Quote: On Christmas

"We wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy Udyr!"

-Christmas Carol

Prognostication: Preseason Recap

So Season 3 hit, and it's time to examine all of my predictions to see how well I did.

Items:

So it turns out that Lord Van Damm's Pillager did not get ported to Summoner's Rift and was, in fact, removed from the game entirely. Instead, Blade of the Ruined King arrived on the Rift. Infinity Edge, meanwhile, is alive and well. Whoops.

I was half right in my third prediction, Haunting Guise did get an upgrade path. However, Spirit Visage was simply made a more powerful (and expensive) item in its own right. Not bad as far as predictions go, but not great.

My most accurate prediction was regarding Tenacity items. They were, in fact, very significantly rebalanced. However, I refuse to claim full credit because I did not anticipate the addition of new Tenacity items nor the removal of existing ones.

Jungle:

My jungle predictions were thrown out of whack by the unanticipated addition of Hunter's Machete. I could claim partial credit for identifying that a 300g item would be necessary to clear the jungle, but that's a stretch. Moreover, my prediction for the cost of new jungle items was off by a factor of two, so no credit there.

The value of the jungle didn't exactly increase by 10-20%, at least not initially. It's actually very difficult to measure this against the game as Riot primarily increased the scaling of the jungle, and only modified base values insofar as necessary to adjust for the changes to ambient gold and to take some value away from Wraiths and distribute it elsewhere. I'll take half credit for this one.

I was incontrovertibly correct on spawn timers. Score one for Montegomery.

Masteries:

My Movement Speed prediction could be interpreted in different ways. Initiator was removed entirely, but one could argue it was replaced with Nimble in the utility tree. Swiftness was replaced with Wanderer and move up a tier rather than down. While Movement Speed in general is harder to come by, I'll only claim half-credit for this.

Strength of Spirit was buffed significantly. However, I was very vague as to the nature of the buffs, so this isn't exactly a great victory. Havoc still remains, in defiance of my final prediction of this category. I shake my fist angrily.

Summoner Spells:

Unfortunately while I was correct that Flash and Ignites cooldowns would increase, I was off on magnitude. Flash increased by 35 seconds, and Ignite by 30 seconds. Failure.

Heal is most definitely not single-target. Fail.

Revive's cooldown wasn't directly decreased, but you can now decrease it using an item. The speed boost was not changed. Partial credit, but another near miss.

Clarity does not restore Energy, fail.

Champions:

As of yet Riot has not released another AP jungler. They may do so in the future, but for now I appear to have been wrong.




In the end, I was generally very successful in identifying the areas that would be changing, but when it came to accurately hitting the targets themselves I was rarely accurate, only coming close to a bull's eye on one or two predictions. I did, however, do remarkably better than my jungle prognostications.

I'll do another of these sometime in the future, but for now I'll send my crystal ball to the cleaners because obviously everything was its fault and not my own.

Quote: On Patch Notes

"Take nothing on its patch notes; take everything on evidence. There's no better rule."

-Great Expectations, Charles Dickens

Mechanics: Spell Vamp

Spell Vamp is an odd mechanic because it has a bunch of confusing rules as to its application. These rules have confounded and confused the community for some time because whenever someone asks, "Does Spell Vamp work on insert ability here?" they get 20 different answers. I hope to do my part in raising the general awareness of Spell Vamp's mechanics today.

Spell Vamp is actually a bit of a misnomer. "Spell" for many players implies "magic", and so they reasonably assume that Spell Vamp only works on magic damage. This is not the case, as Spell Vamp works on all cast abilities regardless of damage type (otherwise what would the point of Spell Vamp on Olaf or Lee Sin?). A more accurate name would be Ability Vamp, but Riot has never seen fit to change it.

So everything from Reckless Swing, to Noxious Trap, to Resonating Strike can make use of Spell Vamp, but there's plenty more confusion to be had. Spell Vamp's effectiveness is reduced by two-thirds on multi-target abilities. This is a necessary mechanic because otherwise a Morgana with no Ability Power at all could heal for 500+ Health with a single Tormented Soil. Still, it's something else for players to remember about Spell Vamp.

More confusion abounds because of Smite and Ignite. Because they are coded like abilities they actually work with Spell Vamp. You can, to this day, find threads where people ask whether these two Summoner Spells work with Spell Vamp, and get multiple answers. Rest assured, Spell Vamp definitely works with both (though it can be hard to notice for Ignite as its damage is done over time).

Then there are items like Hextech Gunblade and Deathfire Grasp. These too use Spell Vamp because their actives are also coded like abilities. These don't come up as often as Smite and Ignite, but they have classically been a point of confusion.

While damaging item actives do make use of Spell Vamp, on-hit effects from items do not. However, champion on-hit effects aren't so well delineated. Because the "on-hit" effects for many champions use backend code tricks to function, a number of them do work with Spell Vamp. Rather than have me list them all, you should refer to this list on the LoLWiki. When in doubt, you can always run your own tests, and then update the wiki as necessary.

As an aside the most Spell Vamp any champion can have in the game is 244.7%. It requires an Akali with 6 Gunblades, stacked buffs and is generally utterly implausible, but it's fun to imagine Akali Smiting something and healing for 2400 Health. A much more reasonable (relatively speaking) number is 153.5% (5 Gunblades + Runes/Masteries). It's overkill, you can solo Baron at 2 Gunblades, but it's fun overkill.

Hopefully that made Spell Vamp's mechanics slightly more clear. There are a lot of misconceptions about the mechanics of League of Legends, and while they may never be eliminated if I can reduce the cacophony of errant answers even slightly I'll be satisfied.

Jungler: Akali (Season 3)

I've released a new jungle Akali video. It's just the basic route, but it still provides a good point of discussion.

It's been well over two years since I first started experimenting with jungle Akali. In that time she's gone from a joke, to low tier, to viable but inappropriate for the meta, to her current state. This slow but steady progression is fairly well documented in my numerous video guides archived on Youtube. It's funny to look back on her early jungling days, which were a very far cry the from the safe, fluid jungling she is now capable of.

Season 3 is perhaps the zenith of Akali's viability as a jungler. Dive compositions are becoming more popular due to the reduced effectiveness of tanks. At the same time early ganking junglers have much greater pressure to succeed, or else face falling behind their opponents who simply farmed for level 6 before ganking. That Akali has weak early ganks is no longer quite the handicap it once was.

Akali's weakest point is level 1, she does not do quite enough damage to clear a small camp before a buff spawns. With assistance at level 1 she can easily gain 10-20 seconds on her clear time. Add in Bladed Armor and taking Golems rather than Wolves before Red, and her clear speed is actually substantially faster than the video may lead you to believe. The video, however, was largely concerned with the basic, safest route and demonstrating Akali's strong sustain for the benefit of inexperienced junglers.

Whether jungling or laning, Hextech Gunblade is simply the best single item for Akali. Hitting 41% Spell Vamp turns Smite into a personal Heal when fighting near creeps. The slow is extremely good for chasing, especially with Akali's high single target damage. This also feeds into what I believe to be Akali's ideal build, Gunblade + Deathfire Grasp + Lich Bane. With those three items Akali can absolutely decimate any carry before they can react. The ideal build isn't possible in all games, but Gunblade is absolutely and irrefutably the core item.

Once you've hit level 6 or 7 on Akali you should be extremely aggressive, especially if you have enough gold for Sorcerer's Shoes or Hextech Revolver. Even without crowd control Akali's ganks are incredibly potent due to her extreme chase potential. So long as her opponents are not in the immediate vicinity of their towers Akali can easily force Flash and other summoners. She's absolutely terrifying one on one, capable of taking on practically any champion in the game (especially if she gets first strike). Your goal is to less to farm the jungle and more to farm the enemy team.

Your late-game role is the same as any assassin, be enough of a threat that if the enemy team doesn't pay attention to you and blows cooldowns on your allies they're guaranteed to lose one or more carries. The hardest targets to kill are typically carries with stuns and roots, as they can potentially use that time to flash out of your ultimate's range. Otherwise any target you have vision of is probably a dead target.

With the meta warping under the influence of Season 3, now is finally (I swear, really, this time it's true) Akali's chance to shine as a jungler. Try her out and enjoy emerging stealthily from the jungle to complete your covert assassination missions.

Quote: On Winning 4v5

"Now is the winter of our disconnect, made summer by this sun of Leona."

-Gloucester, Richard III

Patch Day: Balance Update

Patch notes can only mean one thing, analysis!

First up we have a minor nerf to Cho'gath. His jungle sustain was a little high considering how strong his ganks were. While his passive is slightly better late game this is definitely a flat out nerf.

Diana got the nerf bat home run smackdown, and understandably so. She's been a fixture in every recent tournament, and is extremely hard to deal with when played well. Her base damage, range, and ease of landing skill shots all took substantial hits. She'll still be strong, but she won't be quite as overpoweringly so as before.

Master Yi get a few useful changes. His jungling will be significantly less like a lottery, which is helpful to both him and opposing teams. Regular Master Yi junglers will always remember that one clear where his Alpha Strike procced every single time and they shot out of the jungle in less than three minutes. A fun as that randomness was, it's gone in favor of actually being able to reliably clear the rest of the time. There's also a slight buff to Wuju Style, which will help Master Yi feel less crippled if he doesn't get his reset.

Some obvious nerfs hit Rengar. Anyone could have predicted that Rengar's W would drop in healing and damage. The addition of delay to his stealth is a similarly obvious change. Rengar's tankiness and ridiculous escape potential are thus nerfed, though he'll still be a beast.

Everyone's favorite Yordle to hate also got hit with the nerf bat. The base damage on Teemo's shrooms and the Ability Power ratio on his Toxic Shot were hit. Dropping 150 damage is really big, and it's likely we'll see a little less of him. A month later he'll return because his shrooms are still annoying as hell.

