Spiders & laser beams: Challenger Week 3
Riot·3/10/2015, 7:26:29 PM·0 votes·9,121 views
The Challenger Series is a hotbed of new talent and unique champions testing the limits of player skill. Last week, we covered all the crazy compositions being played -- but this week we’re homing in on those unique champion picks. The core of any meta shift is a brand new champion bursting through and becoming a core part of the competitive scene. Let's take a look at a couple of these champions from Week 3.
Elise hasn’t had the easiest transition into the new jungle, and it’s shown tremendously in her pick rates. She went from the single most-picked jungler in late 2014 to seemingly nonexistent in 2015. Though there’s no single reason for her pick rate, most of it can be attributed to an increase in jungle sustainability thanks to the new items.
The last notable time we saw Elise was when Will “Meteos” Hartman picked her up in the first week of the LCS, only to fall flat on his face in a loss to Team SoloMid. That showing led to many people proclaiming her official death in the competitive scene. Now, though, she’s got an opportunity to break out onto the Rift again, if LowLandLion’s composition in Week 3 of the EUCS is a marker here.
The LowLandLion’s were seeking an answer to the current super tanky crowd control junglers like Jarvan and Vi. In Elise they found huge gank potential combined with escapability, all wrapped up in a pseudo jungle Assassin. They showed off her potential within seven minutes of the game, tower-diving MousEsports before level six and escaping without losing anyone.
As with most assassins, Elise needs to get ahead early in order to transition into the later parts of the game. This single reason is enough for a lot of people to pass over Elise in favor of other junglers. She’s by no means weak, she just has to be played in a very specific composition to fully utilize her, and this time around it worked.
Viktor’s had a pretty rough life. He largely wasn't picked at all, let alone competitively, up until his recent rework. GE Tigers, a clear front-runner in the LCK, picked him three weeks ago and sent tremors throughout the world. Since then, he's caught fire and is just now starting to seep into the LCS through the NACS.
Though Gravity’s Lae-Young “Keane” Jang may have beaten NME eSports to the punch in terms of picking Viktor, Tyson “Innox” Kapler was the first to competitively dominate with Viktor in North America. The glorious evolution is working its way around the world, one mid laner at a time!
Formidable trading combined with awesome pushing potential and incredible burst make Viktor one of the strongest picks in the middle lane right now. No other champion is better at zoning compared to Viktor, who can make entire areas around objectives inaccessible.
You can catch unique champion picks like these and more in the Challenger Series broadcast every Wednesday right here on Lolesports. If you've missed any of the matches so far, catch up over on the spoiler-free VODs page.
The Spider Queen’s Return
Elise hasn’t had the easiest transition into the new jungle, and it’s shown tremendously in her pick rates. She went from the single most-picked jungler in late 2014 to seemingly nonexistent in 2015. Though there’s no single reason for her pick rate, most of it can be attributed to an increase in jungle sustainability thanks to the new items.
The last notable time we saw Elise was when Will “Meteos” Hartman picked her up in the first week of the LCS, only to fall flat on his face in a loss to Team SoloMid. That showing led to many people proclaiming her official death in the competitive scene. Now, though, she’s got an opportunity to break out onto the Rift again, if LowLandLion’s composition in Week 3 of the EUCS is a marker here.
The LowLandLion’s were seeking an answer to the current super tanky crowd control junglers like Jarvan and Vi. In Elise they found huge gank potential combined with escapability, all wrapped up in a pseudo jungle Assassin. They showed off her potential within seven minutes of the game, tower-diving MousEsports before level six and escaping without losing anyone.
As with most assassins, Elise needs to get ahead early in order to transition into the later parts of the game. This single reason is enough for a lot of people to pass over Elise in favor of other junglers. She’s by no means weak, she just has to be played in a very specific composition to fully utilize her, and this time around it worked.
The Glorious Evolution
Viktor’s had a pretty rough life. He largely wasn't picked at all, let alone competitively, up until his recent rework. GE Tigers, a clear front-runner in the LCK, picked him three weeks ago and sent tremors throughout the world. Since then, he's caught fire and is just now starting to seep into the LCS through the NACS.
Though Gravity’s Lae-Young “Keane” Jang may have beaten NME eSports to the punch in terms of picking Viktor, Tyson “Innox” Kapler was the first to competitively dominate with Viktor in North America. The glorious evolution is working its way around the world, one mid laner at a time!
Formidable trading combined with awesome pushing potential and incredible burst make Viktor one of the strongest picks in the middle lane right now. No other champion is better at zoning compared to Viktor, who can make entire areas around objectives inaccessible.
You can catch unique champion picks like these and more in the Challenger Series broadcast every Wednesday right here on Lolesports. If you've missed any of the matches so far, catch up over on the spoiler-free VODs page.
pick
