Voivod - "Killing Technology"
Irelia: 3 Inches of Blood - "Swordmaster"
Illaoi: Goatwhore - "Those Who Denied God's Will"
Ivern: Amorphis - "Tree of Ages"
Janna: Whispered - "Lady of the Wind"
Jarvan: Dream Evil - "The Chosen Ones"
Jax: Crescent Shield - "Above Mere Mortals"
Jayce: Hammerfall - "Hammer of Justice"
Jhin: Thy Art Is Murder - "The Final Curtain"

It feels bad that I couldn't find a really good song about murder that uses the number four. Ironically, if this was a rap song list, I've got it covered.

Jinx: Screaming Mechanical Brain - "Happy Happy Joy Joy"
Kai'sa: Fallujah - "The Void Alone"
Kalista: Arch Enemy - "Vengeance Is Mine"
Karma: Gamma Ray - "Rise"
Karthus: Skeletonwitch - "Despoiler of Human Life"
Kassadin: In Flames - "Behind Space 99"
Katarina: Razor - "Edge of the Razor"
Kayle: Avantasia - "Scales of Justice"
Kayn: Final Breath - "Yearning For Next Murder"

Underrated-as-hell death thrash right here. Give this one a shot.

Kennen: Stormlord - "Stormlord"
Kha'Zix: The Locust - "Live From The Russian Compound"
Kindred: Gojira - "The Art Of Dying"
Kled: Pantera - "Fucking Hostile"

Kind of wild that Pantera wasn't on any of the previous lists.

Kog'Maw: Wormed - "Undeciphering the Inquantificability"
Leblanc: Coroner - "Mistress of Deception"
Lee Sin: Firewind - "I Will Fight Alone"
Leona: Accept - "Princess of the Dawn"
Lissandra: Dragonheart - "Gods of Ice"
Lucian: Static-X - "The Enemy"
Lulu: Timeless Miracle - "Into the Enchanted Chamber"
Lux: Masterplan - "Kind-Hearted Light"
Malphite: Bolt Thrower - "Granite Wall"
Malzahar: Celtic Frost - "Visions of Mortality"
Maokai: Sepultura - "Roots Bloody Roots"
Master Yi: Lost Horizon - "Highlander (The One)"

WOAH-OH-OH-AH-AH-AH-AAAA-HA-AH-AH-AH

Miss Fortune: Warbringer - "Shoot to Kill"
Mordekaiser: Tenacious D - "The Metal"

Even after his rework, Mordekaiser will always be The Metal.

Morgana: Grave Digger - "Morgane Le Faye"
Nami: The Ocean - "Mesopelagic: Into The Uncanny"
Nasus: Testament - "Dog Faced Gods"

To be honest, I play chill rap and upbeat jazz when I play Nasus. He's just such a relaxing champ. "Relax guys, I know we're down fifty kills, I'm just gonna go farm and then we'll win."

Nautilus: Dethklok - "Go Into the Water"
Neeko: Wind Rose - "The Returning Race"
Nidalee: Elvenking - "Invoking the Woodland Spirit"
Nocturne: Metallica - "All Nightmare Long"

GZ: I wanted to give him Judas Priest's Night Crawler, but there's no way Taric is losing Exciter.

Nunu & Willump: Immortal - "Blizzard Beasts"
Olaf: Kvelertak - "Berserkr"

Before you complain about the lack of Amon Amarth, see Rengar.

Orianna: Meshuggah - "Clockworks"
Ornn: Falconer - "Lord of the Blacksmiths"
Pantheon: Turisas - "Stand Up And Fight"

Pantheon's rework made this a perfect fit.

Poppy: Gloryhammer - "Gloryhammer"

HAIL HOOTS!

Pyke: Zeal & Ardor - "Row Row"

Avant-garde black metal blending the genre with slave spirituals in order to sing about eldritch abominations and unseen horrors emerging from the water? It's like this song was made for Pyke.

Qiyana: Unleash the Archers - "The Matriarch"

One of the best power metal albums I've heard.

