Tag: League of Legends

As of 19th November this year Paul “sOAZ” Boyer became a free agent.  Many new fans coming into the LEC may not know just how much of a legendary player that sOAZ is, one of the most experienced and most successful Western players. His position of Top-Lane is not one that often has the most followers, most are drawn the “star” positions of ADC and Mid Lane. Much like in the NFL, many fans are watching the Quarterback, but not many are watching the Guard, the guy protecting the Quarterback’s back and facilitating their success. That analogy falls down somewhat when you consider that sOAZ has actually been a top-tier carry for his team on many occasions, once regarded as the best Elise player in the world. He is known for his huge talent pool, aggressive play style and adaptability, allowing his longevity. Paul was the first player to reach 200 EU LCS wins and the first top-laner to reach 1000 assists in the west.

It was YellOwStaR who introduced sOAZ to the game that would cement his name in history. Before that he was a CS 1.6 and DotA player. In Season 1 he was picked by Against All Authority (aAa), one of the oldest esports organisations in France. In 2011 they took part in Riot’s inaugural Season 1 World Championship where they placed second, having defeated TSM and falling to Fnatic. In 2012 sOAZ would go on to place 4th at IEM World Championships Season VI with aAa before they would disband in May of that year. Fortunately the strong top-laner and shown enough skill to be picked up by his Season 1 rivals; Fnatic.

Fnatic would not do well at their first tournament with this new-look roster placing 6th at 2012 MLG Pro Circuit Spring only being able to win two individual games in their three defeats. They secured a stronger 4th place finish, the following week, at Dreamhack Summer 2012. Unfortunately Fnatic would not qualify for the Season 2 World Championship. They needed to finish in the top three in the European Regional Finals but fell to Moscow 5 and Froggen’s CLG EU. They did however manage to take a convincing win over Moscow 5, with sOAZ having a huge game on Rumble. Fnatic would end 2012 in a stronger position winning Dreamhack Winter 2012 and placing second at IGN Proleague Season 5 featuring two huge wins over World Champions Taipei Assassins.

LCS Era

By being an overwhelming presence top lane, sOAZ helped Fnatic to a dominating 22-6 record in the first EU LCS Spring Split, and dominating Evil Geniuses and Gambit Gaming in the playoffs to finish 1st place. SOAZ and his team come second in the Summer league and defeat Lemondogs to finish 1st again, automatically qualifying for the Season 3 World Championship. At that tournament Fnatic would finish first in group B 7-1 over Gambit, Samsung Ozone, Team Vulcan and Mineski. In the game versus Ozone, sOAZ again showed his world class by securing a quadra-kill at the end of the game finishing 6/1/10 and 50 cs above his counterpart. The quarter final was versus NA LCS powerhouse Cloud 9, which Fnatic would go on to win 2-1. In that series sOAZ was a monster with a combined score of 14/3/40. Fnatic fell to Royal Club in the semi-final, ending the World Championship in 4th place.

Between the EU LCS and Worlds sOAZ competed for the Europe LCS All Star team. He beat Wickd with AP Nunu and also won a public vote to compete at All Star Shanghai 2013. Even though the European Team would lose to Korea and to North America, sOAZ won the top-lane 1v1 competition.

The first half of 2014 was great for sOAZ and Fnatic. They came second in IEM Season VII losing to the KT Bullets, came first in LCS spring and came second in the All-Star Paris event losing to SKT. The latter half of 2014 however was shaky. Fnatic came second in the LCS and would not progress beyond groups in the World Championship.

Origen

In mid-January 2015. sOAZ would follow Rekkles, xPeke and Cyanide in leaving Fnatic and joining xPeke’s new team Origen. Then would come one of the best zero to hero stories in European League of legends in my opinion. Origen qualified to the EUCS by winning the challenger ladder. They would dominate that league dropping only a single game, and qualify for the plauoffs. They defeated Copenhagen Wolves Academy to qualify for the EU LCS. With undefeated performances on Rumble and Lulu, Origen would fight all the way ip the LCS to the final of the summer split versus their old team Fnatic. This best of five was fantastic with Origen pushing the stalwart Fnatic the whole way, but ultimately coming up short. Origen went on to the World’s qualifier tournament and smashed UOL 3-0 to qualify for the 2015 World Championship. The organisation that in January was competing in the challenger ladder was now representing Europe on the grandest stage the sport has. At World’s Origen became the first western team to win a best-of-5 at World’s by defeating Flash Wolves. It was in this series that sOAZ unleashed a Darius Pentakill. Origen would be knocked out of the tournament in the semi-finals by SKT. Let’s just go over that again, this team went from the challenger ladder, won that, to the EUCS, won that, to the EU LCS, very nearly won that, to the qualification tournament, won that and ended up a 2015 World Championship semi-finalist. Amazing.

