Why do LCS teams constantly scrim each other?

Pippen The Short·5/16/2017, 8:42:44 PM·4 votes·7,328 views

I guess, I kind of understand the reasons behind it, but at the same time it seems odd.

You don't see professional teams scrimming each other constantly in other sports. So why do you see it in League?

Echo Fox got boycotted by other teams as scrim partners and they went 4-4 in their matches during that time and looked very competitive even in losses, but immediately following teams starting to scrim Echo Fox again they tanked and only won 2 matches for the remainder of the split, going 2-8.

Does this structure of scrimming other pro teams as a means of "practice" contribute to their failure on the International stage?

15 Comments

Pippen The Short5/16/2017, 8:54:51 PM3 votes

2 down votes, zero comments. Sounds about right. Seriously, it's a question, how you can down vote a question is confusing. [zombie-brand-facepalm]

PhantomGG5/17/2017, 7:32:56 PM2 votes

the big reason is the following two

1-No team practice tool mode has been made yet

2-Only korea has the structure to form proper training teams

1-No team practice tool In basketball, football, soccer, all sports, if a team wants to practice basic strategies or combos they will go onto the court and practice the situation out at least 50 times, however many times it takes them to get it right. For example let's say my basketball team wants to practice this strategy where I pass the ball in a certain way to player X, and X dribbles in a certain style to then make the shot. This is something I could easily practice and duplicate in a real life world. However in a virtual world, since no team practice mode has been created yet, this is impossible to do. This is a HUGE problem for all league teams, and I hope riot develops a proper practice tool meant for pro players and teams in the future

2-korea and training teams

The big reason pro teams practice among other pro teams, even if it means revealing strategical secrets, is because they have no choice. The average basketball team has like 40 something players, along with a training squad. Because of this they can constantly practice games against each other for hours upon hours. They are playing against high tier players at the highest level in their field and are getting quality practice. They don't need to "scrim" other teams, for they already have a team they can scrim against on their own court.

However very few teams can afford to have multiple training partners under their banner, and even when they do, it's very low quality practice. The difference between league and the NBA. is that the NBA has the top 200 or something players competing against eachother. while the NA lcs only has the top 50. MEANING that a NA LCS league player, is most likely better at league, than a pro basketball player is at basketball. (sorry if that sounds confusing) the standards to play in the NA LCS are much higher than they are for a basketball player to play in the NBA. In the NA LCS you can get fired simply for not being the best, not because you were bad, but simply because you weren't near perfect. Sounds pretty harsh right?

So even if a LCS team had a practice/training squad that they could scrim against, chances are, they would be much lower qualtiy then a LCS team, thus making low quality practice.

Just look at splyce, by forming an alliance with G2 in season 6 summer split, they went from a last place team, to a 3rd place team. Quality practice is important and it helps by a lot.

The reason top teams scrim so much is simply because their is no effective alternative ways to practice, vs real life sports where they have a huge list of ways where they can practice.

hotarse5/18/2017, 4:56:50 PM2 votes

Yu posit an intriguing question. I believe the same thing happened at worlds with Albus Nox. No one scrimmed them before they got to worlds. First week, they shocked everyone. Then they got scims. Second week was not quite as amazing. Then they fell far down.

I imagine that S5's Cloud 9 probably had the same scenario happen to them.

The way I see it, smart teams benefit from scrims, and dumb ones benefit from not scrimming. A smart team will allow a pick they like to play against to prosper against them in a scrim, only to turn it around in LCS play. Say a team decided to try out a new champ in scrims. The team they play against knows they can deal with it easily, but decide to play poorly against that pick specifically, letting it get fed.

But... they make sure to practice and get the strats right and totally smash that unconventional pick come LCS games. Yeah, that's right... scrimming can throw teams off the scent of whats really strong and what isn't. I actually have a theory as to why certain teams made illogical picks during certain series, such as Huni's marksmen in the NA lcs semis and more recently Gold Coins strange debacle of a pick ban phase in relegation against TL (though that could have very well been collusion).

Personally, I think teams would benefit more from scrimming a B team and keeping their strats secret rather than scrimming other LCS teams.

I also am a proponent of a more sophisticated training tool that can set up late game scenarios for practice. This way, teams can more efficiently practice interesting strats and team comps, allowing for wider pool of champs picked in competitive play.

The Lexer5/16/2017, 11:54:50 PM1 votes

Well, because you can't actually practice certain plays in LoL like you can in other sports, having scrim partners allows you to experiment with different styles/matchups. Also, it allows teams to practice together against other coordinated teams instead of blind pick or ranked flex

xJLx MCHammer5/16/2017, 11:02:26 PM1 votes

Because you are only good as your competitions

They try to play each other because they need a team that will attempt to do a similar strategy. You really can't improve if you don't play against people your level. Other sports, can get by people they have a bigger roster and can actually hone their skill by playing each other.

With that said, each player does play solo queue to keep up and improve their mechanical skills.

Toa of Death5/16/2017, 9:54:42 PM1 votes

They need the practice and soloQ isn't good enough practice for playing on stage as they're two completely different environments. Scrims are a faster and easy way for teams to practice different strategies, different comps, go over what each player needs to improve on, and improve team synergy. LCS teams aren't the only ones who do this as well, all other regions and almost all teams at international events, like Worlds, scrim each other. It's also used as a way to scout opponents and see what they like to play and what they're good at. Scrims don't always help some teams but they're crucial for practice, I remember an interview with C9 Sneaky where he attributed C9's S4 Worlds performance to the Korean teams scrimming with them, while C9's S5 Worlds performance was stymied by the fact that not a lot of teams wanted to scrim them.

archerno15/16/2017, 8:53:52 PM1 votes

Well international teams in football (real football) play friendly matches between each other before World/Euro championships.