Skin Theme Matchup: PROJECT vs Star Gaurdian
Hello Everybody!
In the past, I have made articles detailing a hypothetical matchup between 2 different teams of champions that happen to have a skin from the same theme. For example, the last article I made was on the Headhunter line, versus the Victorious line. If you are at all interested in seeing that particular matchup, you can do so here.
Anyway, for this article, I gained inspiration from one of Star Guardian Jinx's lines: "Project? Ha! More like reject!"
You're on, Jinx.
Before I continue, I would like to state that this matchup is purely hypothetical, and under the assumption that the players playing the champs have a very clear understanding of how said champion works (think of robots programmed to specifically play that champion to it's utmost limits). This way, we do not have the crazy variable known as "player skill" clogging up our assumptions. However, if I happen to make a mistake anywhere, feel free to correct me.
Now that we have that out of the way, lets begin.
The Star Guardian line
Top: Lulu
Over the years, Lulu has seen play in pretty much every role there is, gaining a surprising amount of popularity in the Top and Mid lanes specifically, especially in pro play. This is simply due to her range, speed, crowd control, and sustain from both her shield and ultimate. Not to mention if you do play Lulu in a solo lane, this allows you to build what is known as a "protect-the-carry" team comp (more on this later), based around a hypercarry marksman that needs a good amount of support in order to be that team shredding terror that they are known to be. One of the best marksmen for this role is 
Kog'maw, and his recent changes are meant to help bring back this style of play.
But, we're talking about Lulu, not Kog. Being the only other champion on this team besides Poppy that has experienced success in the top lane, it was simply a no brainer to put her here. And, besides, Poppy is, unfortunately, forced into another role. Speaking of Poppy...
Jungle: Poppy
Thing is, forcing Poppy into the jungle isn't as bad as it may seem. I, myself, have not seen much of her in the jungle, simply due to there being better picks, but she does have the capability to be a decent jungler. Also, since no other team member can really jungle (and no, I won't talk about jungle Lulu), there really is no other spot for her on this team.
Mid: Lux
The poster girl, and inherent leader of the Star Guardians is taking her rightful place in the mid lane.....simply because shes the best at it. Yeah, yeah, we have mid lane Lulu, but would you rather have Lux in the top lane, or Janna in the mid lane? Yeah.....didn't think so.
Marksman: Jinx
And we come to my inspiration for this article for this article in the first place!
Honestly, who else could take this position?
No.....no. We will not discuss AD/Attack Speed Lulu.......just.....no.
Support: Janna
You know, it's kind of interesting that Riot made Janna the veteran of the Star Guardians here, for not only has Janna been a very well respected support for years, she is also one of the oldest champions in the game, being released 3 months before Poppy, and a full year before Lux. Also, if you think about it, every champion follows this to some degree. Jinx is the newest champion on this roster, and thus the "newest" Star Guardian. Lulu is the youngest lore wise, and thus is the youngest Star Guardian. I mean....well done Riot. Its little things like this that makes the game and lore just awesome.
Anyway, besides Lulu also being a decent support, Janna has no other spot on this team that she can be competitive in, and thus, is taking her rightful place as the support.
Team Comp Breakdown
Remember what I said about a "protect-the-carry" team comp? Well, this team is one of those. Jinx may not be as vulnerable as Kog'maw, but she is still a very potent hypercarry that can and will rip apart teams. She also has one hell of a team to back her up for doing just that.
You have shields from Lulu, Lux, and Janna, sustain and damage from both Janna and Lulu, the capability to keep people off of her from both Janna and Poppy, and so much crowd control, that Jinx will have no trouble whatsoever sticking to her targets. This team is a hypercarry's wet dream, and I would not be surprised at all to see Jinx get multiple Pentakills throughout the game.
That said, a "protect-the-carry" comp has one glaring weakness that all of these teams have, and it's their one true strength: their hypercarry. If the enemy team is able to get onto Jinx, and kill her, well......their damage falls through the floor. Lux can kind of back up Jinx in the damage department, but holds nowhere near the same amount of threat that a Jinx holds (unless she is ridiculously fed). Also, Jinx does have a couple tools in order to keep her safe (the slow from her W, and the snare from her E) unlike a Kog'maw (who only has a couple, unimpressive slows). But, that doesn't deny the fact the only viable target on this team is Jinx, and if she dies, the Star Guardian team will have a very hard time staying in and winning teamfights.
The Project Line
Top: Ekko
I'm sure that this was easy to guess. Tank Ekko has been dominating the meta for months now, and is currently one of the best top lane picks for pro play. Riot is currently trying to find a way to kill off Tank Ekko, but for the time being, he will take PROJECT's top lane spot.
