Are Mousesports making a new meta?
One of the most unexpected teams coming out in season 5 so far has been MouseSports. A big question mark at the start of the season, the mixed-bag of Europeans has been something refreshing to watch with their eye-catching drafts. In this article, we will take a look at their weird picks, give our verdict, and work out what the impact for the rest of the meta in Europe is.
Mousesport’s Roster is made up of the following
Support: Bastien “Dardez” Proust
ADC: Ethan “Jermain” Batarsé
Jungle: Mohaned “Cherryo” Walied
Mid: Jordan “BigManTingz” Theaker
Solo: Nika “Nika” Pataraia
Match 1: MouseSports vs SK Gaming
Game 1
Mouse begun the set by banning Daji, Thoth, Anhur and Athena, pretty standard Season 5 bans – excluding an Anhur which was most likely a targeted ban vs. SK gaming.
Their first picks were also “meta” – with Discordia a comfort pick for BigManTingz and Ullr, considered top of the Hunter Tierlist for Jermain. They then picked up another comfort pick for Cherryo (Cabrakan) followed by what was considered two unusual picks, Camazotz Solo and Ravana Support.
Camazotz solo worked out! Nika, the new Solo laner for this team, looked excellent in game 1 finishing the game with five kills, zero deaths and was able to make a huge impact with his bruiser build. Since this game, this pick has been played a lot in the SPL, working well – reminiscent of Late S3/Early S4 where Camazotz Solo was meta before. Verdict – 5/5.
Ravana support was somewhat more dubious. Mousesport’s philosophy is clearly “pick whatever the roster needs”, ignoring what is considered meta. However, while Ravana can have lane pressure early, his team utility is somewhat limited. Indeed, his kit more focused on burst damage and self-mobility – which means he is more suited to playing Jungle or Solo. Verdict – 2/5.
Game 2
This game saw Mouse pick as “meta” as they ever have (or will). The only unusual and unexpected pick was Ravana support. This again had very little impact as Mouse once again lost the game. Verdict – 1/5.
Game 3
Game three again had similar bans for Mouse, however, they decided to pick “Triple assassin”. Somewhat of a strange pick – leaving only a single Raijin as magical damage – however with assassin’s relative strength in this meta being obvious to all, the composition made a lot of sense. Camazotz solo had been proven in game 1, Hun Batz jungle is very standard so the pick worth analyzing here is Fenrir Support.
Dardez, well known for his flex-pick support gods, was the first to bring out Nox support in the SPL last season. This Fenrir pick worked very well. My personal concerns over having no traditional frontline was negated entirely by the insane burst damage as well as control provided by the Fenrir, as well as the sustain from Camazotz provided enough once the early game was survived. Verdict – 5/5.
Match 2: MouseSports vs Dignitas
Game 1
Once again, Mouse vs Dignitas begun with less-than-meta picks. The “standard” Ravana support and Camazotz solo again worked similar to before, with Ravana being marginally more successful this game – however the real talking point this match was Janus Jungle.
Cherryo’s Janus Jungle was an inspired pick this game. With such high mobility and with the exceptional damage that low-cooldown mages can put out this split, especially with cooldown items such as Chronos Pendant and Soul Gem being strong, it was only natural that some started to experiment with mages in the jungle and this worked out well for Cherryo. The pick worked well, allowing Cherryo to both roam and free-farm (including continually stealing the Dignitas back harpies) and proxy-farming the solo lane wave. This facilitated rotations from the continually excellent Nika, as well as allowing the two players to trade positions and farm/gank.
Ultimately, the composition did run out of gas before the end, and Dignitas (one of the best teams in the world) were able to comfortably win, but Janus Jungle absolutely did do what it was intended to do. Verdict – 5/5.
Game 2
In Game Two, the squad changed things up again and picked Chaac mid and Morrigan Support, against the aforementioned top-two team in Europe.
Chaac mid, piloted by BigManTingz, made sense in theory. The player well known for his support gameplay in Season 4 made sense to be on a warrior, however, the reality was somewhat different. At no point in the game did Mid Chaac make any sense really, despite the theory behind it. By the time Transcendence was online, his strong early game had already fallen off, and the missed burst damage from the role was sorely missed. Verdict – 0/5.
Morrigan Support, again, wasn’t the problem. While the pick didn’t really work out for Dardez, the idea was solid and I think could have had merit in a different composition – perhaps with a mid mage, warrior solo and guardian jungle. Expect this to be tried again. Verdict – 3/5.
What to expect next?
Expect more of the same. Mouse, while not yet defining the meta, will continue to do what works for them, pick for players rather than roles and continue to look for surprising picks that can help them forge their role in the league.
Things I would like to see again:
Janus Jungle
Camazotz Solo
Morrigan Support
Fenrir Support
Things that I would never like to see again:
Chaac Mid. (well, any warrior mid, please!)…
What do you think? Have your say in the comments or on twitter, you can tweet me @KingHazzam or us in general at @TheGameHausEsports
All images credit HiRez and Mixer