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Been Super Busy

Work's been killer, and I've been spending a lot of my free time trying tp improve my content stream, which will hopefully role over into here. 

It's been crazy at goldper10. Duncan "Thorin "Shields has been posting his work there since he parted ways with OnGamers and that's wild. I have to prove my work belongs on the same page as his. That's a tall task, but I believe I can do it.

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This is the first part of a three part series focusing on what Riot can do to improve the Player Experience. I'm starting with reworking how player's earn IP, providing meaningful goals, and providing incentives for players to behave positively.

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Reforging Mordekaiser, the Master of Metal

Just posted a new Article! First in a series highlighting older, neglected Champions in need of attention. 

http://www.reddit.com/r/leagueoflegends/comments/2hehpz/reforging_mordekaiser_the_master_of_metal/

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Attention, League of Legends Writer at work (I'm so excited!)

I started writing for a League of Legends website this week! Below are the Reddit Links for my first few articles. Feel free to give them a read! I will likely be returning to activity on this account as well, For those still here, thanks for following!

Group C Hype: There Will be Blood

http://www.reddit.com/r/leagueoflegends/comments/2h65z5/group_c_hype_there_will_be_blood/

http://www.goldper10.com/article/190

Group D Hype: The Three Titans go KaBuM!

http://www.reddit.com/r/leagueoflegends/comments/2has6m/group_d_hype_the_three_titans_go_kabum/

http://www.goldper10.com/article/216

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Summoner Slots: A solution to smurfing and player toxicity

I have the following post on the front page of the LoL Reddit right now;

http://www.reddit.com/r/leagueoflegends/comments/26dvz7/summoner_slots_a_solution_to_smurfing_and_player/

Smurfing is one of the largest inducers of toxic behavior in League of Legends, and its existence hurts the playing experience of new players, and inhibits the learning process. It's clear that a change needs to be made. Here is my suggestion for what Riot can do to revamp the smurfing system.

Introducing "Summoner Slots"

Each Account gets 2 Summoner Slots to start, a Primary and a Secondary. Additional Summoner Slots may be purchased with either RP or IP, up to a maximum of 5. This would allow Riot to make up Revenue lost by including other changes. Players punished through the tribunal would not be allowed to start new Summoners, or access previously started Secondary Summoners for a specific length of time. This would help prevent toxic smurf accounts. (Suggested Cost: 975 RP or 13,500 IP)

Secondary Summoner Accounts begin at level 1, have access to the same 10 Free Week Champions at the start, and cannot be accessed unless the Primary Summoner is level 30.

All Summoners on the Account share RP and IP. Secondary Summoners earn IP at an 80% rate until they reach level 30. Secondary Summoners earn EXP at a 150% rate.

Secondary Summoners do not unlock their own Champions. With each level gained, a Secondary Account may unlock one Champion already unlocked on their Primary Summoner, for use on their Secondary. An additional five Champions may be unlocked at levels 10 and 20. At level 30, the Secondary Summoner gains access to every Champion unlocked by the Primary Summoner.

Each Secondary Summoner has its own MMR, and similar to a soft reset, that MMR begins at the halfway point between your Primary Summoner's MMR, and 1200. This helps prevent Diamond/Challenger Smurfs from being thrown in with Bronze/Silver players in the early levels.

Players are not allowed to have multiple accounts (Possible enforcement issues not with-standing). Any tribunal punishment earned on a Summoner applies to all Summoners on the Account. The combination of these two factors forces players to behave if they want to continue to play. Right now, even banned Pro Players just openly create new accounts and keep playing, often without improved behavior. Potential removal of a player's ability to play League of Legends should prove a much better motivator of good behavior.

Secondary Summoners are able to use all tier 1 Runes their Primary owns at level 1, and unlocks all tier 2 at level 10, and all tier 3 at level 20.

Secondary Summoners unlock rune and mastery slots, and Summoner Spells, at the same rate as Primary Summoners.

Summoners share a revamped Friends list that allows viewing of all summoners on a specific friend's account by hovering or clicking name.

Additional Benefits:

Seamless transition between Summoners without having to log out of the client.

Smurf Accounts get matched against players of similar skill based on a more realistic MMR, rather than new players. Eliminating toxic smurf-related experiences for new players.

Allows players access to content they've already unlocked on their main, on their smurf.

Possible Issues

Potential loss of Revenue from Skin and Champion purchases on Smurfs could make system unsustainable. Possible Solution could be discounted price to unlock champs/skins already owned on Primary, for Secondary (ex. unlock already owned 975 skins for 487).

Possible Match-making issues with Secondary Accounts being matched with higher level, but not higher skilled players, who have access to more Runes/Masteries/Summoner Spells.

Client Related difficulties. Would likely have to be incorporated into new/reworked Client.

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A Brave New World: Retirements, Roster Changes, and adapting the Korean Mindset for the North American LCS.

When the Spring Split ended with a now all too familiar victor in Cloud 9 in dominating fashion, and with the rise of the powerhouse LMQ in the Challenger League, some change in the NA LCS was expected. I don't think anyone expected this. The community was shocked when Nien removed himself from CLG's starting lineup, and then all was quiet for a few peaceful days. Then TSM announced they were benching the best Support in North America, the player that almost single handily secured them 2nd place over CLG, and one of the few NA players recognized world-wide for his skill. Xpecial, who'd been with the team for three years, benched for attitude issues. And no one believed it would last. Not his teammates. Not his fellow players in the LCS. Not even Montecristo. And again, a few peaceful days passed as TSM fans contented themselves with the fact that there's no way Xpecial would actually stay benched. Coast and XDG disbanded and rumors began to circulate about where Mancloud, Xmithie, Shiphtur and ZionSpartan would end up. Dignitas won the arms race, picking up both ZionSpartan and Shiphtur, announcing themselves as a threat for one of NA's three spots at worlds. This was comfortable. The community was fine with this. They had to go somewhere, and neither player they replaced was especially well loved (if we assume Scarra never planned to return). Then, oddly enough, it was something that happened across the pond in Europe that hinted that things were different this time around. Alex Ich, one of the most famous players in the world, left Gambit gaming. With that single move, one thing became clear: nothing was certain and nobody was safe. A Brave New World was coming.

