A world without Flash? - Challenger Week 7
Riot·4/15/2015, 6:38:46 PM·1 votes·19,596 views
Over the past few weeks, we’ve covered a lot from the strange and wild world of the Challenger Series. This week we’re not only highlighting a new champion, but also the emergence of a Flash-less meta! The Finals might be over, but the reverberations from the meta breakers in the Challenger Series will be felt for months to come.
Alongside Katarina's rise through the ranks, Luden’s Echo has also become a staple item in most mid laners arsenals. Though the Sinister Blade's rise isn’t solely due to Luden’s Echo, it has boosted the power of many assassin picks since the removal of Deathfire Grasp.
“With Luden’s Echo being there, champion diversity has gone up a lot seeing as there's now new styles of play brought in," remarks Innox. "You can go for pokes and strong trades with Luden's or you can go for the full all in with Deathcap."
See which Challengers team make it into the LCS during the upcoming Promotion Tournament on April 25-26 right here on Lolesports. If you've missed any of the 2015 CS Spring Split, catch up over on the spoiler-free VODs page.
Up a River without a Flash
As Flash is one of the best Summoner Spells in the game both offensively and defensively, going into a lane without it seems to be a death sentence to most players. But is it really necessary? What if one could get away with going Teleport/Ghost or Smite/Teleport? Reason Gaming's top laner Jakub "Kubon" Turewicz did just that this week with both Hecarim and Shyvana. "Having Smite outweighs the risk of having to take Flash champions like Shyvana who have escape mechanics," remarks Kubon. "With Smite as a top laner you buff your 1 vs. 1 potential with true damage and damage reduction from red Smite." Essentially, champions with a "free" Ghost or Flash, like Shyvana’s Burnout (W) and Dragon’s Descent (R), don’t need the crutch of an extra escape and instead benefit more from having offensive damage spells. Smite is an obvious choice due to the synergy with HP scaling champions like Shyvana and Mundo and the Cinderhulk Enchantment, says Kubon. He also encourages players to feel free to tax the jungler back if they start taxing the lanes!The Daughter of Noxus
Katarina has always been a Solo Queue favorite, but she had a hard time breaking into the competitive scene as a viable mid laner due to being destroyed by the tiniest amount of crowd control. This week, NME eSports' mid laner Tyson "Innox" Kapler cracked the Katarina code, employing her talents to not only decimate mid lane, but also to secure a spot in the 2015 NA LCS Summer Split! "Katarina has incredible late game scaling through item choices and ratios," comments Innox. "She can potentially destroy a team by herself if gone unnoticed for a second or two." He also states that in addition to her team fight prowess, Katarina is able to consistently pressure teams for objectives thanks to her reset potential coupled with the low cooldown of her Death Lotus (R).
Alongside Katarina's rise through the ranks, Luden’s Echo has also become a staple item in most mid laners arsenals. Though the Sinister Blade's rise isn’t solely due to Luden’s Echo, it has boosted the power of many assassin picks since the removal of Deathfire Grasp.
“With Luden’s Echo being there, champion diversity has gone up a lot seeing as there's now new styles of play brought in," remarks Innox. "You can go for pokes and strong trades with Luden's or you can go for the full all in with Deathcap."
See which Challengers team make it into the LCS during the upcoming Promotion Tournament on April 25-26 right here on Lolesports. If you've missed any of the 2015 CS Spring Split, catch up over on the spoiler-free VODs page.
