NA LCS Regionals Survival Guide-Road to Worlds

NA LCS Regionals Survival Guide-Road to Worlds 

• Gamescom 2014 has finally begun
• Gnar, the Missing Link
• Upcoming Pando Media Booster Removal

 You’ve watched your favorite NA teams slug it out for the last 11 weeks in the LCS. Top teams have fallen, new teams have risen, and comebacks have been made. Now, the top six teams are set to slug it out in the playoffs.  The quarterfinals will happen from the comfort of the NA LCS Studio, but for the semifinals on, they will face off in front of the crowd at PAX Prime for the chance of a lifetime: the top three teams qualify for the League of Legends 2014 World Championship. The team that comes in last place, on the other hand, will fall into the Promotion Tournament to defend their spot from the top teams from the NA Challenger Series. For those who can’t make it out to PAX Prime, tune into lolesports.com for broadcasts, news coverage, and analysis.

The teams in the NA LCS have a variety of origins. Fully half of the teams - Team SoloMid, xpeke kassadin mid Counter Logic Gaming, Team Dignitas, and Curse Gaming - date all the way back to Season 1, and have storied pasts and die-hard fans. These four teams have remained in the LCS since its inception, and are a bedrock of competitive LoL in the region.
On the other hand, Cloud9 and CompLexity are recent upstarts, one dominant and one growing. Cloud9 has only been around for three splits, but has taken first place in the regular season for all three. CompLexity clawed their xpeke kassadin backdoor way back into the scene after relegation a year ago, and have already established themselves as fan-favorites.
Finally, LMQ and Evil Geniuses are migrant teams from China and Europe, respectively, making the NA region one of the most uniquely diverse. Evil Geniuses, while European in origin, has always had a close relationship with North America, and they once went by the name CLG.EU. LMQ left the LPL and found a home in North America’s challenger scene. Since then, they have worked their way into the LCS, where they have cultivated an avid fan base thanks to their aggressive style.

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The History of North America

The History of North America 

• Yordle like Dino Gnar!
• Gamescom 2014 has finally begun
• Gnar, the Missing Link

Only one word can be used to describe North America’s international history: disappointing.
Every other region has made it to the World Championship Final at least once, with Korea showing up twice. North America, on the other hand, not only has never made it to the xpeke finals, but it hasn’t even made it past the quarterfinals since the 2010 Season World Championship at Dreamhack.
At that time, League of Legends was in its infancy, with little in the way of an established meta, let alone a thriving competitive scene. Six of the eight qualifying xpeke kassadin s4 teams were from either North America or Europe, with two Asian teams from what we’d now call the GPL. The North American scene had the majority of the well-known League of Legends players, including current NA pros Dyrus, Doublelift, Westrice, and Xpecial.
At first, it looked like NA’s all-star lineups would lead them to dominance within the tournament, as Epik Gamer, Team SoloMid, and Counter Logic Gaming went a combined 7-2 in the Group phase. However, once the playoffs started, they found themselves unable to compete with European teams, who had a secret weapon. That weapon? The modern laning meta. European teams ran an AD Carry and support as their duo lane, and on the back of that strategy, the region took both slots in the finals. In fact, NA teams were a combined 2-8 against the eventual finalists, aAa and Fnatic.
By the time Season 2’s World Championship xpeke kassadin rolled around, North America had lost even the most basic foothold on the international scene. TSM had a bye into the playoffs, while two other North American teams, Dignitas and CLG, qualified for the Group phase. Neither made it out. Likewise, TSM fell 0-2 to Azubu Frost in the first round of the playoffs.
It wasn’t that their players were untalented. In fact, Doublelift was renowned worldwide as one of the best ADCs. But once again, the region could not keep pace with the constantly evolving meta. Time after time, North American teams simply lost the objective war, falling behind in dragon and baron gold even in those games that they remained even in kills and CS. Even the renowned TSM fell behind Azubu Frost on dragon and tower gold alone.

