BOL Breakdown Week 3
Hey everyone its CTRL ULT ELITE here once again. Sorry that this is getting out so late and a little barebones but I had a very hectic work week and only had a few hours to write things this week. I have done my best to get every match of the week predictions done and a lane to watch. I was unable to look at every draft this week and write about them but I hope everyone enjoys the articles nevertheless. Interviews still seem to be a hit and I am glad everyone is enjoying them. Just a reminder that next week I am going to be doing power rankings again so no interviews this week. Hopefully you all enjoy them and this week's article.
Here are the updated standings for Shurmia as of the end of week 2. You can find them at https://www.blueotterleague.net/platinum-standings
Master McNasty vs TA Capybara
Prediction 2-1 for Master McNasty
Lane to Watch: Mid
So if you have not heard, Kaiten(the former mid of TAC) was found guilty of smurfing and has been banned from just about every league. As a result their week 2 win has been overturned and TAC now sits at 0 points making it very hard to reach playoffs. My biggest worry for TAC and why I do not think they will win this week is how they won last week. Last week the series TAC won 2-0 was relying on mid to carry. They played Seraphine lanes twice in a row and they are very powerful but someone on your team needs to step up. Masoof in top was doing much better than in week 1 and maybe they are the player to step up? I imagine you new mid laner is going to come into this series and you will not play this way. For MMN you guys had a great bounce back crushing GEE in week 2. This series is going to be a real test. You have played the complete opposite ends of the spectrum of Shurmia playing the team I think is coming 1st and the team I think is coming 8th. It's up to you to ride the momentum and take another week. The lane to watch this series is obviously Mid. TAC are going to have a new player here and we need to see how well they can mesh with the rest of their team.
New World Esports Orion VS GE Emerald
Prediction 2-0 for NWEO
Lane to Watch: Jungle
I feel this is a pretty easy 2-0 prediction. GE Emerald is having a rough start to our season sitting at 0-2 and NWEO are currently 2-0 in match score. Looking at team stats back up my theory GE Emerald has just the worst stats right now in the league. A sub 1.0 KDA as a team is so crazy low it is almost impressive, same as failing to get a tower a game so far. For NWEO you have great stats as a team this should be an easy 2-0 on your way to playoffs losing a game here would be catastrophic. As far as the lane to watch I am just going to pick one as NWEO has 3 players in the top 15 currently. I am going with the jungle. Denali the King for NWEO is a top 10 player right now and has been given counter pick in draft which is unusual for a jungler. On the other side of the Rift Snakevenom645 for GEE has the most kills a game on his team. I pray your mental stays strong and you can facilitate early advantages for your lanes to get some wins.
Drafts for GEE:G1 Pick/Ban: https://draftlol.dawe.gg/_7gik6PE (missing pick was swain) G2 Pick/Ban: https://draftlol.dawe.gg/jONITKcS
So draft this week gets a C- from me. Game 1 I think your draft starts pretty strong. Kai’Sa is a great 1st pick and you get a good answer into Sej with Trundle. I think Lulu was a mistake here into the Nautilus. Kai”sa needs hard CC all of her best winrate duos are melee supports. Nautilus also struggles really hard against other melee supports and he crushes ranged matchups like Lulu. Swain and Kennen I do not get whatsoever Your team needs waveclear and you have very little drafted and no real way to start a fight. What on earth is this team comp trying to do? Teamfight? I guess looking at the data it is a really hard Ryze counter but Ryze has like 4 winning matchups. You are relying entirely on Kennen Flanks. I feel like playing any control mage mid was winning here. Kennen blind I also disagree a lot with. Kennen is better mid than top and has been forever. Kennen just folds to any sort of engage/sustain which the top lane is full of. This whole team revolves around Kennen and he is in a losing match and you have a losing 2v2 top this game is almost over before it even began. Your game 2 draft is all about teamfights but you have 0 winning lanes/early pressure and you get run over. I like the 1st 2 picks, the rest of the draft is just not it. Why take Vlad blind when you have Annie flex shown? Why not save a counter pick for top or mid instead of last picking a Zeri who has no real help in fights. Again winning lanes and clear team ideas is what you are trying to get from the draft.