Zyra gets some nerfs largely targeting her ability to support. She'll still be effecting as both a carry and a support, but with slower roots and a weaker passive she won't dominate lanes quite so hard.

Black Cleaver got nailed for its stackability, and Riot tool some care to avoid repeating the mistake on other Armor Penetration items. No surprise there, though surely many a Kha'zix and Talon will weep for their glory days. Black Cleaver +  Last Whisper is still going to be painful anyway.

And now for the best change of all, Smite was buffed! It does substantially more damage at all levels, meaning substantially more healing for jungle Akali!

All in all it's a fairly straightforward balance patch. The obvious problems were hit hard, a few outlying issues of weakness were addressed, and maybe jungling will be slightly easier for everyone. Any huge shifts at this point are still going to be a result of the cataclysmic Season 3 changes, not these minor balance fixes.

Season 3: Liandry's Torment

Today's we're going to cover an item of some controversy, Liandry's Torment.

Liandry's Torment: (2900g)
70 Ability Power
200 Health
Passive: UNIQUE - Eyes of Pain: 15 Magic Penetration
Passive: UNIQUE - Dealing magical spell damage burns enemies for 5% of their current health as magic damage over 3 seconds. If their movement is impaired, they take double damage from this effect. Multi-target or periodic effects deals 2.5% over 1.5 seconds. 300 max damage vs monsters.

Before we dive into discussion, let's get a few quirky mechanics out of the way.

First, Liandry's periodic damage ticks every half second. This will become important in later discussion.

Second, Liandry's periodic damage does not refresh like Teemo's Toxic Shot or Nautilus' Titan's Wrath, but resets. If you deal damage which would proc Liadry's milliseconds before a tick would have occurred you lose that tick of damage forever.

Third, Liandry's does not proc from on-hit effects. The aforementioned Toxic Shot and Titan's Wrath are good examples of Magic Damage that will not proc Liandry's.

The practical upshot of the first two mechanics is that it is very, very easy to lose ticks of Liandry's damage, especially with colliding periodic damage sources. Even with just one periodic damage ability ticking every second Liandry's will only tick once before it is reset, dramatically reducing its potential damage. Whereas you might have expected nine ticks from Teemo's Noxious Trap, in fact you only get six.

Despite that, Liandry's does appear to have a lot of potential. For one, the damage is independent of ability rank, so running into Rank 1 Nidalee traps will yield the same benefit from Liandry's passive as Rank 5. Liandry's also has Flat Magic Penetration, an extremely valuable stat with Season 3's changes. Finally, it's not lacking on the Ability Power front either. It's expensive, and a lot of its cost goes toward the passive, but as an upgrade to Haunting Guise it seems a worthy item.

Which brings us to the controversy. It's very, very hard for most of the champions that favor Liandry's to discern the value of that passive. As a result there's an ongoing debate as to whether it's worth upgrading Haunting Guise into Liandry's early, or if it should be put off until later, or even if it should be built at all. This is an extremely difficult argument because Liandry's damage is very difficult to math out and account for, not only because of the complicated ways you can lose ticks, but also because its damage depends heavily on how much damage has already been done to a target. It's likely that the debate over Liandry's will continue for some time before anything resembling a consensus is reached.

Overall, however, it's a fairly effective item provided you aren't attempting to burst down an opponent. It also has one of the smoothest build paths of any Ability Power item, as every component is cheap and you never need to dedicate more than two slot at a time toward its construction. Haunting Guise makes for a good early item whether you intend on finishing Liandry's now or later. If you're going to be poking at enemy champions and/or laying traps, Liandry's can be very effective.

Teemo is currently the poster-Yordle for Liandry's due to the minefields of mushrooms he leaves across the map. Because they not only deal damage but slow the half-damage effect for periodic damage is cancelled out. The resulting damage adds up to roughly 5% of a target's current health, which is nothing to sneeze at. While he's currently the king of Liandry's users, Nidalee, Ziggs, and Xerath are other champions that make excellent use of the item.

Liandry's passive may not be as exciting as some of the active abilities we've seen, but it still conforms with Riot's goal to shift itemization away from a cut and dried comparison of stats, and into less objective debates about the merits of utility.

Season 3: Blade of the Ruined King

Today we have an item which isn't new per se, but was never seen on Summoner's Rift before Season 3: Blade of the Ruined King

Blade of the Ruined King: (2900g)
40 Attack Damage
10% Life Steal
Passive: UNIQUE - Your attacks deal 4% of your target's current health in physical damage and heal you for half the amount (120 versus versus minions).
Active: UNIQUE - Drains target champion, dealing 150 (+50% of Attack Damage) physical damage and healing you for the same amount. Additionally you steal 30% of their Movement Speed for 2 seconds. 60 second cooldown. 500 range.

Blade of the Ruined King (BotRK) is an interesting item because it seems to overlap significantly with Bloodthirster. Both give Attack Damage and Life Steal, but BotRK trades a significant chunk of both for passive and active effects of difficult to ascertain value. Why have both on Summoner's Rift?

The answer is survival. The Movement Speed changes in Season 3 dramatically favor situational actives. Even Furor, the Tier 3 Enchant, requires single target attacks for its 12%, decaying boost. BotRK possesses one of these situational actives, useful both for chasing someone in close range or escaping. I'm highlighting it today due to a problem commonly facing AD Carries.

While the current Black Cleaver-laden meta will fade the moment its inevitable nerfs land, several aspects of Season 3, and the game in general, have become plain. Teams that can simply dive your most vulnerable players are powerful even in the face of teams with significant crowd control. One player diving can be stopped, but three or four players who coordinate and avoid unnecessary clustering will demolish your principal damage dealers before they can contribute. Against many teams the glass cannon builds of the past are simply a quick ticket to the afterlife.

BotRK is one tool to help combat this. It's no Flash, Heal, or Exhaust, but still provides a tool for surviving, escaping, and kiting a bruiser or assassin who's jumped you. A full build won't help you if you can't distance yourself from the foes clamoring for your head.

Runaan's Hurricane makes an excellent companion to this item. The additional attacks also proc the full damage of the passive, tripling the potential healing. Combined with Bloodthirster you can very quickly heal any incidental damage from a team fight, or even tank to an extent.

If AD Carry is your forte but the big scary bruisers have been crimping your style lately, BotRK may be the item for you. It's no substitute for good positioning, but it can still make all the difference.

Season 3: Hextech Gunblade

Not all Season 3 items are brand new. Some are mere old favorites that have seen significant changes. Among them is Hextech Gunblade.

Hextech Gunblade: (3400g)
45 Attack Damage
65 Ability Power
10% Life Steal
20% Spell Vamp
Passive: UNIQUE - Reload: Your basic attacks and single target spells against champions reduce the cooldown of this item by 3 seconds.
Active: UNIQUE - Deals 150 + 40% of your Ability Power as magic damage and slows the target champion's Movement Speed by 40% for 2 seconds. 60 second cooldown.

While roughly the same, Gunblade has seen a little reshuffling in stats and costs. It lost 5% Life Steal but costs 200g less, and a little Ability Power was swapped for Attack Damage. While the shifting stats aren't particularly notable, the fact that the Spell Vamp is no longer unique heralds the return of Gunblade stacking (as much of a troll build as that may be).

The exciting changes aren't the stats but the new passive and revamped active. The base damage on the active was halved, but now has a 0.4 Ability Power ratio (breaking even at 375 Ability Power). The effect and duration of the slow were also reduced. All of those nerfs are to compensate for the new passive, Reload. There's no internal cooldown on Reload, and it has the potential to allow for multiple uses in a single teamfight, or repeated uses in lane.

Akali is one of the classic Gunblade champions, and Reload is obviously particularly effective on her. Mark of the Assassin procs Reload twice, once for the cast and once for consuming the Mark, meaning that Akali can easily remove half the cooldown in a single chase. Combined with the Artifacer mastery, Akali can easily reset the cooldown on Gunblade after a single kill.

Simply attacking fast can also do the trick. A champion with 2.0 Attack Speed and nothing else will reset Gunblade within 7-8 seconds. Jax' combination of fast attacks and single target abilities makes him similarly well attuned to this item.

Even if you won't be stacking Ability Power, the ability to potentially reuse the active multiple times in a fight is strong. Because Gunblade is still largely a hybrid item most champions may not find it very interesting or useful, but for those that do the changes are potent and compelling.

Season 3: Assorted Jungling Thoughts

Jungling is my forte, and I keep all my jungle setups in a document for when time and disuse lead to forgetfulness. As you might imagine, Season 3's jungle revamp has made my current document obsolete, warranting a lot of effort in updating it.

As I've been working my way through the list of forty or more champions, some more serious than others, there are a few trends that have come to my attention. It's early yet for there to be much certainty, but I'm confident in the following points.

First, there is a universal jungle setup which will more or less work for every single champion in the game. If you have but one rune page to spare for jungling, use this:

The Universal Jungle Rune Page:
Quints: Attack Speed
Marks: Attack Speed
Seals: Armor
Glyphs: Attack Speed

This page will not only work for 99% of junglers, but will most likely be the page that yields the fastest, and safest, clear time. Only Attack Speed scales the jungle-specific true damage on Hunter's Machete, so this isn't unexpected. The page is not optimal for all junglers, there are more considerations than just speed and safety (e.g. having enough Magic Resistance to not instantaneously die when ganking mid), but as far as universal pages go this is the most effective there's ever been.

Second, there is far less leeway for optimizing a jungle setup. In Season 2 jungling was easy enough that most of a jungle setup could be oriented towards concerns outside of the jungle. Season 3, being far less forgiving, demands that the bulk of one's attention be paid toward clearing the jungle. Some junglers have more leeway than others, but the majority make themselves more vulnerable and less effective early if they sacrifice clearing speed and safety for other goals.