And then the Oddone stepped down from TSM. The longest standing member of TSM, and the only original member left, was gone. Tears were fully stacked, big games were reminisced, and eulogies were said for arguably the most popular, most enduring player in the history of League of Legends. The Oddone had been a member of TSM longer than every team in either the NA or EU LCS has even existed, apart from CLG and SK Gaming. But a new day was rising, and TSM picked up former Copenhagen Wolves jungler, Amazing, whose skill on Lee Sin led him to the highest KDA among EU junglers. And suddenly TSM looked more formidable than they ever had.

Then the bomb dropped. Xpecial was in fact leaving TSM...for Curse. There were no eulogies. Only confusion, frustration and a whole lot of unanswered questions. Questions to which answers began flowing out. There'd been a tryout between Xpecial and Gleebglarbu. The entire team had voted for Gleebglarbu. Reginald had immediately set out to find a new team for Xpecial, likely as payment for years of service. Curse bit, and they had the best Support in North America gift-wrapped to their door.

Now we're at the present, and one thing is clear. League of Legends, and the NA/EU LCS will never be the same.

Retirements

Whenever a player "retires" the community immediately begins to wonder whether they voluntarily retired, or were forced out and given the opportunity to save some face. Think Bloodwater. At least for now, none of the recent retirements stink of such a maneuver. 

The Oddone and Nien voluntarily stepped down, both believing their team would be better with a different player in their role. While Nien appears to be taking a break (likely to recover from the mental stress he was under during the Spring Playoffs), the Oddone chose to remain as a Coach.

Cruzerthebruzer was replaced, and then chose to retire to focus on finishing his education, with the possibility of returning to competitive league in the future.

Scarra was at first replaced and moved to a coaching role, and then returned for the playoffs, and then stepped back again to be Coach when Dignitas picked up Shiphtur.

Benny retired after XDG disbanded, citing a lack of interest, and too much stress after going through a trying year with XDG.

You may note that none of these retirements could be considered going out in the midst of their prime. The Oddone and Scarra's time had come, after long careers in the competitive scene, and both should have no problem making a living merely streaming League. The rest were, quite frankly, not quite up to snuff. It takes a lot of effort, and adaptability to be able to sustain a long career in esports.

Player Acquisitions and Roster Changes

The first major change of the off-season was CLG picking up Seraph, a sub for Naijin White Shield, to replace Nien. To my knowledge, he has played in exactly one game in OGN, and acquitted himself well, though his team lost quite badly. Not much is known yet, but considering Montecristo is involved, CLG fans can rest easy knowing CLG is in good hands.

Until the TSM madness of the past few days, one could have reasonably assumed that Dignitas would be the most changed team in the LCS, having replaced Cruzer and Scarra with former coast players ZionSpartan and Shiphtur. Both are reasonable upgrades at their respective positions, though it will take good coaching to bring out the best in both players, and to give Dignitas a real chance of going to Worlds. Strategy and the ability to adapt to the Meta is more important that individual mechanics in today's League of Legends. To that end, Scarra announced that he is currently in the process of assembling a full support team for Dignitas, and it is quite possible that Dignitas becomes the threat they claim to be.

I was sorely tempted to jump right to the mad weekend that saw TSM lose it's two oldest remaining members, it's important to follow the train of events in order. The Oddone was a founding member. Xpecial was the best Support player in North America, with a reasonable claim to top 5 in the world. Player's like that just don't change teams. Except he did. Both Amazing and GleebGlarbu have massive shoes to fill, not only within the contours of the game, but with the community as well. The pressure to perform will be enormous, and if one or the other can't handle it, the Summer Split could get ugly real quick.

Of course, Xpecial moving to Curse also means that Bunny Fufu was removed from the lineup. He does have options, as Liquid is on record saying that he will try his best to find him a spot on an LCS team, and failing that, will give him the option to craft a new Curse Acadamy team around himself. That is currently neither here nor there. What does Xpecial mean to Curse? Possibly not much. There was a reason Chaox was benched, and Cop has a very similar playstyle. It's quite possible the move could end up a train wreck, if one or the other isn't able to adapt his playstyle. I can already envision times where Xpecial engages, and Cop just doesn't respond fast enough, or at all. And having a passive ADC will drastically limit Xpecial's play-making ability. It would be hasty to call this a huge improvement for Curse until we see them in action.

A Changing Landscape

Throughout all three completed Seasons of League of Legends, the European Region has outperformed North America in international competition, and it hasn't really been close. EU teams have consistently challenged for the World Championship, while NA teams struggle to make it out of groups. But times are changing. Without a doubt, North America has a far better infrastructure than EU. Part of this is because it's just two countries, Canada and the United States, and it's very easy for all the teams to set up shop near LA in gaming houses. The studio is a short ride away. Gambit drives an entire day each week to get to the EU LCS. It's becoming clear that this wasted time is hurting EU teams. And in a shocking assertion of real life into virtual, the issues in Ukraine may prevent Gambit from returning to their gaming house. It also goes without saying that the talent pool in Europe is much larger than that of North America. What is currently happening in the NA and EU LCS is the answer to a very interesting question: What is harder, improving a player's mechanics, or teaching them proper strategy and how to play within the Meta. Clearly, LCS teams think the answer is the latter. Thus, EU talent is moving to North America where the infrastructure is better, coaching is better, and competition, until recently, was weaker. While the former is most certainly still true, the latter may not be. While the EU LCS was competitive in the sense that all the teams were pretty average, a definitive top tier has begun to develop in North America, and with the recent roster changes, that tier is gaining in members. If you were to name the Top 6 teams in either LCS, it would likely include 4 NA teams, with Alliance being 6th, and Fnatic somewhere in the top 3.

Adapting the Korean Mindset

I've said before that the biggest thing holding North America back was an overvaluation of friendship, versus performance. I think it's safe to say that's no longer the case. An arms race has started in North America, with talent in both regions up for grabs, and NA teams and fans coming out the winners, with the EU region the losers. And these roster changes have given rise to what may have been an unforeseen development. Previously, it was very difficult for NA teams to afford the coaching staffs provided for Korean teams. Now we have extremely popular players like Scarra and the Oddone, perfectly capable of making a living within the game without that LCS salary due to their popularity, stepping down and moving to coaching roles. Scarra plans to assemble a full staff, while TSM has one purely from retired players. Yes, both these teams are in far better financial situations than the average LCS/Challenger teams, the fact remains that as the old guard retires, a pool of possible coaches will open up that previously didn't exist.

So here we have two major advantages the Korean scene has over NA beginning to disappear. Teams are more likely to replace under-performing players (maybe even a little too quick sometimes), and more and more teams are picking up coaches. While it's too early to call the end of the Koreans dominance, that time may not be that far off.