Drafts for NWEO:Game 1: https://draftlol.dawe.gg/aGbKEOTI/OrkLN54K Game 2: https://draftlol.dawe.gg/GEnHn4Mx/4sSETl2F Game 3: https://draftlol.dawe.gg/u9C6Mkfj/O7Dj1n31
So draft wise week 2 NWEO gets a B from me. So game 1 your comp is fucking wild. It also sucks a lot it's what dragged your score down the most. I like the other 2 team comps you end up with. So problems for game 1 are as follows. You have like 4 champions that are trying to get every bit of farm they can scrounge up. Veigar, Vayne, Vegio and Illaoi are all characters that normally steal farm from their teammates to get themsles ahead. If you have more than 2 of these it does not work. There are too many chefs and not enough cooks in a kitchen sort of situation. Uh problem 2 of this draft is you have no way to start a fight you are relying on split and if Illaoi falls behind to Jax she gets absolutely blasted. Viego also does not really have anywhere to gank. Top and bot is losing, Mid Veigar does not have the damage early game to actually secure kills. Game 2 draft goes back to more basic comps. This comp actually makes a fair amount of sense and I like it despite your pick order which I hate. I really dislike the Jinx 2nd pick why not go for jungle here? You can draft mid counter but why show how bot lane is going to go? I am also not sure why you took Camille round 3 blind. I guess with banning her counters she is somewhat safe but why not just take her in round 5 as an actual counter pick? Like you left jungle as the counter pick and it's a whatever matchup. Game 3 again draft is interesting. You end up with a pretty great comp again. I just do not like the pick order. Why are these 2 teams trading mids blind? Syndra blind on 3 that should have been punished by FC instead of taking a random scale for later matchup. I guess you guys feel that Denali is the most important player on this team for counter and fair enough I guess he is one of best players right now.
Oblivion Esports Ruby VS TE Abyss
Prediction 2-0 for Oblivion Esports Ruby
Lane to Watch: Bot
Coming into week 3 we have a 2-0 team in Oblivion Esports Ruby vs the 0-2 TE Abyss. With Ruby getting their 2nd win awarded to them. TE Abyss are having a much weaker start to the split than I thought they would. Ruby on the other hand are currently blowing my expectations away. Despite originally getting 2-0 and that getting overturned looking at the game stats game 2 was very close and came down to a backdoor play. Ruby are playing well together and drafting well. Looking at the stats for Abyss they are doing fine when it comes to fighting you just need to improve your macro. Something easy enough to say but it is hard to do. Find your team leader and listen and commit to what they say and things will go better. As far as the lane to watch I think it is still bot lane. Ravensman still had very impressive stats in their 2nd series, maybe they can keep up the numbers I thought were unsustainable.
First Class VS Shadowz Plat
Prediction 2-1 for Shadowz Plat
Lane to Watch: Top
Weird to come into a week where I have predicted SHZ to win both in BOL and CCS. But guys you have my faith. Please do not misplace it. I do not think that this will be an easy win or anything but you should take this series. SHZ have the fastest average game time out of every team that's undefeated in BOL they are winning cleanly and decisively macro wise. It looks like every game you play is almost a kill a minute. Laning and fighting wise I have FC to take a game because SHZ is tied for the most deaths a game out of every team with GEE. Dying 25 times in 30 minutes as a team is a crazy stat.. That is going to lead to throws. You can take the lead right back by fighting but it will lead to throws for sure. Top lane is the lane to watch this series. Yung Rat has been popping off with his counter picks and FC Bruiser is also playing to fight with picks on aggressive fighters like Darius and Jax.
