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League of Legends: How European teams have used unique drafts to succeed

By Shay Coleman

RGE Kikis - Riot Games
RGE Kikis - Riot Games /
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French video game player Hans Sama from the team Misfits Gaming waves to the public before competing in final of the “LCS”, the first European division of the video game “League of Legends”, between Misfits Gaming and G2 Esports at the AccorHotels Arena in Paris on September 3, 2017. / AFP PHOTO / CHRISTOPHE SIMON (Photo credit should read CHRISTOPHE SIMON/AFP/Getty Images)
French video game player Hans Sama from the team Misfits Gaming waves to the public before competing in final of the “LCS”, the first European division of the video game “League of Legends”, between Misfits Gaming and G2 Esports at the AccorHotels Arena in Paris on September 3, 2017. / AFP PHOTO / CHRISTOPHE SIMON (Photo credit should read CHRISTOPHE SIMON/AFP/Getty Images) /

Misfits vs SK Telecom T1 – Blitzcrank,  Leona (Fervor of Battle)

Welcome to one of the greatest international best-of-five series in League of Legends history. The emotions felt by European fans as they watched their 3rd seed team nearly eliminate three-time World Champions in SK Telecom T1 in a close series are indescribable.

Truly a David v Goliath situation, Misfits nearly went and did it, even going 2-1 up before being unfortunately disposed of by Faker and his almighty roster of team-mates. While they didn’t “succeed”, they broke ground for the teams of new and showed “the gap” was indeed closing.

Part of the reason why Misfits brought SKT all the way was because of their innovation in the draft. One player, in particular, brought all of the uniqueness, and that comes from Lee “IgNar” Dong-geun in the support role.

IgNar, Schalke 04, LEC, League of Legends.
League of Legends. Courtesy of Riot Games. /

These Misfits’ drafts were crazy, for lack of a better word. Blitzcrank against the best team in the world at the time? That takes preposterous amounts of confidence, but that was exactly what the Misfits squad needed. It wouldn’t have been possible without the ability of IgNar and his prowess on Blitzcrank, and it showed in abundance. Flash-hooking Faker, the best player in the world, to secure a win for your plucky EU team must feel amazing, so he took yet another risk.

Okay, this one is just on another level. Leona, with Fervor of Battle, support. For context, Fervor of Battle on the League of Legends Wiki is described here:

"You gain 2 stacks of Fervor for 8 seconds with each basic attack on-hit against an enemy champion, stacking up to 8 stacks."

In essence, Fervor gives more AD with every auto attack, and IgNar used this on Leona support. They picked Tristana with it into Lulu-KogMaw and their strategy was clear. Misfits wanted non-stop fighting in the bottom lane in the early levels, and this is exactly what we saw. Rocket Jumps and Leona CC-chains ensued and Misfits gained a lead early in the bot-lane, and never let it go.

While less influential, PowerOfEvil picked Karma in the mid-lane, which was not normal at this point in time.

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