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OUTPL AYED World championships come to Europe

April edition 2015

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Exclusive interview with Trevor ‘Quickshot’ Henry

Worlds go on a European tour

Elements Fall from Grace

Plus! Fnatic rise again IEM World Championships review

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Contents

Issue 27 | April 2015 Outplayed-online.co.uk Twitter: @Outplayedmagazine_ Facebook: Outplayed Magazine

Features 4| Fnatic rise from the ashes An in-depth look at the revival of one of europes most prestigeous league of legends teams Fnatic.

6| Worlds come to Europe

After the announcement that the 2015 world championships will be held across Europe, we preview the event.

8| Elements fall from grace We explore Elements spring split and how this so called ‘super team’ were unable to challenge at the top of the standings.

12| A statistical approach We look at different champions and dive into the stats for the spring split, finding the most lethal and banned champions.

10 | Quickshot

have been in in the the fortunate position to I“Ihave been fortunate have witnessed the growth of competitive position to for have witnessed video gaming nearly 10 years.” the

14| IEM Extreme Masters world championships review

We have a look back at the action in Katowice, Poland as Team SoloMid win the first intercontinetal tournament of the year

13| NA race heats up As the North American LCS comes to a climax, we explore the teams in the chase for top spot and the play off spots. (C) LoL Esports

The Inside track

Editors Notes Without games, technology, Esports and such, I think I would do nothing more than sit on a park bench and wish I had something to do today. Well, my name is Scott Morris and I am currently studying sports journalism at the University of Chester. I have a passion for all things sports but have recently taken to the facisnating world of Esports. April’s edition of Outplatyed magazine features a whole host of articles, from statistical analysis of the European spring split to Exclusive interviews with shoutcaster Trevor “Quickshot” Henry. In my time

exploring the world of Esports a lot of things grasped me. There are not too many differences between say professional league of legends and Tennis. Both have to have immense reaction times, as well as a strong mind and tactically competent and always willing to learn. Our 16 page magazine will want you begging for more, and for subscription details go to our website at www.Outplayedonline.co.uk. As well

as the content already mentioned, in this issue we will have an in depth look at just how one of the most known teams in the EU LCS crumbled after a lackluster run at the Season 4 world championships, before rebuilding from scratch a team capable of pushing for bigger and better things. We also have a look into the news that the season 5 League of Legends world championships will be held across Europe. As well as all this Esports

goodness, we also have articles on the slump of EU team Elements, our look on the title and play offs spots race over in North America as well as a double page spread on the IEM League of Legends world championships in Katowice. I thoroughly hope you enjoy this months edition of Outplayed magazine and tune back in next month for even more Esports content.

Scott Morris

FNATIC RISE FROM THE ASHES

With Fnatic’s roster changes being one of the more dramatic in professional League of Legends history, we look at how the team have came out the end of the tunnel stronger and are looking to regain pressure at the top of the EU standings Fnatics league of legends team has always been seen as one of europes big teams, challenging at the top of the table consistently, but after a disappointing World championships performance in 2014, no one could anticipate what was to come. Fnatic were left with only one starting player left, after players Rekkles, xPeke, Cyanide and sOAZ all jumped ship. “Rekkles came to me after the split, after Worlds, and said he wanted major roster changes,” as Oliver Steer, Fnatic manager explained to Red Bull eSports’ Rob Zacny. “He said if I didn’t makes changes, he would quit. He would leave the team. Even though his contract still had another year remaining,”. Shockwaves were sent through the team after Rekkles’ departure, and soon it got worse. Long term team captain and mid laner ‘xPeke’ decided that he wanted to start a new challenge of his own, with his own team. Steer was rocked, “Then I was in shock. Like, ‘What are you doing? Why would you leave us?” he said. The team was imploding. Next to leave was founding member and jungler ‘Cyanide’. He decided that he was done with League of Legends, and decided that he was to retire. All that was left in the ruins was Steer and French support player YellOwStaR. Word of the turmoil within the team reached the media, and before you know it Fnatic wasn’t a viable team for players looking for a move. Steer began to worry, how could this be fixed. “I was like, alone with YellOwStaR. YellOwStaR and me.

