GamingSportsLoL: League of Legends

TOP LANE THEORY: THE BASICS - LEAGUE OF LEGENDS

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<b><span style="font-size: large;">TOP LANE THEORY: THE BASICS - LEAGUE OF LEGENDS</span></b></div>
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<b>INTRODUCTION TO THE 6.18 TOP LANE BASICS GUIDE</b></div>
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 Welcome back to Houdini’s Cornucopia of Extremely Helpful Guides. On this show we’ll talk about the good old slug-fest everyone knows and loves, toplane. Throughout the meta, top lane has had a grand diversity between roles that can participate in it and do well. Bruisers, Marksmen, Mages, even</div>
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 <b>Teemo</b> has called this lane home every once in a while. In short, this variety of champions means that if you chose to make top your main, you’ve potentially got the widest range of tricks up your sleeve. Or perhaps your sleeves are really wide and can fit many tricks. Or maybe you need to see a tailor, either way, diverse picks. Regardless of what you decide, whether you’re looking to be a stable tank and teamfighter, a split-push monster, or something else altogether, you’ve chosen the right lane. <b>Welcome to Top.</b></div>
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<b>THREE KEY CHARACTERISTICS</b></div>
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Top lane comes down to three major factors. <b>Skirmish ability, lane management, and all-in potential</b>. In the case of skirmishing, we’re referring to the back and forth trading that occurs without death, but serious threat of it. Lane management in general is straightforward, and if you combine the ideal with skirmishing you come across <b>a powerful tactic; zoning.</b> Above all else, worship gold throughout any means, and do not ignore the most trivial of gold source, even every ward you kill counts.<b> A split-pusher with gold splits better. A tank with more gold tanks more.</b> Of course, this means <i>spent</i> gold. The gold does nothing in your inventory, <i>use it</i>. A few waves of minions can be considered equal to a kill in terms of gold, and gold wins games. Remember this wholeheartedly. </div>
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<b>BEFORE YOU START “YOUR ROLE”</b></div>
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Top lane is synonymous to a house, moreso then any other lanes. In this case, the early game is the foundation of the aforementioned house. Naturally, a shifty foundation will lead to devastation. In a straight up 5v5 teamfight, the tank that dies first spells death for his team. The same goes for a split-push related game, if that 1v1 comes down to a 1v0, your base won’t last long. Each member of the team must pull their own weight, each supporting structure must hold up their own portion. Remember that in top lane, ganks are mere<b> band-aids</b>, <b>you <i>still</i> must be able to deal with your opponent in a one on one</b>, whether that be through victory, sponge-strategy, or </div>
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 <b>Shen</b>‘s passive aggressive avoidance tactics that everyone knows and loves. Why is this so important Toplane? It has to do with the inherent isolated nature toplane is always subjected to, where advantages and disadvantages are exemplified. We’re talking everything under the sun, level two power spikes, level six ultimates, completed items, anything and everything used to change the name of the game <i>is</i> fair game. <b>Identifying each and every increase, decrease and especially spikes is paramount in playing top</b>. A </div>
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 <b>Riven</b> with a </div>
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 <b>Doran’s Blade</b> is different than one with </div>
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 <b>Boots</b> and </div>
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 <b>Pots</b>. Leave no bloody stone unturned. Leave no minion un-cs’d. Leave no bush un-facechecked. Actually, scratch that last part, <i>do not</i> check all bushes with one’s face. It is not <i>my </i>place to provide you with all the information. No guide can prepare you for everything, but I’ll damn well try to give you a brief snap-shot of the obstacles in your path. With that out of the way, let’s <i>role</i>. </div>
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<b>EARLY GAME AS TOP LANER</b></div>
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<b>The beginning of top lane starts immediately when the game begins, as do all other roles</b>. Check if your jungler needs a leash, and defend your jungle from potential invades. Tab up and make a note of summoner spells and keystone mastery. God forbid you stand in Fountain <span class="s1">with your thumb up your</span> counting Poros and zoning off. If your team is invading, make a point to join them, but remember to recall before a minute passes or else risk showing to lane late.<br />
Depending on the champion you pick, and the match-up you are in, right off the bat you want to know whether to push and pressure or not. If you’re in a losing match-up across all levels 1-5, secede the lane if the enemy makes a hefty show of force. If you’ve got </div>
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 <b>Corrupting Potion</b>, and the enemy does not, in such a case as <b>Irelia</b> Vs <b>Teemo</b>, you have some room to maneuver. . Remember that while <b>Corrupting Potion</b> increases your <i>effective</i> health, it does not increase <i>maximum</i> health. This means that you must trade, bide your time, trade again, and wait for the time to all-in, if you so choose. While in theory <b>Teemo</b> has the early lane dominance down pat, proper skirmishing can ruin his plans until <b>Irelia</b> gains access to all of her abilities. This matchup is an <b>exaggeration</b>, but all matchups follow a few universal truths, a few listed here. You need to take this type of information into consideration <b><i>before the lane even begins.</i></b> It will help you make the right decision when it counts, queue cliche “knowing is half the battle” quote. </div>
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1. The stronger lane bully <b>CAN</b> control the lane and the flow of the minions. <br />
Whether this be through pushing and forcing missed CS at turret, or freezing and punishing, the stronger lane bully has the right of way. If they choose the wrong direction or make a mistake, the other has a chance to challenge, but often only then. Prime examples of lane bullies are <b>Gnar</b>, <b>Rumble</b>,  <b>Swain</b>,  <b>Darius</b>, and <b>Irelia</b>.</div>
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2. The stronger global presence has more effect on the map.<br />
This need not be explained, see  <b>Shen</b>.</div>
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3. The stronger split-pusher will win the game if both teams are at a stalemate.<br />
This is seen as often in pro-play as it is in SoloQ.  <b>Tryndamere</b>, <b>Fiora</b>, <b>Jax</b> and if given time even </div>
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<b>Nasus</b> can gain an inhibitor for their team and more if given the chance. This is unlikely to happen, but the threat is often enough to force teams into making decisions, good and bad.</div>
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This is the top of the iceberg, but generally the most important subjects to approach at the beginning of the game. Win conditions are <i>where it’s at</i>. If you’re playing </div>
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<b>Maokai</b> top, don’t expect to outright beat a  </div>
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<b>Tryndamere</b> unless he makes a mistake, but if he does, <i>have no mercy. Do that which is the most gold efficient, but also the safest. </i>I won’t go into risk-analysis quite yet, as that’s a guide for another time, but in short, <b><i>know your win conditions.</i></b> Don’t attempt to out-bully in a match-up you know you lose, you’re just asking for trouble.</div>
