With the group stages of Worlds beginning this week, we sat down two of our writers to chat about what they expected going into the biggest League of Legends championship of the year.
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ROY:
Salutations, summoner!
JOSH:
Hey Roy. So, what do you think of the League meta right now? Also – not just that, but what do you think the meta needs before worlds? It’s in a pretty zany place right now.
ROY:
You mean the League of Legends meta, not the website on which we are writing this, right Joshua?
JOSH:
laughs, slaps knee
ROY:
:kappa:
JOSH:
(yes)
ROY:
Yeah, this patch is weird. The bonus gold from first tower is what I expect everything to revolve around. I can’t remember the last time Riot changed something so huge and across the board this close to Worlds. With that in mind, I think we’re going to see waves cleared and lanes bullied. It’s a pusher’s world now.
JOSH:
Yeah, so during the Summer Split, I think NA League had the one of the most boring metagames I’ve ever seen. I don’t know how you manage to make players like Pobelter and Bjergsen look totally uninteresting, but this patch did it. I’m sorry, but Cassiopeia and Viktor are boring as hell to watch.
ROY:
Got something against snake women?
JOSH:
I have something against snake anything.
ROY:
Maybe I’m bringing this up too early, but it’s hanging over my head like the doom of fucking Damocles: this early laning meta has just completely condemned NA’s chances of pulling anything over on the Korean teams, hasn’t it?
JOSH:
I think that’s a really good point, yeah. Watching the LCK finals, everything seemed so much tighter. Even though the incentives on the map have been tweaked since then, the macro play was just at a different level than anything we saw at the end of the NA split. The skill levels of Korean players have historically been the best in the world –
ROY:
Especially in the laning phase.
JOSH:
Right. As good as Bjerg and Jensen are, I don’t know how well they’re gonna do against a Faker.
ROY:
It doesn’t seem likely, yeah. Which is disappointing for all the TSM and C9 fans. But if you look at it another way, there’s a hell of a narrative arc waiting to happen with SKT. If they can shake the championship curse this year, they’ll be the first team to ever successfully defend their title. That would be a historic moment for professional League of Legends, and all the more impressive after a patch as huge as this.
JOSH:
But at this point, isn’t rooting for SKT kinda similar to rooting for the Yankees or the Red Wings? Personally, I think the current TSM lineup is looking like one of the finest NA teams of all time, so I’m really hoping they can pull something out here at Worlds. We can also never count CLG out of tourneys like this, considering how well they did at MSI. Finally, I’m unbelievably stoked to watch C9 during this tourney. Impact is looking like one of the best top laners in the world right now, and if he starts going off against his former Korean teammates and rivals, I think we could have some really exciting LoL play ahead of us.
ROY:
Enough bandying words! Give me your hottest predictions. I’m talking match upsets, surprise champion picks, how many pieces we can crank out compared to the relentless march of The Meta’s Dota 2 writers.
JOSH:
I think the aggressors will dictate the pace of the Worlds meta. Even though we’ve been seeing a lot of reserved early games with the changes to turrets in the opening minutes, we tend to see a lot of invades and surprise plays as international teams try pulling off shock-and-awe tactics on unsuspecting opponents. Every single Worlds team is going to have to try and control the early game if they want to have success in this tourney, but I’m expecting lots of players to pop off during the early minutes.
ROY:
I predict we’re going to see a lot less Rek’Sai play. She was a hotly contested pick throughout the Summer Split, but seemed to underperform on the field. As far as players go, Clearlove and Peanut is the jungle matchup everyone wants to see this year, but considering that Peanut has taken to counter-jungling like Bruce Lee took to pull-ups, I doubt it’ll be any contest. Peanut will eat him alive.
JOSH:
I hope that for the meta’s sake you’re right – the jungle matchups pre-6.18 were traumatizing and I swear, if I have to watch another Rek’Sai/Gragas matchup I’m gonna flip. Luckily, these handy nerfs should make for a more diverse champion pool in the lead-up to Worlds.
ROY:
Okay, my next prediction is so hot it would bore through the Earth’s crust: I bet that ROX Tigers can’t seal the deal. They may be the most dominant team in the most dominant region in competitive League of Legends, but they’ve had so much success partially because they’re playing a fast game in a slow region. They average 35:30 for typical game time, compared to the regional average of 38:24. The other teams in Korea just can’t choke them out like they’re used to. But that blistering pace is, I predict, going to be less bewildering to foreign teams, and losing that crucial advantage could put them dangerously off-kilter.
JOSH:
I think that’s fair, actually. ROX Tigers are a great team, but anything can happen in Worlds, and it’s dangerous to underestimate the other regions. RNG, as always, is looking monstrous this season, and even G2 and Splyce out of Europe could probably hold their own. That being said, I expect the Korean teams to pretty much all make it out of the group stages relatively unscathed.
ROY:
Now that I’ve destroyed all credibility with my wacky predictions, here’s a few more: Keanu Reeves will reveal himself as the Second Coming of Christ, Harambe will win the presidential election and aliens will make first contact by February of next year. Goodnight everybody!
JOSH:
Good night and good game.
