Gangplank and Zeke's burn through CS Summer Week 6
Over the past several weeks we've taken a look at the strange and wild world of the Challenger Series. In the final week of the Summer Round Robin we had the esteemed pleasure of fighting alongside royalty of both a beautiful and beastial nature. This week, we'll examine the immediate ramifications of Patch 5.14 on the competitive scene, as Gangplank has returned from the afterlife and a shiny new item gets play in mid.
Back and deadlier than ever
After losing the opening match of their Semifinals showdown against Denial Esports, Team Dignitas EU turned to the one man who knows a little something about coming back from defeat: the Saltwater Scourge himself, Gangplank. "I picked Gangplank because I felt like I needed a carry threat against that team, and our team was a bit down, so honestly, I had to try a risky pick," explains Team Dignitas EU's top laner Martin "Wunderwear" Hansen.
Wunderwear wanted a top lane carry, and that is exactly what he got. His Gangplank went 8/3/6 and dealt the most damage to champions in the entire match. While Wunderwear's stat-line on the barrel busting pirate was impressive, his familiarity with GP's new kit is what made the highlight reel.
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After a failed Baron attempt at 34 minutes, Team Dignitas EU had to turn tail and run for the hills when Denial's jungler Thomas "Kirei" Yuen leapt in with Rengar, successfully stealing the Baron buff for his team. Rather than fully backing away, Wunderwear cleverly retreated into the Fog of War near the Razorbeak camps to lay a trap with his Powder Kegs (E). By successfully timing the ability's explosion and coupling it with Cannon Barrage (R), he took Pawel "Woolite" Pruski's Kog'Maw to half health, helping to bring Denial's rapid push down mid to an end.
Team Dignitas EU were able to stave off the Baron-buffed Denial team and regroup for the epic monster's next spawn. This time, there would be no mistakes. In true Special Forces styles, Wunderwear tactically inserted himself directly behind Denial's backline with a timely Teleport. After Wunderwear made swift work of two members of the Denial squad, the rest of Team Dignitas EU cleaned up the fight, and pushed down mid to force Game 3.
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"The new Gangplank is definitely a fun and rewarding champion. Compared to the old one, this GP has a high skill ceiling and you can make some fun outplays and do tons of damage if you play it right," says Wunderwear. As entertaining as it was it was to watch Wunderwear's playmaking Gangplank, Denial made sure that the pirate wouldn't be joining Team Dignitas EU's crew again and swiftly banned him away in the final match.
Will Gangplank return again in the Challenger Series Finals? Find out when Dignitas EU plays mousesports on Wednesday, August 12 at 6PM CET / 9AM PT. Avast, there's blood on the horizon.
The Harbinger of Damage
Zeke's Harbinger, League's newest item, made its debut in Patch 5.14 as the upgraded version of the old Zeke's Herald. While it was conceived as a support item, Renegades mid laner Aleksei "Alex Ich" Ichetovkin picked up the new Zeke's Harbinger on Orianna in each of the three matches he played on the Lady of Clockwork during the NA CS Semifinals.
"The item itself is cost efficient and all stats it gives look decent on an AP carry. On top of that [its] proc gives 50% crit chance to your AD carry and 20% of AP to yourself," explains Alex Ich. "Basically during the proc you're getting a mini Deathcap."
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The damage spike the item offers was staggeringly apparent at 35 minutes in Game 1, when Alex Ich used his Zeke's to empower AD carry Ainslie "Maplestreet" Wyllie's Urgot who was able to obliterate the health bar of opposing jungler Galen "Moon" Holgate's Gragas.
While Zeke's has terrific synergy with Orianna's kit, Alex Ich says that she is one of the few mids that can make efficient use of the new item. "This item needs a super low cooldown skill that you can use without targets." As Orianna has multiple abilities she can quickly use to charge the Zeke's stacks, she's able to empower herself -- and her chosen ally -- often. "I cannot find an actual champion except Orianna that will benefit from this item and won't lose [a] core item in their own build," Alex Ich explains.
It's so versatile on Orianna that he even prioritized the item ahead of a Rabadon's Deathcap in Game 3, opting to play the role of support mage for Maplestreet. "You understand that you're not doing that well and your AD carry is melting people down, so I decided to switch out to the support that will just protect his AD carry and give him stats to kill people," says Alex Ich.
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Alex Ich's Orianna proved capable of both carrying and supporting, as he went 8/0/10 in Game 1 and 0/3/11 in Game 3. His ability to adapt his play style and build path proved crucial as the Renegades were able to take down Team Imagine in the Semifinals and move on to the NA Challenger Series Finals, where they will face Team Coast in a match that will decide who receives entry to the NA LCS.
The immediate impact of 5.14 has just started to be seen in competitive play, but be sure to stay tuned to Lolesports to see how the pros continue to adapt to the item and champion changes.
The 2015 Summer Challenger Series concludes this Wednesday, August 12 with Team Dignitas EU taking on mousesports in the EU Finals at 5PM CET / 9AM PDT and Team Coast versus Renegades in the NA Finals at 2 AM CET/ 6PM PDT. To catch up on all the action from this split and more, check out our spoiler free VODs page.