That was the team.” What came next for Steer not even he could anticipate. Prior to the 2014 world championships in which the team fell apart, Steer had taken the trip to Korea (in which the world championships were being held) to better himself and his league of legends knowledge in Korea, in which some of the best teams in the world are based. The second he stepped off the plane he knew he was in trouble, as none of his bankcards would work. He was left to rely on a Korean fan he had spoken to in the past, no one was to realise how influential one fan could be. The man knew the ins and outs of the Korean league of legends scene and paid for his food and transport. A connection that this mystery man had was with Samsung Galaxy, a Korean team. He took Steer to their gaming house in which they train their team as well as develop new talent. “So we rang the doorbell, and [Heo “Huni” Seung Hoon] came out. ...And I have no idea who he is. We spend like 20 minutes in the lobby speaking to him. My friend was translating.” Huni, now Fnatics top laner surprised Steer, but there was something about him he liked. Huni had a little bit of cockiness about him, and Steer thought of the perfect solution. A scrim. Fnatics team would face up against a team led by Huni, who could choose any of the training team players he wanted. “And pretty much these random 5 solo queue guys, four times in a row, just took a dump on Fnatic within 20 minutes. They just annihilated us,” Steer said. “And this Huni kid, in

front of my eyes, I watched him play sOAZ, and he agency, and the woman who helped me said, in her was winning!”. 25 year career, she has never seen or heard a case like Steer, still yet to know what was to come was this. She said it was nuts.” impressed. After the team broke apart, Steer recalls It was now the captain’s turn to bring in some new looking back on those games. “I had a call with recruits. Bora “YellOwStaR” Kim set about finding YellOwStaR, and I was like, ‘Do you remember a new mid-laner and AD carry. Those came in the those Samsung training players?’ And he clearly form of Fabian “Febiven” Diepstraten and Pierre did. Gamsu, Huni. He remembered the games, what “Steelback” Medjaldi. Both were established in champions they played. It clearly had an impact Challenger league but still a risk. on his memory,” Steer said. “There was a reason he Unfortunately for Steer, it still wasn’t going to easy, remembered it so clearly.” especially when the Fnatic gaming house lost its Fnatic approached Huni and he accepted their internet access two weeks before the first game of the offer, but a stumbling block season. “I was like, alone arose, Huni’s English was “So we had to go to Brussels, below par. He relied on his with YellOwStaR. to a game club, to practice trump card in the form of his for a week,” Steer said. “And YellOwStaR and me. Korean friend to find him even in the game club, they That was the team.” what he needed. “I asked him had 100 ping [a very slow to help me find a jungler. response time with the game Who speaks English and plays very well. He found server that would incur a 1/10th of a second delay, ReignOver. Huni had met ReignOver in the SKT unacceptable by pro standards]. And I tell you, man, house, so they knew each other,” these kids have never seen each other. Never heard Those within the game were sceptical. “Literally each other’s voice.” everybody told me I was crazy,” Steer explains. Fortunately for Steer, it was as though it was written “Other managers and coaches were writing me on in the stars. “They just went to this gaming room in Skype saying, You’re going to lose your job, man! Brussels and took a dump on every team,” Steer said. Stop it!’ ...One of our sponsor reps asked me in a “Every team we scrimmed against. On day one!” friendly way, ‘Hey, Oliver, you think you’re going to “Basically, we had 10 days of practice on 100 ping,” lose your job if the Koreans play bad?’ Stuff like this.” Steer said. “In two different countries. ...Just imagine Although It looked as though the pieces of the puzzle how far we can go from here! We didn’t know each were coming together, even more issues began to other. Huni barely speaks English. Give us 6 months, arise. None other than Huni’s Visa. “He’s underage. a year, this team is gonna be magic.” He’s Korean. He has to come to Europe. So I needed Fnatic have now secured their playoff spot, they to convince his mother and father to get him here. are currently second and flying at the top of the EU And then I needed to get his residence permit. And standings and are looking very impressive. Come then Riot has to have a work permit.” the end of an era, a new one begins, could this be the “Getting Huni a work permit was already hard. ...But change that Fnatic needed? Only time will tell, but so Fnatic is an English company. So he’s employed far they are on track to getting back their label of an in England, but he’s working in Germany. See the elite league of legends team. problem?” Steer said. “I went to an immigration