Jungle: Master Yi
https://i.ytimg.com/vi/YjrL3WjaSN0/maxresdefault.jpg
I am a very firm believer that Yi does not belong anywhere on the Rift except in the jungle. His weaknesses are just too great to risk taking him lane, unless you have a very clear understanding to what you're doing. Thankfully, though, the PROJECT team forces him into the jungle since there are no other junglers for the PROJECT line yet, and everyone else is just better at the their lanes.
Mid: Yasuo
Now, it took me awhile to figure out who should take mid: Zed, or Yasuo? Yasuo works simply due to how this team is built. I'll explain more as to why later, but Zed is a very selfish champion. He doesn't bring much to a team except kill capability. Yasuo, however, is a teamfighter. Say what you may about him, but this guy works well in teamfights, whereas Zed.....not so much.
That said, it is quite possible that both Zed and Yasuo are equally fit for the mid lane for this team. If you think Zed would be better, feel free to let me know.
As a side note, I DID NOT choose Yasuo due to the Star Guardian team. I will explain why later in the article, but I DID NOT choose him for that reason.
Marksman: Ashe
Another difficult choice. Lucian is strong, no doubt, but Ashe works better for this team simply due to how it is built (similar to Yasuo). She may have a bit of trouble simply keeping up with her team, due to it's inherent mobility, but she does have the range, and there is enough crowd control on the team, to hopefully keep her in range. Ashe is a team player, bringing both crowd control, and extra vision to the team (which is why she is the "utility" marksman), whereas Lucian brings nothing but damage.
And before any of you say it (if you happened to check), yes, I am an Ashe main. No, I did not choose her due to bias opinions. In fact, I was almost going to put both Zed and Lucian on this team, but figured Ashe and Yasuo could work better together.
Support: Leona
This is a no brainer. Leona is the only real support in the PROJECT line up thus far, so.....she gets the spot.
Team Comp Breakdown
This is a very brawly team. They like to get in your face, and stay there. Even though they don't have much in the way of sustain, almost all of the champs on this team benefits from drawn out teamfights. Consistent slows, stuns, and dashes keeps them on their opponents for extremely long periods of time. They are not very teamfight oriented as say, the Victorious line is, but the amount of stickiness this entire team has allows them to go the rounds with pretty much any team out there (save for maybe a wombo-combo team)
The weakness of this team, I would say, is their lack of disengage. Once this team starts a teamfight, they are committed, since any disengage tools they might have (like an Ashe or Leona ult) would actually be used to engage. If this team starts to lose a teamfight, they will have a very hard time being able to come back in one (unless Yi can start shredding opponents). All in all, it would be interesting to see how this team handles a losing teamfight, cause chances are they won't be able to.
The Hypothetical Battle Review
LANES
Top Lane: 
vs 
This is an interesting matchup. You would first think that Ekko has every advantage in the book, but after taking a closer look, Lulu might actually have the advantage here. Like the rest of the PROJECT team, Ekko likes to stick to his opponents (more so than anyone else on this team), and the only way he can really disengage from a fight is with his ultimate. That said, Lulu has the capability to not only kite Ekko around for days, but she can also negate some of his damage due to her shield, polymorph, and ultimate. Ekko is meant to be an assassin, but the Tank Ekko build only builds 
Triforce as its only source of damage, thus, Ekko could have problems actually killing Lulu. And if the fight is ever in Lulu's favor, she is quite sticky herself, and could actually stay on Ekko despite his dash and ultimate.
Even though I try to keep player skill out of these articles, I have to say that this would be a skill matchup. The two champs both have similar strengths and weaknesses that either could abuse, and thus, its difficult to say who could really win the lane. That said, I do think Lulu may actually edge out on top (crazy, right?).
Jungle: 
vs 
Unfortunately, I am completely unfamiliar with Jungle Poppy. I've only seen her in the jungle maybe once or twice, and each time, she didn't make that big of an impact. So, in all honesty, I don't really know how this would pan out.
If I were to make a guess, I would say that Poppy is better at ganking (due to her dash and ultimate), but Yi would be FAR better at clearing jungle camps (due to Poppy's lack of AoE). If they were ever to meet in the jungle, I would say Poppy has the advantage, simply due to Yi's abysmal early game, however, Yi could just run away from her. When it comes late game, however, I do know for certain that Yi would hold every advantage in the book, simply due to sheer damage output. Poppy would have to be mindful of this, and make sure that Yi doesn't decimate her entire team. In fact, it may not be surprising to see Poppy in Yi's jungle, simply to delay the Godly late game power of Master Yi.
