Cloud 9 at All-Star 2014
Riot·3/18/2014, 11:02:19 PM·0 votes·1,565 views
Most teams have at least one All Star player on their roster. Cloud 9 is lucky enough to be a team seemingly made up of them. Every player on Cloud 9 is in the top half of the NA LCS for their position, and all their players are quite unique as well.
It's hard to say too much about Balls. While he is one of the smallest LCS players, he is also one of the strongest, and in-game, his presence is huge. In the top lane, he is an absolute monster by every marker of play. While the average KDA for a top laner in the NA scene is 3.3, his KDA ratio is 6.31, getting 37% more kills, 32% fewer deaths, and 30% more assists than your average top laner.
As far as champion pool goes, he is consistent with a capital C. 15 of his games are on his top two champions (Renekton and Shyvana), the highest of any NA top. And while many top laners play Mundo for the late-game scaling (an average of 4.25 picks per player), Balls doesn't because he'd "rather play aggressive champions to take control of lane". But don't let that consistency fool you; he pulls out his favorite champion Rumble from time to time, and currently maintains a KDA ratio of 13 on him. And counter-picks? Don't seem to bother him. Cloud 9 has only picked top lane after their opposing team in 40% of their games, and while 3 of Cloud 9's 4 losses have been in games where Balls had to pick his top before his opposing laner, his KDA ratio was actually higher in those games, reaching 6.65.
If you want a consistent top laner who doesn't mind picking early or a niche top who is completely dominant on a rarely-seen champion, Balls is your guy.
To say that Meteos is a dominant jungler is an understatement. The list of record-breaking stats he has is a mile long. His KDA ratio is 11.80. On Lee Sin specifically, it's 25! That's for one game, right? Actually, 5 games, over which he is 16-3-59, and went deathless in 3 of those games. Oh, and speaking of not dying? There's a reason he's nicknamed the unkillable. In 9 of his 20 games (45%), he has 0 deaths, and he has only totaled 30 deaths over his 20 games. The only other jungler with that few deaths is Dexter, and he's only played 11 games this season. The next lowest is TheOddOne, with 50 deaths.
Last Season, he basically invented his own farm-heavy style of jungling. This season, he's playing a whole new game, favoring champions who apply early pressure, like Lee Sin and Elise. Last week, at Katowice, he had one of his initial buffs stolen in both of his two Group stage games, one vs World Elite, the other versus the 10-0 Taipei Assassins, but quickly recovered and led his team to victory. Meteos is basically synonymous with consistency and versatility, and you'd be hard-pressed to nominate a stronger jungler in North America or Europe.
Hai played well above his usual level at IEM Katowice, roaming all over the map to make plays. His positioning at level 1 with Gragas allowed him to force an early flash from the opposing ADC, allowing early plays on the opposing bot lane. His ganks top allowed for complete dominance going into the mid-game, and at times, it felt like he had picked Cloud 9 up and put them on his back.
If he returns to NA with that level of global pressure and confidence, Cloud 9 will be even more terrifying on Summoner's Rift than they already are.
Last season, Sneaky was known as a more supportive ADC, rarely making the flashy plays himself while playing champions such as Ashe or Varus, but this season, he has stepped his play up. He holds the second-highest KDA ratio of any ADC (7.27), well above the average (4.15). And while last season he was known for a smaller champion pool, this season he has played the most diverse stable of champions of any ADC, with 6, adding the oft-ignored Draven and Ezreal to the standard Lucian, Caitlyn, and Jinx. He has only died 33 times (only two more than WildTurtle and 3 more than Cop), and has the second-most kills at 99.
LemonNation is the thinker of Cloud 9, guiding champion select with the prolific writings in his mysterious notebook. In a lot of ways, he feels a lot like the Edward of Cloud 9, dying often in ways that turn into huge advantages for his team. More importantly, he brings the team beard, and somebody has to!
Mattias "Gentleman Gustaf" Lehman is a League of Legends mathcrafter turned esports journalist who spends his spare time staring at mountains of League of Legends data. Follow him @GentlemanGustaf on Twitter.
