In your head: Presence on the Rift
Riot·3/2/2015, 9:13:11 PM·0 votes·8,204 views
The timer reads 00:00. Summoner’s Rift is shrouded in darkness and all is quiet, save a few butterflies and toads peacefully meandering about. The fountain gates have yet to fall as players ready themselves, eager to gain position on the battlefield. Not so much as a glimpse of the enemy has been seen, but the presence of certain players can already be felt.
In every great competitive sport, there are players who raise the bar of the competition. Before every game, LeBron James tosses chalk dust between his hands before sending it sky high to uproarious applause. The other team may appear to ignore it, but they can feel it. They can feel the presence he brings, and he will be on their minds from the moment he steps out from under the lights to the final buzzer.
In the Week 3 matchup between Team SoloMid and Team Impulse, Joshua “Jatt” Leesman used a pause in the action to expand on the idea of presence in League of Legends, using Søren “Bjergsen” Bjerg as an example:
According to Jatt, the defining characteristic of presence in League of Legends is “the way you impact the enemies’ decision making” by commanding attention based solely on the type of player you are and what you are capable of. Jatt illustrates this idea by pointing to the most recent fight in the match, “Bjergsen dove in, and every single person on Impulse was thinking ‘get him’. So much so, that four people clumped up, for Jinx AoE and a Sion ult, and they got destroyed. Only because he commands so much presence on the map.”
Bjergsen is one of a handful of players around the world who can command such presence in game, another obvious example being SKTelecom T1’s Lee “Faker” Sang-hyeok. Faker’s skill is of another world. His mind has the capability of working in a way that few other players can match. He sees three, four moves ahead in a game of split seconds. His champion pool is so robust that that it cannot be banned out, and match-after-match he draws so much attention that he forces the enemy jungler to waste precious time attempting to shut him down -- a feat that is, more often than not, utterly unattainable.
The fear factor that Faker, and playmakers like him have is a big part of the presence that they bring to the game, and it can be felt at all levels. Say you’re in your promos to finally claw out of Gold and into Plat, so you do a little background research while the game is loading. Your stomach drops when you find out that the Vayne you're going against in bot-lane is a Diamond Vayne main. You frantically type “CAMP BOT” into game chat as your team heads out to their starting positions.
Take some comfort in knowing that even the pros get this kind of anxiety against certain players. The in-game comms from the Week 5 match between Fnatic and SK Gaming revealed that Fnatic were not exactly thrilled at the challenge that awaited them. “We are all nervous” said Pierre “Steelback” Medjaldi, “because we are against the GodGiven”. Konstantinos “FORG1VEN” Tzortziou currently has, by far, the best KDA ratio in the EU LCS with an astonishing 13.6 and it is no wonder why Steelback was feeling a bit uneasy leading up to the match.
The ability of a player to bring presence to a match is not, however, limited strictly to the damage-dealers. In the current meta, supports can make their presence felt more than ever before, especially in the early game. “Supports roam around the map more than junglers do at this point” explains Brandon “Saintvicious” DiMarco, “one person who’s really underrated for presence is probably Aphromoo.” Zaqueri “Aphromoo” Black, Counter Logic Gaming’s all-star support, is a player who thirsts for the opportunity to come up big for his team.
“He pretty much makes every single decision for his team” explains Saintvicious, “He is everywhere…he thinks for every single player on the team, and then at the same time he’s hitting every single skill shot.” Aphromoo’s presence was highlighted in the Week 4 match between Team SoloMid and Counter Logic Gaming. This epic showdown saw these teams battle with first place, bragging rights, and questionable hairstyles on the line. A few days after the dust had settled, Riot released the in-game comms from this instant-classic and Aphromoo is by far the most dominating voice for CLG throughout the video, conducting his team like it was the Los Angeles Philharmonic.
Much like Kha’Zix’s passive, junglers are the consistent unseen threat in any match. By definition they have a degree of presence that is born out of the functionality of their position. The question is, how does a jungler separate himself from the pack?
For Saintvicious, a player’s presence from the jungle role is determined by how time-efficient they are. Their ability to effectively farm jungle camps while maintaining vision and accurately positioning for ganks and counterganks is paramount. “Jungling is 100% about efficiency” he says, “You could have mediocre mechanics, but if you’re a really efficient player and you understand the game really well then you’ll have more presence than the guy that’s making the miracle Lee Sin kick under turret.”
Cloud9’s Will “Meteos” Hartman is the first player that comes to Saintvicious’ mind, “He’s very good about making sure he’s ahead of the other jungler in farming, while still being there when his team needs him.” It is no surprise then that Meteos currently has the highest GPM (Gold Per Minute) of any jungler in North America, a feat he can accomplish while still executing those game-changing inSec kicks.
Speaking of Choi “inSec” In-seok, what could possibly bring more presence than having a spell combination named after you? Insec’s mechanics are so coveted that he single-handedly changed the meaning of Lee Sin’s signature ability. “Resonating Strike isn't just a damage spell anymore, it's an initiation” says Jatt, “Every single time a Lee Sin Q lands, it takes on a completely different meaning in the hands of someone good enough to instill fear.”
The idea of presence, as with all sports, depends on the position of the player. ADCs and mid-laners with strong presence will draw the attention of roamers in the early game and the focus during teamfights which frees up opportunities for the rest of their team to pressure other lanes and dish out tons of damage while remaining untouched. Supports and junglers can manipulate the vision game and roam, instilling a constant state of dread in the enemy team during the early and mid-game. As for top-laners, Jatt says that they “have very low presence in the current game state.” Their presence relies heavily on their ability to effectively use teleport, making it difficult for players to set themselves apart in this regard.