Finally, a much greater number of junglers are likely to be viable than before. This seems like it would be in contrast to my second point, but in fact it is not. Because almost all junglers have been forced to shift toward Machete + 5 Potions as an opening, junglers who previously were lacking in sustain, but not necessarily killing power, are now much more competitive. While I doubt that certain champions are serious contenders due to other issues (e.g. Cassiopeia and Malzahar could not possibly function without Blue), the potential pool has widened. Whether we see these new options or not is going to depend on the meta.

Nothing terribly exciting, but any tectonic shifts in the meta have only just begun their rumblings. If you're disappointed simply wait a few more weeks. By then the meta might be five bruisers all building as many Black Cleavers as possible.

Update: Patch Day

Just in time for patch day, I the intrepid Montegomery have come down with a cold. Analysis of everything will be forthcoming and ongoing, after my Cleanse comes off cooldown.

IPL5: The Art of War

I'd like to interrupt our regularly scheduled programming to give my thoughts on this weekend's tournament. Those of you who lament the lack of an item spotlight should tune in to Mondays with Monte tonight at 8:00 PM CST, where I'll be discussing Season 3 items and showcasing a few of them in replays.

IPL5 was a grueling, four day affair which tested the endurance of the players, and tested the K-Pop tolerance of the viewers. As the final tournament before the cataclysmic Season 3 changes, IPL5 delivered with some of the best teams in the world. There were pentakills, breathtaking plays, upsets, and surprises. It was a fantastic tournament.

While much will change in Season 3, there is at least one lesson we can learn from this tournament which will undoubtedly still be relevant in the days ahead. It's an obvious one, but nevertheless is often forgotten. League of Legends is a game of information warfare.

This isn't about secret strategies and cheeses that teams jealously guard against, but the actual game itself. From champion select to the late-game, the flow of information dictates much of what happens. Teams with information and knowledge of their opponents can act confidently, making plays and dominating a match. Those without struggle, toil, and often lose. It's a story that was told multiple times over the course of the weekend, but never more clearly than the final day of play.

For a simple yet never before seen example, consider Fnatic's Evelyn and Shen combination in their third and last series against TPA. During Fnatic's final push TPA could not know where Evelyn was. If she was still with the bulk of her team, initiating on them would only have invited a Shen ult and defeat. But if she was with Shen anyone who went to stop his split push would have no chance of success. Evelyn's quantum state cowed TPA, ultimately leading to Toyz' demise and Fnatic's victory.

On a grander scale we can look to the grand finals themselves. In game 2 Fnatic had a commanding lead against WE, but eventually lost. What turned the game around for WE was superior map control. When WE realized that Fnatic had lost Oracle's without replacing it, and were also skimping on wards, WE went ward crazy. With Fnatic's jungle lit up like a Christmas tree the plays that had been dominating WE stopped working, and WE used their superior information control to make plays which would normally have been very risky. Many of sOAZ's deaths were the result of Fnatic ceding information control to WE. By the time they realized what was going on and bought a new Oracle's, WE had already taken the lead by a large margin and the game was all but over.

The final match of the grand finals demonstrated what Fnatic should have done with that lead. WE took a strong early advantage, grabbed an Oracle's, and denied Fnatic as much information as possible. Behind and without any way to see WE's plays coming, Fnatic struggled in their attempts to catch up. While they held the gold deficit steady for a time, eventually the lack of information control caught up with them and WE's lead exploded. It was a textbook example of how the unknown can force a team into a situation where their only option is to fall further and further behind.

Denying your opponent information, forcing them to make assumptions, and then defying their assumptions to catch them by surprise are core principles for everything from laning, to jungling, to champion select, and to overarching team strategy. Even with the upcoming nerf to Oracle's and the proliferation of wards thanks to Sightstone, the control of information will continue to be a critical part of League of Legends.

Season 3: Seraph's Embrace

Today's item is an upgrade to Archangel's Staff: Seraph's Embrace.

Seraph's Embrace: (Transforms from Archangel's Staff)
1000 Mana
60 Ability Power
10 Mana Regen per 5 seconds
Passive: UNIQUE - Insight: Gain Ability Power equal to 3% of your Maximum Mana.
Active: UNIQUE - Mana Shield: Drains 25% of your current mana to shield yourself for an equal amount for 3 seconds - 120 second cooldown.

Item transformation isn't entirely new to League of Legends. Rengar's Bonetooth Necklace upgrades itself based on a stacked buff, and even changes into Kha'zix' head if you murder the void horror in the right circumstances. This item simply extends the core concept.

Fully stacking the bonus Mana on Archangel's Staff will cause it to transform into Seraph's Embrace. The stats on the two items are nearly identical, save for an additional 10 AP and the active ability. The passive Maximum Mana to Ability Power is unique for both items, so enjoy stacking Archangel's Staves while you still can.

Building Archangel's Staff has long been an indicator of a player's inexperience. The time require for stacking its Mana combined with Tear of the Goddess' complete lack of offensive or defensive potential made it a weak choice. You had to rush Tear to be sure of stacking it, but rushing Tear put you at a severe disadvantage in lane. Even though Archangel's Staff could easily provide in excess of 135 AP late-game, the cost, effort, and ultimate lack of defense were not worth the risk.

Some of these problems have been addressed in Season 3. It is now only necessary to stack 750 Mana, rather than 1000, and the upgrade to Seraph's Embrace provides a very significant defensive shield. Even with half of one's mana spent, Mana Shield can potentially provide a 300 damage shield, almost as good as Barrier

Still, it will take a significant portion of the game to stack the mana. You can't count on the transformation until well into the mid-game, even if you rush Tear. However, at that point it offers a great combination of offense, defense, and mana sustain. Who wouldn't want more AP on a single item than even Deathcap, practically unlimited mana, and a potent shield?

While Singed and Ryze are the obvious champions for this item, I expect many champions for whom Archangel's was previously a mistake will find this a useful item when aiming for a strong mid or late-game.

Season 3: Crystalline Flask

Continuing our Season 3 Item Extravaganza, we have another entirely new item: Crystalline Flask

Crystalline Flask: (225g)
Passive: Starts with 3 charges and refills each time you stop by your shop.
Active: Consumes a charge to restore 100 health and 40 mana over 10 seconds.


There is a stage in player development where they learn the importance of potions, and how purchasing them liberally can turn the tide in difficult lanes or break a stalemate. A potion used in combat can be the difference between glorious victory and ignominious defeat. However, few players mentally track just how much gold they spend on potions. It's not until they realize they are an item or two behind their opponent that the potential cost of their drinking habit catches up to them.

Crystalline Flask serves as an efficient solution to this problem, so efficient that Riot very quickly nerfed its sell value. Flask's three charges are equivalent to two health potions and one mana potion, and recharge for free every time you recall. Flask effectively breaks even with just one use, and only gets better from there.

Starting with Flask is, in short, something of a no-brainer. It's cheap, so much so you can add a Rejuvenation Bead or Faerie Charm (both of which are immensely more useful than before) and still have enough gold for two regular potions (or a ward and a potion with the Wealth mastery).

Flask is also an excellent item for level 1 skirmishes. If two teams clash, but one bought Flasks while the other bought potions, the Flask team will generally procure an advantage so long as they stay even on kills. By forcing the opposing team to use potions, while making use of their own free refills, the Flask team earns a small, but important edge.

Using the Wealth mastery it's actually possible to start Flask + Cloth Armor/Hunter's Machete, allowing even junglers to make use of the item. However, this opening is incredibly dangerous for many junglers, and essentially impossible for most of the rest. Unless your team is giving you incredible amounts of help on your first buff camp, don't try this unless you're someone with very, very high sustain (e.g. Warwick, Nunu, Udyr etc.). 

One final, notable aspect of Flask is that it can be used at the same time as regular potions. Both act as 10 Health per second for their duration, resulting in a potential 20 Health per second. The Total Biscuit of Rejuvenation can overlap the other two as well. In early levels that could easily be the difference between dying to Ignite, and living with a sliver of health.

Crystalline Flask is going to be a useful, cheap purchase for everyone, save for the rare case where zero sustain is necessary at all (and even then). There are simply far too many factors in its favor, and practically nothing bad to say about it. As a result, you can expect to see a lot of Flasks come Season 3.

Season 3: Sightstone

Very few items are going to make it through the Season 3 revamp unscathed, and plenty of new choices will present themselves to players of all roles and skill levels. A number of these altered or alien items are worthy of exclusive examination. From now until Season 3 begins, and possibly even after, I'll be reviewing one of these items every day.

Today's item is the brand new Sightstone.

Sightstone: (700g)
100 Health
Passive: UNIQUE - Ward Refresh: Starts with 4 charges and refill each time you return to the shop.
Active: UNIQUE - Ghost Ward: Consumes a charge to place a Sight Ward. You may have a maximum of 2 wards from this item at once.


The strength of this item should be readily apparent to any support player. For 700g you immediately gain 300g in wards and ~250g in Health. Assuming you place these wards continually, it's effectively an 8gp10 item. With its current sell value of 490g it is actually cheaper to buy this item, place two sets of wards, and sell it than to simply buy and place four wards. Even if they nerf the sell value to 50%, a standard for gp10s, it will still be a mere six minutes before enough wards have been placed for the item to break even in value.

Sightstone's ridiculous cost efficiency is going to have interesting ramifications for more than just support players. At higher rankings it's expected that junglers and mid players will also ward in order to track the enemy jungler and warn of impending ganks or roaming opponents. With two access points by mid, warding can be very costly. Yet, with Sightstone the entire burden can be easily shouldered by one of the two players. Even top can make use of this item, as it's not uncommon for enemy junglers to sneak through the fog of war into the lane brush. Unless you have no intention to ward at all Sightstone is going to be an important item for almost every player on the map.