Worlds comes to Europe This year Riot games annual tournament, the worlds championships, will be taking a trip around Europe in October. It was announced in January that the tournament, in which the best teams from each region compete to see who is the best team in the world, will be held in different cities and countries at the group stage, quarter finals, semi finals and finals. In 2011, the first world championships were also held in Europe, in Jonkoping, Sweden. The second and third were then held in the United States and last years was held in Seoul, Korea. Exactly what cities the tournament will be held in are yet to be announced. In last year’s world championships Galaxy Samsung White came out victorious, with an impressive showing in the group stage, going 6-0 and staying unbeaten, they took the momentum into their next match, against TSM. In the end, Samsung won convincingly, winning with 3 games to 1 in a best of 5. While they were secured for the semi finals, their sister team Samsung Galaxy blue was also competing in the quarters, in which they beat Cloud 9 also 3-1 to set up almost a derby. The game was tense, neither team wanting to lose even with the strong connection between both teams, and in the end,

(C) LoL Esports Imagine Dragons perform at the closing ceremony Samsung Galaxy White came out victorious winning very convincingly, winning 3 straight games to finish 3-0 to set up a final with Chinese team Star Horn Royal club. Once again they won convincingly, winning 3-1 to win the $1,000,000 prize as well as to lift the prestigious and frankly huge world championship trophy. With a long way to go and several splits between now and the world championships it’s hard to tell who the favourites and wildcards could be, let alone who will even make it there. One things for certain though, it will be interesting to see if the European teams make the home advantage count just as Samsung Galaxy White did.

Elements fall from grace After struggling throughout the EU LCS spring split, Elemets look like a shade of their former self. We look into the reasons why last years super team have lost that scare factor.

ast year, Elements (formerly known as Alliance) were the team to beat in the summer split of the European LCS. With their superstar line-up led by mid laner Froggen, they blew away every team that stood between them and a spot at worlds. As expected they done just that, finishing 3rd in the standings and confirming them for the playoffs. They then carried that momentum through the break, winning the play offs comprehensively securing them a prime spot at the world championships in Seoul. At worlds Alliance looked impressive, with good victories against teams such as Cloud 9 and Najin White Shield, but a slip up against Kabum, a Brazilian team saw them crash out at the group stages. Then, in the off season they managed to sign star AD Carry Rekkles, known as one of the best AD Carry’s in the EU LCS. Judged on last season’s performances and their new star player Elements were clear favourites to dominate the standings and brush away the other teams. Unfortunately for them, it hasn’t panned out that way. Elements have looked less than convincing throughout the season (currently sitting 7th with 5 wins and 9 losses), struggling to put wins together. Of recent weeks, Mitch ‘Krepo’ Voorspoels, formerly of Evil Geniuses (Alliances former alias) and of the analyst desk has been brought into the starting team to bring some leadership and experience to the team. The main reason for their fall currently is

(C) LoL Esports Alliance placed 9th - 15th at the 2014 worlds their communication. In the past few weeks Krepo has made his feelings clear that the communication is lacking and that it will take time for everyone to feel comfortable with his shot calling. Over social media he made his feelings clear “Hesitation is the seed of defeat. Contrary to popular belief not every S***ty call today was made by me. Me not correcting them is entirely on me and makes me equally guilty. Regardless whether I played well or not. We failed strategically.” Unfortunately it doesn’t get any better. In the next few weeks Elements face H2k, recently rejuvenated Gambit gaming, relegation fighting Giants Gaming and end the spring split against the impressive Fnatic. The games against H2k and Gambit will show us whether they will be able to reach the play offs, and if so it would be a surreal comeback. Only time will tell.

