Champion Select: ROCCAT vs. SK Gaming
Riot·3/24/2014, 9:42:14 PM·1 votes·1,018 views
For the best teams in the world, Champion Selection is just as important as any laning phase or late game Baron fight. When everyone on the Rift is playing at the top level, which champions a team chooses, and which they ban away, can determine the course of a match before it even begins. For the keen observer, watching this duel of intellect and prediction can be just as exciting as the match itself. To dig deeper into this phase of the game, I spoke with the managers of ROCCAT and SK Gaming, Tomislav Mihailov and Alexander Muller respectively, following their Week 9 match. With their insight, I will break down the thought process that goes into choosing the right champions at the top level of the LCS.
ROCCAT is on the blue side, so they have the first ban, which they use on Sivir. SK’s carry, Candypanda, is one of the team’s best playmakers so targeting him with a ban is reasonable, but that isn't ROCCAT’s intent with this ban. Mihailov confirmed that the team entered this match intending to play a teamfight focused composition. One of the strongest existing counters to a heavy engage composition is the combination of Sivir and Wukong. By banning Sivir, ROCCAT have taken away the biggest threat in the current metagame to their intended composition. SK has also been known to run compositions that rely heavily on Sivir’s mobility, so ROCCAT have also denied a proven strategy from their opponent.
With their first ban, SK Gaming then takes away Lucian, another carry. This ban accomplishes two things; with two carries gone from of the limited roster Celaver is known to play, SK has forced ROCCAT to either use their first pick on Caitlyn, or risk leaving Celaver with his fourth option, Jinx. SK was also planning to run an aggressive bottom lane, and removing one of the strongest early game carries helps their intended bottom lane succeed.
The next two bans are fairly straightforward. Jesiz plays a strong Nidalee, while Overpow has shown to be dangerous when he roams, so Kassadin goes away as well. The next ban is also relatively standard, and will be a key component in ROCCAT’s victory. Renekton is a champion who dominates the early game, and a player like Fredy122 knows how to maintain that advantage over a more passive player like Xaxus. By removing Renekton, ROCCAT took away one of Fredy122’s favorite champions, and gave Xaxus a better chance at success in the top lane. Finally, SK banned away Morgana, a champion who would cause problems for the aggressive bottom lane SK wanted to run.
Knowing that ROCCAT was planning to run a teamfight oriented composition, their first pick becomes a very simple decision. They needed to choose a very strong champion with few counters who would fit into whatever composition ROCCAT had at the end. Lulu is a powerful mid lane champion who fits that description perfectly and ROCCAT have confirmed that they intended the Lulu pick to be for Overpow in the mid lane until nearly the end of Champion Select.
At this point, SK began forming their composition. They had to take Caitlyn away from Celaver, as Candypanda’s fourth option at AD carry would likely have been Vayne, who is directly countered in the early game by Caitlyn’s range. With their next pick, and SK’s manager having confirmed that SK went into the match aiming to have an assassin in the mid lane, the goal of SK’s team composition becomes clear. With Kha’Zix in the jungle, a strong bottom lane, and an assassin in the mid lane, SK wanted to take an early advantage with a pick style composition, and then use that early lead with the range of Caitlyn to take objectives and win the game quickly and efficiently. Unfortunately for SK, their focus on their intended composition would be their undoing.
To ROCCAT, Caitlyn and Kha’Zix are very straightforward picks that do not telegraph any kind of strategy on the part of SK. While ROCCAT also have a plan in mind, they do not want to give their goals away. Also, having already chosen (what they intended to be) their mid lane champion, ROCCAT was likely planning to save their top lane selection until the end as a potential counter. So, they decided to match SK pick for pick. They took the only remaining viable AD carry in Celaver’s pool, Jinx, and decided to match SK’s early jungle presence with Elise.
Next, SK made a fatal mistake. To round out their intended composition, SK selected Jax for the top lane and Karma as their support. Both picks fit perfectly into SK’s goals, but by choosing their top laner before ROCCAT picked theirs, it allowed Xaxus the opportunity to prepare himself for the matchup with Jax. According to Mihailov, Xaxus felt strongly that Lulu had a very favorable matchup with Jax in the top lane. With their final two picks, ROCCAT abandoned their initial strategy, and made two perfect picks that countered SK’s early game strategy—Gragas and Sona. SK had no way to prepare for ROCCAT’s sudden double AP composition. Xaxus has never shown such a versatile champion pool, and both Gragas and Lulu have made appearances in the top lane in previous LCS matches. With their last pick, SK had no choice but to continue their composition with LeBlanc, and hope for the best.
The last thing to examine is ROCCAT’s selection of Sona as their support. With Karma and Morgana unavailable, Thresh would be the next logical choice for VandeR. However, looking at the knowledge that ROCCAT had when they made their pick, Sona fits their new counter strategy perfectly. Both Jax and Kha’Zix are champions that have to jump onto weaker opponents quickly, and then escape to be successful. While Thresh would have been able to catch one of SK’s weaker champions for a pick, Sona is much more terrifying to SK’s composition. Each one of ROCCAT’s damage threats deals most of their damage through area of effect spells. If Kha’Zix and Jax attempted to jump into the team, a quick Crescendo from Sona would root both champions in place long enough for Lulu, Gragas, Jinx, and Elise to explode both of them, along with anyone else caught in the ultimate.