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Survey Link

http://www.reddit.com/r/leagueoflegends/comments/24nn2g/survey_comparing_ranked_leagueelo_to_player/

Recently, there was a survey on the LoL Reddit that was trying to establish some hard Data on NA Ping issues on the East Coast. Unfortunately, I believe the creator missed a great...

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Survey + $10 RP Giveaway: Comparing Ranked League/ELO to Player Location and Ping

Survey Link

http://www.reddit.com/r/leagueoflegends/comments/24nn2g/survey_comparing_ranked_leagueelo_to_player/

Recently, there was a survey on the LoL Reddit that was trying to establish some hard Data on NA Ping issues on the East Coast. Unfortunately, I believe the creator missed a great opportunity to try and see whether there is a general Correlation between Ping and Player League/ELO.

It has been often stated that the North American Region has a shallow talent pool, and recently I’ve begun to wonder why that’s the case. I think I may have hit on a possible reason. I think North America’s talent pool is limited, or appears limited, because a good part of the Server plays with sub-optimal Ping. Let’s take a look at each Region and the location of their servers.

The NA Servers are located in California. As an example, NYC is 2780 miles away from Los Angeles.

Both European Servers are located in Frankfurt, Germany. Which is pretty close to being exactly in the middle of Europe. For comparison, Moscow is only 1450 miles from Frankfurt, Germany. To the west, Lisbon, Portugal is also roughly 1450 miles from Frankfurt, Germany.

The Entire Korean Peninsula including North Korea is not even 700 miles long.

China is roughly the same size as the United States and has over 30 servers. North America has one.

Is it not possible that a large segment of North America’s player base is untapped because their Ping prevents them from achieving the ELO their skill deserves? Could a Diamond player with 120-150 ping in New York be a Challenger player in California where his Ping is under 50? Would an East Coast server bring to light a brand new group of Challenger caliber players?

That is what I would like to find out with this survey.

Giveaway~ In order to further the cause, I will be doing a giveaway in correlation with this.

Prize: $10 RP

Rules: 

1. You get one entry by reblogging this post and voting.

2. Why reblogs? Because each reblog exposes survey to more people.

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Survey: Comparing Ranked League/ELO to Player Location and Ping

http://www.reddit.com/r/leagueoflegends/comments/24nn2g/survey_comparing_ranked_leagueelo_to_player/

Recently, there was a survey on the LoL Reddit that was trying to establish some hard Data on NA Ping issues on the East Coast. Unfortunately, I believe the creator missed a great opportunity to try and see whether there is a general Correlation between Ping and Player League/ELO.

It has been often stated that the North American Region has a shallow talent pool, and recently I've begun to wonder why that's the case. I think I may have hit on a possible reason. I think North America's talent pool is limited, or appears limited, because a good part of the Server plays with sub-optimal Ping. Let's take a look at each Region and the location of their servers.

The NA Servers are located in California. As an example, NYC is 2780 miles away from Los Angeles.

Both European Servers are located in Frankfurt, Germany. Which is pretty close to being exactly in the middle of Europe. For comparison, Moscow is only 1450 miles from Frankfurt, Germany. To the west, Lisbon, Portugal is also roughly 1450 miles from Frankfurt, Germany.

The Entire Korean Peninsula including North Korea is not even 700 miles long.

China is roughly the same size as the United States and has over 30 servers. North America has one.

Is it not possible that a large segment of North America's player base is untapped because their Ping prevents them from achieving the ELO their skill deserves? Could a Diamond player with 120-150 ping in New York be a Challenger player in California where his Ping is under 50? Would an East Coast server bring to light a brand new group of Challenger caliber players?

That is what I would like to find out with this survey.

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NA LCS Roster Turmoil

With the promotion tournament completed, and Complexity Black and LMQ knocking Coast and XDG out of the LCS, some roster turnover was expected. A fresh set of 15 players (the members of Cloud 9 Tempest, Coast and XDG) became available to the eight LCS teams to fill any holes and make any improvements before the all important Sumer Split began, and there are definitely players that would be upgrades at their position for a few LCS teams going forward. What was unexpected was the sudden removal of Xpecial from TSM’s active roster, a decision that has blindsided the community, though past interviews with Xpecial along with blogs and streams definitely legitimize at least some of the stated reasons for his removal. Below I’m going to take a look at each returning LCS team, and whether there are any candidates for removal/upgrades, who their replacements might be, and their chances for future success. I will focus particularly on the six teams who competed in the LCS last season, as it would be highly unlikely for newly qualified teams to make roster changes.

Cloud 9

For now, I’m going to say little about Cloud 9. They have the appearance of a team that is more than the sum of its parts, and I question whether adding a more mechanically skilled player would actually improve the team. The situation with Hai deserves monitoring, as there is a chance his health could keep him out of the summer split. That said, I consider Hai the player least necessary to c9’s success, and thus the most easily replaced.

TSM

The obvious issue here is Xpecial. He’s been temporarily benched for attitude problems, and if this sounds familiar, it’s because the same happened to chaox. The difference in my mind, is that Xpecial is at the top of his position in the NA region, while Chaox was not, Xpecial seems willing to change and is at least aware of his faults, and Xpecial clearly does not have the motivation issues chaox did. TSM is going to hold tryouts, of which Xpecial will take part. I would echo the Oddone’s belief that Xpecial will regain his spot on the team if his attitude shows improvement. That improvement would likely come in being more direct with his teammates, as opposed to his admitted passive-aggressiveness, the realization that there are constructive ways to go about criticism, and in fact, the ability to critique each other’s performance in a way that is beneficial is absolutely necessary for a team to reach its full potential. Xpecial just needs to find better ways to do this. I fully believe that he does have the team’s best interest at heart, he just doesn’t present his views in the proper way. So far, the only other support known to be trying out is glubglub, the former c9t support. As stated above, it would be a shock to me if Xpecial does not rejoin the team.

An issue that has been temporarily forgotten is the Oddone. Before this Xpecial issue came to light, I would have been willing to wager that there was a chance the Oddone would retire between splits. With this recent turmoil, I expect the Oddone to remain on the team to preserve continuity. Nor do I think the oddone’s retirement, when it comes, would be driven by Reginald, but by his own decision.

CLG

In a move that came as a shock to many, Nien actually removed himself from the team. It’s not hard for an outside observer to note that Nien was definitely the weak link on CLG, and I applaud him for realizing it. His attitude seems great, and I hope that he is in fact able to improve enough to either rejoin CLG or another team in the future. Nobody deserves the public lashing he got on a weekly basis, and his work ethic, and personality would make him a great part of any team. At this point, my main concern would be that his confidence in himself is broken and needs to be repaired before he can rejoin the professional scene.

