Dardoch vs Meteos – OpTic’s Jungle Jam
By Michael Salt
What do you do when you sign one of the most highly sought after junglers in the NA LCS? Sign another one, Dardoch, and have them battle it out for a starting spot on the roster, of course! How will this gamble work out for OpTic in 2019?
With Jensen moving to TL, Huni to Clutch and Smoothie to TSM, this preseason has been a roller coaster. However, the lunacy we’ve seen pales in comparison to OpTic signing two of the best junglers in North America and holding them both as potential starters in the 2019 Spring Split.
We all the remember the drama that came about with Meteos’ trade from 100 Thieves to Flyquest and how vocal he was about being resigned to playing in NA Academy when he’s clearly an LCS caliber player. When Rush replaced Dardoch as a starter on Echo Fox, the controversy surrounding his contract in addition to being a free agent pushed Dardoch to seek a new home.
More from LCS
- EMENES retires following leave from Cloud9, cites military service
- EMENES Donezo Manifesto: Former Cloud9 Midlaner airs out grievances
- C9 Jojopyun: LCS superstar to Cloud9 after “a huge series of events”
- EG Sheiden reportedly staying on Evil Geniuses as starting jungler
- 2023 LCS Summer Split Awards – LCS All-Pro Team
Who is the best choice for OpTic? Or should they even go for 1 jungler over the other one swapping junglers in and out similarly to Cloud 9’s roster did at 2018’s World Championship.
William “Meteos” Hartman
- Winrate: 68%
- Kills: 24
- Deaths: 30
- Assists: 122
- K/D/A Ration: 4.9
- Kill Participation: 76.0%
- Team Death Share: 19.4%
- First Blood Rate (Kills or Assists): 63%
- Gold Difference @10: 83
- Experience Difference: 55
- CS Differential @10: 0.2
- CS Per Minute: 5.0
- Damage Per Minute: 156
- Team Damage Share: 8.5%
- Wards Per Minute: 1.21
- Wards Cleared Per Minute: 0.47
- Gold Earned Per Minute: 189.5
Joshua “Dardoch” Hartnett
- Winrate: 63%
- Kills: 39
- Deaths: 38
- Assists: 139
- K/D/A Ratio: 4.7
- Kill Participation: 73.3%
- Team Death Share: 17.9%
- First Blood Rate (Kills or Assists): 47%
- Gold Difference @10: 152
- Experience Difference @10: 107
- CS Differential @10: 1.4
- CS Per Minute: 5.0
- Damage Per Minute: 250
- Team Damage Share: 11.6%
- Wards Per Minute: 0.88
- Wards Cleared Per Minute: 0.46
- Gold Earned Per Minute: 197.2
“What do these stats actually mean?”
If you’re looking at a surface level you can take a look at the Winrates and KDA and go “Meteos has a higher win rate and KDA… GGEZ Meteos is the better jungler for OpTic…”
However, Meteos’ favors tanky junglers which enable him to support his team and boast higher stats, rather than Dardoch’s tendency to make risky plays for a potentially larger reward. When you pair these statistics along with Meteos’ champion picks – Sejuani, Zac, Skarner, and Trundle – he favors tanks and will find himself absorbing damage for his team and playing more selflessly.
Stats like Gold Difference @ 10 and XP Difference @ 10, favor Dardoch significantly over Meteos. This suggests a fundamental difference in playstyle between the two; Meteos finds himself attempting to match the enemy jungler’s tempo & playing smarter across the map. Dardoch, on the other hand, relies on outpacing the enemy jungler which is apparent from Dardoch’s much higher Team Damage Share and Damage Per Minute.
But can OpTic really go wrong?
Is it a bit of a cop-out to say that neither jungler is a definitively better choice for OpTic going into 2019’s NA LCS Spring Split? Sure is. But statistics and gameplay do not point to a clear choice.
After reviewing the numbers and taking into context the fully confirmed roster of Dhokla, Crown, Arrow & Big in addition to our two polarizing junglers, I’m hoping to see a swapping system implemented by Cloud 9 with Svenskeren/Blaber.
Next. Vaultboy - The Goldenglue Story. dark
Don’t agree with the takes? Think I’m just an animal behind a typewriter? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!