Exclusive interview with Trevor ‘Quickshot’ Henry Trevor ‘Quickshot’ Henry sits down with Scott Morris to talk about all things eSports.

ith the North American and European spring splits coming to a close, we thought we would explore the growth of Esports and the comparisons to other sports around the world. We asked Trevor, a shoutcaster for Riot about his experiences and also asked him about his daily agenda. First of all, how much do you enjoy your job? What’s a day in the life of a shoutcaster? I absolutely love my job. I look forward to every day and enjoy all that goes into my position. The majority of my time is spent preparing for the show, as well as refining my craft with the entire broadcast team. We spend hours reviewing previous casts to analyse and break down what went well and what didn’t, as well as making sure we work with our production staff for upcoming shows. Some of the tasks include script writing, statistical analysis, team analysis, patch and game prep, caster practice, VOD review, regional review and more. What you see on air is really a small percentage of the work we do off air. Secondly, how far do you think Esports has come? Seeing 40,000 people in a stadium in Seoul for the world championship and hundreds of thousands over twitch, has it hit its peak? I don’t believe for a second that esports has hit it’s peak and I think that it will continue to grow for years to come. I have been in the fortunate position to have witnessed the growth of competitive video gaming for nearly 10 years. I have watched tournaments from home where only a handful of people made it to the LAN in somebodies basement or garage all the way up to stadiums being filled. The same passion, drive and energy is present in every single event, no matter how big or small. As long as people continue to feel passionate about esports then we will continue to see more events for years to come.

And finally, how do you compare professional league players to athletes such as footballers, do you see Esports rivaling more traditional sports in the future due to its mentally and tactically challenging nature? I am not entirely sure I want to compare professional league players to professional football players. They are different sports, which require different talents and abilities and I don’t see them necessarily being rivals. There are loads of folks out there who watch Formula 1, Football, Tennis, NFL and Basketball and you seldom hear about one sport rivaling another. I feel the same way about competitive gaming, it is simply another sport, another extension to the list and people who enjoy watching our sport will continue to do so, while simultaneously watching other sports they enjoy.

A statistical approach to the EU LCS 3 champions with the most influence in the European spring split.

1. First of all, as usual we see Kassidin as the most banned of the spring split, with a 60% ban rate throughout, and with good reason. Kassadin has picked up a 75% win rate with 12 wins and 4 losses. Known as a powerhouse in the LCS scene, Kassidin will continue to be banned as a pretty safe pick in the ban phase.

2. Secondly, a champion to note is Graves. He is second most picked with 39 picks and second only to Jarvain IV with 40. Most notably, he has the most kills in the split with 171. Its safe to say that he is becoming a safe pick for AD carries in the LCS.

3. Thirdly, we move onto the most picked champion and arguably the strongest jungler at this current time, Jarvan IV. He has been picked 40 times, the most in the split, and despite only having a 47.5% win ratio, he leads the way in assists In the LCS with 337. With only being banned 13 times, he is a strong pick for the splits junglers.

The NA race heats up

Bjergsen fixes his glasses as he prepares for his next opponents.

or quite a few weeks now, the North American LCS has been impossible to call. Teams traded blow for blow and as a result 7 teams are in neck and neck race for the title and the play off spaces. We look at the teams and their chances of domination in North America. Out in front is the well-known and powerful Team SoloMid (TSM) with 11 wins and 3 losses. The team are known as one of the best teams in North America, often competing at the world championships, and in 2014 finished in the 5th-8th bracket. They have been impressive this season, having the highest KDA with 5.45, Counter Logic Gaming second with 5.1. They also have the highest gold per minute with 1756 and highest total gold with 926k. They must be considered a strong contender for top spot. Next is Counter Logic gaming. They sit second in the standings with 10 wins and 4 losses. After just escaping the grasps of relegation last year, CLG now have a renewed motivation and have shown that this season. Coach and former NA mid-laner ‘Scarra’