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<b>MIDDLE GAME AS TOP LANER</b></div>
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The mid-game is full of rotations, ganks, rotations, and even more rotations. Behind a strong meme is an even stronger truth(TM). In this stage of the game it is important to see exactly how much pressure is being exerted throughout the map, whether it be your team or the enemy’s. Beware of<b><i>overflow. </i></b>I’m coining the term right now, this second. <b>Overflow occurs when a person within a team is able to expend less resources for the same effect, and thus frees another member of the team to act elsewhere.</b> The strength of overflow cannot be underestimated. Imagine the following. If the enemy bot-lane has pushed in the bottom turret and destroyed it before your team, it’s likely that lead will be pushed elsewhere. Barring that juicy turret first blood gold all the new-fangled kids are getting into these days, simply destroying that turret changes the lane dynamics. It’s more likely your allies will play more passive, as they have no defensive structures nearby, but who in the world knows what the enemy could do to push their newfound lead. Go kill jungle monsters? Freeze the wave? They <i>could</i> come up to top, but more then likely they’ll rotate mid, creating a 3v1 disadvantage for your ally middle. Your team responds, jungler and support go to middle, as your ADC is still busy clearing waves bottom. Do not be surprised if the enemy jungler suddenly shows up to your lane. If you are, you <i>weren’t paying attention.</i></div>
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The same applies to you, however, overflow can be used advantageously as-well. <b>If you’ve got a lead, don’t hesitate to freeze your lane, remember, top lane is unusually isolated and volatile.</b> That lead you’ve got should be kept, and if you can, extend it. The quickest way to lose a lead is to make the assumption that simply because of your lead, you will win. This makes you an easy mark to bait, and thus gank. If you know you are in the lead, <i>chances are the enemy knows it too. </i>Contain your lead, press it when you know you can, and be cognizant of any and all effects on your lane. Junglers, mid-laners with <b>Teleport</b>, <b>Twisted Fate</b>, <b>Pantheon</b>, </div>
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<b>Nocturne</b>. <i>Out of sight does not mean out of mind. </i>I hope the same applies to the basics presented in this guide.</div>
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<b>LATE GAME AS TOP LANER</b></div>
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<b>Play to your champion’s strengths, and to your enemies’ weaknesses.</b> If you happen to be battling a champion without any crowd control, know that teleport ganks will be easier and more effective. If you can step on <b>Zac</b>‘s blobs, do so. If <b>Vi</b>‘s passive is used up, it’s time to stack on some damage. If </div>
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<b>Swain</b> just finished using his ultimate and is low on mana, <i>use yours</i>. No words describe the constant to and fro of League of Legends as much as Newton’s “Every action has a reaction.” Of course, in this case it is “Every action <b><i>should</i></b> have a reaction.” Whether that be running away because “<i>good lord </i></div>
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<b><i>Wukong</i></b><i> just ulted me again” </i>or going in because that </div>
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<b>Malphite</b> just missed his ultimate, do something. There’s no better way to learn. Besides this guide, of course. If you’ve got a split-push champion like  <b>Fiora</b> or  <b>Jax</b> in your hands, do everything you can to get that <b><i>1v1</i></b>. <b>If you’ve got a lane bully, <i>bully that lane</i>!</b></div>
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<b>If you’re a teamfight champion, understand and remember your role.</b> Does your team need peeling? Does the enemy team have a fed Akali, Diana, or Zed? In this case, if the latter is true, then the former is necessary. Attach that train of though to all your decision making in the late game. Which brings me to </div>
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<b>TANK THEORY IN LEAGUE OF LEGENDS</b></div>
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What you see following is an ideal team-fight. The back-line provides the damage, the carries of both teams are evenly spaced across so as to be able to constantly output damage. <br />
The arrows symbolize directed damage, the blocks people, a simple diagram by any means.<br />
This is an even fight, five red arrows, five blue arrows. </div>
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Now, the most important, <b>who is at fault?</b></div>
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Regardless of how it happened, whether the backline was too slow, or the frontline too fast; the clear victor is the blue team. If your goal is to win, and I believe it is considering you’ve slogged it through this wonderful guide, in the heat of the matter does not matter who’s fault it is, but it must be fixed as soon as possible. There’s a few ways to do this.</div>
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1. The tanks on red team retreat.<br />
This is the most desirable course of action, of course, it is not always possible. Blue team may utilize crowd control to keep Red team’s Frontline immobilized, in that case…<br />
2. The Red team backline advances as soon as possible.<br />
While this might be obvious, red team has been put at a disadvantage. In those vital seconds used to re-position, Red team tanks have likely taken far too much damage to sustain a proper fight.</div>
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TL,DR: As a tank, do not isolate yourself from your source of damage. Now that you’ve got the basics, let’s expand just a tad.</div>
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<b>EXCEPTIONS IN TANK THEORY</b></div>
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Basic tank theory implies that both backlines will be forced to target the respective frontlines. If, for example, an enemy champion has a gap closing ability which allows them to pass by the frontline to target the backline, say, </div>
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 <b>Leblanc</b>, it’s a tank’s job to run interference. If you, as a frontline, cannot kill and may be killed or kited by the enemy backline, you cannot engage. If you choose to do so, you run a high risk of encountering situation two, the <b>Isolated Frontline</b>. Choose to peel your own backline, or at least be ready to. A tank that overextends will receive no damage from his backline, and thus ultimately lose.</div>
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Remember, the entire goal of a teamfight is to <b><i>win</i></b>. As in, destroy the enemy nexus. Tanks are re-known for having low sources of damage, but Marksmen and Mages can shred through turrets like it’s their job; because it literally is. It’s sad to say, but an ideal teamfight for a tank is one in which he’s limping away from the battlefield, bleeding profusely, only to recall and join the fight once more.</div>
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<b>CONCLUSION</b></div>
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Top lane is a volatile trench war with no holds barred and where everything’s fair. No “cheap” tactic is overlooked, and there’s little to no jurisdiction beside the claims of the victor. I hope that this guide has given you a quick peek at what it takes to master the rudimentary elements of top lane, and fear not, there is more to come. Join me next time on a comprehensive in-depth guide to the elusive meta of the top lane. Hold on folks, it’s on the way.<br />
Welcome back to the <i>Cornucopia of Extremely Helpful Guides,</i></div>
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TOP LANE THEORY: THE BASICS - LEAGUE OF LEGENDS