And so, in Season 3, NA came out hungry for a better showing on the international stage. New blood rose up quickly, and by the World Championship, TSM had taken a backseat to two up-and-coming NA teams, Cloud9 and Team Vulcun. Vulcun was the quintessential North American team, made up of solo queue heroes with massive xpeke kassadin season 4 talent. They smashed half of the scene, with a dominant 14-2 record against the bottom four teams, and 2-2 records against CLG, TSM, and - most notably - Cloud9.
Unfortunately, in the Group stage of the World Championship, Team Vulcun lived up to their Throwbargains nickname, taking down eventual group winner Fnatic in their xpeke kassadin play first game, then losing game after game to careless errors. Ultimately, Vulcun and TSM took 4th place in their respective Group stages - only beating out the International Wildcard teams, and failing to advance to the quarterfinals.
Cloud9 stood as North America’s last and best hope. What made Cloud9 so special? First of all, they stood head and shoulders above all other North American teams. In their LCS debut split, they posted a commanding 25-3 season, only dropping games to Vulcun and CLG and going on to sweep the playoffs. But most interestingly, they seemed to be the change that the North American scene needed. Before Cloud9, the mindset for North American teams xpeke kassadin highlights was all wrong. The original NA players had all been solo queue streamers, and it showed in their mindset. They wanted to be the best, but they also didn’t know how to learn from others, or admit their weaknesses.
What really separated Cloud9 from other North American teams - and resembled Korean play - was an extreme focus on the theory of the game.
First, Cloud9 had a heavy focus on turning any advantage - especially kills - into mid-game objectives: dragon and towers. Cloud9 took 253 towers, 39 more than their closest competitor, and 68 dragons, 8 more than the next-highest team. They also took the second-most barons, 24, which was only two behind Vulcun’s 26.
Second, Cloud9 had an analyst, supplemented by LemonNation’s iconic draft-phase notebook. Both of these tools gave Cloud9 a heightened sense of objectivity and humility, which led to both extremely selfless playstyles and an almost obsessive fixation on improvement from every player on the team. Ultimately, this is what Cloud9 brought in from Korea, the idea that other teams and regions had something to teach you because “players that xpeke kassadin 2014 believe they are the best refuse to look outwards to improve themselves, and play badly because of that,” as LemonNation put it.
And then, amidst a veritable storm of hype, Cloud9 fell in a disappointing 1-2 to Fnatic in the quarterfinal of the 2013 World Championship. Yet another North American team to get a bye into the quarterfinals only to be eliminated immediately.
So what happened? Cloud9 hadn’t ever needed to alter their champion pool much and weren’t “given that much trouble in the LCS for it,” according to Meteos. In other words, without any challenge, Cloud9 had no need or means to improve or innovate, and it showed when they faced their first challenge, Fnatic.
Since then, Cloud9 has defined the North American scene internationally, taking down Taiwan’s Taipei Assassins and China’s World Elite at IEM Katowice, as well as xpeke kassadin s4 Fnatic, Taipei Assassins, and even OMG during the group stages at All-Stars. (Cloud9 eventually lost to OMG in the All-Stars playoffs.)
So what makes the 2014 World Championship so important for North America? They are still waiting for a chance to prove themselves on the international scene, and get even a single World Championship series match win against a Chinese or Korean team. According to Meteos, “all the other [NA] teams this split are a lot better,” as they have learned what it takes from Cloud9, and this increased competition has led to the most competitive NA scene ever. This year just might be the year NA is strong enough to make a splash in the international pond.
VID

 

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Yordle like Dino Gnar!

• Gnar, the Missing Link
• Upcoming Pando Media Booster Removal

Don’t let the cuteness fool you! Gnar may look like as cuddly as a kitten, but when he gets worked up, he morphs into quite the big bad beastie. Perhaps it’s an attempt xpeke kassadin 2014 to be more intimidating in his miniature form, but the prehistoric Yordle’s launch skin Dino Gnar has the little guy sporting a fuzzy dinosaur costume.
In order to celebrate Gnar’s upcoming arrival, show us your artistic skills by drawing, xpeke kassadin s4 sculpting, or crafting any Yordle of your choice. The catch is that they have to be wearing a full-body suit of some other creature. Teemo in a frog suit? Corki in a panda suit? Ziggs in a monster suit? Let your imagination run wild. Any type of art is fair game as long as it fits the theme.
Send photos of your creations to us at riotfanart@riotgames.com and we’ll highlight our favourites in an upcoming post here on the website. We can’t wait to see what you come up with!
xPeke Nidalee

 

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Gamescom 2014 has finally begun