This incredible utility is likely to get the item nerfed. While dropping 700g at once for a Sightstone can be a little difficult for a support, it will be trivial for anyone else. The theoretical power discrepancy between a champion with Sightstone and one with stronger items of similar cost is limited by the lack of vision forgoing wards provides. Unless one's jungler or mid is inept (which, to be fair, is a common condition in lower rankings) the champion who doesn't purchase Sightstone is the one with a disadvantage.

On top of that, Sightstone actually has an upgrade. For an additional 600g (475g for a Ruby Crystal and 125g for the combine cost) you can acquire a Ruby Sightstone, which increases the Health bonus to 300, charges to 5, and number of simultaneous wards to 3. Supports are likely to be the only ones particularly interested in this upgrade, as only they can afford to be so slot-inefficient.

Sightstone doesn't represent the death of wards entirely. You'll still need to pick up wards at the beginning (unless you think you can hold out for a minute or two with no items whatsoever) at the very least. Pink wards will take on a particular significance given the ability of opponents to ward and reward important locations. Late in the game three wards won't be nearly enough to control the map. Still, the amount of gold spent on wards is likely to decrease drastically thanks to this item.

I'm fairly certain that Riot doesn't want the map lit up like a Christmas Tree, and with the nerf to Oracle's there won't be much preventing such a situation. It takes no special foresight to see that Sightstone will be treasured not only by supports, but by laners sick of roaming mids and jungle ganks. Sightstone will be the equivalent to a fast expansion in StarCraft, only without any significant all-in cheeses that might punish the play.

I fully expect that Riot will be forced to impose some limit on the number of Sightstones in the game. Until then, abuse it all you can when Season 3 begins.

Season 3: Utility Masteries

In Season 2 the Utility tree was much maligned and generally avoided, save for the first nine points. Nothing it offered was particularly compelling, with some supports opting to ignore it in favor of the Defense tree. Season 3's revisions make it significantly more competitive.

Obligatory mastery calculator links:

Season 2: http://leaguecraft.com/masteries
Season 3: http://www.finalesfunkeln.com/s3/

Unlike the Defense tree, which was almost completely uprooted, the Utility looks very similar to its previous incarnation. However, plenty of masteries have been shuffled around and altered, and the results are generally very good.

The first tier now features Wanderer, once known as Swiftness. The frequently taken 2% Movement Speed mastery now only works out of combat, cementing its place as a tool for roaming, clearing wards, and traveling back to the lane. Meditation, the Mana Regen mastery, has also been moved to the first tier, but is otherwise unchanged. These simple changes belie the larger ones coming in the remaining tiers.

Mastermind, once the final mastery in the Utility tree, has been moved all the way to the second tier. It now costs three points and only reduces summoner spell cooldowns by 10%, but the change in accessibility is notable. Scout still appears to be something of a throwaway mastery despite its buffs, but will at least be useful in specific situations. Expanded Mind is now in this tier without any other alteration. Also of note is a new mastery, Artifacer, which reduces the cooldowns on item active abilities by 15%. Overall this tier presents some interesting choices, especially given the increased importance of item actives.

The third tier still sports Runic Affinity and Greed without change. Transmutation, however, has moved and in its place are Biscuiteer and Strength of Spirit. The latter of these two was moved down from the penultimate tier, and received a notable nerf to compensate. Seeing as how it was practically never taken in Season 2, and the addition of new mana items in Season 3, this seems a fair trade. Biscuiteer is a one point mastery which grants the player a one off item at the start of the game. The Total Biscuit of Rejuvenation heals 80 Health and 50 Mana over 10 seconds, roughly adding up to one potion's worth of restoration. This is a new and interesting precedent for masteries, and makes another appearance in the next tier.

Explorer is a one point mastery which grants the player a special ward at the start of a game. It only lasts 60 seconds, but nevertheless represents an opportunity to detect invasions, avoid face checking, and control brush. Vampirism combines the old Life Steal and Spell Vamp masteries into one, forcing carries who wish to load up on sustain to make sacrifices in the Offense tree. Wealth has received a slight buff, granting 25-50 gold, which opens up new starting item possibilities such as Cloth Armor + Crystalline Flask. Only Awareness is unchanged.

The only notable change to the penultimate tier is the new Pickpocket mastery. This mastery grants 3g (5g if you're melee) every time you auto-attack an enemy champion (on a 5 second cooldown). Theoretically one could gain 3.6-6gp10 from this mastery alone, if your opponents were accommodating. In practice it will be worth far, far less, but as Greed is commonly taken for a mere 0.5gp10 per point, one would only need to auto-attack a champion once or twice per minute to match that value. Unless you're jungling, you should definitely grab this mastery if you're this deep already.

The final Utility mastery is Nimble, which increases Movement Speed by 3%. That's a significant boost for one point, considering that in Season 2 it cost four points for 2% Movement Speed. Placing this mastery so deep in the Utility tree is clearly Riot's answer to the Movement Speed stacking that was rampant in Season 2. If a champion wishes to zoom around with 400+ Movement Speed at level 1, they now have to sacrifice significant offensive and defensive potential.

The Utility tree is true to its name in Season 3. Every mastery in the tree somehow enhances player choices and actions. Whether it's reaching a location sooner, using abilities or items more frequently, getting items faster, or leveling more quickly, the Utility tree clearly enhances a champion in very different ways than the other mastery trees. Compared to Season 2, the new Utility tree is a compelling place to invest points even for non-Supports.

Season 3: Defense Masteries

After a brief interruption due to a national holiday involving the mass consumption of plump fowl, the examination of Season 3 masteries continues. Today we'll look at the new Defense masteries.

Again, you can follow along using these mastery calculators:

Season 2: http://leaguecraft.com/masteries
Season 3: http://www.finalesfunkeln.com/s3/

It should be immediately apparent that the Defense masteries have changed fairly dramatically. While a few of the old favorites remain untouched, almost everything has been at least moved, if not replaced entirely.

The Armor and Magic Resistance masteries are conspicuously missing from the first tier, replaced by the Health Regen and Health per Level masteries. The former of these two has undergone a large revision, increasing the amount of Health Regen granted based on how much Health you're missing. Summoner's Resolve and Tough Skin are notable in that they are two of the only masteries in the entire Defense tree which have not been moved or altered in any way.

The second tier features the Armor and Magic Resistance masteries that were missing from the first. Moving them down a tier makes them slightly less accessible, a necessary change given their ubiquitous use at the end of Season 2. Bladed Armor is also now in this tier, meaning all the essential jungle masteries can be obtained with only seven or eight points invested.

In the third tier is Veteran's Scars, the only remaining Defense mastery which has not been altered or moved. Indomitable has been renamed Unyielding, and now only reduces damage from champions. Two new masteries also appear in this tier. Relentless decreases the effectiveness of slows (e.g. a 40% slow becomes a 34% slow), and Safeguard reduces damage incurred by turrets. While the Defense tree is useful to any champion, these and other specialized masteries make it clear that this tree is primarily aimed at helping bruisers and tanks.

All of the previous fourth tier Defense masteries have been removed, leaving the tree completely without Movement Speed or Cooldown Reduction. The new fourth tier is populated by Tenacious and Juggernaut, two masteries which split the crowd control reduction and % Maximum Health once given by Season 2's final Defense mastery. There is also Block, a mastery which reduces damage from champion auto-attacks. This tier is one of the strongest in the Defense tree due to the power of crowd control reduction and the direct effective health benefits of % Maximum Health.

The Defense tree's penultimate tier is also completely different. Defender is an incredibly strong mastery in a team fight, granting up to five Armor and Magic Resistance with a single point. Legendary Armor isn't quite so amazing, but if you're a champion with a strong defensive steroid or defense itemization heavy on Armor and Magic Resistance it can be potent. Good Hands has moved here from Utility, and now only costs one point for the full effect. Finally, Reinforced Armor serves to help protect a tank or bruiser from the crit happy end-game of enemy AD carries. Because both this tier and the previous tier have so many compelling masteries, putting more than 21 points into Defense may be common.

Honor Guard is now the final Defense mastery, and costs only one point for 3% damage reduction. In Season 2 it cost three points for half the effect, making Honor Guard the recipient of one of the largest buffs any mastery has ever seen. If you're going to go deep into Defense, this is a must-have mastery.

Overall, the Defense tree is much, much stronger in Season 3. In Season 2 most everything past the third tier had little to do with actually tanking, or was a very marginal increase in durability. The new masteries are quite the opposite, very few masteries do not relate directly to taking less damage, and almost all have value to one champion or another. Even though the masteries are aimed toward bruisers and tanks, even carries and supports may well be inclined to invest heavily in this tree.

Update: Mondays with Monte

Starting tomorrow I'm going to stream a weekly show I call "Mondays with Monte". The goal of the show is to help players improve through analysis, replays, community interaction, and a touch of good humor. The show will start at 8:00 PM CST every Monday, and should last about an hour. Never fear, I'll keep this blog updated, though the show is going to take priority where necessary.

This has been a long time in coming. The original idea has been spinning around my head for over a year, but other projects and interests kept it on the backburner. The impending chaos of Season 3 seemed like a good opportunity to put this idea into action. The Season 3 changes won't be the limit of the show, but it's starting point.

Tomorrow night I'll be discussing the Season 3 jungle. I hope my immense readership (*ahem*) will join me for an hour that is hopefully both entertaining and edifying.

Season 3: Offense Masteries

The masteries revamp is too big a topic to tackle in one post, unless you're one of those noble souls who enjoys reading fifty page white papers, so I'm dividing it up into three obvious sections. Today we'll be covering the new Offense masteries.

You can follow along using these mastery calculators:

Season 2: http://leaguecraft.com/masteries
Season 3: http://www.finalesfunkeln.com/s3/

There are only two new masteries in the Offense tree, the least of any, but they are interesting nonetheless.