Quinn: Stratovarius - "Hunting High And Low"
Rakan: Heavenly - "Lost In Your Eyes"
Rammus: Raven - "Run Them Down"
Rek'sai: Municipal Waste - "Terror Shark"
Renekton: Blood Tsunami - "Infernal Final Carnage"
Rengar: Amon Amarth - "Live For The Kill"

I'm sorry, but this song is too utterly perfect for Rengar. If anyone's got another awesome viking metal band for Olaf or a better "hunter" song for Rengar, please suggest something.

Riven: Obtenebris - "Broken Arrow"

There's probably a "broken sword" song out there. That said, this song is pretty badass.

Rumble: Anvil - "Metal on Metal"
Ryze: Kamelot - "The Spell"
Sejuani: Kiuas - "Across the Snows"
Senna: Clutch - "Ghoul Wrangler"
Sett: High on Fire - "Bloody Knuckles"
Shaco: Toxik - "World Circus"
Shen: Ninja Magic - "The Way of Life"
Shyvana: Rhapsody - "The Power of the Dragon Flame"
Singed: Megadeth - "Poison Was The Cure"

I dunno about you guys, but I generally just play Yakety Sax. On repeat.

Sion: Omen - "The Axeman"
Sivir: Cryonic Temple - "Rapid Fire"
Skarner: Catamenia - "The Ancient"
Sona: Vitalij Kuprij - "Symphony V"
Soraka: Freedom Call - "Starchild"
Swain: Tarot - "Crows Fly Black"
Sylas: Rage Against The Machine - "Voice of the Voiceless"

Not exactly metal, but lyrically a perfect fit.

Syndra: ARKONA - "Liki Bessmertnykh Bogov"
Tahm Kench: Wolf - "Ravenous"
Taliyah: Brothers of Metal - "Weaver of Fate"
Talon: Vio-Lence - "Kill on Command"
Taric: Judas Priest - "Exciter"
Teemo: Murderdolls - "People Hate Me"

Same reason as Sylas.

Thresh: Igorrr - "Parpaing"

Thresh's old song (Merciless - "Souls of the Dead") is still a good fit, but I love the crushing, punishing guitar on this Igorrr track, and lines like "this is the house of corpses" still fit Thresh's whole 'jailer of the dead' vibe to me.

Tristana: Rammstein - "Feuer Frei"
Trundle: Finntroll - "Trollhammaren"
Tryndamere: Twelve Foot Ninja - "One Hand Killing"
Twisted Fate: Motorhead - "Ace of Spades"

GZ: Who didn't see this one a mile away?

Twitch: Napalm Death - "Scum"
Udyr: Running Wild - "Wild Animal"

Until I moved Wukong's old song here, I was gonna use the W.A.S.P. song "Animal (Fuck Like A Beast)". You know you love it.

Urgot: Krisiun - "Slaying Steel"
Varus: Devildriver - "Back With A Vengeance"
Vayne: Dio - "I Speed at Night"
Veigar: Emperor - "I am the Black Wizards"
Vel'Koz: Dimmu Borgir - "Progenies of the Great Apocalypse"
Vi: Girlschool - "Demolition Boys"

Lowkey one of the more difficult picks, if only because I've been listening to hundreds of songs while I've played Vi for like 8 years. Judas Priest's "Jawbreaker", Rage Against The Machine's "Street Fighting Man", there are a LOT of good Vi songs. I may or may not have stolen one to give to Sett.

Viktor: Gama Bomb - "Atomizer"
Vladimir: Bloodbound - "Nosferatu"
Volibear: Destroy Destroy Destroy - "Born of Thunder"
Warwick: Powerwolf - "Night of the Werewolves"

The other pick I was considering

Wukong: Ojo Rojo - "Monkey Nation"
Xayah: The Sword - "Cloak of Feathers"
Xerath: Blind Guardian - "The Soulforged"
Xin Zhao: Ensiferum - "Unsung Heroes"
Yasuo: Trivium - "Kirisute Gomen"

Did you know that "kirisute gomen" was a principle where samurai could basically kill anyone who offended or fucked with them as "self defense"? Samurai were pretty fucking hardcore.