For now, CLG needs a replacement and they are already knee deep in research. Zorozero seems like an early favorite, as do a few Korean players. I would be extremely surprised if CLG found its replacement in NA as montecriisto is on record with his belief that the NA talent pool is very shallow. That said, Benny and Zionspartan are now available, and both are acceptable players. Zion in particular has huge upside, and with a great coach, could become a monster. Right now, I’d peg Zorozero as the favorite.

Dignitas

Sacra returned for the playoffs, and while he wasn’t terrible, it’s pretty clear that he’s no longer capable of anything more than holding the fort. I would be very surprised if he stayed on the team going forward. Of course, part of that could have been his extremely small champion pool. If the meta swings out of his ziggs/nidalee wheelhouse he’d be in big trouble. So I’m going to assume here that he gets replaced, and move forward.

The two most obvious candidates are shiphtur and Mancloud. I actually like Mancloud for this position, as he’s pretty similar to classic Scarra with his focus on farming and it think he’d be able to fit into the team quickly, an important consideration since a place in worlds is at stake. In addition, while Mancloud is proficient on all Scarra’s main champions, he’s also shown to be a monster on assassins, and his champion pool is very large. He provides a level of adaptability that Scarra just didn’t have, and would bring more strategic depth to a team that needs it. While shiphtur is a pretty good player, he’s got a lot of flash, and having never been on a team with a strong grasp of macro strategy, I think the growing pains would be too much for Dignitas to handle. Dignitas doesn’t need a solo que hero in the mid position. They need a stable presence that can be counted on to always do his job.

Curse

They closed the spring split hard, and we’re able to carry that into the playoffs, even giving some fight to Cloud 9. The addition of bunny fufu has really helped their bot lane. My worry for Curse is that their strong finish may have pushed any valid questions about their lineup to the side. This is a team that was fighting to avoid the relegation zone for much of the split, and doesn’t appear to process the talent or macro strategy to compete with the top teams over a full split. I return again to the mid lame, where Voyboy just seems out of place. His champion pool is still small, and void of strong meta picks. The argument could be made that with another split under his belt, he may now have time to really expand his pool and include more traditional mid laners. I just have a feeling that Curse will see some roster changes before next split. Whether it involves voyboy rotating to top or straight up being replaced, I do not know.

If Voyboy does get replaced, or role swapped, this is where I see shiphtur landing. Curse has lacked a strong individual player capable of taking over a game for a long time, and shiphtur would bring that presence. He will require some growing pains as he gets used to a team that actually tries to be Meta, but it would be worth it in the end.

Evil Geniuses

I am still surprised they made it back in, though they definitely earned it. I just thought it would be coast that made it, and eg that got relegated. This is a very odd team, as it combines 3 players that are veterans of the scene, and two young guns. I would be shocked if one of those three players is not replaced before the summer split, if only out of fatigue. Out of the three, I suppose I would bet on Krepo being the one, as he clearly has a future in casting and may want to get started on that. Yellowpete hasn’t been that great, but I just don’t know if there are actual viable replacements. Neither Wiz Fujin or Zuna are worthy enough replacements, so that eliminates using the recently relegated teams as a farm system. Frommaplestreet is quite capable, but he’s got a monstrous attitude problem, and is just as likely to destroy a team from within as he is to carry it to the top. Now, EG’s veteran presence could definitely mitigate this problem, as both Krepo and Snoopeh have years of pro experience and success to draw from, and I firmly believe that they would kick Maplestreet the moment he became toxic. Knowing that this would be his best chance to get back to the LCS, I also think Maplestreet would behave. The real test would be how he handled the first sign of adversity. With the teams with the two worst performing ADC in the split relegated, there is very little chance for an amateur ADC to break into the LCS right now.

LMQ

I will address LMQ quickly. While it’s always been assumed Uzi would eventually join the team, I just don’t see it. Vasilli has been phenomenal, and Weixiao is instantly one of the too four mid laners in The LCS. Why risk team synergy when you already have a sure thing going. So regardless of the royal club financial troubles and all these rumors, I just don’t see a reason for LMQ to make the change. They have top 3-4 players at all three carry positions, great coaching, and the respect of the community.

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Exactly 5 people entered the contest. So all 5 of you got a Curse Beta Key :D Thanks for entering and have fun :)

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Curse Beta Keys Giveaway

I have five Curse Beta Keys that I will be giving away April 26th at 8 PM EST.

Entry Rules:

1. Follow Me.

2. Get 1 Entry by liking this post.

3. Get a 2nd entry by reblogging this post.

4. The Five Winners will be chosen randomly on April 26th at 8 PM EST.

It's that easy.

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Solo Que, a life

Enemy Sivir: Taking Bot inner Tower

Enemy Leblanc: Taking Mid inner Tower

Allied Graves: *dead*

Allied Cho: Let's do Baron

Me: No, that's a terrible call. The enemy is taking our base, and the ADC is dead.

Allied Cho, Syndra and Blitz: All Half Health, do baron anyway

Allied Cho: dies to Baron

Allied Blitz: dies to baron

Enemy Riven: shows up and kills Syndra, takes Baron.

Allied Cho: This is why you're in Bronze Sion (me)

Allied Cho: Rage Quits game.

Final Tally: Two towers lost, four kills given up, and baron given up.

Me (Not in Bronze): ...

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A Regional Perspective: The NA LCS, and the inability to put aside feelings when it comes to player performance

Out of the four major regions of competitive League of Legends, no region is less receptive to new talent as North America, and no region is more forgiving of poor performance. It's not a coincidence that North America is like this, and traditionally performs poorly in international competition. If we were to rank the regions by a combination of player turnover, pressure to perform, and strength of competition, it would look something like this:

Korea: Most volatile region from a player perspective. One bad tournament can cost you your spot, and the existence of sister teams makes player replacement easy. Has a built in farm system, strong corporate support. The same teams are continuously successful, but the players change.

China. Extremely volatile league from both a player, and team perspective. Quickly developing, and somewhat chaotic. So competitive that multiple Chinese teams have attempted to change regions to be successful.

Europe. Had the same problem as NA until recently. But massive upheaval within the Region after Season 3 Worlds saw one of EU's pillar teams break apart, and multiple new teams break into the LCS, along with SK Gaming picking up an entirely new roster.