TOP LANE THEORY: THE BASICS - LEAGUE OF LEGENDS INTRODUCTION TO THE 6.18 TOP LANE BASICS GUIDE Welcome back to Houdini’s Cornucopia of Extremely Helpful Guides. On this show we’ll talk about the goo…

05 Nov 2016

LEAGUE OF LEGENDS MID LANE GUIDE: HOW TO BOOST YOUR RANKED POSITION

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<b><span style="font-size: large;">LEAGUE OF LEGENDS MID LANE GUIDE: HOW TO BOOST YOUR RANKED POSITION</span></b></div>
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Mid lane is one of the lanes that’s very popular among the players. Everyone knows that from the middle lane you can roam to anywhere on the map and help your team to win the game, but the lane is so popular that most people don’t even know why they want to play it.</div>
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This article will cover what the mid laner <b>must do to improve his position in ranked solo queue</b>, what champions are the best in the meta right now, how to play them, etc.</div>
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<b>MID LANING PHASE BASICS IN LEAGUE OF LEGENDS</b></div>
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Since the mid lane is relatively close to everything in the game, some of the <b>mid lane champions can roam from as early as level 6</b>. This is a very important fact because making plays around the map contributes to increasing your team’s advantage and maybe will be enough to carry you and your team mates through the early and mid game by making your enemies have to play more reactively and thus not be able to make any plays happen. To be able to roam safely, however, you have to use wards so that you know where your enemies are. If you are playing an assassin, wards can be also used offensively as you see your opponents and can take a shot at their well being while knowing that they have no immediate back up from their mates.</div>
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<b>WHEN YOU SHOULD PUSH A LANE AS MID LANER?</b></div>
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Knowing when to push or when to let your minions be pushed is also important to mid laners. Pushing means that your enemy cannot help their jungler without losing minions when your jungler, top laner or bottom lane duo invades the enemy jungle to ward, get a buff or kill some enemies while you can go without losing anything. Another use for a pushed wave is when your jungler gives you a buff. By pushing the wave you won’t lose minions while killing the buff-wielding neutral monster. Pushing also allows you to put up wards, possibly where enemies don’t know since the opponent won’t be able to keep vision on you for the whole time that you are missing.</div>
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<b>WHEN YOU SHOULD LET ENEMY PUSH A LANE AS MID LANER?</b></div>
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Letting the enemy push the wave is important when you are behind so that you can receive help from your team, but be careful when you let the enemy push you in because they might want to dive you with the help of their team. In case the enemy leaves the lane after pushing the wave you should tell your team mates that they are missing so that they know what to expect. This is possible only if the enemy’s health is bigger than 75% since no one would pull off a gank with less health than that because of the possibility that they get counter ganked by the opposing jungler and they end up dying. Even if you are being constantly pushed in, you should still ward, but not in the same positions. When you are pushing the wave you should place offensive wards, in the enemy jungle, while when you are pushed you should place defensive wards in your own jungle. Neutral wards, the ones on river, are also important. Usually, those will be pink wards and in the bush between the mid lane and the dragon.</div>
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<b>HOW TO ROAM AS MID LANER?</b></div>
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When you roam you should be careful of your positioning because it differs in each scenario. If you group with your team to contest an objective than you should assume a defensive position if you are a mage, while if you are playing an assassin you should try to either flank your enemies, which can be very dangerous early in the game if you do not have the necessary wards, or you can be close to the frontline, enough to be able to engage the fight at the right time, but not enough for your enemies to be able to initiate the fight by landing crowd control on your champion. If you are roaming for a kill, then you should be in an offensive position at all times since you are the factor that decides the fight and you have to make your presence felt immediately for the gank to be successful.</div>
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Generally, everything that you do on the mid lane has consequences, so you have to be careful at all times and try to make the right choices.</div>
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<b>MID LANE CHAMPIONS DURING LANE PHASE</b></div>
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Usually, the mid lane champions are either mages or assassins, but there can also be marksmen such as <b>Ezreal</b> and <b>Varus</b>.</div>
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At the moment, the meta revolves around poke and strong crowd control, this shows very much in the mid lane champion pool, the most played champions being <b>Ahri</b>, <b>Viktor</b>, <b>Twisted Fate</b> and <b>Orianna</b>. Even though all of them have a potential for burst, only one of them is an assassin. All of them have things that make them great all around. <b>Ahri</b>, as the assassin, has great mobility and good, frequent burst damage, single target crowd control and decent wave clear, while the mages all have great wave clear, decent burst ( the damage is good, but the number of times they can use it in a game is certainly lower than what an assassin can pull off), area of effect crowd control that’s on a rather short cool down and they have the ability to turn a fight depending on how they use their kits. Even if these are the most popular champions in the meta, this doesn’t mean that in solo queue people won’t pick something to counter your pick, so you have to be careful and think about all the possibilities before picking your champion. Playing against a champion that counters your pick is often very hard because you will have to play more defensively so that you don’t die and give them a lot of advantage.</div>