Yorick: Pain - "Zombie Slam"

Sing it, Edgy Johnny Depp!

Yuumi: Volbeat - "Devil or the Blue Cat's Song"
Zac: Lordi - "Would You Love A Monsterman?"
Zed: Victorius - "Shuriken Showdown"
Ziggs: Sodom - "Bombenhagel"
Zilean: Demon - "Father of Time"
Zoe: Babymetal - "Distortion"

I don't like this band personally, I just think it works for Zoe. Go check out Poppy if you want a pretty sick pop/metal genre blend.

Zyra: Michael Angelo Batio - "Rain Forest"

Hi! I’m “Riot thatsPRIMAL” and I’m Challenger Set 2 on NA. I work at Riot but not on TFT, I’m just a fan of the game. Many of you will be experiencing Set 3 for the first time today so to help you get that valuable LP I’ve put together a guide to one of my favorite family of compositions, Vanguard carries. If you want to see it in action, check out my stream at twitch.tv/thatsPRIMAL - I stream almost daily and I'm online now. I'm going to also post a guide on 6 star guardian 4 sorc, and a guide to Lucian cybernetic carry this week if people like this kind of content.
________________________________________________________
Core Principles

• Get 4 Vanguards (Jayce, Mordekaiser, Wukong and Leona/Poppy) ASAP to unlock the massive 250 armor bonus, which will allow you to outright win vs most comps midgame, and minimize the health loss when you lose.
• Focus on 3 starring Jayce and Morde: Because it is the beginning of set 3 and there aren’t as many unique champions as there were at the end of Set 2, it is much easier to get 3 stars of champions in general.
• Play space pirates alongside your vanguards levels 3 through 7 to accumulate a huge gold advantage that allows you to either 3 star Jayce, 3 star Morde, or go 8 without a huge cost to your economy.
• Prioritize items that deal damage over time for Morde, or damage + sustain items on Jayce, to win fights.
• Roll at 6 to hit Morde 3 and Jayce 3.

________________________________________________________
Strengths

• Utilizes most items very well
• Reliably strong midgame and strong econ due to pirates and core units (Jayce, Morde) being easy to 2 star
• Strong vs infiltrators and snipers due to high armor
• Fun as hell - watching Jayce 1 shot 3 units at once will never get old. He’s like sorcerer Aatrox from set 1.

Weaknesses

• If you force Jayce 3 and Morde 3 when other people are forcing, you could end up in a 6th or 7th place scenario (see below for alternatives to Jayce 3 and Morde 3).
• No backline access without infiltrator Jayce or clever Jayce positioning means this comp can struggle vs blasters (who generally deal percentage or true damage).

________________________________________________________
Key Items

• Gunblade: In my opinion, this is the best Jayce item. This will not only give Jayce more damage, it will also help him stay alive longer to get fight-changing ults off. The reason this works better on Jayce than other units is he has huge armor with 4 Vanguard, so every point of health he regains will be worth more than it would be on low armor units - it takes more damage to kill a 1000 hp unit with 300 armor than a 1000 hp unit with 50 armor.
• Morellos: Very good item on Morde due to the area of effect nature of his ult and the fact that he stays alive so long, meaning he’s constantly reapplying the true damage and healing debuff.
• Ionic Spark: This item was updated in set 3 to also reduce the MR of enemy units by 50%. That’s huge, and synergizes perfectly with Morde and Jayce because both of their ults deal magic damage. Prioritize putting this on Morde, as he is the unit who will likely live the longest. It’s ok on Jayce, just not as good.
• Dragon’s claw: Set 3 has abundant magic damage (even from sources you might intuitively think of as dealing physical damage, like Jinx or Kaisa). Putting this on a vanguard, who already has a massive amount of armor, will greatly boost survivability against all comps. Put this on Jayce or Morde.
• Deathcap or Jeweled Gauntlet: Great items for Jayce - either one will allow him to consistently one shot even frontliners.
• Bramble Vest: An amazing early game item for snowballing. Put this on Morde since he’s very tanky and will reflect a lot of damage as the fight goes on. Synergizes well with Ionic since Ionic reduces magic resistance and bramble is a magic item.