Facing an enemy who you can feel even before the match begins is a harrowing prospect. They can distract your resources, successfully bluff when they have no cards, and make you think twice before engaging on them. As the end of the 2015 Spring Split starts to creep up on us, players will need to take advantage of the presence they bring as teams fight for a spot in the playoffs. Be sure to watch these games unfold at Lolesports and catch up on past matches over at the spoiler-free VODs page.
The Playmakers
Bjergsen is one of a handful of players around the world who can command such presence in game, another obvious example being SKTelecom T1’s Lee “Faker” Sang-hyeok. Faker’s skill is of another world. His mind has the capability of working in a way that few other players can match. He sees three, four moves ahead in a game of split seconds. His champion pool is so robust that that it cannot be banned out, and match-after-match he draws so much attention that he forces the enemy jungler to waste precious time attempting to shut him down -- a feat that is, more often than not, utterly unattainable.
The fear factor that Faker, and playmakers like him have is a big part of the presence that they bring to the game, and it can be felt at all levels. Say you’re in your promos to finally claw out of Gold and into Plat, so you do a little background research while the game is loading. Your stomach drops when you find out that the Vayne you're going against in bot-lane is a Diamond Vayne main. You frantically type “CAMP BOT” into game chat as your team heads out to their starting positions.
Take some comfort in knowing that even the pros get this kind of anxiety against certain players. The in-game comms from the Week 5 match between Fnatic and SK Gaming revealed that Fnatic were not exactly thrilled at the challenge that awaited them. “We are all nervous” said Pierre “Steelback” Medjaldi, “because we are against the GodGiven”. Konstantinos “FORG1VEN” Tzortziou currently has, by far, the best KDA ratio in the EU LCS with an astonishing 13.6 and it is no wonder why Steelback was feeling a bit uneasy leading up to the match.
Hook City
The ability of a player to bring presence to a match is not, however, limited strictly to the damage-dealers. In the current meta, supports can make their presence felt more than ever before, especially in the early game. “Supports roam around the map more than junglers do at this point” explains Brandon “Saintvicious” DiMarco, “one person who’s really underrated for presence is probably Aphromoo.” Zaqueri “Aphromoo” Black, Counter Logic Gaming’s all-star support, is a player who thirsts for the opportunity to come up big for his team.
“He pretty much makes every single decision for his team” explains Saintvicious, “He is everywhere…he thinks for every single player on the team, and then at the same time he’s hitting every single skill shot.” Aphromoo’s presence was highlighted in the Week 4 match between Team SoloMid and Counter Logic Gaming. This epic showdown saw these teams battle with first place, bragging rights, and questionable hairstyles on the line. A few days after the dust had settled, Riot released the in-game comms from this instant-classic and Aphromoo is by far the most dominating voice for CLG throughout the video, conducting his team like it was the Los Angeles Philharmonic.
Unseen Threat
Much like Kha’Zix’s passive, junglers are the consistent unseen threat in any match. By definition they have a degree of presence that is born out of the functionality of their position. The question is, how does a jungler separate himself from the pack?
For Saintvicious, a player’s presence from the jungle role is determined by how time-efficient they are. Their ability to effectively farm jungle camps while maintaining vision and accurately positioning for ganks and counterganks is paramount. “Jungling is 100% about efficiency” he says, “You could have mediocre mechanics, but if you’re a really efficient player and you understand the game really well then you’ll have more presence than the guy that’s making the miracle Lee Sin kick under turret.”
Cloud9’s Will “Meteos” Hartman is the first player that comes to Saintvicious’ mind, “He’s very good about making sure he’s ahead of the other jungler in farming, while still being there when his team needs him.” It is no surprise then that Meteos currently has the highest GPM (Gold Per Minute) of any jungler in North America, a feat he can accomplish while still executing those game-changing inSec kicks.
Speaking of Choi “inSec” In-seok, what could possibly bring more presence than having a spell combination named after you? Insec’s mechanics are so coveted that he single-handedly changed the meaning of Lee Sin’s signature ability. “Resonating Strike isn't just a damage spell anymore, it's an initiation” says Jatt, “Every single time a Lee Sin Q lands, it takes on a completely different meaning in the hands of someone good enough to instill fear.”
Fear me...
The idea of presence, as with all sports, depends on the position of the player. ADCs and mid-laners with strong presence will draw the attention of roamers in the early game and the focus during teamfights which frees up opportunities for the rest of their team to pressure other lanes and dish out tons of damage while remaining untouched. Supports and junglers can manipulate the vision game and roam, instilling a constant state of dread in the enemy team during the early and mid-game. As for top-laners, Jatt says that they “have very low presence in the current game state.” Their presence relies heavily on their ability to effectively use teleport, making it difficult for players to set themselves apart in this regard.
Facing an enemy who you can feel even before the match begins is a harrowing prospect. They can distract your resources, successfully bluff when they have no cards, and make you think twice before engaging on them. As the end of the 2015 Spring Split starts to creep up on us, players will need to take advantage of the presence they bring as teams fight for a spot in the playoffs. Be sure to watch these games unfold at Lolesports and catch up on past matches over at the spoiler-free VODs page.
