Saigon Shock Blast – Jayce in the GPL
Riot·8/13/2014, 1:08:55 AM·1 votes·17,116 views
Lately, lightning has rained down upon Summoner's Rift around the world. But while the west is enthralled by the unleashed power of Xerath, the Thundering Blows rocking the Southeast Asian mid lane's come from a much more modern source. The Vietnamese ace in the hole is Jayce, who has proved himself to be shockingly effective even against the top Taiwanese teams of the Garena Premier League.
Jayce's greatest advocates have come from the ranks of sibling teams Saigon Jokers and Saigon Fantastic Five. Their respective midlaners, Nixwater and Optimus, have much to say about the champion's capabilities – though they’re not always in agreement.
Have hammer; will push. As far as Optimus is concerned, Jayce's toolkit allows him to be utilized almost anywhere. "It's hard to build Jayce as a Marksman," said Optimus. "But he's really good with almost every team composition, because his skills can be utilized to poke, push, siege turrets and do burst damage."
Optimus notes that, thanks to Jayce's reliance on Attack Damage items, the champion is better suited to objectives control than his mid lane counterparts. He also notes an inherent matchup advantage in the early levels. "Mages like Ziggs or Orianna have to build mana generation first, so they usually don't have enough armor to win against Jayce in a duel."
Nixwater is less enthused about Jayce as a general-purpose pick, noting that the champion has definite strong and weak phases. "[Jayce] can snowball well and has advantages in early combat," he acknowledges. "He's stronger than the current hot picks as he's really good in the laning phase, and can zone out other champions."
But the game extends past the initial laning phase, and that is where Nixwater believes the champion to lose a little luster. "Jayce is not a good pick for defensive compositions and late compositions," noted Nixwater. He also believes that Jayce's strengths can only be drawn out with good teamwork and situational awareness. Jayce can only force open the door for his team – but it takes the rest of his squad to go through. "To utilize Jayce's strength, the team has to help him as much as possible. Jayce can force his enemies back for regeneration, and that's when his team can easily kill a turret or go for other objectives."
The Saigon mid laners might disagree on when best to let loose with the Mercury Hammer, but they're on the same page as to how to calibrate it. You pump power into him – lots of power. Both agree that Attack Damage Quintessences and Marks are the best way to go, lending to the champion's strong initial laning phase.
However, they diverge from that point. Optimus prefers ensuring survivability with armor Seals and magic resistance Glyphs, but Nixwater prefers his utility. "HP for Seals," he said, though failed to mention whether flat or scaling was better. "And cooldown reduction for Glyphs." With blue buff, Jayce's lane dominance is sustained with a constant hail of Shock Blasts.
Optimus prefers a dedicated offensive build for Jayce. "Basic item for Jayce should be Manamune first," he said, with Nixwater supporting his stance, as the item helps support Jayce's mana-hungry habits. "Then Ionia Boots, Brutalizer, Bloodthirster, Last Whisper and Infinity Edge or some defensive items."
"Manamune and Last Whisper for any kind of situation," confirmed Nixwater. However, their opinions are split on a more recent addition to Jayce's build options.
Essence Reaver, added in Patch 4.10, hasn't yet found a home as a mainstay in anybody's kit, but does seem to offer Jayce a plethora of relevant stats: cooldown reduction, lifesteal, and even on-hit mana regeneration scaling with his basic attack damage. "It's a really good item that has all the stats Jayce needs," summarized Nixwater. But Optimus isn't quite sold on it yet.
"This item is not yet effective for Jayce, so I don't think it should be in his item builds," disagreed Optimus. The 3400 gold price tag is a bit too daunting for him, especially as both Manamune and Last Whisper are both vital and easier to build.
Recently, the Vietnamese teams have found their Jayce skills gathering dust – mainly because it keeps getting banned away from them. The Taipei Assassins, current reigning kings of the Garena Premier League, had almost gone through the entire summer split without a single loss. That is, until Jayce showed up. In their last regular season game, they ran head-first into the Jokers' top lane Jayce variant, and immediately fell afoul of difficulties.
Though the Assassins are usually known for impeccable objective control, certainly in comparison to their Southeast Asian rivals, they were outfought at their own game by the Jokers' long-range siege. Since then, they've made sure to ban the champion against both the Jokers and Fantastic Five. The precaution is sensible, as signs are good that he'll come back to thorn them at Regionals as soon as they give Optimus the chance.