In the 2016 season Origen competed at IEM San Jose, winning the tournament without losing a single game to either TSM or CLG. The EU LCS Summer split was a disaster for the organisation and sOAZ left Origen to rejoin Fnatic. In his own words sOAZ described his desire to find an organisation that fit him, hinting at the infrastructure behind the team.

In 2017 sOAZ, back on Fnatic would struggle in the spring and summer split. They would qualify for both playoffs but finish in third place. At the World Championships they would make it to quarter-finals before losing to RNG.

This all takes us to 2018, where Fnatic would write their most impressive chapter in their League of Legends story. They won both spring and summer splits in the EU LCS. They would finish third in the 2018 Mid-Season Invitational and win 2018 Rift Rivals. They would then go on to reach the final of the 2018 World Championships, where they would fall to Invictus Gaming. For sOAZ individually however 2018 was a frustrating year. The veteran player, so used to competing and winning was resigned to the bench. At MSI sOAZ would say in an interview that he is happy his was winning but for him it was worthless. At Worlds sOAZ only played four games, with game three of what would be their 0-3 loss to IG being one of them. It must have been hard for sOAZ to watch his team lose, but it would probably have been harder to watch his team win without him. Lots of players would feel part of the team that wins, though sOAZ needs to play and needs to be a part of the winning team to really get that sense of achievement.

In 2019 sOAZ will be playing for Misfits. In him they have a player who has played since Season 1, the only western player to play in two World Championship finals, a fierce competitor in the top lane and one with a huge champion pool. His endurance and longevity in League of Legends is amazing considering the idea that esports is a “young man’s” game. I really hope Misfits does well in the rebranded LEC and sOAZ can maybe get a chance to get back to the international stage and perhaps add that elusive World’s title to his impressive list of accolades and achievements.

Since 2013 European League of Legends fans have cheered for their favourite teams competing in the European League Championship Series (LCS). From now on, they will be watching the re-branded League European Championship (LEC).

I love the look of the new brand and it makes it visually distinct from the North American LCS. Following on from the NA LCS introducing franchising, the inaugural split of the LEC will be franchised also. The teams that will be competing are: Fnatic, Schalke 04, G2 Esports, Misfits Gaming, Origen, Excel Esports, Rogue, SK Gaming, Splyce and Team Vitality.

In European sport we are less familiar with the franchise model, and it comes with its own range of pros and cons. Beginning with the pros; teams will be more willing to try out new players and new combinations of players. Without the fear of relegation forcing teams to try and put out the best each game, there is now space to develop. Teams may be more willing to pick up local players, instead of spend big for imports who may in the short team keep them out of relegation. We need look no further that Worlds 2018 Quarter finalists Cloud 9 for an example of how well this can work.

It also provides a safer investment for anyone looking to invest in esports. Sponsorship now comes with stable, guaranteed exposure without the threat of relegation. That environment could breed huge deals which would boost the money in the scene attracting more talented people, more exposure, more legitimacy as big brands get involved etc. Franchising and revenue sharing also helps the organisations to profit and boost player salaries and welfare.

However it is a different league structure and there are disadvantages that come with it too. It’s undeniable that there is less excitement and interest in the bottom half of the league. Relegation and promotion is exciting, it means teams getting kicked out and new teams earning their place. Every game is important, with teams needing to secure their destiny for the year ahead. Franchising removes that, these ten teams are here this year, and they’ll be here next year.

Apologies to Excel Esports for using them as an example, but if they are in last place in the league, I won’t be watching their games between 10th and 9th place. The previous model was book-ended nicely with the playoff race and the avoid relegation race, now we have half that excitement.

Riot have done well to invest in tournaments like EU Masters. Challenger Series tournaments are a bit pointless now without the prize of LCS Promotion. EU Masters gives European league of legends a “B” Tier competition that can generate it’s own excitement, and a breeding ground for new players to test themselves to maybe be picked up by LCS Orgs.

