On Matchday 3 of LCK Week 1, T1s beat Nongshim RedForce 2-0. As the game looked to be heading for a third set, Faker’s side finally managed to come back in Game 2, securing their first win of the season. The mid laner was then interviewed by our colleagues from Inven Globalreturning to this meeting more difficult than one might have thought. He also delivered his analysis of the current meta, which if it turns out to be correct (99% chance that this is the case), announces a Summer Split which will be very pleasant to watch.
A meta placed under the sign of the fight
According to the T1 midlaner, this meta would be very different from those known in recent years. While previous seasons heavily featured the macro, and many of the top teams played around it, the new meta would focus more on skirmishes and teamfights. For Faker, it is much easier to read and analyze, but will remain complex to master perfectly. He believes that the meta closest to the current one dates back to the 2015/2016 seasons (two seasons in which the world championships were won by T1, we say that, we say nothing).
According to his analysis, although teamfights were important in the pre 12.10 meta, many games could decide on advantages taken thanks to the macro. The fact that skirmishes are also a good way to snowball, is quite important, as it will prevent draft teams only teamfight compositions, and locking the game for too long while waiting for the second carry item. Although the games are currently a little slower than in the Spring Split, they come to life very quickly, and even between the respawn of neutral objectives, the teams will seek to catch the opposing player who has advanced too far to farm a wave of minions or place a ward. Exceptions may exist, like this LCK game with a firstblood at 34 minutes, but overall the show should be there.
The popular champions
Although Faker mentions the possibility of seeing Master Yi mid again (we are mixed at the idea of thanking him for this declaration, because players will surely want to try him in soloQ…), we must especially note the return of characters very oriented on team fights. On the mid lane Azir and Orianna are relatively popular in all regions, without being too dominant because earlier/mid champions can hinder them. The same thing is observable in the bot, with more late game/teamfight champions (Kalista / Kai’Sa), but also lane bullies (Draven / Ezreal). It should be noted that although he has a winrate well below 50% in all regions, Lucian also has 100% presence in LCK, LPL and LEC (including a lot of bans).
Things are also a bit different in toplane, with some tanks (Ornn/Sejuani) returning while the bruiser/splitpusher alternatives are viable. The latter are even more popular than tanks at the moment. As usual, the jungle and support are more there to adapt depending on the team composition, although Wukong, Viego and Taliyah are highly contested for the jungle. On the support side, variety is also present, with Renata, Senna and Nautilus being the most drafted champions by professional teams.
esport-lol
At 29, Kiss “Vizicsacsi” Tamás is back. The Hungarian toplaner is back in Europe’s League of Legends elite after a long hiatus and several right-left adventures. Observed recently in LFL, he enjoyed the experience but the LEC, it’s still something.