Adjust (Day 171)

It's cold. Very cold. It's cold enough that I really just want to curl up in bed and go to sleep early. Normally I'd want to get up and do things, but under the circumstances I'd rather just lie in bed wrapped in blankets. I've spent most of today so far watching the EU LCS. I think my favorite game of the day was Roccat vs Gambit. Roccat was previously known as KMT, an all-Polish team that has apparently been around for years. They almost didn't make it into the LCS at all, but after handily disposing of Ninjas in Pyjamas in a 3-0 sweep during the promotion tournament, they secured their spot.

With the second week of the EU LCS concluding today, Roccat sits at a respectable 5-1 score--unexpected to say the least. This a completely new team to the LCS and they're doing great. Today they took out the powerhouse Gambit Gaming and they deserve a lot of praise for that. However, I feel like Gambit's picks were a little suspect. Edward has always been one for strange support picks, especially lately, but he's evidently taken a liking to support Kennen. It works when he gets ahead and can buy items, but when he gets put behind like in the game against Roccat. . .not so much.

Another odd choice from Gambit was Shen in the jungle. It actually ended up working a lot better than I expected, but when he was called upon to defend against split pushes, he just did not have the items. Diamondprox rushed a Wriggle's Lantern ostensibly because he was planning on spending a lot of time farming the jungle and Shen benefits from the stats, but it just did not work out. It ended up being a pretty colossal waste of gold that delayed his tank items significantly. Although he was able to pick up a few early kills and assists, he just wasn't the teamfight force that a Shen often is.

Edward's Kennen didn't take off like he had in previous games either. The last time he picked it, he was able to solo the opponent's AD carry. Against Roccat he was little more than a glorified stunbot, a role more effectively carried out by Annie. What's strange is that Gambit left Thesh open. It was available for them to pick but they let Vander have it--and he did fantastic work. Vander landed hook after hook on poor Edward and put him terribly far behind.

Alex Ich farmed his heart out on Orianna but was not able to compete with Overpow's Kayle, who picked up tons of kills and started three shotting the opposition. I've seen Kayle picked intermittently in the LCS but no one seems to dominate quite like Overpow. I'd say it's his signature champion but after seeing such diverse picks as Pantheon and Mordekaiser, who can be sure? He seems to be able to deliver a satisfying performance on just about any champion. I'm definitely looking forward to more from Roccat this season.