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<b>HOW TO PLAY AHRI: OVERVIEW</b></div>
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Usually, champions with a lot of crowd control can beat <b>Ahri</b> even with her good mobility, but these aren’t the only ones that can achieve this feat. Champions with fast burst such as <b>Talon</b> are also good against her because she might not be fast enough or it might not be enough to stop the assassin.<b>Ahri</b> is great versus champions with poor early game such as <b>Azir</b>, <b>Viktor</b>, <b>Orianna</b> and <b>Cassiopeia</b>because once she charms them, they will get chunked for at least half health and they’ll have to play defensively until they get their health back so that they cannot be killed without having to spend a lot of resources on them.</div>
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<b>HOW TO PLAY VIKTOR: OVERVIEW</b></div>
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<b>Viktor</b> is used very much because of the fact that he doesn’t have very many matchups where he straight up loses because of the versatility of his kit. Melee assassins whose damage ramps up over time susch as <b>Zed</b> cannot kill him because of <b>Gravity Field</b>’s stun and <b>Siphon Power</b>’s shield, while poke champions sometimes get out-traded by the immense damage on <b>Death Ray</b>. Keep in mind that if you upgrade <b>Death Ray</b> by purchasing a <b>Hex Core</b> upgrade, it will deal double damage, not instantly, but it is still a lot of damage. The matchups that <b>Viktor</b> loses are against ranged, mobile assassins such as <b>Ahri</b> and poke champions with a very long range such as <b>Kog’Maw</b>. Even if he beats some melee assassins, this doesn’t mean he beats all of them, having a very hard time against <b>Talon</b>and <b>Diana</b>. <b>Viktor</b> is great versus champions with an early game that’s poorer than his such as <b>Azir</b>, but he is also capable of beating <b>Cassiopeia</b> by outranging her, the same can be said about his matchup against <b>Orianna</b>. When against <b>Twisted Fate</b>, the difference between them isn’t felt early game because both of them have a very long range, so they can avoid skirmishes, but during team fights <b>Viktor</b> destroys <b>Twisted Fate</b> because if he focuses all his damage on a single target he can deal as much or even more than an assassin.</div>
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<b>HOW TO PLAY TWISTED FATE: OVERVIEW</b></div>
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<b>Twisted Fate</b> has a very hard time laning against assassins because of the fact that he’s very squishy. He has to avoid fights at all costs because he loses all of them unless the enemy misses their skills. Besides assassins there aren’t any champions that can beat <b>Twisted Fate</b> in the laning phase because of his enormous range that allows him to farm safely until laning phase is over. He does well against champions who farm very ineffectively under tower such as <b>Azir</b> and against champions whose range is lower than his such as <b>Orianna</b> and <b>Cassiopeia</b>. During the laning phase it’s the perfect time for <b>Twisted Fate</b> to use <b>Destiny</b> to help out his team mates or extend the lead they have.</div>
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<b>HOW TO PLAY ORIANNA: OVERVIEW</b></div>
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<b>Orianna</b> is a champion that’s always been played in solo queue and competitively because she’s the jack of all trades being able to do everything she has to do to win the game. The matchups she’s countered in are against assassins, champions with long range and mobile champions in general. If her enemies are mobile then she isn’t able to use her ultimate reliably since they might dodge it and so she loses a big part of her damage. <b>Orianna</b> is winning matchups where her enemies are having a range lower than her and aren’t mobile. By having a lower range than she does, they are going to get poked the whole time they are trying to farm and thus she’ll have the health advantage while also being able to zone her enemy, thus achieving an experience lead as well as gold lead.</div>
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<b>MID AND LATE PHASES OF THE GAME FOR MID LANE CHAMPIONS</b></div>
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Now that you know what champions to pick and how their matchups go, it’s time to talk about what they can do after the laning phase is over.</div>
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The mid game and late game are the moments where most mid lane champions shine because all of them have great scaling and are very useful to their teams.</div>
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<b>Ahri</b> is a champion that thrives on the moment an enemy champion is careless so that she can assassinate them and continue split pushing or forcing a team fight where the enemy team is at disadvantage. The best position Ahri can be in is a flanking position because this way she’ll be able to land her spells on priority targets without being interrupted by enemies.</div>
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<b>Viktor</b> and <b>Orianna</b> are both champions that do best during team fights because of their area of effect abilities and utility that they bring on the table. <b>Viktor</b>’s <b>Death Ray</b> and <b>Chaos Storm</b> as well as<b>Orianna</b>’s <b>Command: Dissonance</b> and <b>Command: Shockwave</b> should be used to hit as many enemies as possible while <b>Viktor</b>’s <b>Siphon Power</b> is used to deal a lot of damage to a single, important target and <b>Orianna</b>’s <b>Command: Attack</b> is used to position the ball while also dealing damage. <b>Gravity Field</b>,<b>Command: Dissonance</b>, <b>Command: Shockwave</b> and <b>Command: Protect</b> bring in a lot of utility. The upgraded <b>Gravity Field</b> works almost as <b>Command: Shockwave</b> does because it pulls in enemies. Orianna’s abilities give movement speed, slow, knock back and a shield that gets rather big with a lot of Ability Power.</div>