North America. Very little new talent. Coast and EG qualified out of promotions, but both teams are filled with established players, many of them on the downside of their careers. Upcoming promotion tournament does bring hope of new blood.

If we take a look at the Season 3 World Championships, you'll notice that teams from Korea and China were in the finals, while multiple teams from Europe had strong performances. All three NA teams performed poorly. This trend continues all the way back to Season 1 Worlds when there was an all European final (before Korea/China had regions).

The NA Region's problem is two-fold.

Teams are reluctant to replace under-performing players. Especially true when it comes to the four traditional powers of the NA scene, TSM/CLG/Dignitas/Curse.

In the rare cases that teams do attempt to address the problem, they do not do so correctly. They either bring back a former player, many of whom are on the downsides of their career (Curse and Saintviscious), or attempt a role swap . These Role Swaps not only fail to fix the offending player's problems, but often create an additional issue by moving an exceptional player out of his preferred role (see XDG and the Zuna/Xmithie role swap)

The consequence of these two problems is significantly weaker inter-region competition. The Korean and Chinese scenes improved exceptionally fast because there's so much competition between teams in the region due to most of the teams having corporate sponsors. This competition created an atmosphere where poor performance is not tolerated, and past performance is not taken into consideration, nor used as assurance of future success. It's all about what have you done for us today. 

In TSM, CLG, Dignitas and Curse, you have four teams that have competed in all three LCS splits with more or less the same rosters that they've always had. There's been one or two changes for each team, but for the most part, these teams have changed little since Season 3 began. In the case of TSM and CLG, they've each made just one roster swap, and have been able to sustain a high level of performance. So this roster continuity is a positive. Dignitas and Curse have seen their relevance within the scene decrease each split since the LCS began, and only very recently decided to do something about it. 

So which teams and players are particularly strong offenders when it comes to their reluctance to replace under-improving players?

Past~

Vulcun/XDG and Zuna

Zuna is one of three players who are without a doubt the worst players in the NA LCS. Don't get me wrong. Zuna is great at League of Legends. Just because he's not LCS level does not make him bad at the game. He'd likely wipe the floor with 99% of the League community in his role. But the disparity between him and the rest of the players in his position within the pro scene is huge. For any decent team, Zuna is essentially a free kill whenever you want it. You see it every time TSM plays XDG. Zuna dies over and over. What makes his presence in the NA LCS so offensive though, is that his clear inability to compete was notable even when Vulcun was doing well in the Summer Split, and rather then replace him, they did a role swap. So now, instead of having one weak position, they had three. Mancloud was a god in the mid lane, but the loss of Xmithie ruined that all important jungle-mid synergy, and he was a shadow of his former self for the first half of the spring split. Zuna was not as good a jungler as Xmithie, which should have been expected anyway, since Xmithie was one of the two best junglers in North America. Xmithie, being new to the role, was really no better than Zuna had been. That is why XDG is the biggest offender. They sacrificed their two best players rather then replace their worst. And they're going to pay for it when the face LMQ with their spot in the NA LCS on the line. It would be best for everyone involved if they lost.

Curse and pretty much everyone

At this point, Curse is rather famous for their roster swaps. Let's face it. While Voyboy was legitimately one of the top 3 top laners in North America, he's just not as good in the mid lane. His mechanics are fine, but he doesn't have a good grasp of the macro strategy of the mid lane. That, and he's never really cultivated a pool of legitimate mid lane champions. It's not like there aren't enough Mid Laners to choose from in the Challenger scene. Prolly and Bischu, two players whose teams failed to qualify for the LCS, were both available at the time, and will be again if their teams fail to qualify again. More shockingly is that Curse had Aphromoo and Pobelter on their roster last fall, and released them. While Pobelter has been pretty hit or miss, he's still young. All Aphromoo has done is gone on to be the 2nd best support in North America. In short, whoever is in charge of Curse's roster has made some really poor decisions. But now that Liquid has purchased full control, maybe Curse will change.

Present~Teams with roster decisions to make before the Summer Split

CLG and Nien

CLG , like Curse, is a team known for its lane swaps. Rather than accept HSGG's decline, they spent a year moving him around, trying to find a place for him. His position as the owner made it an even bigger issue. And now CLG is again faced with a player who is clearly not able to compete in the LCS. The problem with CLG and Nien is the inability of CLG fans to admit or accept that Nien is a hindrance to the team. After CLG's loss to TSM yesterday, a loss that showed exactly how much of a hindrance Nien really is, Reddit was flooded with posts asking CLG to KEEP Nien. I understand he's a great guy, and people like him, but did you see his body language after the second match. He had straight given up. Despite the fact that TSM pretty much one via dumb luck, and Xpecial being a god, Nien had given up. He'd beaten himself before the game even began. And when it did start, he got destroyed. In this way, Nien and Zuna are the same. TSM knew they needed to snowball, as they had a very strong early game team. Who did they choose to gank over and over again? Nien, because they knew they could get him. Ignoring his poor laning, questionable decision-making, and general subpar play, you absolutely cannot have a player on your team who just...gives up. That more than anything is why Nien simply has to go. And the sooner CLG fans accept that, the easier it will be for everyone.

Coast and everyone on the roster besides Shiphtur and ZionSpartan

When you see Shiphtur play, you can understand why the rest of the LCS had such high expectations for this team. But when you look at their jungler and bot lane, you wonder how they even survived relegations. As good as Shiphtur is, Wiz Fujiin and Nintendudex are that bad. Wiz is arguably as bad as Zuna, but without the background of past poor performance to make his situation as bad. He just gets out-laned every single game. He and Daydreamin consistently get caught out and give up kills for no reason. Their all around performance just isn't good enough. They're weak at all facets of the game. Nintendudex is an interesting case. He's had a few games where he's done pretty well. His ability to predict flashes against TSM was pretty sweet. But in most games, it seems like he has no clue how to jungle. He spends too much time going back and forth between lanes. He tries to gank at inopportune times. He applies very little pressure. And all of this makes him fall behind in gold, so his presence in the mid-late game is terrible. He's the worst jungler in the NA LCS, and it's really not even close.

