All About LJL at Rift Rivals

Hello everybody and welcome back as we delve into what's happening with Japan! Japan just finished up the most interesting week we've seen this split, and immediately afterwards the top 3 teams are headed to Rift Rivals (which will probably start by the time I've finished this article!). We'll be getting up a more thorough breakdown of what happened sometime today/tomorrow (midnight and all that).

With that out of the way, a quick disclaimer: I don't follow the other regions that the LJL will be playing this weekend anywhere near as closely. The last time we saw any teams from these regions compete was at the Mid Season Invitational Play-In, in which the LJL had an opportunity to play against the Dire Wolves, who they traded games with.

We're instead going to be focusing much more heavily on what we can expect from the Japanese teams and who to watch going into the event.

Cool!

#How Does Rift Rivals Work?

It's no secret that Rift Rivals is a bit of an unusual event, so let's just break it down real quick.

GPL, OPL, and LJL will each be sending their top 3 teams as of Spring Split Playoffs to the event. The first seed will play the first seed from each of the other regions, second seed and third seeds will do the same. The region with the most game wins moves directly to the finals, while the other regions will play each other in a Best of 5. #3 vs #3, #2 vs #2, #1 vs #1, then #1 vs #1 again, and #2 vs #2 again as necessary.

Day 1 we'll see the following matches played by LJL teams:

• Legacy Esports (OPL) vs DetonatioN FocusMe (#2 seeds)
• Team Mineski (GPL) vs Unsold Stuff Gaming (#3 seeds)
• Dire Wolves (OPL) vs Rampage (#1 seeds)
• Ascension Gaming (GPL) vs DetonatioN FocusMe (#2 seeds)

Day 2 will round out the round robin with:

• Gigabyte Marines (GPL) vs Rampage (#1 seeds)
• Sin Gaming (OPL) vs Unsold Stuff Gaming (#3 seeds)

The only matchup we've seen before between these teams has been Rampage vs Dire Wolves, who traded games. While I can't speak for the Dire Wolves, Rampage has been looking quite good since they last played, and we'll take a look at some of the reasons for that below.

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#First Seed: Rampage

Rampage took the playoffs against DFM and USG in Spring rather convincingly, defeating USG 3-2 and DFM 3-0, but unfortunately found that international competition was much tougher than what they played domestically. RPG would only take a single game at MSI, despite having some strong performances. Let's take a look at the lineup.

##Top: Evi

Evi is looking even more alive this split than he did last split, now that he has the opportunity to play more carry oriented top laners. At MSI he was ok, but the man showed just how strong of a player he can be now that he isn't required to play tanks any more. He's still comfortable playing the Galio and the Gragas, but against Unsold Stuff Gaming we got to what Rampage can do if they let Evi take the wheel.

Like many top laners, the Jarvan, Kennen, and Kled are becoming mainstays of the champion pool, but he supplements it with the wildcard champions like Pantheon and Camille. Of notable absence from his pool thus far has been Renekton and Fiora, being forced to ban the latter out all 3 games against rivals DFM. Evi finds effective flanks all the time, and is more than comfortable in the split push role.

Champions to expect:, , ,

##Jungle: Tussle

Tussle looked like the star of Rampage during the playoffs and at MSI, and for good reason. His aggressive play and high ganking style kept Rampage in many of the games they should have lost, and was instrumental in many of the plays throughout the event. He stood tall in standings where the rest of the team had fallen, earning the highest kill participation not only for his team, but highest among junglers and 3rd overall, while only falling behind Levi for jungler kills and Kreox in terms of farm.

Since then, Tussle has expanded his champion pool beyond carries, picking up the Ivern that the team so desperately needed at that event. While still heavily favoring Lee Sin and Elise like damn near every other jungler professionally, he also boasts a 15.0 KDA on Ivern, dismantling many of his opponents in the league. He also provides an important clutch factor to RPG, having shown an ability to win 50/50 smite battles and being impactful in games even if his scores don't show the same.

Champions to expect: , , ,

##Mid: Ramune

Ramune looked like the weakest link of this team at MSI, boasting a champion pool of... 4. Having played Syndra in more than half of their games in Spring, and Orianna on nearly as many, he was easily banned out and manipulated. While we saw a little more branching out at MSI, bringing out the Le Blanc, he has since improved his range.

With Galio and Karma now added to his champion pool, he offers a much needed flexibility to the team's draft phases. While he has opted for more comfort picks against the stronger teams in LJL of Orianna and Syndra, he's no longer locked into that role. Perhaps still the weakest link of the team, it is no longer the gap it once was, and he has a chance to further change international perception this week.

Champions to expect: , , ,

##ADC: YutoriMoyasi

YutoriMoyasi has not been shining quite as bright this split as he has previously, but it might be because of his proximity to the rest of the players on his team. Yutori currently boasts the fewest deaths in the LJL, averaging 0.9 per game, while still averaging the second highest number of kills (4.0). In fact, the man is shining in every metric we have available as either the best or second best for ADCs in Japan.