Spellsword is a one point mastery adds 5% of your AP to your auto-attacks. 5% isn't much, but for one point it's a reasonably strong mastery. AP champions who do a lot of auto-attacking, such as Teemo, Diana, Twisted Fate, and Eve, could certainly get some mileage out of it, though most won't.

Frenzy is another one point mastery that grants a 10% Attack Speed buff for two seconds after a crit. Lethality, everyone's favorite Crit Damage mastery, is its prerequisite. It's an interesting concept, but ultimately feels fairly weak. By the time you have enough Crit to reliably proc the buff 10% Attack Speed will hardly be noticeable. It is only one point, but it's nothing to write home about.

The only mastery outright removed from the Offense tree was Vampirism. Anyone seeking that 3% Life Steal must now venture into the Utility tree instead. Everything else should be familiar, if jumbled around.

The first tier in Offense now sports the Attack Speed and Cooldown Reduction masteries, instead of Flat AD and AP. This decouples them from the Penetration masteries they were previously prerequisites for. Having them as prerequisites was always slightly awkward as they aren't otherwise tied to one damage type. Moving them to the first tier also makes picking them up easier for those who would dive deep into the other mastery trees.

The AD and AP per Level masteries fill the holes left in the second tier. What I find interesting about this change is how valuable it makes the first nine points of the Offense tree compared to the rest. The difference in offensive power between a carry who goes all the way into Offense versus one who invests in other trees is very, very slight. Also, Demolitionist has been renamed Destruction and now increases damage done to towers by 2.5-5%, though it costs two points instead of one.

The third tier is almost identical, minus the absence of the AD per Level mastery. Interestingly, this encourages players to take Havoc. It's the only mastery in the tier which isn't one point with a prerequisite, and most champions won't be interested in the masteries they've already skipped. While Havoc has been buffed to 2% from 1.5%, it's still a fairly weak mastery. This is part of why going further than nine points into Offense isn't as good as it might first appear.

The fourth tier contains Spellsword, Lethality and the Flat AD and AP masteries that used to be in the first tier. These latter two have been buffed by 50%, but are still fairly weak compared to their per Level peers. Lethality has been increased to two points and is half as effective for ranged ADs, essentially dividing its value per point for them by four. Again, the relatively weak nature of this tier calls into question the value of pushing forward.

The final two tiers are almost identical, save for the presence of Frenzy in the penultimate tier and a slight change to Executioner. Executioner now increases damage by 5% against targets at less than 50% health, versus 6% at less than 40%. This makes the mastery stronger as it is now slightly harder to leap frog the benefit when bursting an opponent. Sunder also benefits from the Penetration changes I discussed yesterday, increasing its potential effectiveness by up to 220%. These tiers are strong, but given all the questionable points that had to be invested to reach them they are, by proxy, also questionable.

Offense may be the weakest of the three trees post-revamp, and that may be slightly intentional. The community has a great deal of inertia when it comes to ideas and changes, and in Season 2 the Offense tree was arguably the strongest by far. Its slight disadvantage in Season 3 may be compensation for its current greatness.

Season 3: Penetration

It was only a few months ago that I discussed Penetration and Reduction mechanics. Now we've come full circle, and in Season 3 the order of application has gone full circle, return to its original form:

% Reduction
Flat Reduction
% Penetration
Flat Penetration

The strength of Penetration on items, runes, and masteries has been reduced almost universally for both Flat and % varieties, but champion abilities have largely remained untouched. The net result is that many champions are poised for some creative use of game mechanics.

Xerath is the only AP champion with a Penetration buff, and it clocks in at a whopping 40%. Combined with 8% from Arcane Knowledge and 35% from Void Staff, Xerath ignores 64% of his opponents' Magic Resistance. This makes any Flat Penetration roughly 2.8 times as effective as normal. Stacking Penetration runes with Sorcerer's Shoes and Haunting Guise, Xerath can completely ignore up to 140 Magic Resistance. Even an AD carry with Magic Resistance Glyphs, Aegis Aura, Soraka Passive, and a Quick Silver Sash will still be taking true damage. Now realize Xerath routinely hits three or more champions with his off-screen bombardment. Fun times ahead.

Nidalee lacks a personal buff, but can potentially debuff opponents for 40% reduction on both Armor and Magic Resistance. This gives her the same potential as Xerath, provided an opponent steps on one of her traps. Considering the raw damage on a maximum range spear, this should terrify anyone who abhors poke compositions.

Trundle is perhaps one of the more frightening champions. Over the course of six seconds his ultimate steals 30-50% of a champion's Armor and Magic Resistance. With just Penetration runes, masteries, and a Black Cleaver enemies with 100 Armor or less are as good as bare. If you go absolutely nuts on Penetration you could theoretically ignore up to 224 Armor, but then you'd have few defenses yourself.

Olaf gains 30 Armor Penetration passively through his ultimate, which is as much as anyone can stack from runes and masteries combined. His lack of a built-in % Reduction or Penetration mechanic helps curb the insanity somewhat, but targets at less than 100 Armor will still take true damage from all of his attacks with the basic Black Cleaver setup. If you thought Olaf screaming toward you was scary before, wait until Season 3.

Wukong is perhaps the bruiser best positioned to make you shake your fist in anger. With Black Cleaver he can potentially reduce the armor of your entire team by 25%. Combined with the 30% from his Q on one priority target, he and his team can ignore a lot of armor. You should be very thankful there's no melee equivalent to Sorcerer's Shoes, as he would eat it right up.

Interestingly, the big loser in this equation is Flat Reduction. While it's applied after % Reduction, it's still applied before % Penetration and is therefore relatively weak. Unless people completely give up on trying to stack Armor or Magic Resistance against certain champions, Flat Reduction will only be good in the earlier stages of the game.

Still, the potential for Soraka to drop people into negative Magic Resistance is always amusing to consider. Between a full stack of Starcall, Abyssal Scepter, and Malady a foolish champion could be brought down to -134 Magic Resistance, increasing the damage they take from spells by 62%. The chances of anyone being that foolish and surviving long enough to reach that point are nil, but it's still fun to think about.

In any case, the practical result of the Penetration changes is that Health itemization is going to be considerably more important than before. Assassins and bruisers are going to be far more effective when and if they get on top of your carries. Even for champions who don't have ridiculous Penetration/Reduction tools built in, the new mechanics will make them significantly more deadly. Proper positioning and protection, skills that have long been sidelined, are going to be critical to survival.

We're only two mechanical changes into Season 3 and already it's becoming evident how alien the game will seem. Hold on to your Teemo hats, because while there will be a few spots of apparently normality going forward, in general things are only going to get crazier from here.

Season 3: Movement Speed

A heck of a lot is changing in Season 3, so much that it overwhelms even detail-mongers like myself. To help you digest the metaphorical mountain of information I'll be zeroing in on specific topics for analysis and explanation. Today's subject: Movement Speed.

In Season 3 Boots of Speed will only provide 25 Movement Speed, and to compensate all champions' base Movement Speed will be increased by 25. With Boots of Speed being only half as effective, other items will rise in viability. This change also gives junglers a break, as the new jungle severely limits which junglers can safely start boots. If the lanes all still had a 50 Movement Speed boost ganks would have been impossible past Bronze. In many cases picking up boots is going to be an afterthought, something you can put off a few minutes in order to pick up an important early item.

In addition, Season 3 has five "enchants" for boots which can be applied to any Tier 2 boots. They are:

• Alacrity: +15 Movement Speed (475g)
• Captain: Allied champions running toward you gain 8% bonus movement speed. Nearby minions gain 25% bonus movement speed. (650g)
• Distortion: Decreases cooldown of Ghost, Teleport and Flash by 25%. (475g)
• Furor: Whenever you deal damage with a single target attack or spell, you gain 12% movement speed that decays over 2 seconds. (650g)
• Homeguard: Whenever you are at fountain, you instantly gain full health and mana, and gain a 200% movement speed boost that decays over 8 seconds (4 seconds on Crystal Scar). (475g)

There's something for everyone here, though some are more specific than others. Alacrity is an all purpose enchant, something that any champion can make use of (though champions with % Movement Speed boosts will benefit slightly more). Captain is obviously designed for pushers, initiators, and supports. Distortion is useful primarily for Flash-dependent initiators, but would be also be a favorite of Singed or Hecarim players. Furor is useful both for carries who need to kite, and the assassins and bruisers who need to stick to them. Finally, Homeguard is good for sprinting back to lane/jungle in the early-game, or defending in the late-game. All in all, these help make boots an item slot that isn't entirely forgotten past 10-12 minutes into the game.

Movement Speed items in general have seen vast reductions in their effectiveness. Phantom Dancer, once the proud bearer of 15% Movement Speed, will only sport 5%. All Movement Speed items will fall between 5% and 8%, save for those with actives/temporary boosts. In short, the days where half the champions on the field sprinted around at 450+ Movement Speed are numbered, and having a % Movement Speed boost should be more effective than before.

Movement Speed masteries are also being shifted and heavily modified. Initiator will be replaced by a mastery which reduces the effectiveness of slows. The 2% Movement Speed mastery in the Utility Tree is moving to the first tier, but only works out of combat. At the very bottom of the Utility Tree is a new mastery which will grant 3% Movement Speed called Nimble, but obviously will require a full investment. It will be very difficult to be both tanky and mobile simply from masteries.

Overall, the champions dependent on %-based items for their speed will be slower when moving from place to place, but everyone else will hardly notice. In-combat effects like Furor will preserve the battle between those who kite and those who are kited. Mobility Boots will still be a way to catch unsuspecting lanes off guard, especially with the addition of Alacrity. As with all things Season 3 the Movement Speed changes are both alien and familiar, and it will take time to adjust.

Update: PBE Madness

For those who are curious I did not, in fact, have any idea the Season 3 changes would be hitting the PBE last night. My oddly timed post regarding how to prepare for the chaos was a coincidence, and my cryptic twitter message was for a secret personal project the details of which will be revealed in due time.