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<b>Twisted Fate</b> is best used as a second split pusher while the jungler, marksman and support push the middle lane. Having two split pushers against a team that has only one is great because if they send someone to deal with the minion wave that you push to the turret, they will be at a disadvantage on another lane so your team will take advantage of that and take objectives such as towers, vision or neutral monsters. When team fights happen you have to make sure that your <b>Destiny</b> is used well since if you position it wrong you will die instantly and will not do anything good for your team during that fight. If <b>Destiny</b> is well positioned then you will be able to dish out a lot of damage and crowd control. It’s better to use red card when there’s no enemy chasing you so that you can damage more enemies at once and also slow them, but if a priority target is near you or if you are being chased by an enemy assassin or fighter then you should use gold card to stop them while dealing a considerable amount of damage. During the late game <b>Twisted Fate</b> has enough damage to burst marksmen with no magic resistance, but that depends on if <b>Stacked Deck</b> is charged and ready to land because it deals a lot of damage, <b>155 + 0.5*AP</b> which in combination with P<b>ick a Card</b>’s gold card deals <b>45 + AD + 0.5*AP</b>. This is around <b>300 damage without any Ability Power</b>. In combination with <b>Lich Bane</b> and the rest of <b>Ability Power</b> that you have, it can easily deal <b>over 1000 damage</b>.</div>
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<b>RUNES AND MASTERIES FOR MID LANE CHAMPIONS</b></div>
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These champions use similar runes and masteries because they are all using Ability Power and all of them deal magical damage, but some have differences that help them do well.</div>
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The differences are only visible because of the runes they use, because the masteries are pretty much the same for all of them. They all use <b>21/0/9</b> masteries taking <b>Sorcery</b>, <b>Butcher</b>, <b>Feast</b>, <b>Mental Force</b>, <b>Arcane Mastery</b>, <b>Executioner</b>, <b>Archmage</b>, <b>Dangerous Game</b>, <b>Devastating Strikes</b> and <b>Havoc</b> in the <b>Offense tree</b> and<b> Phasewalker</b>, <b>Expanded Mind</b>, <b>Summoner’s Insight</b>, <b>Alchemist</b> and <b>Culinary Master</b> in the Utility tree.</div>
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<b>Ahri</b>, <b>Orianna</b> and <b>Viktor</b> use <b>Greater Marks of Magic Penetration</b>, <b>Greater Seals of Scaling Health</b>,<b>Greater Glyphs of Scaling Cooldown</b> reduction and <b>Greater Quintessences of Ability Power</b>. These runes help them be durable while increasing their instant damage and decreasing the cool down of their spells. Having decreased spell cool downs help them chunk their enemies more frequently or even burst them. Dealing damage isn’t the only thing that cool down reduction runes help since they also allow them to use their utility abilities more frequently. Using those abilities as frequently as possible is very good for them and their teams because these abilities can turn fights in the allied team’s advantage.</div>
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<b>Twisted Fate</b> has two possible rune pages that he can choose from depending on what play style the player adopts that game. If the player sits on lane more, they can choose the same runes that <b>Ahri</b>,<b>Orianna</b> and <b>Viktor</b> use, else they can swap the <b>Glyphs to Greater Glyphs of Scaling Ability Power</b>and the <b>Quintessences to Greater Quintessences of Movement Speed</b>. These runes will allow<b>Twisted Fate</b> to roam better since the extra movement speed will get him in range of using <b>Destiny</b>to get to the perfect spot.</div>
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<b>ITEM BUILDS FOR MID LANE CHAMPIONS</b></div>
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Let’s discuss item builds for most popular mid lane champions in current meta which you should use to <b>boost your ranked position</b>.</div>
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<b>ITEM BUILD FOR AHRI</b></div>
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<b>Ahri</b> is a champion that tends to build as much damage as possible, often going for </div>
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<b><i> </i>Luden’s Echo</b>or </div>
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<b><i> </i>Abyssal Scepter</b> as first items because of the extra damage they provide, but if the lane isn’t going too well she can opt for </div>
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<b><i> </i>Morellonomicon</b> or </div>
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<b><i> </i>Athene’s Unholy Grail</b> as first item. The optimal build for <b>Ahri</b> is </div>
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<b><i> </i>Luden’s Echo</b>, </div>
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<b><i> </i>Sorcerer Shoes</b>, </div>
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<b><i> </i>Rabadon’s Deathcap</b>, </div>
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<b><i> </i>Void Staff</b>, </div>
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<b><i> </i>Zhonya’s Hourglass</b> and </div>
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<b><i> </i>Rylai’s Crystal Scepter</b> because these items provide the most Ability Power possible, thus letting <b>Ahri</b> reach the most damage she can deal. Something very important for<b>Ahri</b> is switching the <b>Warding Totem</b> to a <b>Sweeping Lens</b> as soon as possible because there’s no point waiting to assassinate someone if they aleady see you.</div>
