Icy Patch: Lissandra’s reign over North America
Riot·3/13/2015, 5:29:18 PM·0 votes·15,393 views
Lissandra warned us that she would bury the world in ice, and she is making good on her threat, starting in North America. The Ice Witch of the Frejlord rules the NA LCS with an icy fist, her win rate an astonishing 88.9% (16-2) -- the highest of any champion with at least three appearances.
Elsewhere in competitive League of Legends, Lissandra’s plan of turning the world into a frozen wasteland has yet to come to fruition. Although still a favorable pick for teams everywhere, her win rate is nowhere near as dominant as it is in North America, where she's been banned 50 times (Rumble is second with 37 bans). In the LCK she is tied with Rek’Sai on the ban-list, only trailing behind LeBlanc, and has won 52% of her games (13-12). Lissandra has forged an even less successful European campaign, barely clawing into the top five most banned champions and sports a lackluster win percentage of 45.5% (10-12).
Lissandra’s strengths reside in her massive teamfight potential, with all four of her abilities offer area of effect damage. Glacial Path is one of the larger, non-ultimate, gap closers in the game and can be used to attack straight through the enemy front line or as a flanking maneuver. This engage, when combined with her ultimate Frozen Tomb allows her to severely damage and lock down priority targets. In laning phase, she can shove waves quickly and use her mobility to cause havoc around the map. “She’s very good at catching people off guard,” explains Team SoloMid's Søren “Bjergsen” Bjerg. “Engaging from brushes, engaging out of vision, once you get a lead with Lissandra, it’s really hard [for opponents] to come back.”
Lissandra owes her North American dominance to the region’s proclivity towards teamfighting. “Everyone is having success with these all-in, wombo-combo type comps” says Daerek “LemonNation” Hart. “Lissandra is basically the best diver,” he explains. “If you have Lissandra, and you’re against another dive comp, your dive comp is going to win because you have Lissandra. She’s just better at it than everyone else.”
Not only does Lissandra fit the North American meta like a glove, but she could be simultaneously the most feared champion -- and possibly the least prepared for. According to Bjergsen, he did not play Lissandra a single time in scrims before bringing her mid lane to secure a Week 7 victory over Team 8, mostly because she is permabanned in scrims. “We generally ban it on purple [side], the enemy team bans it on purple… So when all of the sudden you have this Lissandra on the enemy team, you don’t really know how to respond.”
Lissandra also has the added advantage of being less mechanically intensive than other champions. She doesn’t need an “up-keep in mechanics” Bjergsen says. “Champions like Ahri or LeBlanc, I need to play them every day,” he explains. “Lissandra’s kit is more about how you play it, how you know how to play it. It’s not about hitting this skillshot or hitting that skillshot, you just need to think about how you want to play Lissandra in that game.”
The top North American teams know that in order to succeed, especially at an international level, they will need to learn to play against Lissandra. To that end, TSM coach Yoonsup “Locodoco” Choi has been formulating strategies to counter Lissandra. As coach, one of Locodoco’s chief responsibilities is planning for and implementing an effective pick/ban phase for each match, and countering Lissandra’s flex status in the draft is a big hurdle to overcome. “Say they take Lissandra first pick,” he says, “then you pick up a power pick elsewhere… You take Rek’Sai, Janna on your second rotation.” Once Lissandra has been taken with the first pick, he explains, “You draft two solos that are strong versus [her]. It makes your comp really good overall.” If all goes according to plan, a team then has the opportunity to nullify the first pick Lissandra by effectively shutting her down in game, as well as picking up other strong champions for themselves.
TSM isn't the only team developing anti-Lissandra strategies either. According to LemonNation, “That’s something CLG worked on this week. They were specifically trying to leave up Lissandra [to counter] it.” Counter Logic Gaming were rewarded for their efforts as they handed Lissandra her second loss of the split in the Week 7 victory against Gravity, thanks in large part to Darshan “ZionSpartan” Upadhyaha’s top-lane Hecarim. He was able to amass an insurmountable CS lead over Kevin “Hauntzer” Yarnell’s Lissandra thanks to some clever early game map-movements and proved the best way to break through ice is with a heavy hoof.
Top lane Hecarim, which has been conspicuously absent in the NA LCS this split, is one of a few lane counters capable of dealing with Lissandra. “Hecarim is a really strong pick into Lissandra because you have huge lane presence, and you can snowball really easily,” says ZionSpartan. According to Locodoco, Lissandra can be countered in the top lane with Irelia, Maokai, and Rumble, as well as with Orianna or Cassiopeia in the mid lane.
The end of Lissandra’s reign over North America may yet be at hand, but it is a battle that will not easily be won. Learning to play against the Ice Witch can be tough for some teams, especially since she is not the only threat teams need to prepare for. “You can’t improve on 10 different things at once,” explains Bjergsen. “After leaving up Lissandra for about two weeks,” he says, “we just made the decision that for now we want to focus on [other strategies].”