"The Vietnam region has many young players, so they have various playstyles compared to other regions," said Optimus, explaining the region's fascination with the hammer-wielding champion. "Jayce is a strong pick for mid lane, and can easily win his matchups. So the younger players, [including] me...do like to play him."
We’ll have to see if Jayce becomes a contested pick during the final days of the GPL bracket. If he does, expect the rest of the world to keep their eye on him.
STRENGTH THROUGH PROGRESS
Have hammer; will push. As far as Optimus is concerned, Jayce's toolkit allows him to be utilized almost anywhere. "It's hard to build Jayce as a Marksman," said Optimus. "But he's really good with almost every team composition, because his skills can be utilized to poke, push, siege turrets and do burst damage."
Optimus notes that, thanks to Jayce's reliance on Attack Damage items, the champion is better suited to objectives control than his mid lane counterparts. He also notes an inherent matchup advantage in the early levels. "Mages like Ziggs or Orianna have to build mana generation first, so they usually don't have enough armor to win against Jayce in a duel."
Nixwater is less enthused about Jayce as a general-purpose pick, noting that the champion has definite strong and weak phases. "[Jayce] can snowball well and has advantages in early combat," he acknowledges. "He's stronger than the current hot picks as he's really good in the laning phase, and can zone out other champions."
But the game extends past the initial laning phase, and that is where Nixwater believes the champion to lose a little luster. "Jayce is not a good pick for defensive compositions and late compositions," noted Nixwater. He also believes that Jayce's strengths can only be drawn out with good teamwork and situational awareness. Jayce can only force open the door for his team – but it takes the rest of his squad to go through. "To utilize Jayce's strength, the team has to help him as much as possible. Jayce can force his enemies back for regeneration, and that's when his team can easily kill a turret or go for other objectives."
CANNON ENGAGED
The Saigon mid laners might disagree on when best to let loose with the Mercury Hammer, but they're on the same page as to how to calibrate it. You pump power into him – lots of power. Both agree that Attack Damage Quintessences and Marks are the best way to go, lending to the champion's strong initial laning phase.
However, they diverge from that point. Optimus prefers ensuring survivability with armor Seals and magic resistance Glyphs, but Nixwater prefers his utility. "HP for Seals," he said, though failed to mention whether flat or scaling was better. "And cooldown reduction for Glyphs." With blue buff, Jayce's lane dominance is sustained with a constant hail of Shock Blasts.
Optimus prefers a dedicated offensive build for Jayce. "Basic item for Jayce should be Manamune first," he said, with Nixwater supporting his stance, as the item helps support Jayce's mana-hungry habits. "Then Ionia Boots, Brutalizer, Bloodthirster, Last Whisper and Infinity Edge or some defensive items."
"Manamune and Last Whisper for any kind of situation," confirmed Nixwater. However, their opinions are split on a more recent addition to Jayce's build options.
Essence Reaver, added in Patch 4.10, hasn't yet found a home as a mainstay in anybody's kit, but does seem to offer Jayce a plethora of relevant stats: cooldown reduction, lifesteal, and even on-hit mana regeneration scaling with his basic attack damage. "It's a really good item that has all the stats Jayce needs," summarized Nixwater. But Optimus isn't quite sold on it yet.
"This item is not yet effective for Jayce, so I don't think it should be in his item builds," disagreed Optimus. The 3400 gold price tag is a bit too daunting for him, especially as both Manamune and Last Whisper are both vital and easier to build.
FACE THE FUTURE
Recently, the Vietnamese teams have found their Jayce skills gathering dust – mainly because it keeps getting banned away from them. The Taipei Assassins, current reigning kings of the Garena Premier League, had almost gone through the entire summer split without a single loss. That is, until Jayce showed up. In their last regular season game, they ran head-first into the Jokers' top lane Jayce variant, and immediately fell afoul of difficulties.
Though the Assassins are usually known for impeccable objective control, certainly in comparison to their Southeast Asian rivals, they were outfought at their own game by the Jokers' long-range siege. Since then, they've made sure to ban the champion against both the Jokers and Fantastic Five. The precaution is sensible, as signs are good that he'll come back to thorn them at Regionals as soon as they give Optimus the chance.
"The Vietnam region has many young players, so they have various playstyles compared to other regions," said Optimus, explaining the region's fascination with the hammer-wielding champion. "Jayce is a strong pick for mid lane, and can easily win his matchups. So the younger players, [including] me...do like to play him."
We’ll have to see if Jayce becomes a contested pick during the final days of the GPL bracket. If he does, expect the rest of the world to keep their eye on him.