If you guys have any hints as to how this matchup works, feel free to tell me, and I will edit this portion of the article.
Mid: 
vs 
Yet another interesting matchup. Yasuo is generally quite strong against most immobile mages, however, Lux has the uncanny ability to both farm and kill you from a full screen away. Since Lux likes to keep her distance, you may not see much excitement come out of this lane, simply due that fact. Lux will simply stay away from Yasuo as much as possible (while dodging tornadoes as best she can), and Yasuo will simply keep dashing around and throwing up windwalls, making it difficult for Lux to land any reasonable poke.
I don't see a clear winner for this lane, simply because it will be quite boring to watch. Yasuo will have to make some pretty risky plays that Lux could easily take advantage of if he ever wants to kill her. So.....don't expect much from this lane.
Bot: 
vs 
In my experiences of playing Ashe, I've come to notice that Ashe doesn't perform very well when against Jinx. I believe this is due to Jinx's ability to poke Ashe without the use of a skillshot. However, this matchup gets interesting when the supports are mixed in. Ashe and Leona can lock down Jinx for a day and a half, but Janna can keep both of them off of Jinx, while also keeping her alive. The Star Guardian team is a protect-the-carry comp, so why wouldn't it have one of the best supports to keep a carry alive during the laning phase? That said, if everything is timed correctly, Ashe and Leona could easily kill Jinx, despite Janna's best efforts. I'd say this lane would depend on how much poke Jinx can deal to Ashe, but also rely on how well Janna could keep Jinx out of harms way. Unlike the mid lane, the bot lane should be very interesting to watch.
Teamfighting
When it comes to teamfights, it will all boil down to who dies first; Jinx or Master Yi? Both of these champs are insane late game hypercarries, being able to rip apart an entire enemy team single handedly. If Jinx dies, then the Star Guardian team has only one other source of damage, that being Lux (but, as stated eariler, she is no hypercarry). If Master Yi dies, then the only other person that will be able to hopefully kill Jinx is Yasuo, but since he is more well known for his early to mid game, it could be very difficult.
Thus, I expect teamfights to be explosive, with so much tension being built up before every fight, that if either hypercary gets caught by a snare or stun, or possibly blown up from either sides burst potential........its over.
The PROJECT team may resort to split pushing, since they have two champs that are decent at it (Yi and Ekko), but if they do that, then Jinx has the ability to go wherever she pleases, since the other 3 champs on the PROJECT team will not have the damage to break through the amount of shielding the Star Guardians can put out. However, there is one aspect that could turn the tables in the Star Guardians favor.
I've been saying all throughout this article that Lux is no hypercarry, and all the focus should be on Jinx. While this is true, Lux is known for her long range burst. The PROJECT team has 3 very potent threats that any carry should be wary of (Master Yi, Yasuo, and Ashe), but all three of them are very vulnerable to burst damage. Yi and Yasuo do have tools to help them survive burst, but Lux is no slouch when it comes to making her opponents disappear. Also, Jinx, the real star of the show here, has Super Mega Death Rocket. If Lux is able to get one of the carries low enough, Jinx could finish them off with her ult, and start an ever cascading wave of death. It's this small bit of synergy that, I believe, gives the Star Guardian team the slight edge when it comes to teamfights.
Amazing how that works, isn't it?
Conclusion
To finally end this article, I'd like to say that the Star Guardian team could come out on top, and win it, though the PROJECT team will certainly give them a run for their money. The laning phase shouldn't be too interesting, since both teams strengths really shine come mid to late game. Objectives will be taken left and right, and no building will be safe, due to how quickly both teams can bring them down. Teamfights will be balanced on a knife's edge, with either team basically instantly winning if either hypercarry is to fall.
Though, due to that small amount of synergy between Lux and Jinx, being able to kill a priority target from halfway across the map. And if they can sync their ultimates together perfectly, then no one on the PROJECT team is safe.
All in all, this should be an absolutely fantastic game to spectate, and possibly play, too. It would be going back and forth between the two teams, and there really shouldn't ever be a dull moment in the game (except for the laning phase).
That's it for this iteration of Skin Theme matchup. Feel free to cast your vote as to who would win below (and no, no one will criticize you for being biased). Do you think the PROJECT team can keep Jinx in check, making sure she never sees the light of day (no pun intended), or do you think the Star Guardians can defend their precious hypercarry, and rip the PROJECT team to shreds?
Lastly, if you at all enjoyed this, feel free to upvote this post that way others can get the chance to share their thoughts as well! If you have any suggestions of which skin lines I should analyze next, I am more then willing to here your ideas.
Thanks for reading!
) would be really cool. Keep up the good work!