TOP: Balls
It's hard to say too much about Balls. While he is one of the smallest LCS players, he is also one of the strongest, and in-game, his presence is huge. In the top lane, he is an absolute monster by every marker of play. While the average KDA for a top laner in the NA scene is 3.3, his KDA ratio is 6.31, getting 37% more kills, 32% fewer deaths, and 30% more assists than your average top laner.
As far as champion pool goes, he is consistent with a capital C. 15 of his games are on his top two champions (Renekton and Shyvana), the highest of any NA top. And while many top laners play Mundo for the late-game scaling (an average of 4.25 picks per player), Balls doesn't because he'd "rather play aggressive champions to take control of lane". But don't let that consistency fool you; he pulls out his favorite champion Rumble from time to time, and currently maintains a KDA ratio of 13 on him. And counter-picks? Don't seem to bother him. Cloud 9 has only picked top lane after their opposing team in 40% of their games, and while 3 of Cloud 9's 4 losses have been in games where Balls had to pick his top before his opposing laner, his KDA ratio was actually higher in those games, reaching 6.65.
If you want a consistent top laner who doesn't mind picking early or a niche top who is completely dominant on a rarely-seen champion, Balls is your guy.
JUNGLE: Meteos
To say that Meteos is a dominant jungler is an understatement. The list of record-breaking stats he has is a mile long. His KDA ratio is 11.80. On Lee Sin specifically, it's 25! That's for one game, right? Actually, 5 games, over which he is 16-3-59, and went deathless in 3 of those games. Oh, and speaking of not dying? There's a reason he's nicknamed the unkillable. In 9 of his 20 games (45%), he has 0 deaths, and he has only totaled 30 deaths over his 20 games. The only other jungler with that few deaths is Dexter, and he's only played 11 games this season. The next lowest is TheOddOne, with 50 deaths.
Last Season, he basically invented his own farm-heavy style of jungling. This season, he's playing a whole new game, favoring champions who apply early pressure, like Lee Sin and Elise. Last week, at Katowice, he had one of his initial buffs stolen in both of his two Group stage games, one vs World Elite, the other versus the 10-0 Taipei Assassins, but quickly recovered and led his team to victory. Meteos is basically synonymous with consistency and versatility, and you'd be hard-pressed to nominate a stronger jungler in North America or Europe.
MID: Hai
Hai played well above his usual level at IEM Katowice, roaming all over the map to make plays. His positioning at level 1 with Gragas allowed him to force an early flash from the opposing ADC, allowing early plays on the opposing bot lane. His ganks top allowed for complete dominance going into the mid-game, and at times, it felt like he had picked Cloud 9 up and put them on his back.
If he returns to NA with that level of global pressure and confidence, Cloud 9 will be even more terrifying on Summoner's Rift than they already are.
AD CARRY: Sneaky
Last season, Sneaky was known as a more supportive ADC, rarely making the flashy plays himself while playing champions such as Ashe or Varus, but this season, he has stepped his play up. He holds the second-highest KDA ratio of any ADC (7.27), well above the average (4.15). And while last season he was known for a smaller champion pool, this season he has played the most diverse stable of champions of any ADC, with 6, adding the oft-ignored Draven and Ezreal to the standard Lucian, Caitlyn, and Jinx. He has only died 33 times (only two more than WildTurtle and 3 more than Cop), and has the second-most kills at 99.
SUPPORT: LemonNation
LemonNation is the thinker of Cloud 9, guiding champion select with the prolific writings in his mysterious notebook. In a lot of ways, he feels a lot like the Edward of Cloud 9, dying often in ways that turn into huge advantages for his team. More importantly, he brings the team beard, and somebody has to!
Mattias "Gentleman Gustaf" Lehman is a League of Legends mathcrafter turned esports journalist who spends his spare time staring at mountains of League of Legends data. Follow him @GentlemanGustaf on Twitter.
is the best
Vote Metoes 2014