The new top Idol: CS Summer Week 2
The strange and wild world of the Challenger Series is back in full swing for Summer 2015! Week 1 gifted us with a support Malphite to whet our creative champion appetites, only to be followed up by a top lane Galio and the emergence of the Runeglaive Ezreal hypetrain in Week 2.
Assault from above!
Damage adjustments to Galio's Idol of Durand (R) combined with the shifting top lane meta had Mauno "beansu" Tälli and mousesports thinking the time was right to dust off the gargoyle's stone wings in their Week 2 matchup against Gamers2.
Galio's strength lies in his passive, Runic Skin, which allows him to convert 50% of his total magic resistance into ability power. "You need to pick him into a champion that mostly deals magic damage," explains Beansu. As soon as Gamers2 locked in Rumble, operation Galio top was a go for mouseports.
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Patch 5.12 was good to the stone guardian, if you get off an effective ultimate. "His ultimate can just solo win you the game if you hit it," says beansu. But that's not the only reason they went for the pick. "His Righteous Gust (E) gives you a lot of kiting potential and an engage tool if you combo it with something like Jayce's Acceleration Gate or Sivir's Ultimate."
Sadly for mousesports, both Sivir and Jayce ended up in the hands of Gamers2 and when down a Flash, beansu had a tough time targeting priority targets with Idol of Durand (R). Lacking the necessary engage to consistently force a fight with Gamers2, beansu was subject to brutal long ranged harass from Jayce's Accelerated Shockblast and Sivir's Boomerang Blade, forcing him to build armor and never completely optimizing his build around Galio's Runic Skin.
While the Galio pick wasn't enough to secure victory in this match, beansu's faith in in the Demacian gargoyle isn't shaken, "I definitely like playing Galio, mostly because of the fact that no one else plays it, and unorthodox picks are always fun!" he says.
Welcome to Runeglaive
Oh what a week it has been for Ezreal the Prodigal Explorer. After the release of the new AP jungle enchantment Runeglaive, mid laners the world over started murmuring about the item's incredible synergy with AP Ezreal. Winterfox mid laner Lyonel "Arcsecond" Pfaender wasted no time and introduced this deadly combination to the Challenger scene in their first match of the week against Renegades.
Mid lane Ezreal is not a new phenomenon and has been a staple of double AD compositions for quite a while. However, he was very rarely played as an AP carry up until this week. The reason for this was pretty straight forward: he has zero wave-clear. But by rocking Smite in the mid lane, Ezreal can build a Ranger's Trailblazer and use it to refund his mana on the nearby Wolf or Razorbeak camps, as well as take care of any pesky minion waves. Once upgraded with the Runeglaive Enchantment, Ezreal's farming capabilities increase ten-fold, which explains how Arcsecond was able to acquire the highest amount of CS in the game.
Now a viable threat, AP Ezreal fits snuggly inside the prevailing poke-comp meta while no longer enduring an unrecoverable power trough. "It offers the safest magic poke damage, but can also have incredible burst potential," says Arcesecond. "It's a safer version of AP Kog'Maw, it has an easier time getting to its power spike."
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Want to bust out the popular power pick in Solo Queue? Arcsecond has some build tips for those who want to light up the mid lane. "I think a full AP rune, mastery, and build are best for Ezreal. Runeglaive combined with Luden's Echo gives his Mystic Shot (Q) a high AP ratio...His largest power spike comes after boots, Runeglaive, and Luden's," explains Arcsecond.
Be sure to keep those power spikes in mind as you Arcane Shift (E) about the Rift, and don't be thrifty with your Trueshot Barrage (R) either. "Use it to assist your jungler and side lanes. It can also completely remove a carry from a team fight with a direct hit," says Arcsecond.
Have fun experimenting with your own Runeglaive Ezreal builds or just counter-pick him with a Galio! Either way make sure you check out Week 3 of the trend-setting Challenger Series this Tuesday, July 7th and Wednesday, July 8th right here on Lolesports for more unique and innovative picks! If you missed any of the matches so far, they are available on our spoiler free VODs page.