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<b>ITEM BUILD FOR VIKTOR</b></div>
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<b>Viktor</b> is a champion who can skip the mana regen item if the player wants more damage because of the mana bonus from <b>Hex Core</b>. <b>Viktor</b> is rather strong because he can build any item made from<b>Needlessly Large Rod</b> as the first item if he needs to. </div>
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<b><i> </i>Luden’s Echo</b> is good for when you win lane, </div>
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 <b>Rabaddon</b> for an equal lane, </div>
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<b><i> </i>Zhonya</b> when against an assassin and </div>
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<b><i> </i>Rylai</b> when against a champion whose damage can be avoided. If the damage cannot be avoided and you are against a magical damage based champion then </div>
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<b><i> </i>Abyssal Scepter</b> is good even if it’s not made from<b>Needlessly Large Rod</b>. The best build damage wise for <b>Viktor</b> is <b>Perfect Hex Core</b>, </div>
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<b><i> </i>Luden’s Echo</b>, </div>
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<b><i> </i>Sorcerer Shoes</b>, </div>
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<b><i> </i>Rabadon’s Deathcap</b>, </div>
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<b><i> </i>Void Staff</b> and </div>
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<b><i> </i>Lich Bane</b>, </div>
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<b><i> </i>Rylai’s Crystal Scepter</b> or </div>
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<b><i> </i>Zhonya’s Hourglass</b>, depending on how the game is going. Lich Bane is the item that increases your damage the most because of the unique passive that works great with <b>Siphon Power</b>.</div>
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<b>ITEM BUILD FOR ORIANNA</b></div>
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<b>Orianna</b> has to build a mana regeneration item as the first one because she has no innate regeneration and the low cooldowns she has allows her to use spells very frequently, thus losing mana all the time. Right after the mana regen item she has to build </div>
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<b><i> </i>Rabadon’s Deathcap</b> or </div>
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<b><i> </i>Luden’s Echo</b> to increase her damage. A good item build for her is </div>
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<b><i> </i>Morellonomicon</b>, </div>
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<b><i> </i>Sorcerer Shoes</b>, </div>
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<b><i> </i>Rabadon’s Deathcap</b>, </div>
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<b><i> </i>Void Staff</b>, </div>
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<b><i> </i>Zhonya’s Hourglass</b> and </div>
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<b><i> </i>Rylai’s Crystal Scepter</b> or </div>
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<b><i> </i>Luden’s Echo</b>, depending on if she needs more defensive statistics or not.</div>
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<b>ITEM BUILD FOR TWISTED FATE</b></div>
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<b>Twisted Fate</b> loves having a lot of movement speed to work with when trying to gank or when moving around the map from the lane he is split pushing to his team. Because of this, </div>
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<b><i> </i>Lich Bane</b>and </div>
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<b><i> </i>Luden’s Echo</b> are the core of his build. You can buy only one of them or you can buy both if you need more damage later in the game, both choices are good. </div>
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<b><i> </i>Ionian Boots of Lucidity</b> are the correct <b>Boots of Speed</b> upgrade for <b>Twisted Fate</b> as he uses cool down reduction very well in clearing waves and reducing the cool down of <b>Destiny</b> so that he’s able to return to split pushing as early as possible. A good build for <b>Twisted Fate</b> is </div>
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<b><i> </i>Lich Bane</b>, </div>
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<b><i> </i>Ionian Boots of Lucidity</b>, </div>
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<b><i> </i>Rabadon’s Deathcap</b>, </div>
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<b><i> </i>Void Staff</b>, </div>
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<b><i> </i>Zhonya’s Hourglass</b> and </div>
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<b><i> </i>Luden’s Echo</b>. In case you need more defensive items you can swap </div>
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<b><i> </i>Luden’s Echo</b> for </div>
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<b><i> </i>Rylai’s Crystal Scepter</b> or </div>
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<b><i> </i>Abyssal Scepter</b>. As <b>Twisted Fate</b> it’s important to use <b>Greater Stealth Totem</b> as trinket because you need to have vision of your enemies since they’ll be able to kill you pretty easily if you get caught out of position and this will put your team at disadvantage while the enemy team will be able to capitalize on your mistake and take objectives or start a fight which they will win because a big part of your team’s damage is down and will not be able to join the fight.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJk-nHwLGcXumJouhL3BVceQOjhvOMRwIuVC6p9-WVi5LkL9Rgy11MnINbFBdb9shcPK1qhmJyw9mVc_YFkWP2cQxpJ8OTXGsdoXEiYknBJpmgET5tG0-gkUS0so4iitEMKEnuRUjmjoc/s1600/aaa.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJk-nHwLGcXumJouhL3BVceQOjhvOMRwIuVC6p9-WVi5LkL9Rgy11MnINbFBdb9shcPK1qhmJyw9mVc_YFkWP2cQxpJ8OTXGsdoXEiYknBJpmgET5tG0-gkUS0so4iitEMKEnuRUjmjoc/s1600/aaa.jpg" /></a></div>