Teams in the NA LCS continue to find ways of dealing with the icy fright of the Frejlord. “When a champion stays in the meta for a long time people slowly find what works against it,” says ZionSpartan, “I wouldn't be surprised to see her falling really far down in the win rate.” If history is any indication, ZionSpartan could be right, and perhaps there is indeed some warmth on the horizon.
Join the fight against ice and brush up on your history of Lissandra’s reign this split with our spoiler free VODs, it’s going to take more than hand warmers and Hecarim to bring down the Queen of North America.
Queen of North America
Lissandra’s strengths reside in her massive teamfight potential, with all four of her abilities offer area of effect damage. Glacial Path is one of the larger, non-ultimate, gap closers in the game and can be used to attack straight through the enemy front line or as a flanking maneuver. This engage, when combined with her ultimate Frozen Tomb allows her to severely damage and lock down priority targets. In laning phase, she can shove waves quickly and use her mobility to cause havoc around the map. “She’s very good at catching people off guard,” explains Team SoloMid's Søren “Bjergsen” Bjerg. “Engaging from brushes, engaging out of vision, once you get a lead with Lissandra, it’s really hard [for opponents] to come back.”
Lissandra owes her North American dominance to the region’s proclivity towards teamfighting. “Everyone is having success with these all-in, wombo-combo type comps” says Daerek “LemonNation” Hart. “Lissandra is basically the best diver,” he explains. “If you have Lissandra, and you’re against another dive comp, your dive comp is going to win because you have Lissandra. She’s just better at it than everyone else.”
Not only does Lissandra fit the North American meta like a glove, but she could be simultaneously the most feared champion -- and possibly the least prepared for. According to Bjergsen, he did not play Lissandra a single time in scrims before bringing her mid lane to secure a Week 7 victory over Team 8, mostly because she is permabanned in scrims. “We generally ban it on purple [side], the enemy team bans it on purple… So when all of the sudden you have this Lissandra on the enemy team, you don’t really know how to respond.”
Lissandra also has the added advantage of being less mechanically intensive than other champions. She doesn’t need an “up-keep in mechanics” Bjergsen says. “Champions like Ahri or LeBlanc, I need to play them every day,” he explains. “Lissandra’s kit is more about how you play it, how you know how to play it. It’s not about hitting this skillshot or hitting that skillshot, you just need to think about how you want to play Lissandra in that game.”
Cracks in the Ice
The top North American teams know that in order to succeed, especially at an international level, they will need to learn to play against Lissandra. To that end, TSM coach Yoonsup “Locodoco” Choi has been formulating strategies to counter Lissandra. As coach, one of Locodoco’s chief responsibilities is planning for and implementing an effective pick/ban phase for each match, and countering Lissandra’s flex status in the draft is a big hurdle to overcome. “Say they take Lissandra first pick,” he says, “then you pick up a power pick elsewhere… You take Rek’Sai, Janna on your second rotation.” Once Lissandra has been taken with the first pick, he explains, “You draft two solos that are strong versus [her]. It makes your comp really good overall.” If all goes according to plan, a team then has the opportunity to nullify the first pick Lissandra by effectively shutting her down in game, as well as picking up other strong champions for themselves.
TSM isn't the only team developing anti-Lissandra strategies either. According to LemonNation, “That’s something CLG worked on this week. They were specifically trying to leave up Lissandra [to counter] it.” Counter Logic Gaming were rewarded for their efforts as they handed Lissandra her second loss of the split in the Week 7 victory against Gravity, thanks in large part to Darshan “ZionSpartan” Upadhyaha’s top-lane Hecarim. He was able to amass an insurmountable CS lead over Kevin “Hauntzer” Yarnell’s Lissandra thanks to some clever early game map-movements and proved the best way to break through ice is with a heavy hoof.
Top lane Hecarim, which has been conspicuously absent in the NA LCS this split, is one of a few lane counters capable of dealing with Lissandra. “Hecarim is a really strong pick into Lissandra because you have huge lane presence, and you can snowball really easily,” says ZionSpartan. According to Locodoco, Lissandra can be countered in the top lane with Irelia, Maokai, and Rumble, as well as with Orianna or Cassiopeia in the mid lane.
All Empires Must Fall
The end of Lissandra’s reign over North America may yet be at hand, but it is a battle that will not easily be won. Learning to play against the Ice Witch can be tough for some teams, especially since she is not the only threat teams need to prepare for. “You can’t improve on 10 different things at once,” explains Bjergsen. “After leaving up Lissandra for about two weeks,” he says, “we just made the decision that for now we want to focus on [other strategies].”
Teams in the NA LCS continue to find ways of dealing with the icy fright of the Frejlord. “When a champion stays in the meta for a long time people slowly find what works against it,” says ZionSpartan, “I wouldn't be surprised to see her falling really far down in the win rate.” If history is any indication, ZionSpartan could be right, and perhaps there is indeed some warmth on the horizon.
Join the fight against ice and brush up on your history of Lissandra’s reign this split with our spoiler free VODs, it’s going to take more than hand warmers and Hecarim to bring down the Queen of North America.
reminds me of the villain from Big Hero 6. anyone else? lol
in lcs #thedream