Future

TSM and The Odd One

We've already seen how long it took TSM to replace Reginald, who despite being a decent enough mid laner for NA, was clearly not good enough in international play (Mid lane is a pretty weak position in North America).The Odd One is 25, and will turn 26 shortly after worlds. That's ancient in esports, and League of Legends in particular. I would be very surprised if he was still on the team for Season 5. And I think he realizes this, and likely plans to retire. The question is, should TSM already be thinking about replacing him? In Ninjaken and Nightblue, TSM has two of the best Solo Que junglers already on their rosters as subs. The Odd One was never known for his mechanics, and its likely that TSM's overall performance, along with OddOne's sheer experience and game knowledge is covering up his decline. His mechanics did seem greatly improved earlier in the Split, but he's a clear step down from the likes of Meteos, and that improvement seems to have fallen off. There's trouble brewing here. If his performance declines rapidly in the Summer Split, can TSM recover fast enough for Worlds? Can Reginald make the hard decision? Are either Ninjaken or Nightblue the answers? Lots of questions. But only time will give us answers.

[solo-q]

Notes on Day 2 of NA LCS Spring Playoffs

TSM VS CLG

CLG will not be a true top tier team as long as Nien is in the top lane. It's pretty clear that he's a liability in lane, and his mid game decision-making is equally also terrible when it comes to his positioning and usage of Teleport. That's a huge concern considering the strength of the top lane position internationally. If he gets dumpstered by Dyrus and Balls, how will he do against the likes of Shy?

Speaking of CLG, the reputation for choking in big games remains. This was arguably the weakest TSM has looked all season, and CLG failed to take advantage. It wasn't all Nien either. TSM was able to snowball game 2 off of Link getting caught for no reason, resulting in 3 kills across the map and Baron for TSM.

Say CLG decides to replace Nien, are there even any viable options? Watch Coast's relegation match closely here.

TSM still doesn't seem to know what to do in the 5-15 minute range after the initial 4-0 tower push. 

Their Objective Prioritization in the early game is also sub-par. Trading Towers for Buffs is not worth in gold or map pressure.

TSM's team fighting ability is still extremely strong. If they can survive that early game, they can beat anyone.

More on TSM. TSM has 3 legitimate carries in Bjergsen, Wild Turtle and Dyrus. I feel like people sometimes forget how good Dyrus can be, but every once in a while, he likes to take a game and remind everyone that he has the ability to completely take over the game. The Heal buff, and the falling out of favor of Ignite has also made Mundo viable again, which helps Dyrus out a lot. It's very hard to keep all three down. You saw CLG commit a lot of resources to reigning in Bjergsen, and trying for counter ganks bot lane. This let Dyrus just dominate Nien.

That Penta though. 

Xpecial is a god, and this series should put to rest any of the arguments of who is the best Support NA. Aphromoo is good, but Xpecial is a god.

TSM's rotations are highly dependent on their confidence. If they are confident they are ahead, their rotations are superb. When they aren't, their lack of decisiveness can hurt them.

Curse vs Cloud 9

Feral Flare plays into the strengths of Meteos so much. Makes his advantage over the other NA junglers even larger.

Hai is definitely a bit over-rated. Voyboy is a pretty mediocre mid laner with a very odd champion pool, but he more than held his own against Hai. But we pretty much already knew this. A lot of people within the league (thorin/monte for example) have already pointed this out. Then again, it's hard not to be over-rated when people are saying you're as good as Bjergsen, when you're clearly not.

Balls can play more than just tanky tops. You've been warned NA LCS.

Cloud 9's rotations on a team and individual level are superb. Balls turned multiple fights around mid with roams from the top lane. While Cloud 9 as a whole was able to get towers via superior rotations.

Sneaky and Lemonnation remain pretty average on an individual level, but they work extremely well within Cloud 9's specific style of team fighting.

Curse is definitely improved as a team. They seem to have adapted to the new Meta very well. Likely making them a top 4 team in the LCS right now.

iWillDominate is pretty hit or miss, but when he's on, he's pretty damn good.

Cop will forever be divisive, but his style works well within Curse, and helps prevent them from making similar mistakes that Dignitas makes. While they will never make those sick plays to come back into a game, they also won't make those stupid mistakes that lose them a lead. No Dignitoss Baron throws here. 

I wonder of this sudden improvement will prevent Curse was taking a necessary look at the strength of some of their players. Any team that is not C9/TSM/CLG should be looking at their roster to see if improvements can be made.

Dignitas vs Coast

It never seems like Dignitas wins games. It's more like the enemy team loses them. When watching the good teams play, you can see that they have a game plan that they're following. Every action has a purpose. Both Coast and Dignitas don't have that. The laning phase ends and then they wander around like chickens with their heads cut off for 20 minutes.

Scarra's decrease in skill came exceptionally fast, even discounting his 2-3 week hiatus from the LCS. It's pretty clear that his champion pool of champs he's comfortable on is miniscule. In fact, the Gragas nerfs might have made his pool empty. Definitely got the impression this season that Scarra has been hanging on by playing his Gragas/Ziggs from season 3, and that by playing those champions, his decline has been masked.

Qtpie is legit. I've said this before, but he is a very good ADC. He's put his team on his back for a lot of Dignitas's wins this season.

Kiwikid's pool of champions that he's good with is essentially Annie. His performance drops of big time on other champions. But Annie is a risky pick with all the dive in the meta right now.

Crumbz is solid. And I feel like he provides a lot of benefit to Dignitas behind the scene, and is a big reason for why they always seem levelheaded, even in the face of losses. I think qtpie has a lot more fire than people think.

Coast remains Shiphtur and sometimes Zionspartan vs the world. If they survive relegation, Wiz, Daydreamin and Nintendudex need to go. But will they have the guts to do it? A major roster revision worked wonders for SK Gaming, could it do the same for Coast?

Challenger scene has a lot of decent ADC, many better than wiz.

The Jungler pool is much less deep, but Coast should still take a serious look at the challenger teams that are left after the promotion tournament.

Shiphtur is as good as Bjergsen. Coast's troubles mask it, but he's as much a play maker, and reminds me a lot of Bjergsen when he was on NiP. He needs and deserves a better team around him.

Shiphtur is still hit or miss, but the expansion of the top lane meta with the past two patches has made him much more consistent. His style of play definitely plays better in the current meta than it did at the beginning of the split.

Daydreamin dies way too much. Just always seems to get caught out, and it's like Wiz does zero damage in team fights. He spends too much time dancing around the outskirts, doesn't seem confident enough to go in.

It's hard to pin point why Nintendudex is so bad. Like, he had flashes of skill against TSM with his predictive Vi play. But his jungle pressure is usually zero, he typically gets out farmed, his ganks are often ineffective, and his positioning in team fights is bad. Maybe it's a confidence issue, because he apparently does quite well in solo que. He just can't translate it to pro play. Might just lack that intuition all the great junglers have.