Also good:

• Titan’s Resolve: Morde will stack this every fight because he’s usually the last man standing - getting extra damage and resistances will allow him to clean up fights fairly reliably. Also good on Jayce (just not as good as sometimes you will want to position Jayce to avoid damage, meaning he won’t stack Titan’s Resolve).
• Guardian’s Angel (GA): Decent on Jayce as an insurance policy against burst spells that might kill him before he can heal off of gunblade. I think it falls off once he reaches 3 stars, as he’ll already have so much health, armor (and if you get dragon’s claw, MR) that he will rarely die early anyway.
• Shojins: Amazing on Ashe and Lulu - this will make them CC bots who can carry your team with utility. Not bad on Jayce or Morde, but you’ll want to prioritize other items for them, and you won’t want a Shojins stuck on a Jayce or Morde that you cannot sell.
• Runaans: Good on Jhin (if he has Infinity Edge) or Ashe/Lulu (if she has Shojin’s). Jhin will add a lot of damage from this addition, Ashe/Lulu will add a lot more CC, as it will act as a second Shojin’s. Also note that on Set 3, Runaan’s additional attack deals 70% of the original autoattack’s damage, up from 60%. The difference is significant, try it yourself!
• Infiltrator Spatula on Jayce: OP if you can get him, makes Jayce an assassin who can bypass the front line and 1 shot the backline. Not easy to get because reliant on spat, but perhaps the best Jayce item (sort of like Olaf from set 1).

________________________________________________________
Level 8 Comp
There are 3 ideal variants of this comp, and all of them involve 4 Vanguards

• 4 Vanguards (Jayce 3, Morde 3), 4 Celestials (Lulu, Ashe, Kassadin, Rakan)
  • Based on my experience, this is the strongest variant of the comp - the huge healing buff will mean that Jayce is healing back to full with each ult (especially if he has gunblade), and Lulu and Ashe are amazing units who will constantly be applying CC, giving Morde and Jayce time to do work. Kass is also a reasonably strong unit who applies additional CC. If you don’t have Lulu, Xin or Xayah are fine placeholders. If you run this, I highly recommend putting a dragon’s claw on Jayce to deal with not having magic resistance.
• 4 Vanguards, (Jayce 3, Morde 3), 4 Mystics (Lulu, Soraka, Karma, Sona)
  • This is also very strong but less consistently achievable since it relies on finding Lulu. There are only 4 Mystics so if you don’t find Lulu, you cannot run it, whereas there are 6 Celestials to choose from.
• 4 Vanguards (Jayce 2, Morde 2), 2 Snipers (Jhin, Ashe 3), Miscellaneous (for example, you can add a Lulu and Soraka for Celestials and Mystics).
  • This is what you run if you see that you’re not going to be able to 3 star Morde or Jayce because they’re too contested. Ashe with Shojin + Runaan’s (and another Shojin if you can get it) will constantly stun teams, and if you get her to 3 stars, each of those ults will do 700 damage per unit!
  • If you happen to get items for infinity edge, Jhin can also hard carry your team, but be mindful of enemy Infiltrators and Blitzcranks!

What to prioritize on first carousel, in order of priority:

1. Rod: Builds into 4 key items: Ionic, Morellos, Deathcap, Jeweled Gauntlet. Ionic can snowball early rounds, so build it ASAP.
2. Cloak: Builds into 2 key items: Ionic and Dragon’s claw
3. Chain: Builds into Bramble (best), Titan’s Resolve or GA
4. Belt: Significantly worse than Rod or Cloak, but still decent. Can build Morellos which is key. Warmogs isn’t bad on Morde, and Redemption is good on one of your noncarry Vanguards. Redemption has been reworked and is much better than old Redemptions - it heals your entire team when the Redemption carrier dies and has no cast time. Don’t put this on Morde or Jayce, as they’ll survive until the end.