LiNk sits in a concentrated state

LemonNation plays to the crowd

spoke to LoL Esports and told them of their new motivation. “Everyone on this team has seen what it means to be at the bottom, and none of us want to go back.” Third in the standings are the infamous Cloud 9 with 9 wins and 5 losses. Last years spring and summer split winners finished in the same bracket as TSM at world and were hoping to put their misery aside and come back to win yet another split. Unfortunately that wasn’t as easy as it seemed, the team had an early slump in form and ever since they have been playing catch up. Coach Charlie Lipsie told LoL Esports “I think we will win the NA LCS this Split because we are currently in the best possible position to make it happen,” he says. “We just experienced what was arguably the worst slump in our

team’s history and it’s clear that we’re better for it.” For the underdogs, there are several. Team Impulse sit on 8 wins and 6 losses while Gravity, Team 8 and Team Liquid sit on 7 wins and 7 losses. Team Impulse’s coach Alex Gu admitting “We are a quite young squad “with players from three different countries. We might not, yet, be a very strong competitor to win the NA LCS, but don’t ever underestimate a determined heart to win. Friendship, teamwork, and hard work are the advantages we have right now.” With the league so tight and no sign of teams slowing down. It’s safe to say that the next couple of weeks could be very interesting and worth a watch, especially after TSM’s win at the Intel Extreme Masters.

TSM WIN IN KATOWICE

Team SoloMid win the first intercontinental tournament of the year, beating WE in the Final.

The Intel Extreme Masters World championships made for good viewing after one of the biggest shocks was pulled off as well as the first American team winning the tournament since Korean teams began competing. The story of the tournament for most would have been Chinese team World Eliteâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s run at the competition, in which they managed to pull off the biggest shock in League of Legends competitive history after beating Korean team GE Tigers who were hot favourites for the title. World Elite are a team struggling in their native league in China and were listed as a certain failure. Those statements were soon seen to be false. Both World Elite and TSM competed in group B, with them fighting off against each other in their first match. TSM won and went on to play Korean team CJ Entus and also won that to grant them promotion to the play offs. After defeat from TSM World Elite had to play a second game to decide their fate, in which they played Gambit Gaming who had recently hit form in the European LCS. Fortunately for them they were able to defeat Gambit to set up a next round tie with CJ Entus who were then playing to survive after defeat against TSM. World Elite won seeing them also through to the playoffs. Meanwhile in Group A North American team Cloud 9 were facing off against tournament favourites GE Tigers and were swiftly dispatched of. In the same group European team SK gaming faced off against yoe Wolves, SK fighting for the title back in Europe seen them off to see them fight it out with a team of their own calibre, GE Tigers in the semi-final. Meanwhile Cloud 9 were fighting to not be the first team knocked

out of the tournament. This they could not prevent. Yoe Wolves beat Cloud 9 setting up a rematch against SK gaming, In which they impressed the Katowice crowd, seeing them off to surprisingly make it to the play offs. Now it came down to crunch time, the games now become a best of three and the first teams up were TSM against yoe Wolves, as expected they were rolled over by TSM and saw their run come to an end. Now for the shock that no one seen coming, World Elite faced the biggest test of their history against one of the most dominant teams in the world in the form of Korean giant GE Tigers. The Korean favourites shown signs of what was expected in the first match, beating WE. The shock came in the second game, with WE stomped the Tigers and stopped them in their dominating path. Everyone thought it was just a blip for the GE Tigers, but that was soon to be thrown out the window. WE then went on to also stomp the Tigers in the third game to complete the biggest shock in League of Legends history, but the job wasnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t done yet, next it was a final against TSM. In the end it was one step too far for WE, their road was to come to a very abrupt halt as TSM rolled them over and tickled their belly in 3 straight games, and very convincingly so to take the Intel Extreme Masters trophy and a cheque for $108,414.

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