Here are the updated standings for Targon as of the end of week 2. You can find them at https://www.blueotterleague.net/platinum-standings
Cb Rangers VS Xg Lightning
Prediction 2-0 for XG
Lane to Watch: Top
XGL lost last week which I was not expecting whatsoever but I still have them to win this series this week 2-0 over the CB Rangers. CBR and GPO had to reschedule their game last week so the only thing we have seen out of CBR so far was their 1st series that was a pretty resounding defeat. At least for XGL they went 1-2 last week and had 2 very close games. As far as team stats go XGL still has very impressive neutral objective stats: 3.2 dragons a game is tied for the highest in all of BOL and 6 towers a game is a pretty decent sum. Juiceboxx is also still a top 10 player right now in bot lane and I expect them to dominate this week as well. As far as the lane to watch, I would concentrate on the top lane this week. Cramma for CBR had the best showing for his team in week 1 playing more top lane style carries with games on Jax and Morde. XG Kartanah the top laner for XGL last week was more on tank duty playing Gragas, Ornn and Sejuani. It will be interesting to see if he can stop Cramma from getting a lead and enabling his team in teamfights.
Elysium Blaze VS Dorado Gaming Nu Streamed Games
Prediction 2-1 for Elysium Blaze
Lane to Watch:
The streamed match of the week for BOL Plat is an awesome choice this week(like it is every week). Elysium Blaze is one of 4 undefeated teams in match score. They play Dorado Gaming Nu who had a tough week 1 loss to their sister team and had a great bounce back against the Mystic Cats. Last week Elysium Blaze were able to win a very close series over XGL and this week they face another tough test to stay undefeated in Dorado Gaming Nu. ELY Blaze are my favorites to win this series. The main reason I think that ELYB are going to take this series is that they currently have the best KDA of every team in BOL Plat thanks to the fact that they average the least deaths a game of every team. They also have the current top 2 players in the entire league with Idrees and OPKillswtich. Macro wise ELYB and NU are evenly matched, both have very similar average game times(1 min apart), similar CS a game, and nearly identical dragons, barons and rift heralds.
Drafts ELYB Game 1: https://draftlol.dawe.gg/HrWbY-IN Game 2: https://draftlol.dawe.gg/JOxCpFCs Game 3: https://draftlol.dawe.gg/CjOhojKo
Overall I give ELYB an A for their drafts in week 2. It is slightly lower as I think you guys had the best drafts overall in week 1 and this week I do not think you did. They are still really good though. So game 1 I think the biggest issue with your team is Zac. Zac is very powerful in the right scenarios but it is a risk blind. Zac has very few good gank setup targets this game and Zac needs to chain gank his clear speed is too slow. XGL also take Lilia someone who just powerfarms and is slippery enough to not die to the burst and out teamfights Zac due to their raw stats. Graves and also do this I like the rest of your team. I just think you should have swapped Lulu up to be paired with Zeri(you are always taking this duo) and get a better idea for your jungle matchup. Game 2 and 3 I have 0 complaints you guys drafted really well. Game 2 they have a lot of very powerful ults and hard engage and you adapt your team to be able to kite back and disengage. Ziggs and Morde were incredible picks and really saved the draft. Game 3 you guys again adapted very well in the later stages of draft. Sylas was absolutely insane. I cannot believe XGL left him up.
Drafts NU G1: https://draftlol.dawe.gg/Ha8LDhps (Nu is Red) G2: https://draftlol.dawe.gg/jpdQwUD2 (Nu is Blue)
I am going to give NU a B for draft in week 2. Game 1 I think your draft is super smart. Your team is playing for picks and disengage and your opponent is playing for AOE all ins. You match everything that the Cats do in round 1, take a safe blind and a great counter picks. When CATS go in you guys have like 4 things to make sure you all live and then the AOE of having people clumped up lets you easily kill them all. You guys have good gank assist in most lanes. I think the Taric ban in round 1 is a mistake unless you guys know you are playing something like the Leona. Game 2 draft you guys are playing more of a teamfight comp this time around. I think the Wukong 1st pick was really good. My only real draft dislike here is the Sylas into Ori. As Sylas you have very few good ults to steal here? I guess Sivir is all the wave clear you really need and can just send sylas to the side lane. Zeri also looks like she has very little threat other than Renekton diving her?