By staying flexible and reacting to each pick by SK, ROCCAT was able to set up for success before the match began. While a few mistakes and an early lead could have given SK an opportunity to find a win, they were on their back foot before minions had spawned. Never forget—while the war isn’t won until the nexus explodes, the first battle starts with your first ban.
Ban Phase
ROCCAT is on the blue side, so they have the first ban, which they use on Sivir. SK’s carry, Candypanda, is one of the team’s best playmakers so targeting him with a ban is reasonable, but that isn't ROCCAT’s intent with this ban. Mihailov confirmed that the team entered this match intending to play a teamfight focused composition. One of the strongest existing counters to a heavy engage composition is the combination of Sivir and Wukong. By banning Sivir, ROCCAT have taken away the biggest threat in the current metagame to their intended composition. SK has also been known to run compositions that rely heavily on Sivir’s mobility, so ROCCAT have also denied a proven strategy from their opponent.
With their first ban, SK Gaming then takes away Lucian, another carry. This ban accomplishes two things; with two carries gone from of the limited roster Celaver is known to play, SK has forced ROCCAT to either use their first pick on Caitlyn, or risk leaving Celaver with his fourth option, Jinx. SK was also planning to run an aggressive bottom lane, and removing one of the strongest early game carries helps their intended bottom lane succeed.
The next two bans are fairly straightforward. Jesiz plays a strong Nidalee, while Overpow has shown to be dangerous when he roams, so Kassadin goes away as well. The next ban is also relatively standard, and will be a key component in ROCCAT’s victory. Renekton is a champion who dominates the early game, and a player like Fredy122 knows how to maintain that advantage over a more passive player like Xaxus. By removing Renekton, ROCCAT took away one of Fredy122’s favorite champions, and gave Xaxus a better chance at success in the top lane. Finally, SK banned away Morgana, a champion who would cause problems for the aggressive bottom lane SK wanted to run.
Pick Phase
Knowing that ROCCAT was planning to run a teamfight oriented composition, their first pick becomes a very simple decision. They needed to choose a very strong champion with few counters who would fit into whatever composition ROCCAT had at the end. Lulu is a powerful mid lane champion who fits that description perfectly and ROCCAT have confirmed that they intended the Lulu pick to be for Overpow in the mid lane until nearly the end of Champion Select.
At this point, SK began forming their composition. They had to take Caitlyn away from Celaver, as Candypanda’s fourth option at AD carry would likely have been Vayne, who is directly countered in the early game by Caitlyn’s range. With their next pick, and SK’s manager having confirmed that SK went into the match aiming to have an assassin in the mid lane, the goal of SK’s team composition becomes clear. With Kha’Zix in the jungle, a strong bottom lane, and an assassin in the mid lane, SK wanted to take an early advantage with a pick style composition, and then use that early lead with the range of Caitlyn to take objectives and win the game quickly and efficiently. Unfortunately for SK, their focus on their intended composition would be their undoing.
To ROCCAT, Caitlyn and Kha’Zix are very straightforward picks that do not telegraph any kind of strategy on the part of SK. While ROCCAT also have a plan in mind, they do not want to give their goals away. Also, having already chosen (what they intended to be) their mid lane champion, ROCCAT was likely planning to save their top lane selection until the end as a potential counter. So, they decided to match SK pick for pick. They took the only remaining viable AD carry in Celaver’s pool, Jinx, and decided to match SK’s early jungle presence with Elise.
Next, SK made a fatal mistake. To round out their intended composition, SK selected Jax for the top lane and Karma as their support. Both picks fit perfectly into SK’s goals, but by choosing their top laner before ROCCAT picked theirs, it allowed Xaxus the opportunity to prepare himself for the matchup with Jax. According to Mihailov, Xaxus felt strongly that Lulu had a very favorable matchup with Jax in the top lane. With their final two picks, ROCCAT abandoned their initial strategy, and made two perfect picks that countered SK’s early game strategy—Gragas and Sona. SK had no way to prepare for ROCCAT’s sudden double AP composition. Xaxus has never shown such a versatile champion pool, and both Gragas and Lulu have made appearances in the top lane in previous LCS matches. With their last pick, SK had no choice but to continue their composition with LeBlanc, and hope for the best.
The last thing to examine is ROCCAT’s selection of Sona as their support. With Karma and Morgana unavailable, Thresh would be the next logical choice for VandeR. However, looking at the knowledge that ROCCAT had when they made their pick, Sona fits their new counter strategy perfectly. Both Jax and Kha’Zix are champions that have to jump onto weaker opponents quickly, and then escape to be successful. While Thresh would have been able to catch one of SK’s weaker champions for a pick, Sona is much more terrifying to SK’s composition. Each one of ROCCAT’s damage threats deals most of their damage through area of effect spells. If Kha’Zix and Jax attempted to jump into the team, a quick Crescendo from Sona would root both champions in place long enough for Lulu, Gragas, Jinx, and Elise to explode both of them, along with anyone else caught in the ultimate.
Final Thoughts
By staying flexible and reacting to each pick by SK, ROCCAT was able to set up for success before the match began. While a few mistakes and an early lead could have given SK an opportunity to find a win, they were on their back foot before minions had spawned. Never forget—while the war isn’t won until the nexus explodes, the first battle starts with your first ban.