Now that it's all out there, both reignofgaming.net and surrenderat20.net have good round ups of all the crazy stuff that's on the PBE. You can only sign up for a PBE account at the start of the month, so unfortunately those of you who are without one will have to live vicariously through streams, blogs, and YouTube videos (the queue for the PBE is probably as long as the Great Wall of China anyway).

I'll talk about everything in much greater detail as I have the opportunity to test and digest it all, but for now here are my initial impressions:

• The new jungle is poorly balanced, much in the same way the Season 2 revamp was.
• The new HUD is pretty and clean, but the shop's sounds are unsatisfying.
• Nami is about as "Regal" as Ariel.
• Xypherous wasn't kidding when he said Runaan's Hurricane + Muramasa would drain your mana fast.

From here on I'll be picking out specific topics to discuss. Quite likely the jungle will be the first one, as it's close to my heart and also in the process of being butchered. In the meantime, enjoy your information overload.

Pre-Season 3: Elo Compression

Ranked matches at moment seem to be wildly random, with newbies running into exceptional players at odd Elos. There's a method to this madness, and it's the result of Elo compression combined with the wild swings of placement matches.

It's another case of simple math. Consider the formula used for the Elo reset:

Pre-Season 3 Elo = (Season 2 Elo - 1200) / 2 + 1200

The practical upshot of this formula is that the further you were from 1200 Elo, the greater your gain or loss. At the same time, early placement matches can swing Elo by as much as 50 points. In this situation one victory or loss can is worth the equivalent of 100 Elo at the end of Season 2. It doesn't take a psychic to see where this is going.

Take two hypothetical players, one a 1400 at the end of Season 2 and the other 1800, and they'll be at 1300 and 1500 Elo respectively at the start of Pre-Season 3. All it takes to bridge what was a 400 Elo gap in Season 2 are two lucky wins and two unlucky losses respectively. Given the luck of some players, bad or good, even greater gaps can occur with reasonable regularity. The result are games which are even more random than normal, which feeds into the process and sustains the insanity of it all.

As I've played the past few days I've run into players who were obviously platinum-level down in the 1300 range, as well as players who were obviously lucky to have achieved bronze in the very same game. It's an intriguing time to queue.

Over the next week or so the madness will die down, but for now you at least understand what brought it all about in the first place.

Season 3: Be Prepared

Riot has been slowly doling out bits and pieces of information regarding Season 3, and you may well have noticed a distinct lack of posts highlighting them. I've already indulged in pure speculation, and I'm avoiding any further vague prognostications until we have a complete picture. Once all the changes hit the PBE you can expect a quick review of my wildly inaccurate predictions, followed by more thoughtful analysis.

In the meantime, it's clear that the breadth and scope of the impending changes will result in a fair amount of chaos. Much of what you currently know about the game will suddenly be wrong, from viable junglers to competitive top lanes to proper AP builds and more. To adapt, players across the Elo spectrum will be forced to leave their comfort zones and venture into the unknown.

The first step in preparing for this age of upheaval is realizing there's no substitute for experience. Analysis and theory are a supplement to, not a replacement for, playing the game. Even the most incredible of theorycrafters must eventually test their models against the reality of the game itself. Being mentally prepared to dive headlong into the unknown is critical; if you become afraid to play you'll never adapt.

With that in mind, take the time to familiarize yourself with all the new changes before they hit the live servers. Once the changes are on the PBE you can expect websites such as surrenderat20.net to have comprehensive lists to review, and I'll obviously be doing my own analysis here. You don't want to be that player who sits in the fountain for the first few minutes of the game reading tooltips and gawking in confusion, so take advantage of the many resources out there before you're staring down opponents wielding powers you cannot comprehend, let alone combat.

If you've been following the news Season 3 looks to be an exciting time for League of Legends. Be prepared to approach the game with the same intrepid curiosity (though not the same innocence) as when you first played.

Update: Dr. Mundo or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Queue

Preseason 3 has begun, Elos have been reset, rewards have been issued, and placement matches are underway. Now is the perfect time to overcome a longstanding problem that's been hindering me for some time, fear.

In both of the previous seasons I experienced a severe mental block when it came to playing solo queue. Having spent so much time poring over the intellectual side of the game, theorycrafting and testing mechanics, min/maxing junglers, and analyzing plays and team compositions, I became irrationally fearful that any failing on my part could be construed as a referendum on these important practices. In my own strange, twisted way I have an ego about my Elo, and that needs to go if I am to actually improve at the game.

I have a fairly straightforward plan for rehabilitation, queue and play without regard for Elo. It takes approximately a month for habits to be established, so hopefully by 2013 queuing will be thoroughly engrained in my habits.

If you also have problems queuing I highly recommend taking advantage of this particular moment in time. Due to Elo resets and distance from any sort of reckoning the pre/early season has the least pressure of any time period. If you wait, as I did in past seasons, for the pressure to mount the problem will only be exacerbated.

For now I'm learning to stop worrying and love to queue. More than that, I'm not focused on winning as much as I am learning. This means avoiding comfortable champions and roles, trying new things, having concrete goals and the like. I'll be streaming my misadventures when I can, complete with my new webcam. If you've ever wanted to make fun of me for silly mannerisms and idiosyncrasies, there's never been a better time.

Quote: On Snowballs

"Not a snowball champion's chance in Elo hell!"

-Idiom

Patch Day: Pre-Season 3

The Pre-Season 3 patch is here, and unfortunately there isn't much to see. All of the juicy, exciting changes aren't coming until the Season 3 Patch proper. For now all we have are a large number of bug fixes and a few minor changes.

Elise received very significant buffs to her ratios, and some extra utility on her skill shot stun. These changes seem premature given that it's barely been two weeks since her launch. Particularly with the huge Season 3 upheaval incoming, it's too much too soon. Given the versatility of her kit chances were she would have found a place for herself without this sort of intervention.

Kassadin's Nether Blade got a mixed buff/nerf. It's never been a central part of his playstyle, and that isn't likely to change after this. What makes notable is that it diminishes his ability to sneak Inhibitors, and also makes Attack Speed/AP troll builds more entertaining.

Katarina's base damage on her two principal damage abilities was nerfed slightly. This very marginally reduces her ability to snowball, as level advantages will be lessened. However, the changes are still very minor, and with Season 3 coming soon who will be overpowered and underpowered is anyone's guess.

Ziggs can now do bonus damage to turrets with his passive. This is a surprising change, thematically appropriate and minor as it may seem, as Riot rarely, if ever, increases an AP champion's ability to damage turrets or structures. The explicitness of this change, even as Kassadin lost his ability to deal extra damage to Inhibitors and the Nexus, is striking and unexplained.

All the other champion changes were bug fixes, mana cost adjustments, tooltip alterations, or otherwise not noteworthy enough to mention. If you're a fan of the Twisted Treeline or Dominion there are some item changes that might interest you, but as they don't affect Summoner's Rift (yet?) I won't discuss them here.

When Season 3 does finally hit you can expect extensive analysis on everything from the new items and masteries to the jungle and where the meta will go. It's going to be an exciting time, but for now this is the calm before the storm.

Quote: On Math

"Is this just math that you do as a solo-queuer to make yourself feel better? Or is this real?"

-Megyn Kelly

Thought: Why Ezreal?

Despite hefty nerfs, Ezreal was still the premier carry at MLG Dallas. His continued popularity at the professional level isn't a coincidence, Ezreal has the best kit around for that level of play.

To understand what makes Ezreal so good competitively we'll have to cover a wide variety of topics. Hold on to your keyboards, because we're going to be diving through a whirlpool of mechanics, laning principles, and meta elements as we explore Ezreal's dominance.

That Ezreal is one of a limited set of AD carries with an repositioning ability is well known, but Ezreal is unique in that he is the only one with a blink. Blinks are nigh-instantaneous and mechanically different from the dashes and jumps that Graves, Corki, Tristana and Caitlyn all use. Dashes have a fatal flaw in that the champion's collision detection lags behind the dash, and jumps are even worse. The champion may look as though they have escaped the range of an ability, but in reality they are still hit and suffer the consequences. This makes using them to evade significantly more difficult. Blinks are not only faster than dashes, but can not be interrupted once they've begun. Even if a crowd control ability lands as you blink, the blink will still happen. Blinks also have far fewer issues when dealing with terrain. Because of all the advantages of blinks, Ezreal is a significantly safer pick.

Ezreal's security is further increased by Mystic Shot. Even when severely disadvantaged in lane, Ezreal can continue to farm from a great distance. This safety mechanism, combined with Ezreal's blink, makes zoning him nearly impossible if he plays his cards right. Mystic Shot also provides a tool for harass, skirmishing, and checking brush. That it also applies on-hit effects such as Sheen and Phage is icing on the cake. Ezreal is simply an extremely safe laning choice when put in the right hands.

The mid-game also happens to be both one of Ezreal's main strengths and the current focus of the professional meta. Essence Flux's use as a tower and objective pushing tool sets him above his peers. Trueshot Barrage is a powerful ability for clearing creep waves that either inhibit a tower push or pressure one of his own towers. Combined with Ezreal's safety, he's simply the best mid-game carry.

Normally I would predict that all of this would warrant further nerfs to Ezreal. However, with Season 3 on the way and vast revisions to masteries, items, and jungling, it's likely that Riot isn't going to nerf champions who happen to match the meta. For all his strengths Ezreal has poor creep clearing aside from his ultimate, and a relatively weak late game. In a different meta, such as the one which preceded what we have now, Ezreal could easily be the worst AD carry. If you're sick and tired of seeing Ezreal in every match, you'll have to wait until Season 3 begins in earnest.

Prognostication: Preseason Updates

Morello posted some information regarding many upcoming changes. It's all very exciting and good conversation fodder, but the analytically minded will notice the absence of something important: numbers.