So as far as the lane to watch is either mid or bot just because of ELYB. So for NU who is performing the best and looking to challenge our players at the top of the leaderboards? That would be swbf the ADC for NU who is currently ranked 13th. Both Idrees and swbf have played a different ADC every game this year so they are both highly adaptable in draft. Both of these ADCS are all over the top 10 board in kills per game, gold per minute, gold diff per game, highest CS a minute all the stats you want your ADC gold funnel to have. Both of these teams have played some very standard team comps and I think ADC’s are the lynchpin of the strategy. It does not matter how far a tank is ahead when you get an ADC to 3 items in modern league they can start to melt them.
Degenerates Exiles VS GP Oranges
Prediction 2-0 for Degenerates Exiles
Lane to Watch: Jungle
Degenerates Exiles are coming into this week off a rough 0-2 week vs SIGMA with DeathMasterPwnz2 in jungle instead of Shado and their ADC was in the hospital earlier that day. They got almost shut out in game 1 macro wise and lost before 30 minutes. Game 2 was much closer and they somehow lost the game after taking 5 dragons(so they got elder) to the 0 of Sigma. They play GP’s Oranges who have yet to play their week 2 match so I can only judge them based on their weak 1st series in week 1. And as I mentioned in my previous article GPO got stomped in their 1st series. They have some really bad team stats right now because of it so I hesitate to give them a win in my predictions. As far as the DEGE you guys have the fastest game time by a mile for the teams with an even on winning record so your lower neutral objectives, farm totals and gold is not as bad as it looks. I just think you need to trust your team and play to win and it will be smooth sailing. Having your full roster back together(hopefully) will make a huge difference this week so I am going to be looking at the jungle this week. Shado was phenomenal in week 1 for you.
Dorado Gaming Sigma VS Mystic Cats Black
Prediction 2-0 for Dorado Gaming Sigma
Lane to Watch: Jungle
Looking at the results of the 1st 2 weeks this is going to be by far the most 1 sided matchup of week 1. Sigma are 2-0 in match score and 4-0 in games they have not dropped a game. They have a team wide 4.33 KDA and lead most macro stats. The Mystic Cats are 0-2 in matches and have yet to win an individual game. They have a team KDA of 1.03 and their best stat as a team is 1.8 towers a game(they are 13th at this). If SIGMA does not 2-0 the Mystic Cats they have failed themselves and I will laugh at them. As far as the lane to watch its jungle. Banger is the number 3 player in the league and Sigma are leading the lead in macro plays.
Interviews
Hey I hope everyone is enjoying these. If you have any ideas on questions for me to ask in other interviews chime in. Here is the graph of the multi kills. I am surprised that the vote was this close with how rare pentakills are in league (1 in 150 matches average). I personally thought the Penta was more impressive.
Master McNasty
Name, Role Team you play for. Ex CTRL ULT, Top for Basement Dwellers
Bongo Bong, Mid for Master McNasty
What's your team's record? Are you happy with how the split is going so far? Why do you have your record?
1-1, 2-2 game score. The split is going well. Our first week was a little rough, as our team was new and had limited comp experience, but we came back with an impressive second week.
What inspired you to start playing in these amateur League of Legends leagues tournaments?
We've all been playing together for a while now and just wanted a new challenge. We wanted to come into some amateur leagues and show these big orgs how it's done.
How often does your team practice together, and what does a typical practice session look like?
At least 2 times a week, sometimes up to 5 if we have time. Usually a block of scrims, vod reviews, and maybe some flex queue.