LEAGUE OF LEGENDS MID LANE GUIDE: HOW TO BOOST YOUR RANKED POSITION

LEAGUE OF LEGENDS MID LANE GUIDE: HOW TO BOOST YOUR RANKED POSITION Mid lane is one of the lanes that’s very popular among the players. Everyone knows that from the middle lane you can roam to anywhe…

04 Nov 2016

Rotating game mode queue now live! - League Of Legends

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From the original clone-tastic One For All to the frenetic manatee magic of Ultra Rapid Fire, featured game modes provide unique spins on the classic League formula. It’s time to kick off the next game mode in the rotation: Legend of the Poro King is now live! </div>
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As a refresher on the mode, let’s go over the basics:</div>
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<li class="li1">When you jump into a match, you’ll be joined by two poro pals in your quest to call forth and aid the majestic Poro King</li>
<li class="li1">The Poro King is a mega-classy super minion that heals your team, regenerates mana, and deals AoE damage while handing out royal beatdowns to enemy towers</li>
<li class="li1">The King will serve as a sieging dynamo for you until he is killed by the enemy team in a regicide most foul</li>
<li class="li1">Activate Poro Toss once to toss your teeny poro pal across the map, if the lil fella hits a target, you can reactivate Poro Toss to Poro Dash, which will send you soaring towards an unlucky enemy</li>
<li class="li1">Land 10 Poro Tosses as a team and the Poro King himself will plop down to begin his royal wreckery</li>
<li class="li1">Once you or your team has summoned the Poro King, activate To The King! To transform into one of the king’s loyal (fluffy) subjects and fly to his side</li>
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Don’t forget you can ping the King to coordinate sieges with him or assaults on his royal person. Just as in any rotating queue game mode, we’ve specially tuned Champion Mastery so you can earn points in the mode. You’ll also be able to earn keys for your wins and loot chests for your (or your premade’s) S-, S, and S+ games.</div>
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Legend of the Poro King is now available and lasts through the evening on <b>Monday (we’ll shut it down very early Tuesday morning--usually between 1:00 AM and 3:00 AM)</b>.</div>
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We’ll be trying out different things with the rotating game mode queue over the next few months, changing the mode cadence or what modes are available. We’re looking for your feedback as we go, so let us know. GLHF, and we’ll see you on the snowy battlefield of Legend of the Poro King!</div>
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<span style="background-color: black; font-family: 'Gill Sans W04', GillSans, 'Gill Sans', 'Gill Sans MT', Calibri, 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;"><br /></span>

Rotating game mode queue now live! - League Of Legends

From the original clone-tastic One For All to the frenetic manatee magic of Ultra Rapid Fire, featured game modes provide unique spins on the classic League formula. It’s time to kick off the next ga…

04 Nov 2016

Riot Casters Working Under Unfair Conditions

Riot Casters Working Under Unfair Conditions

Today, OGN caster, Christopher “MonteCristo” Mykles, released another YouTube video in the series titled “Monte’s Musings”. This latest entry into the series, “Riot’s Caster Cage”, shed some light on…