On a personal note I’m incredibly happy to see Origen back in the top-tier of European League of Legends. I watched them rise from Challenger Series to dominate LCS to dominate the play-ins and reach the Worlds Semi-Finals. I also attended EU Masters and got to cheer while they lifted the trophy. GLHF!

The last representative of China’s LPL, Invictus Gaming defeated Fnatic in a 3-0 clean sweep to claim the 2018 World Championship. In doing so they cement China’s place as the best region in League of Legends.

The hype promised such a competitive series, but MVP Ning set the pace of the game and gave IG early advantages that they seized with devastating effect.

It seemed within a blink of an eye Fnatic were staring down the barrel having lost the first two games. They swapped out Bwipo for Soaz and changed the side of the rift, but it wasn’t enough change to stop the machine of IG.

Game three started in a promising fashion with Soaz strong and Fnatic trading kills early on effectively. IG however, constantly in control of the pace of the game, secured two aces within the first 16 minutes. A heroic baron steal by Broxah, was just a solitary ember of EU hope amidst the tidal wave of LPL pressure.

The year of competitive LoL ends with China very much on top. Although Invictus Gaming lifts the Summoner’s cup we shouldn’t forget that it was Uzi’s RNG that dominated every other tournament of the year.

With the Spring split of the 2018 League of Legends season now behind us, I just wanted to take a moment to single out one player DoubleLift. Not only is he one of the most experienced players in the League but recent events have shown him to be by far one of the most professional.

It will be news to few who follow the scene, that the weekend before the NA LCS Finals, Yihong Peng, his brother, murdered his mother and hospitalised his father. In the face of internet rumours DoubleLift announced the news via Twitlonger to say that he would be away from social media and with his family.  A swift and professional response. A mere two days later Team Liquid owner Steve Arhancet unveiled the news that DoubleLift will compete in the finals.

It’s pure speculation, but I would guess it was DoubleLift making the contact and confirming his intention to play. DoubleLift said in the wake of victory, that he derives more pleasure helping his team mates achieve titles than from winning them himself. It must have been this drive that made DoubleLift get on that flight and put his undoubtedly immense emotional turmoil to one side and compete, and not only that, dominate.

The roars of the crowd in support of DoubleLift when his name was announced on stage were heartwarming. As a player he has cemented his place in League history by winning the NA LCS with three separate teams. An achievement no one else has and possibly no one else may attain.

When I initially started watching LoL I followed teams, then I got to know personalities and now I’m far more interested in the players. It will be great to see DoubleLift at MSI against the best of international League and from there hopefully secure a spot at Worlds. If DoubleLift can perform on the highest stage, the one thing that has so far alluded him, it really would be great to watch.

TSM has announced that FNC substitute MrRallez is to be given a tryout for the squad. The organisation has its mind set on fielding a six man roster and in the light of the WildTurtle departure, they are seeking a replacement.

A substitute player in traditional sports is there to cover injury and also to change the play style of the team.

Looking at TSM though, we have a situation where the substitute is not changing a great deal. What they have already in DoubleLift is the best ADC in NA. He is a star player, a strong laner and a decisive shot caller. So even if it was true that MrRallez was offering a totally different style of play, the overall loss of the team would make the team objectively weaker.

Another reason to have a substitute is to bring a different flavour to pick ban. SKT fielding Benghi and Blank brought a totally different emphasis to pick ban and added an extra element of strategy. Again with TSM however this is not impactful. ADC is not a role with as dramatic a difference as the Tank/Carry in Top or the Control Mage/Assassin of Mid.

Looking at TSM with WildTurtle (Who is surely a better player than MrRallez) it removed the bot lane as a threat from TSM, with DoubleLift however, teams have to split their focus to more potential threats. While the viable ADC pool is not expansive, DoubleLift on the same champions may draw a ban that Wildturtle or MrRallez would not.

There is one interpretation that does carry some weight which is that perhaps DoubleLift has had some conversations with TSM owner Reginald about his competitive future having not played for the majority of last split. In that instance it would be wise for TSM to get a replacement in and have him learn from DoubleLift, even if he doesn’t play much but is just there learning from him. TSM have gone as far as they can go with WildTurtle really and it is probably wise for them to seek an alternative.

If that is true, it does put a time limit on TSM’s international window to prove they belong. Reginald has always said the aim of the organisation is to win World’s. Even with DoubleLift, it is highly unlikely but without him, its impossible.