Coast will likely face coLB in the promotion tournament. coLB does not have a player maker on shiphtur's level, and has some of the same problems that Coast does. Their chances seem pretty decent.

Finals Prediction

My heart says TSM, but it's probably 60-40 in C9's favor. If C9 wins, it will probably be 3-1, if TSM wins, I'd guess 3-2.

[solo-q]

NA LCS Spring Playoffs: Team Preview

The North America Spring Split took a far different route than its EU counter part, with clear divides forming between the Big 3 of C9, TSM and CLG, and mediocre 3 of Dignitas, Curse and Coast, and the out-classed duo of XDG and Evil Geniuses.The Spring Split saw the rise of legitimate challengers to Cloud 9's throne in TSM, and later CLG, as new acquisitions by both teams elevated them to new highs of performance.

For TSM, the acquisition of Bjergsen to replace the retired Reginald turned a perceived weakness into their biggest strength, while TSM's 5-1 record with Reginald during the two weeks Bjergsen was getting his visa renewed illustrated just how much better TSM is than most of their North American competitors. Not many teams could lose their best player and not miss a step.

For CLG, the better late than never addition of Dexter, along with the coaching of Montecristo, turned the perennial underachievers into a serious threat to the North American crown.

While Cloud 9, TSM, and CLG have spent most of the split flexing their might, the rest of the league has struggled to find consistency, with some teams flashing periods of brilliance, only to fall into their old patterns after a few weeks. And not every role swap, or player acquisition works out as well as Bjergsen and Dexter. You have only to look at Curse, Dignitas, and XDG to see that change isn't always a good thing. In fact, breaking today was the announcement that Scarra is returning to the team for the playoffs, a decision that is surely to get Dignitas fans everywhere excited, and that's yet another example of buyer's regret when it comes to a team and a player acquisition.

Can one of the underdogs make like GGU, and make run a run to the finals? Let's take a look at each team, and then I'll make a fool out of myself some more with some predictions.

The Contenders

Cloud 9

There were bumps along the road, but for all the talks of the closing gap between them and the rest of the NA LCS, they ended the Spring Split in the same position as they did in the Summer Split, and seem to be peaking at the perfect time. It certainly helps that the Trinket changes in patch 4.4 gave rise to a Meta that favors teams with strong decision-making, and rotations. And no team excels at either like Cloud 9. It would not be a stretch to say that we'd be naming TSM the favorites if the Trinket changes had never happened. It's not all sunshine and daisies however. It's become increasingly clear over the course of the split that the ceiling of Cloud 9 is not as high as either CLG or TSM. At their best, either team is better than Cloud 9. Their individual players just aren't the play-makers that their counterparts are. The exception being Meteos. Cloud 9 will rise and fall depending on the performance of their All-World jungler, and it must be said that the new jungle item, Feral Flare, feeds right into Meteos's preferred play style.

TSM

The Spring split started and ended with losses, but in between, TSM showcased a level of play not seen since their season 2 hay days on the way to 2nd place in the split. But trouble has been brewing since Patch 4.4 went live in the LCS, and it remains to be seen whether TSM has been able to adapt to the Meta of lane swaps, and short laning phases. The change in Meta certainly doesn't play to their strengths, as their traditional laning phase was without a doubt the strongest in the NA LCS. While the jungle changes help other teams more, I can't help but wonder if we're going to see The Odd One bring out Nocturne, who is extremely strong with the new jungle item, Feral Flare, and a champion he was known for back in season 2. When at their best, TSM is without a doubt the strongest team in North America, and with Bjergsen in the Mid lane, TSM holds on of only three players in the LCS capable of single-handily dominating the other team.

CLG

Season 3 was not kind to CLG. They followed a 4th place finish in the Spring Split with a 5th place finish in the Summer Split, narrowly avoiding what would have been a humiliating relegation. Clearly, they needed a change. They brought in Dexter from EU to be their new jungler, and picked up Montecristo as Coach. Since Dexter joined the team, CLG has seen improvement in all facets of the game, and while Doublelift does still occasionally go full doublelift, and Nien is clearly not up to the challenge, they remain a strong contender for NA's spot in all-stars. Aphromoo has evolved into an excellent support and shot-caller, while Link has one of the largest champion pools in the LCS. Dexter brings a presence that can't be ignored, and Doublelift is still Doublelift. The only thing holding this team back from true greatness is their top laner, Nien, whose poor decision-making and laning frequently make him a hindrance. The Spring Playoffs may come down to who adapts to patch 4.5 the best, and with MonteCristo in their corner, CLG has as good a chance of anyone at coming out on top.

The Underdogs

Dignitas

No team combined highs and lows as much as Dignitas. They beat Cloud 9 in the middle of a 5 game winning streak, only to then lose 5 games in a row. They were able to feed off the bottom 3 teams in the league, but after that victory over Cloud 9, only won a single game against one of the Big 3, a win in the second week of the split over pre-Dexter CLG. They went 1-3 against their first round opponent, Curse, thought that one win came in their last meeting. That win was without Scarra, who had stepped down from the team, but returns for the Spring Playoffs. Considering that he was most definitely not the main culprit for their poor performance, I consider this a net gain to their chances. Crumbz is a legitimate LCS level Jungler, which is more than most NA teams can say. Cruzer is a This is a team with a high ceiling, but one they rarely reach. Upset chances: Two GGU's

Curse

It was an up and down season for one of eSports premier organizations. One that saw them drop as low as 7th, and look destined for Relegation, after starting the season in 3rd place. Curse is a difficult team to read because you have to fight through all the Bullshit. Voyboy is a "star", but at this point is just riding on reputation. He'd earned that praise when he was a top laner, but in the mid lane, his pool is very weird, very anti-meta, very top lane. Dominated by the likes of Vlad and Akali. Cop is over-rated or under-rated depending on who you talk to. He'll never carry your team with sick out-plays, and his passive play often results in him ceding the lane to the enemy, and makes it very hard for Dignitas to come back, because he's just so damn careful. On the other-hand, he knows how to right-click, and if you stick him in the proximity of a team fight, he knows what to do. A role player miscast as a star. BunnyFuFu is a legitimate support, which is a definite improvement over having a sometime mid laner, sometime top laner in that role (looking at you Saintviscious), no matter how great a shot-caller they are. iWillDominate is considered a pretty average jungler, and yet I would call him over-rated even under that less than glowing assessment, while Quas has decent mechanics, and with how big of a farm fest top tends to be, it's tough to figure out how good he is on his own. All in all, this is a pretty below-average team, without any standout player capable of taking them to great heights for a few games on their own backs. Upset Chances: Half a GGU.