As much as it may tickle the mind to consider the implications of further jungle changes, alterations to masteries, new items, and modified summoner spells, lacking any hard data distinctly reduces the accuracy of any analysis. Because all of the information provided is generalized, analysis can only be done in wide strokes with a great many "ifs" and "buts".

What better time for another prognostication?

Measurement should be largely trivial, as most of my predictions will only require a quick comparison to actual patch notes. Without further ado, here are my predictions in topical order:

Items:

• Van Damm's Pillager will be ported to Summoner's Rift.
• Infinity Edge will be unmade.
• Spirit Visage and Haunting Guise will be given upgrade paths.
• Tenacity items (i.e. Moonflare Spellblade, Cloak and Dagger, Eliesa's Miracle) will be significantly rebalanced.

Jungle:

• Most junglers will need to start Cloth Armor in order to have enough health to gank.
• The new Jungler items will cost 1100-1300g, and be built from Cloth Armor.
• The experience and gold value of the jungle will increase by 10-20%.
• Spawn timers will not be changed.

Masteries:

• Movement speed masteries will be moved deeper into their respective trees, but will increase in potency.
• Strength of Spirit will be buffed.
• Havoc is going to be replaced by a mastery which increases ability damage specifically by a larger margin, and moved deeper into the tree.

Summoner Spells:

• Flash and Ignite's cooldowns will only increase by 15-25 seconds.
• Heal will be a single target, ally-targeted spell.
• Revive's cooldown will be decreased by a full minute, and the speed boost will last slightly longer.
• Clarity will also restore Energy.

Other:

• Riot will release another champion designed to be an AP jungler, only to have them be overpowered mid. 

We'll see how I do in the days ahead.

Thought: Asian Ascension

Season 2 ends tomorrow, and with it the longstanding dominance of North American teams. At both the World Championships and MLG Dallas, the best teams this continent had to offer were thoroughly crushed. As we begin Season 3, it's important to understand how this happened, what it means, and what the future may hold.

For most of the past three years the League of Legends competitive scene didn't exist outside of North America and Europe. It wasn't until May 2011 that LoL launched in China and Taiwan, and South Korea didn't see the game until December. Without a thriving playerbase to draw talent from, eastern teams could not compete in those early days. Despite nearly a two year handicap Asian teams are now reigning supreme.

One of the many factors at work is basic infrastructure. While they may have started years behind, Asia is an eSports hotbed, complete with coaches, sponsors, gaming houses, institutional knowledge, and cultural recognition. The principles for running a LoL team are not remarkably different from running a team for StarCraft or CounterStrike, it was merely a matter of applying tools they already had at their disposal. Europe also has some of this infrastructure, which partially explains why European teams have recently been more competitive than North American teams. North America largely lacks these sources of support and organization, putting the continent at a disadvantage.

Another important factor is discipline. In part because of culture and the aforementioned infrastructure, Asian teams typically have extremely disciplined schedules, practice plans, and methods. They not only work harder, but also smarter. It's not enough for North American teams to start practicing for nine or ten hours a day, that practice needs to have direction and meaning. Some teams have begun making baby steps toward acquiring the infrastructure and discipline to maintain a presence on the world stage, but it will be years before the region as a whole can match what is already the norm overseas.

The rise of streaming as a popular and lucrative activity is also a critical factor. While streaming is seemingly innocuous, much of what constitutes good practice makes for poor entertainment (or a good way to tip your hand to your competitors). Streaming represents a conflict of interest for professional players; they can make a good deal of money from streaming if they're popular, but doing so can impact tournament performance. Failing to stream consistently and for extended periods can also cause viewers to migrate to other streamers. While it's possible to stream frequently without measurable problems, it's not simple. Arguably, all of the popular North American teams, and a number of European players, have at some point streamed at the cost of a tournament performance.

Ironically, going forward it may be streaming which saves the North American scene. Many other eSports have been dominated by Asian players and teams in the past, to the detriment of other regions. While viewers may begin to tune out international tournaments as their favorite teams flounder, the persistent and even increasing viewer numbers might preserve interest. So long as a given region is invested in its teams, even if it's only in watching them stream, the potential for regional improvement remains.

In the meantime, the next six months will bear witness to the increasing prominence of Asia in LoL. As hopeful as I am that this will be the eSport where North America finally gets its footing and establishes itself as a world contender, 2013 will be a rough year. TSM, the best North America have to offer, has been crushed in back to back tournaments, and it showed on their faces at MLG Dallas. Depending what happens next, we could have a renaissance as new faces emerge, or a rebirth of our current teams. If  these growing pains can be endured, North America may yet have a chance at the Season 3 World Championships.

Quote: On 3D

Neo: "Why do my eyes hurt?"
Morpheus: "You're watching MLG Dallas."

-The Matrix

Quote: On n00bs

"Several people have told me that my inability to suffer n00bs gladly is one of my main weaknesses."

-Edsger W. Dijkstra

Season 2 Finals: Game 4

The final game of the world championships was incredible, and much closer than the previous match.

With first pick in their hands, Azubu Frost left Jayce available and instead banned Maokai. By removing the strongest counter to AoE compositions Frost forced Taipei Assassins to ban Sona and allow Jayce to pass through. Frost then enacted their bold plan to run a poke composition against TPA. Poke compositions are notoriously weak if they give up early game advantages, and Frost was choosing to run this composition against a team who had established early game leads three games in a row.

Having picked up Jayce, Frost masked their plan with Shyvana and Lulu. While Lulu is a strong pick for the composition, her ultimate combined with Shyvana's is a powerful engage. Shyvana doesn't bring a lot to a poke comp herself, but is a strong counter-ganker with her speed and durability. Frost was more concerned that CloudTemplar be able to secure their early game than contribute poke or disengage and used this decision to hide their intentions. Picking Graves and Lux finalized the composition. Frost chose Graves over Ezreal due to a need for additional disengage, which Graves' Smokescreen provides in spades. Lux, meanwhile, is arguably the single best poke AP in the game. While definitively a poke composition, Frost's team was not particularly weak in a team fight. If they could eke out an advantage by poking down towers, they would certainly be able to finish off TPA.

TPA's picks were very similar to the previous game, with the notable swaps of Shen instead of Jax and Ezreal instead of Vayne. Shen's global presence plays well with TPA's early aggression, and can potentially shut down a poke comp through his split-pushing. Grabbing him also prevented Frost from potentially running a Shen jungle. TPA may have wanted to field Vayne again, as Nunu is an incredibly good support for her, but her close range makes her a liability against poke compositions. Recognizing by that point what they were up against, TPA made the right decision.

Unfortunately for Frost the game started out very poorly. They attempted to invade TPA's Red, not knowing that it had been warded. With Stanley covering the nearby ramp to Frost's Blue, TPA had a very good idea of where Frost was hiding. TPA, rather than trade buffs, camped out near their mid tower to set up a counter-ambush. The moment Frost left the Wraith bush and entered ward vision, TPA moved to attack. While RapidStar escaped by the skin of his teeth, Madlife made an unfortunate route choice in full vision of the ward and was hunted down. Woong then compounded the mistake by running into the warded bush, hoping to steal Red. Before he even entered the bush Stanley was already in a position to flank him, resulting in a 2-0 kill lead for TPA at the very outset.

However, because of all the action Shy had obtained a fair amount of farm bottom. Sending Bebe and Mistake to 2v1 against Shy would barely have much effect while giving Woong and Madlife a chance to catch up and weaken Stanley. Instead TPA pressed their advantage by simply inverting the bottom and top lanes, placing both teams' duos top and solos bottom.

For the next four minutes Frost prevented TPA from extending their advantage, up until TPA executed one of the greatest series of subtle plays in the history of League of Legends. Though one coordinated action after another, TPA maneuvered Stanley from bottom to top and Bebe/Mistake from top to bottom, giving themselves massive Dragon control and leaving Frost a step behind.

It began innocuously with a gank bottom by Lilballz. While the gank itself didn't result in much of note, it gave Stanley the opportunity to farm and push the lane. Meanwhile, Toyz sent RapidStar back to base. Toyz then took Wraiths and roamed top, leaving Lilballz mid to pick up farm. Having pushed bottom, Stanley recalled to buy Heart of Gold and headed toward mid. Toyz' gank failed to result in kills, but sent both Woong and Madlife to base. Toyz and Mistake recalled as well, leaving Bebe to free farm as Lilballz handed mid over to Stanley.

Next, Mistake followed Toyz to mid rather than return to top lane. As Bebe recalled top, Stanley handed mid lane over to Toyz. Then Stanley, Mistake, and Lilballz attempted to at Frost's Blue. While the steal and subsequent gank top were both unsuccessful, Stanley had now shifted top lane, while Bebe was already bottom with Mistake en route.

As Toyz soloed Blue, Lilballz played off the expectation that junglers will assist their team with buffs to gank top once again. This gank did not result in any kills, but again bought breathing room for Stanley. With Stanley in a good position top and Shy pushed to his tower bottom TPA had complete Dragon control, and took it uncontested and without any threat to their towers, the culmination of over three minutes of carefully orchestrated plays.

Woong and Madlife arrived bottom shortly thereafter, too late to have had any impact. With the primary purpose of having your duo lane bottom gone, Bebe and Mistake quickly switched back top again. The moment Woong and Madlife swapped back to top lane, Bebe and Mistake attacked them aggressively and, with Stanley ulting to make it a 3v2, killed both under their own tower without suffering a single loss. While this gave Shy the opportunity to deal significant damage to bottom turret, it put TPA well ahead of Frost.

Realizing the increasingly dire position they were in, Frost began aggressively pushing turrets. A 3k gold lead twelve minutes in is big, and Frost couldn't afford to let it extend further. TPA immediately recognized Frost's tactical shift and reacted accordingly, pressuring Frost's towers wherever they were able. This kept the gold gap, and TPA's advantage, steady.