04 Nov 2016

Esports' Michael Jordan: the global Faker phenomenon

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<li><span style="line-height: 1.6;">League of Legends' Lee Sang-hyeok, known as "Faker," is one of the greatest athletes in sports today.</span></li>
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If you want to be a stickler over competitive video games versus traditional sports and debate over the word "athlete," fine. Faker, 20, from South Korea, is one of the best competitors in the world today. Really, if we want to make it even more simple: Lee "Faker" Sang-hyeok is one of the best people at his job in the world today.</div>
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However you want to categorize Faker in the world of sports, he's special. Generational talents, regardless of what competition you talk about, don't come by very often. In the world of video games, the South Korean phenom with such nicknames as "God" and "The Unkillable Demon King" might be the greatest of all time.</div>
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Last Friday night, inside Madison Square Garden in New York City, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2MwEX4eMFA4">Faker</a> delivered another of his iconic performances in front of a sold-out crowd of thousands. It was the semifinal of the <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2MwEX4eMFA4">2016 League of Legends World Championship</a>, and Faker, the defending champion with his team SK Telecom T1, faced off with their greatest rival for the past two years, fellow South Korean club ROX Tigers, who came in second place last year behind SKT.</div>
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The series was ripped out of every Hollywood sports movie you've ever watched. Stoic, bulletproof Faker was the villain. The ROX Tigers were the lovable group of misfits who had overcome adversity the past two years to reach the top. The team's star player, Song "Smeb" Kyung-ho, came into the World Championship as the competitor chosen to usurp Faker as the best in the world. In the domestic league of South Korea, SKT had failed to pull off an unprecedented four-peat due to a loss in a semifinals; instead, the Tigers won their first major championship by beating SKT's semifinals opponent.</div>
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"<i style="box-sizing: border-box;">In the world of video games, the South Korean phenom with such nicknames as 'God' and 'The Unkillable Demon King' might be the greatest of all time.</i>"</blockquote>
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Friday's World Championship semifinal had higher stakes for the Tigers. They had failed time and time again for two straight years to defeat SKT T1 in a major playoff match, and this could have been their final chance to take them out with this particular roster. ROX threw everything and the kitchen sink at the defending world champion, even deploying trick strategies that could be equated to a "Statue of Liberty" play in American football or the "Flying V" formation in "The Mighty Ducks." Although the Tigers pushed Faker to the brink using these crowd-pleasing strategies, even up 2-1 in a best-of-five series, they weren't capable of putting him away.</div>
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SKT T1 rebounded, inserting veteran member, two-time world champion and Faker's right-hand man, Bae "Bengi" Seong-woong, into the lineup for the final two games. Although the crowd backed the Tigers, urging on the underdog to dethrone its personal white whale -- chants of <i style="box-sizing: border-box;">"LET'S GO TI-GERS!"</i> with rhythmic thunderous clapping raining down from the rafters to the ground floor -- it wasn't enough. Faker and SK Telecom T1 won, and the Tigers sat at their desks, hands in faces, wondering how, after all the planning, after all the tireless work and after throwing everything they had at their enemy, how they didn't couldn't defeat him. The core of the Tigers stayed intact during last year's offseason while receiving bigger offers from foreign clubs. Why did they stay together? They were best friends, more family than teammates, and they wanted to overcome SKT T1 once and for all.</div>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #48494a; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.6;">In his signature red jacket, Faker faced the press after the matchup, calling it one of the most difficult series he had ever played in. "I'm not really affected by long series, but I did get a little hungry after Game 4, so I had a chocolate bar and was all good," he admitted with a grin, his every word being scribbled down by the worldwide media covering the event. Every simple quote or throwaway line is magnified when coming from "God" himself.</span><br />
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The difference between the Tigers and Faker is that while the Tigers, one of the best teams to ever play professionally in League of Legends, dreamed of victory, living for the moment they could win it all, Faker doesn't dream.</div>
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He either believes he is not good enough to win, or he will win. And more often than not, including this year's World Championships, he not only believes he can win it all -- he knows, without an inkling of doubt, he'll win.</div>
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To understand the legend behind the name, you have to look to the past.</div>
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The first spark of greatness</h3>
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It's the spring of 2013. Faker's stardom is more of a hope than a reality. Faker is a highly touted prospect signed by <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yj2iyLZ7yY0">SK Telecom T1</a>, Korea's most respected esports organization, and makes his debut in the country's premier tournament League Champions Korea.</div>
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In his first professional game, Faker plays against South Korea's best mid laner in Kang "Ambition" Chan-yong of CJ Entus Blaze, one of the tournament's favorites. In the 7th minute, Faker secured his first kill as a pro, pouncing on Ambition with the champion Nidalee to solo-kill the South Korean All-Star. SKT T1 would go on to win the game thanks to Faker's immaculate 6/0/7 kills/deaths/assists debut.</div>
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"I had a lot of preparation with Nidalee before the game, so I chose her," Faker said afterward. "At the moment of the solo kill, I felt like Ambition had made a mistake, and that's when I went in and got the kill. After that, I just kept on throwing spears and the game was over."</div>
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Ambition and Faker will once again meet more than three years after that fateful solo kill in the middle in the 2016 Summoner's Cup Finals. Since the mistake that was seen as a passing-of-the-torch moment between the world's best mid laner at the time and Faker, the one to take the crown, Ambition has changed everything but his ID. He's a grizzled veteran now on the youthful Samsung Galaxy roster that has a 17-year-old rookie starter in the form of Park "Ruler" Jae-hyuk. He's also changed positions from mid lane to the jungle, meaning that in the final it will be Ambition's job to protect his mid laner, Lee "Crown" Min-ho, from meeting the same fate he did in 2013 against Faker.</div>
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Like the Tigers, this could be Ambition's best (and last) chance of getting revenge on Faker and winning a world championship.</div>
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For Faker, also like with the Tigers, he doesn't mind being the bad guy. He's going for the jugular, and a third world title.</div>
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Faker turns international superstar</h3>
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Back to 2013. A few months after his debut as a professional, Faker is in his first major finals. He's made the final of the summer season of Champions against the feared KT Bullets roster that played the perfect all-for-one team style. It's a clash between Faker and SKT's individual raw brilliance versus the Bullets and their tenacious objective-focused play that ground teams to the bone.</div>
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After falling down 0-2 in the series, SKT T1 made a spirited comeback and tied up the series with one game remaining. In the last game, per South Korea's rules at the time, both teams were able to blind-draft whichever five champions they wanted in their composition with no pick or ban phase. Faker and KTB's mid laner Yoo "Ryu" Sang-ook both pick the assassin Zed in the middle lane.</div>
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At the end of the match, Faker's Zed pulls off the greatest individual outplay in League of Legends history against Ryu, capping off his first championship victory and launching him into superstardom across the globe following the clip going viral online.</div>
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<span style="color: #1d1e1f; font-family: BentonSans, -apple-system, Roboto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 24px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 28px;">"</span><i style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #1d1e1f; font-family: BentonSans, -apple-system, Roboto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 24px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 28px;">After the final, I found out the clip went viral and I got really famous from it, so I was really happy. But I thought it was a bit of luck, as well.</i><span style="color: #1d1e1f; font-family: BentonSans, -apple-system, Roboto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 24px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 28px;">"</span></div>
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Faker becomes two-time world champion</h3>
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In the fall of 2013, Faker wins his first World Championship Summoner's Cup on SKT T1 at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. A month after the clip that went viral to make him a superstar, Faker journeyed abroad for the first time to make himself known in the Western market. SKT T1 went 15-3 throughout the competition en route to the title, and it swept the final against China's Royal Club in one of the most lopsided major finals in League history.</div>
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What was that first World Championship final like for him? "Honestly I can't really remember because we had a pretty easy win. The only thing I remember is the stage [at Staples Center]. The crowd was cheering really loud, that's it. [To compare] I still remember how I felt when I won the summer split [against KTB], though."</div>
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Two years later in Germany, Faker wins his second world title with SKT T1. This time, SKT defeats fellow South Koreans the ROX Tigers in the final. SKT T1 ends up with a record of 15-1 for the entire campaign, and its only loss is the third set of the series against the Tigers.</div>
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"I don't particularly remember the champions I picked," he said. "The only memory I have about that moment was that me and my teammates did great."</div>
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Esports' Michael Jordan: the global Faker phenomenon

League of Legends' Lee Sang-hyeok, known as "Faker," is one of the greatest athletes in sports today. If you want to be a stickler over competitive video games versus traditional sports and debate ov…

03 Nov 2016

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