Gamescom 2014 has finally begun

• Gnar, the Missing Link
• Upcoming Pando Media Booster Removal

 
We all know that feeling of electricity at the beginning of a 5v5 on Summoner’s Rift when you hear the announcement “Minions have spawned!” The party can’t truly start, after all, until everybody’s made their way onto the Rift.
Gamescom 2014 is getting underway today and those of us who’ve traveled to Cologne from various Riot offices around the world are feeling the same way about this year’s show, especially as press and videogame fans begin to xpeke kassadin mid pour into the Koelnmesse exhibition centre. We’ve been working hard to prepare for this year’s show and we hope to make it an unforgettable experience for everybody who drops by our booth in Hall 8 at some point over the course of the week.
Whether you’re interested in the cosplay village, trivia and faction battles on the community stage, epic EU LCS semifinals battles taking place live in the esports arena, or any of the other surprises on offer, you’re all very welcome to the League of Legends booth. Come say hello and give us a fist bump, we’d love to meet you!
If you aren’t able to make it to this year’s show, don’t worry, we haven’t forgotten about you! Check out our special gamescom 2014 content hub where we’ll be posting articles, videos and other behind-the-scenes glimpses into what we’re up to.

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Gnar, the Missing Link

Armed with boomerang and boulder, and with his temper teetering on the brink, Gnar has made his way to the Rift.

• Upcoming Pando Media Booster Removal

   

Dino Gnar
“I wanna be the DINOSAUR!” The little blond boy skipped from class into the playground, picking up a small toy car before driving it up and down his forearm. Gnar hopped out seconds later, dressed in his bright dino onesie and grinning at the prospect of playtime. After making his way into the center of the playground, he tossed his trusty boomerang through the clear blue skies.
“No I wanna be the dinosaur! You be the ROBOT,” exclaimed a second child, a young girl covered in mud from an earlier trip through the nearby woods. The blond boy stamped his feet in consternation.
“NO! I wanna be the dinosaur,” he shouted, “you be the SAMURAI!” He ran ahead as Gnar’s xpeke kassadin boomerang arced back towards its owner. The prehistoric boy stood looking on, his tiny arms outstretched towards the incoming toy... only to watch the blond boy catch it. He turned to his friend, still grinning wildly as he held Gnar’s boomerang aloft.
“Oh! That reminds me! Why did the samurai never get locked out of his h...”
“RRAAAAAWWWWRRRRRRRRRR!”
The children stared on in horror as Mega Gnar tore through the skies, landing by the playground’s plastic playhouse. With a mighty roar, he tore the house from its bolts, slamming it into the nearby wall before launching it whole towards the fleeing blond boy. Through the screaming chaos, the young girl vacantly stared on, her eyes fixed on the terrifying colossus before her.
“...Okay. Gnar can be the dinosaur. Beep boop...”
Kite and fight your way through xpeke kassadin 2014 the enemy team as Gnar and his Dino Gnar skin for 1462 RP (normally 1950 RP) until the end of the weekend.

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Upcoming Pando Media Booster Removal

In a few patches we’ll be removing a defunct 3rd party program from our installer and patcher, called Pando Media Booster, which used to help us with peer-to-peer file delivery. As a peer-to-peer service, Pando previously allowed players to get the patch files they need from other nearby League players, instead of pinging our servers which may be farther away. Though we’re no longer using Pando Media Booster, we’re planning to develop our own peer-to-peer solution in the future to speed up the patching process and get you in game faster.

When Pando Media Booster is removed, League of Legends will display a pop-up giving you the option to remove the program from your computer with a single click. We recommend removing it when prompted (or manually removing it now) since we no longer use this service and are in the process of building our own solution.
Before then, some of you might see a different pop-up from your operating system when you launch League of Legends. This is an information-gathering step in our peer-to-peer development process. The pop-up will ask for permission to modify firewall settings from an application called “Riot P2P”.  If you choose to allow this application, it will collect details on your network configuration while you patch (not when you’re in game) but will not record any personal or identifying information.  Specifically, it will let us know which types of network configurations are most common and how many players are typically on the same area network (home, office, PC café, etc.). We’ll use this information to guide development of our native peer-to-peer solution so LoL can eventually provide the benefits of peer-to-peer technology for patching.
We’ll continue to provide updates as we move closer to introducing our peer-to-peer solution. Keep an eye out for more details on the upcoming removal of Pando Media Booster in the Patch Notes!

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