________________________________________________________
Stage by Stage breakdown:
Early Game (Stage 1 and 2)

1. If you can make an ionic spark or bramble, make them immediately - they can allow you to win rounds outright. Ionic is great on infiltrators since they generally get to carries, and then when the carries ult, they take damage. Bramble should go on a tank, like malphite. You want this item to get onto Morde, so if you don’t have to put it on a Leona or Poppy, don’t, since you don’t want to have to sell a 2 star Poppy/Leona to itemize Morde.
2. Pick up Graves or Darius so that you can start snowballing a gold advantage the moment you get Jayce. You can also just run both Graves and Darius, but keep in mind that you’ll want to sell one of them the moment you get Jayce, so it’s potentially wasteful. I prefer Graves over Darius - his ult is more reliably impactful, he costs less, and has blaster, which is amazing with an early Ezreal or Lucian.
3. Scout the lobby for infiltrators and Blitzcrank’s, and consider throwing a Vanguard in your back line to bait them.

Mid Game (Stage 3)

1. If you already have a pair of Jayce 1 or Morde 1s, consider going to 6 and rolling down to 0 at 3-2 to get them to 2 star. Ideal comp here is 4 Vanguards (including Jayce and Morde), 2 Pirates (Jayce + Graves or Darius), and another strong individual unit from earlier (Blitz, Lucian, Kaisa, Ashe).
2. At 3-2, you should be strong enough to winstreak, and even if you don’t winstreak, you’ll be getting an average of 2-3 gold per round from pirates, which is huge - that’s the equivalent of winning 2-3 rounds!
3. If you rolled down to 0, econ back up to at least 30 gold before you start rolling again.
4. SCOUT! If you see too many other Mordes or Jayces, you may need to pivot to Ashe+Jhin carry. In my opinion, 2 players can afford to go Morde 3 without cannibalizing each other 2 much,, and 1 player can afford to go Jayce. This is the really skillful part of the game, and games are won or lost by the decision you make. I could easily write a whole post about scouting, economy and comp selection, but this is already long enough, so here’s a short primer on how to think here. Consider:
   1. How many other players currently have Jayce or Morde
   2. Whether those players look like they actually plan on holding Jayce and Morde, or are just playing them for a little while as they pursue another comp. (For example, if they have a Jayce 2 but the rest of their units are sorcerers, they probably are going to sell Jayce, and maybe it’s worth waiting until they do that to roll).
   3. Do you have enough gold to pursue Jayce or Morde 3? If you rolled down at 3-2 and still don’t have at Morde 2, you’re probably not getting Morde 3 any time soon, same goes for Jayce.

Mid-Late (Stage 4)

1. Stay at 6 until you get Morde 3 or Jayce 3. If it looks like you’re not going to hit them, consider holding Ashe for Ashe 3 instead.
2. Go 7 (if looking for Jayce but already have Morde 3) between 4-1 and 4-5, and finish either Jayce or Morde 3 (ideally both). If you get one but not the other, but are close to the other (say you have 7 Mordes), stay at 7 until you get the second 3 star.
3. Go 8 once you hit Jayce and Morde 3 OR go 8 if you only have either Jayce or Morde 3, but got a Lulu at 7. You’ll go 8 because you can run 4 mystics immediately, which is a big power spike. In some games, you may even want to just run Lulu+Ashe+1 Mystic+4 Vanguards at 7, it really depends on your health and gold relative to the lobby.

Late Game:

1. Hopefully by this point you already have Jayce 3 and Morde 3, and are just looking for Lulu, which gives you the strongest variant of 4 Celestial, or 4 Mystic.