The Dark Horse

Coast

Arguably the most interesting team in the LCS. They can look like the worst team in the LCS one game, and then go on a streak of demolition the next. This is largely because they have one of those three players capable of single-handily taking over a game in Shiphtur, and then they have the single worst player in the LCS, in nintendudex. Toss in ZionSpartan, who once in a blue moon decides to become a god, and you have a very up and down team, but with many more down games then up games. The presence of Shiphtur, and the X factor of ZionSpartan makes this the team most likely to go on a surprise run. In wouldn't take them in a BO5, but in a BO3, they could potentially take down anyone. Upset Chances: 5 GGUs (they are afterall, the former GGU)

[solo-q]

Basic Summoner Spell Overview

In this post, I'd like to take a look at each lane and role and what summoner spells are best for how you want to play the lane. I'm going to begin with a quick breakdown of Flash vs Ghost, rather than address that choice individually for each lane. I will then move on to addressing combat summoners in other lanes.

Flash is a 400 range blink with a 5 minute Cooldown, reduced to 4:30 with the Summoner's Insight Mastery, is the primary mobility summoner, and the only choice for the majority of Champions in League of Legends. Some common exceptions are Nasus and Singed. Most of these exceptions are in the top lane and jungle. Mid and Bot Lane champions should always choose Flash. 

Ghost is the second, and less common, mobility summoner. It increases your Movement Speed by 27% for 10 seconds, and causes your champion to ignore unit collusion. This spell can be a great choice for tanky melee champions such as Singed and Nasus that are vulnerable to kiting. It's effectiveness is greatly increased in the longer side lanes, and the jungle where Flash may not be enough to catch or escape your target. Has particularly strong synergy with Singed and Hecarim. Should never be used on ADC, Support or Mid.

Top Lane

The two most common secondary summoners for Top Lane are Teleport, and Ignite. They each have their own advantages, disadvantages and comps/strategies that they synergize with.

The primary purpose of Teleport is to increase your Team's objective control, and team fight power. Teleport is especially effective on strong split-push champions, as it allows you to exert pressure on one lane while your team pressures another lane or objective, and still be able to join your team if a fight breaks out. It's also a great choice for weak early game champions as it allows you to get back to your lane quickly without sacrificing CS.The trade off is significantly less kill potential and lane pressure, especially against Opponents with ignite, as Teleport provides nothing beyond Utility and is completely useless in a 1v1. While it may seem like Teleport is an exceptionally strong choice in the current Meta, Solo Que is not the LCS, and you're not likely to run into many lane swaps. Thus, Teleport is best left to champions who need time to scale up (think Nasus and Ryze). A very fickle summoner, as a poor teleport can completely ruin the game for either your lane or entire team.

Ignite is the primary choice for Champions like Renekton, who have strong bullying potential, and/or players who are not confident in their Teleport decision-making. Ignite deals 70-410 true damage over 5 seconds, and scales with champion level. Healing effects such as health regen, lifesteal and spell vamp are reduced for the duration, and the target is revealed. Timing is essential for maximizing Ignite's effectiveness. Against Champions like Nasus and Renekton, whose ultimates give them HP, a mistimed Ignite could be the difference between a kill and a death.

Tip: Ignite's damage in the first six levels is 70/90/110/130/150/170. Put another way, this is 14/18/22/26/30/34 damage a second. In the early levels, a Health Pot can significantly reduce the effectiveness of ignite, as it will heal 5 hp a second after the heal reduction is applied. Train yourself to know when Ignite is enough to secure the kill, and when it isn't.

Jungle

Just pick Smite. (Such Advice, wow)

Mid Lane

You'll find a much larger variety of summoner spells in the mid lane. Ignite is a great choice for champions with high kill and/or bullying potential Like Leblanc, Fizz and Zed.

Barrier is a strong choice for Champions that just want to survive the laning phase, like Nidalee,or against Champions with high kill potential like those listed above. Barrier provides a 2 second shield for 115-455 damage, scaling 20 hp per level. If you're wondering why Heal hasn't replaced Barrier in the mid lane like it has in the bot lane, that is because mid is primarily a 1v1 lane which mitigates the advantage gained by healing an ally, and the prevalence of Ignite makes Barrier, which is unaffected by the healing reduction of Ignite, much more valuable.

Like top lane, Teleport is a good option in the mid lane for Champions with weak early games, or Champions like Kassadin that need kills to scale, and excel at Teleport Ganks.

In the Mid Lane, the only Champion that uses Exhaust is Karthus, As such, I will wait for the Bot Lane to address it in depth.

ADC/Marksmen

Until patch 4.5, most ADC used Barrier. With the changes to Heal, it has now become the preferred choice. Heal restores 90-495 damage, scaling at 25 hp per level, and provides a 30% movement speed boost for 2 seconds after it is used. Heal now cleanses all healing reductions, including grievous wounds and the healing reduction from Ignite, but not the damage. All these buffs together have made Heal a much stronger summoner than it used to be. In addition, bot lane trades tend to last longer, and the short duration of Barrier means that you may not get the full effectiveness of the shield.

The primary alternative to Barrier is Cleanse. Cleanse is a very situational choice, and is strongest on ADC who have a short range. The most common example of this is Vayne, who is heavily reliant on positioning, and extremely vulnerable to crowd control. Cleanse removes all Crowd Control, and reduces incoming Crowd Control by 65% for 3 seconds. 

Ignite is currently not a viable choice for ADC.

Support

As with ADC, the preferred summoner choice for Support changed with patch 4.5. Previously, Ignite was the preferred choice. Now that Exhaust reduces the targets damage by an additional 20%, Exhaust is a much stronger choice than it used to be. It is especially more versatile in the late game, as the change in priority from reducing attack speed to overall damage has made it a more effective spell against Mages. The range increase from 550 to 650 also allows the Support to cast Exhaust without getting in auto-attack range of the opposing ADC.

Keep in mind that these types of things tend to be cyclical, and it would not be unsurprising if Riot reigned the power of Exhaust in a bit in the near future.

Clarity, Clairvoyance are not currently viable choices for any role, champion or lane.

If you have any questions, think I could have gotten a little more detailed, or have a different opinion, feel free to comment below.