Yutori is no slouch, but has perhaps been playing too much Varus. We haven't yet seen the Jhin, the Tristana, the Kalista, that are seeing more play around the world and even in Japan, and Jhin was his second most played champion in spring. His stats on champions other than Varus are not bad (26.0 KDA on Xayah wtf), but we'll have to see what he has available to him if this ends up being taken away from him.

Champions to expect: . Yeah that's about it. Xayah's not great on this patch, so I guess Caitlyn is next?

##Support: Dara

If we talked about how good Yutori's stats are, it's important to note that they wouldn't be possible without Dara. Dara is nuts. Quite possibly the most successful Korean import in Japan, he boasts the highest KDA, highest assists and highest kill participation of all players in the league, and is beaten only by Yutori in lowest deaths, partly because he sacrifices himself to preserve his ADC.

While he has proven himself to be comfortable on a wide variety of supports, he has recently been showing a strong preference for Braum. His Lulu and Thresh are as competent as ever, and while he hasn't been as loud this split in playmaking, he is nonetheless an incredibly valuable member of the team.

Champions to expect: , ,

##Overall

Rampage is a well rounded team, with carry potential offered by everyone on the team. If Tussle can be reined in a little bit from his sometimes overaggressive early game movements, their map movements and strong lanes should set them up to be successful.

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#Second Seed: DetonatioN FocusMe

Despite having just come off of a win against Rampage just a few days ago in an incredibly close best of 3, DFM is currently sitting at the second seed for Japan in this event. DFM shook up their roster a good deal in the off season, with 3 members of the team changing. Yutapon went back to ADC (again), Paz went back to the top lane (again), and they brought in Steal from a stint in the European Challenger Series. It's been quite successful, but there are still plenty of %%%%%s in the armor.

We haven't seen them internationally since the International Wild Card Invitational for MSI 2016, where they placed 5th.

##Top: Paz

Paz is definitively my favorite player in the LJL, partly because he's very expressive in player cams, and partly because he's GOOD. If Evi came alive with the change in the meta, then Paz ascended.

Paz uh, splitpushes. It's kind of what he does, and he's unmatched in Japan for doing so. Time and time again, we see him pushing the bot lane inhibitor turret while the rest of the team sets up for Baron. He's also not averse to the unusual pick, bringing out Urgot vs apaMEN's Kennen a few weeks ago, even drawing a ban towards it in Game 3 of their set with Rampage. While preferring strong carry/damage split pushers, he's not averse to playing tankier versions, and we saw his Shen come out to great affect this last week, and his Renekton gives him plenty of options to fall back upon.

Champions to expect: , ,

##Jungle: Steal

Steal's joining of DFM brought a lot of questions as to whether DFM would be looking strong this split, but he's quickly silenced many of his critics with a fairly unusual style in the current meta of jungling.

Much more fond of Elise than Lee Sin, he's generally opted for a utility focused line-up, including Sejuani and Ivern, and Zac whenever he can grab it. He doesn't earn nearly as high of a KDA as Tussle, this is because he dies more often serving as the first one in and last one out of most fights. This makes him instrumental for his team, boasting the highest kill participation for DFM and soaking massive damage, either with his body or with his shields.

Champions to expect: , ,

##Mid: Ceros

Ceros was considered one of the best players in Japan for a long while, and he's still putting out strong performances. With one of the widest champion pools of players in Japan (at what point does it become a lake?), we've seen him comfortably play champions like Vel'koz and Ziggs in high stakes games against teams like USG and RPG. Since Paz doesn't bring true tanks to the top lane very often, it also falls to Ceros to bring out the Galio.

This is somewhat impressive, considering how much attention he receives by opposing junglers, being ganked and camped by his opponents more often than almost any other player I've seen, Dyrus excepted. Ceros, more than anything else, does his job. While Paz faffs about on the opposite side of the map, Ceros provides an anchor for the 4v4. His numbers aren't the greatest, he isn't the flashiest player, but can be counted on to consistently perform, no matter what.

Champions to expect: , ,

##ADC: Yutapon

Yutapon is also one of the longest lasting Japanese players, having been part of DetonatioN Gaming since inception. He brings aggressive play and incredible carry potential to the newest line up as well. Able to play pretty much all of the meta champions, even being I believe one of two players in Japan to bring out Twitch, Yutapon is back in form.

We said that Yutori was either the number one or number two in all stats for ADCs we have, it's because Yutapon takes that spot in everything else. He's flexible, he's aggressive, he's one of the longest lasting veterans in Japan, and provides a great foundation for the bot lane of DFM.

Champions to expect: ,

##Support: viviD

Just like Dara, viviD is an incredibly successful Korean import. Thus far though, his somewhat small champion pool hasn't been attacked. Over 13 games, he currently has 7 of them on Thresh, and is one of the best defensive playmakers in Japan, with his flays denying more Elastic Slingshots and Flag & Drags than anybody else. With his Tahm Kench serving as a strong second option, he does falter somewhat when forced to play the more mage-y supports. His Karma has been exploited by both USG and RPG, and we've only seen his Lulu and Zyra against 7th heaven thus far.