________________________________________________________
Win (1st places) Conditions:

1. Morde 3 and Jayce 3
2. Morde 3 or Jayce 3 and Ashe 3
3. Morde 3 or Jayce 3 and Lulu 2 with at least 1 Shojin;s.
4. Note that with just a Jayce 3 or Morde 3, you can top 3 with good items.

________________________________________________________
Positioning:

1. Frontline your Vanguards, with Morde and Jayce in the middle to maximize the impact of their area of effect abilities
2. (200IQ only): If you know who you’re about to face, place Jayce on the far right or far left so he runs past the front line and one shots the backline.
3. Vs infiltrators + mech pilots, backline your vanguards so they kill off the infiltrators and don’t get stuck on the gundam.

WORLDS 2018

Official page | Leaguepedia | Liquipedia | Live Discussion | Eventvods.com | New to LoL

Cloud9 3-0 Afreeca Freecs

CONGRATULATIONS TO CLOUD9 WHO ADVANCE TO THE SEMIFINALS! This is the first North American semifinal appearance since Season 1! With Afreeca Freecs's loss, Korea have been eliminated and experience their worst Worlds performance in history.
C9 | Leaguepedia | Liquipedia | Best.gg | Website | Twitter | Facebook | YouTube | Subreddit AFs | Leaguepedia | Liquipedia | Best.gg | Twitter | Facebook

MATCH 1: C9 vs. AFs

Winner: Cloud9 in 28m Match History | Game Breakdown | Player of the Game: Jensen

	Bans 1	Bans 2	G	K	T	D/B
C9	tahmkench irelia akali	galio lissandra	56.8k	16	10	M1 H2 I3 B4 O5
AFs	zilean urgot nocturne	ryze syndra	42.3k	5	2	None

C9	16-5-28	vs	5-16-13	AFs
Licorice aatrox 1	0-2-5	TOP	2-4-2	3 viktor Kiin
Svenskeren xinzhao 2	5-1-5	JNG	1-1-4	1 gragas Spirit
Jensen leblanc 3	6-0-4	MID	0-3-1	4 kassadin Kuro
Sneaky lucian 3	5-2-4	BOT	1-4-3	2 xayah Kramer
Zeyzal braum 2	0-0-10	SUP	1-4-3	1 alistar TusiN

MATCH 2: C9 vs. AFs

Winner: Cloud9 in 30m Match History | Player of the Game: Svenskeren

	Bans 1	Bans 2	G	K	T	D/B
C9	tahmkench irelia akali	galio lissandra	58.5k	14	10	C1 H3 M4 B5 I6
AFs	zilean urgot nocturne	leblanc syndra	49.2k	11	3	I2

C9	14-11-36	vs	11-14-13	AFs
Licorice aatrox 1	1-5-4	TOP	4-3-3	4 viktor Kiin
Svenskeren graves 3	9-1-4	JNG	1-3-3	1 xinzhao Mowgli
Jensen ahri 3	3-3-7	MID	5-3-1	3 ryze Kuro
Sneaky lucian 2	1-0-10	BOT	1-1-2	2 kaisa Kramer
Zeyzal braum 2	0-2-11	SUP	0-4-4	1 alistar TusiN

MATCH 3: C9 vs. AFs

Winner: Cloud9 in 36m Match History | Player of the Game: Licorice

	Bans 1	Bans 2	G	K	T	D/B
C9	tahmkench irelia akali	xayah kaisa	66.4k	18	7	H2 I3 B4 O6
AFs	zilean urgot alistar	aatrox sivir	58.2k	15	2	O1 M5

C9	18-15-43	vs	15-18-33	AFs
Licorice ornn 3	2-3-12	TOP	2-3-7	4 gangplank Kiin
Svenskeren nocturne 1	5-2-9	JNG	1-6-6	1 gragas Spirit
Jensen lissandra 2	5-3-7	MID	3-2-4	2 galio Kuro
Sneaky lucian 3	6-3-3	BOT	9-3-4	3 varus Kramer
Zeyzal shen 2	0-4-12	SUP	0-4-12	1 thresh TusiN

This thread was created by the Post-Match Team.