Due to an engagement bottom where Lilballz died, losing TPA an Oracle's, CloudTemplar was able to deny TPA vision across the map. Facing the superior poke of Frost, TPA was not able to prevent them from taking Dragon. The damage TPA had already taken gave Frost an opportunity to push mid, but they were quickly deterred by Toyz' superior wave clear and waves of minions pushing top and bottom.

Seeing Woong bottom collecting farm, TPA made another play for Frost's Blue. Despite being thwarted by RapidStar, TPA were still able to capitalize on Woong's position and quickly took Frost's top turret. Frost then sought to renew their pressure on TPA by pushing mid while TPA was busy buying and dealing with the minions pushing bottom.

TPA responded to the pressure quickly and decisively. An instant after Shy attempted to harass Lilballz, Stanley was already ulting in to fight. Lilballz immediately Flashed after Frost, forcing two Flashes from Frost. At this point Frost could likely have escaped, but with all of TPA clumped together they instead attempted to fight.

CloudTemplar ulted into the middle of TPA, and while his ultimate did not hit any targets it placed him in the perfect position for a combination with Lulu ultimate. RapidStar followed up with Lux Ultimate, leaving all of the four TPA players present at half health.

However, several factors came into play which turned the fight against Frost. Shy was almost completely ineffective during this period. With all of his abilities on cooldown he was easily zoned by Nunu's ultimate and Exhaust, and took considerable damage. Meanwhile, Madlife and CloudTemplar were hit by the combination of Nunu and Orianna's ultimates. Before Woong could even arrive both CloudTemplar and Shy had fallen.

While both Bebe and Woong arrived late, Bebe arrived first and into a more favorable position. With Frost's tanky frontline dead, Woong had no breathing room to fight. He and the rest of Frost were forced to retreat despite many of TPA's players being very low on health. In hindsight Frost could probably have avoided this engagement altogether, but retrospective analysis is always easier than making an on the spot judgement call. It was possible for Frost to win that teamfight, but the small details worked against them.

This encounter set the stage for Frost's defeat. The core of a poke comp is the slow, agonizing tower push, sapping an enemy of their strength while you whittle down and take a tower. With TPA well ahead of Frost, Stanley could now take full advantage of Shen's ultimate and split push. This threat eliminated Frost's freedom to push and poke, hamstringing their team composition. Frost had no option but to poke as long as possible before forcing an engagement.

Frost executed that exact strategy, but it did not work out in their favor. Rapidstar caught Toyz with a Light Binding, and Frost quickly burst him down before he could finish using his ultimate. However, Shy and CloudTemplar both took considerable damage in the process, while the rest of TPA was largely unhurt. Both players quickly fell to TPA as Stanley ulted in, leaving Frost with an unfavorable exchange for all their trouble.

Up until this point the game was reasonably close, but from here on it would be entirely TPA's game. As with their previous victories, TPA would extend and crush Frost with their lead, though their aggressive play would backfire slightly during one tower dive. Still, by the time the game finished TPA's lead ballooned to over 16k. Any players wishing to understand how their own team can close out a victory should use TPA as their first and foremost point of study.

In the end TPA's superior coordination, teamfighting, and closing ability crushed Frost. When the Season 3 World Championships happen this level of play will be the bare minimum required to effectively compete. Frost was an excellent team, but TPA was simply better. It's a shame that many North American players were uninterested in these finals, as they were some of the best and most exciting games in LoL's history.

Quote: On Ganks

"Two possibilities exist: Either we are alone in the lane or we are not. Both are equally terrifying."

-Arthur C. Clarke

Quote: On Tiamats

"You can build a lead with Tiamats, but you can't sit on it for long."

-Boris Yeltsin

Season 2 Finals: Game 3

While the shortest game in the series, the third game still presents many interesting points for analysis. How did Taipei Assassins get ahead so quickly? How did the situation degrade to the point that Azubu Frost surrendered rather than attempt to play it out? As usual, it all starts with the picks and bans.

TPA's bans reflect their respect for the two team compositions Frost has obviously mastered, the AoE composition from the first match and their legendary abduction compositions. Having proved that they also can field a strong Karthus, TPA took two critical abduction champions and two critical AoE champions off the table.

Frost's bans might be mistaken as targeting poke compositions, of which Jayce and Nidalee are typically central. Rather, Frost simply couldn't afford to let TPA grab any of those three champions as their first pick. Karthus had been instrumental in both games thus far, warranting a ban to keep him out of TPA's hands. Giving a team who dominates the early game champions like Nidalee or Jayce would have similarly been a grievous error.

TPA did not hesitate to grab Orianna for Toyz, who crushed the legendary Froggen using her. With Sona out of the picture TPA was not afraid of Ezreal, and instead grabbed Dr. Mundo and Nunu. These picks reflect confidence in the autonomy of TPA's carries, aside from their own crowd control the only help they might expect from the supporting roles would be slows. In return, Lilballz would hopefully dominate the jungle on one of his best champions, providing his team an early game advantage, and Nunu would buff both of their as of yet unpicked carries while massively debuffing the opposing AD carry. Having two carries who scale phenomenally with Nunu's Bloodboil, Vayne and Jax, would provide redundancy for Nunu's utility. Moreover, this composition brimmed with movement speed, allowing for both excellent chasing and escaping.

TPA's picks left Shen and Anivia open for Frost, a strong combo as it can be incredibly difficult to burn through Anivia as well as her egg in time to block Shen from arriving via his ultimate. With Sona gone and TPA constantly dominating the early game, Frost picked Leona and Ezreal in order to have a strong kill lane and additional crowd control for the latter parts of the game. The Vladimir pick looked to add substantial sustained damage and amplification to the quagmire which Shen, Leona, and Anivia would create in team fights. This was another AoE composition from Frost, but hopefully one which would do better early-game.

Frost's plan to have a substantially stronger early game worked fairly well. By the ninth minute there was no significant different advantage in gold on either side, and for the most part both teams had a similar amount of control. However, CloudTemplar made several mistakes which began to tilt the game in favor of TPA. First, he was late to arrive at his Red after it respawned, allowing Lilballz to steal it. Next, CloudTemplar attempted to steal TPA's Red, but did not pull it back far enough to warn him of Lilballz approach. Finally, he compounded these mistakes by saving Smite for a potential Dragon on the chance a subsequent gank bottom succeeded. As a result of these mistakes, and Madlife's attempt to help, TPA took both Reds and first blood. With CloudTemplar severely wounded, Stanley was able to fearlessly harass Shy, leading to a second kill roughly a minute later. While the resulting gold gap wasn't as significant as in previous games, it was still an early game disadvantage they could not afford.

It's important to note TPA's next actions. Lilballz picked up an Oracle's and completely cleared bottom lane of wards while Bebe and Mistake pushed. While this failed to set up a tower dive, it allowed Lilballz and Toyz to steal Frost's Blue. At the same moment that Lilballz began taking Blue, Stanley finished pushing top and immediately moved toward Dragon. Frost could not contest with RapidStar out of mana, Shy stuck top, and all lanes pushed. Frost mitigated the damage as best they could by counter-stealing TPA's Blue, but even that was dangerous as they were very nearly caught and it allowed Toyz to push and cause RapidStar to miss farm. The critical point of interest is that TPA's plays were safe. While they could have attempted to bully Frost with their early game advantage, they instead worked as a team to cautiously and methodically extend it.

Almost every play thereafter followed a similar format. After a fight bottom where Madlife died TPA was able to take a turret with little resistance. Then, with bottom pushed and TPA converging mid, Toyz began a fight with RapidStar. While the rest of TPA arrived too late to save Toyz or kill RapidStar, Madlife was killed and the tower was left undefended. Meanwhile, Stanley was strong enough to push Shy out of lane by himself and take the turret. TPA set up an ambush in to cut off attempts to reinforce the turret, and though it didn't work out it reflected TPA's incredibly talent for creating a domino effect with their advantages. While the enemy is still reeling from the last hit, strike again.

This continued for the rest of the game after CloudTemplar fell to Toyz while retreating from an attempt to catch Lilballz. With Shen out of the picture, TPA pressured mid while Bebe farmed and pushed bottom. Woong and RapidStar attempted to mitigate the issue by taking Blue, but were instead pincered. With Frost down two of their carries, TPA picked up a turret and began to move toward Dragon. CloudTemplar and Shy, misjudging the next move and positioning of TPA, chased Stanley only to get caught and double killed. Having retreated through a ward, TPA was aware that attempting Dragon would be dangerous and instead moved back to see if Frost chased. When it initially seemed as though they hadn't, they began to recall. However, Frost then attempted Dragon, in what can only be described as desperation, and were again pincered, resulting in two more kills and Dragon for TPA. In the span of a mere 4 minutes the gold gap exploded from roughly 3.5k to 10.5k.

Once TPA took another tower and Baron, it was obvious that nothing short of a miracle would bring Frost back into the game. At the same time, Frost had continuously compounded their mistakes, underestimating TPA's tenacity, movement speed, and game sense. Clearly off their game, Frost made the tough but clear decision to end the game immediately and preserve their psychological stamina than allow TPA to wear them down any longer.

The psychology of League of Legends is an occasional topic of interest, but it isn't particularly different than any other form of competition. Being aware of your mental state and mitigating any factors that might diminish focus is extremely important. Even if Frost had extended the game another ten or fifteen minutes, they likely would have only delayed the inevitable and exhausted themselves. Frost's decision to staunch the bleeding and accept the loss shows that they understand the mental beating a team can suffer.

With TPA's team fighting and early game proving to be incredibly difficult to overcome, and their own breakdown to overcome, Frost would make a daring decision for the fourth, and ultimately final, game. That analysis will come tomorrow.