Curse at All-Star 2014
Riot·3/18/2014, 9:50:27 PM·0 votes·305 views
It's been an up and down season for Team Curse so far. With a roster that seems to be perpetually in flux, they just haven't been able to get any real momentum on their side. With lackluster KDAs and a losing record to date, Curse might not be the first place you'd think to look for your 2014 All-Stars. But you'd be making a mistake. While the team as a whole has been pretty mediocre this season, individual members are putting on some impressive performances and have the numbers to back it up.
The top laner for Team Curse has had a less-than-perfect season, but has certainly shown an innovative streak throughout the NA LCS. While his bruiser play has been suspect, Quas has pulled out a variety of completely off-the-wall champions in the top lane. The innovation would play well at an All-Star event where teams wouldn't have the weeks of practice together that professional teams have. An unconventional pick could catch Quas's opponent off-guard throughout the game due to an unfamiliar matchup.
Quas's innovation may have thus far only provided Team Curse with an occasional gimmick, but that is about to change. The previous Triumvirate of the Top Lane (Shyvana, Dr. Mundo, & Renekton) is falling off in the face of a Doran's Shield nerf and toning down of several defensive masteries. For example, the KT Rolster Bullets' top laner Leopard recently tore Fnatic's sOAZ apart playing Ryze against Renekton. How do champions like Ryze and Kennen reemerging in the top lane affect a player like Quas? Some of his best games have come on AP champions, and the breadth of his champion pool plays straight into the renewed diversification of the top lane.
IWD has hasn't had the best season so far either. Regardless, he has consistently played champions that lean heavily on hard initiation. He was one of the first to play Wukong in the jungle in the LCS, but has defaulted to Vi whenever she is available. The Piltover Enforcer fits his play style since he prefers a heavy lane presence to get his teammates ahead. While his individual statistics have taken a slight bruise from that mentality, the rest of the team has flourished, particularly Cop in the bottom lane.
IWD's strength would be multiplied in an All-Star format. Without the extremely high levels of execution common on established teams, he would find more openings to get his lanes snowballing ahead. It would also nullify other jungler's tendency to heavily counter-jungle since he'd be in lane more often than not.
The leader of "Cya Nerds!" Nation, and the Team Curse middle laner, Voyboy has come on strong as the 2014 LCS season progresses. While he frequently stumbled on assassins early on, he's recently found his groove with longer range AP middle lane champions such as Lulu and Nidalee. During the most recent NA LCS Super Week, he only died five times total in Curse's three wins, and four of those were on Kassadin against Evil Geniuses. The other two games included a 9/1/10 effort on Lulu against XDG and a 4/0/8 game on Nidalee versus Team Dignitas for the Boy Wonder.
Voyboy's continued growth in the middle lane presents an interesting set of circumstances should he make the NA All-Star roster. The AP champion proficiency he has shown directly contrasts with his dangerous pocket pick, Akali. The duality makes Voyboy a tough target to ban out, and it also adds interesting compositional flexibility to his team.
Arguably the most improved individual player in the North American LCS in the past six months, Cop has transformed from a passive, farm-centric AD carry into an aggressive force for the Team Curse bottom lane. The best evidence of this change is Cop's Draven play. While not as scary as KT Rolster's Arrow, in Cop's hands the Glorious Executioner has been seen regularly bullying opposing teams in North America. Throughout a trying early season for Curse, Cop shined. He holds the fourth highest average gold per game, as well as the fourth highest kill participation percentage across the entirety of the North American LCS.
Cop's aggression would be uniquely suited to an All-Stars environment. His penchant for taking control of lanes early would serve as a springboard for the team to control objectives. Once they had control, Cop could use that lead to scale far ahead of the opposition and put his team on his back for some hard carrying action. Finally, if Cop's Draven makes an appearance and has a monster game, it could draw a ban which would add flexibility to the rest of the North American All-Star squad.
TOP: Quas
The top laner for Team Curse has had a less-than-perfect season, but has certainly shown an innovative streak throughout the NA LCS. While his bruiser play has been suspect, Quas has pulled out a variety of completely off-the-wall champions in the top lane. The innovation would play well at an All-Star event where teams wouldn't have the weeks of practice together that professional teams have. An unconventional pick could catch Quas's opponent off-guard throughout the game due to an unfamiliar matchup.
Quas's innovation may have thus far only provided Team Curse with an occasional gimmick, but that is about to change. The previous Triumvirate of the Top Lane (Shyvana, Dr. Mundo, & Renekton) is falling off in the face of a Doran's Shield nerf and toning down of several defensive masteries. For example, the KT Rolster Bullets' top laner Leopard recently tore Fnatic's sOAZ apart playing Ryze against Renekton. How do champions like Ryze and Kennen reemerging in the top lane affect a player like Quas? Some of his best games have come on AP champions, and the breadth of his champion pool plays straight into the renewed diversification of the top lane.
JUNGLE: IWillDominate
IWD has hasn't had the best season so far either. Regardless, he has consistently played champions that lean heavily on hard initiation. He was one of the first to play Wukong in the jungle in the LCS, but has defaulted to Vi whenever she is available. The Piltover Enforcer fits his play style since he prefers a heavy lane presence to get his teammates ahead. While his individual statistics have taken a slight bruise from that mentality, the rest of the team has flourished, particularly Cop in the bottom lane.
IWD's strength would be multiplied in an All-Star format. Without the extremely high levels of execution common on established teams, he would find more openings to get his lanes snowballing ahead. It would also nullify other jungler's tendency to heavily counter-jungle since he'd be in lane more often than not.
MID: Voyboy
The leader of "Cya Nerds!" Nation, and the Team Curse middle laner, Voyboy has come on strong as the 2014 LCS season progresses. While he frequently stumbled on assassins early on, he's recently found his groove with longer range AP middle lane champions such as Lulu and Nidalee. During the most recent NA LCS Super Week, he only died five times total in Curse's three wins, and four of those were on Kassadin against Evil Geniuses. The other two games included a 9/1/10 effort on Lulu against XDG and a 4/0/8 game on Nidalee versus Team Dignitas for the Boy Wonder.
Voyboy's continued growth in the middle lane presents an interesting set of circumstances should he make the NA All-Star roster. The AP champion proficiency he has shown directly contrasts with his dangerous pocket pick, Akali. The duality makes Voyboy a tough target to ban out, and it also adds interesting compositional flexibility to his team.
AD CARRY: Cop
Arguably the most improved individual player in the North American LCS in the past six months, Cop has transformed from a passive, farm-centric AD carry into an aggressive force for the Team Curse bottom lane. The best evidence of this change is Cop's Draven play. While not as scary as KT Rolster's Arrow, in Cop's hands the Glorious Executioner has been seen regularly bullying opposing teams in North America. Throughout a trying early season for Curse, Cop shined. He holds the fourth highest average gold per game, as well as the fourth highest kill participation percentage across the entirety of the North American LCS.
Cop's aggression would be uniquely suited to an All-Stars environment. His penchant for taking control of lanes early would serve as a springboard for the team to control objectives. Once they had control, Cop could use that lead to scale far ahead of the opposition and put his team on his back for some hard carrying action. Finally, if Cop's Draven makes an appearance and has a monster game, it could draw a ban which would add flexibility to the rest of the North American All-Star squad.