That said, Thresh and Tahm Kench have been getting through against almost all teams, as players like Paz are drawing all the bans, and viviD should provide Yutapon and the rest of the team great peeling.

Champions to expect: ,

##Overall

DFM is a 4-1 team. Paz does his thing, the 4 control Baron with a pseudo death-ball, dangerous to engage upon with things like Dark Passage, Command: Shockwave, and Cocoons from fog of war. If Paz can stand up to international top laners, DFM should be able to play the rest of their game and do very well against the other 2nd seeds.

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#Third Seed: Unsold Stuff Gaming

USG looked quite strong towards the end of Spring, taking RPG to Game 5 in the Semi Finals, and with no changes to their roster, they should be good this season too, right? Eh, the team has been struggling quite a bit, and probably are rightly the third seed coming into this event. They also have not played internationally before, so it will be a great opportunity to see how their style stacks up against the rest of the world.

##Top: apaMEN

apaMEN is currently sitting in a tier by himself in Japan, not quite on the level of Paz and Evi, but definitely above the rest of the league. The transition to the meta of more carry top laners has not suited him as well as the others, and he's suffered because of it. We saw, early in the season, he even fell back to the Nautilus after having Gragas, Galio, and Shen became unavailable.

He's seen mixed success on all of the champions he's played otherwise (J4, Kennen, Kled), but again, is nowhere near as comfortable and has been opting towards somewhat tankier builds than many of his compatriots, building the health components first. This is likely going to be a problem for the squad.

Champions to expect: , ,

##Jungle: Neo

Neo has been a rather polarizing player for USG this season. While he has incredible games where he goes deathless (3/13), he's just as likely to die. A lot. He has as many games with 0 deaths as he has games with a KDA of less than 1.0. We'll have to coin flip to see which Neo we get every game.

His champion pool is also far from meta. Neo has brought out Warwick and Nidalee twice each, as well as Evelynn and Olaf. He's won 1/6 of these games. When he plays meta and gets Lee Sin or Ivern (being the first adopter of Ivern in Japan), he does well, but that's a very small range of champions to be able to bring out at this level of play.

Champions to expect: ,

##Mid: REMIND

REMIND is the star of USG. No two-ways about it. Boasting an 11.5 KDA as Orianna, he also brings a feared pair of Cassiopeia and Syndra to the fore. REMIND rarely has bad games, though they do happen, and can completely take over a game if he gets ahead.

He teamfights well, he lanes well, he boasts the highest CSM and Kills of all players in Japan, but unfortunately the mentality of being required to carry the team can lead him to some awkward situations.

Champions to expect: , ,

##ADC: Haretti

Haretti is one of the unsung heroes of USG. While he doesn't put out the same amount of damage as REMIND, nor pick up nearly as many kills, he lanes well, and is the only ADC that can go toe to toe with Yutapon and YutoriMoyasi.

The fact that he plays so much Ashe is also very related to the above numbers, as he provides great utility to his team through the use of Hawkshot and Enchanted Crystal Arrow, without providing some of the things you would otherwise expect from the ADC role. While not the best player in his role, he can still hang with the top dogs, and hopefully paired with Enty they can provide a second place from which USG can find success.

Champions to expect: ,

##Support: Enty

Enty on Tahm Kench is one of the coolest things to watch in Japan, as he repeatedly finds great uses for Abyssal Voyage, often giving USG good leads in the early and mid game. Unfortunately, once this stops (and it inevitably stops), the team struggles to continue to do, well, anything.

Enty brings a fresh set of champions to Japan, continuing a little bit with the unusual champions played by this team. The only support to really find success on Rakan, we also saw him bring out Alistar a few days ago against 7th heaven in a deciding game. He makes strong early plays, but often falls off later in the game.

Champions to expect: ,

##Overall

USG is looking to be like the P1 of Japan this split. Little to no changes in terms of their roster, but unable to perform. They've dropped games to everyone except for the current bottom team of the league and are incredibly inconsistent. They often have early game leads, but fail to capitalize on them in the mid game as their shotcalling falls apart and they look too timid to push when they're ahead.

If we get the good USG, they should blow through the event against the other 3rd seeds as REMIND reminds us how strong he is. If we don't, well, they'll be lucky to pick up a game.

#Quick Note about Pronunciations

Hopefully if some of the casters read this:

YutoriMoyasi: the s is pronounced with an sh sound. YutoriMoyashi

Haretti: the t's are pronounced with a ch sound. Harechi

Otherwise, the rest of the names are as you would expect using normal English pronunciation.

#Closing

While this was originally posted to reddit, it appears I have either been shadowbanned or somehow restricted. However, I still want to get this information out for everyone, so we'll be posting here until I find a solution.

DFM and RPG are looking good going into this event, but unfortunately, the same can't really be said for USG thus far into the season. While we they'll prove us wrong, they are definitely facing an uphill battle as their inconsistency is likely going to be their downfall.

We'll be back tomorrow with a breakdown of the games tonight! Good night, good luck, and enjoy the event!