Stats used following the result of 3/5/2022 games.
I don’t remember the exact moment of when I became a fan of Golden Guardians. I could connect to the disappointment of having an owner not pay the price for quality talent. Looking at you Ted Lerner. There was always something that felt different to how Golden Guardians approached competitive play in North American League of Legends. Their recent roster ideas were much different from the typical norm. And they truly looked to build out a sustainable organization. Currently, the team leads the standings in the academy division. The team also finished second in the first Proving Grounds Closed Circuit.
And there are the things you don’t necessarily think about. How Counter Logic Gaming would pick up their former assistant general manager, two coaches from their academy division and two players from their academy line-up. CLG Academy quietly are second in the spring split and their main roster has performed above expectations. I mean, they aren’t last. That’s progress.
Golden Guardians were not expected to be a heavy hitter in the spring split. Yet, as time continues to pass, it is tough to ignore that they’re sitting in the middle of the tightly contested middle of the pack. With an upset victory over Team Liquid during the “super week,” they were positioning themselves to make a second-half run — as noted by head coach Nicholas Smith.
Going 0-2 last week may have just changed things. But when they were on the right path, they were doing it in a strange way. They’re doing it without a traditional carry.
It is easy to point out the level of play Nicholas “Ablazeolive” Abbott continues to deliver night in and night out. He’s currently outputting the third most damage per minute among mid-laners. And even more impressive, he’s doing this with the second-lowest percentage of his team’s overall economy (22.3%) and third-lowest percentage of his team’s creeps post fifteen minutes. He’s continuing to showcase his abilities — including his incredible performance as Ryze against Team Liquid. Yet his role on a team is better suited as the second-best player on a really good team. He doesn’t necessarily want to play the high economy game.
Meanwhile, the man people were expecting to flourish in a high economy situation has missed the mark. Lawrence “Lost” Hui did not impress on TSM. Despite growing his game on the academy team, the difference in style of play between the two rosters clearly didn’t suit his fancy. He was built for the 2v2 however was primarily playing with a support that looked to roam on the main roster. Since joining Golden Guardians, it has been a much different story but it appears we’re looking at the same result.
The Golden Guardians bottom lane is in the top half of the LCS when it comes to jungle proximity. But the lane has struggled to capitalize. They’re the only bottom lane duo in North America to not have participated in a first blood this season. Among full-time starting marksmen, Lost has the third-worst gold deficit at fifteen minutes and the worst damage per minute in the LCS. He is also outputting the lowest percentage of his team’s damage post fifteen minutes. Looking at the list of ten lowest game totals of damage in team fights, he finds his name on said list twice. He is one of two marksmen to find his name on said list at least twice. The only difference between him TSM’s marksmen is that Lost has done this in two wins.
Given that they are sitting around the .500 mark–currently one game below, the hope is that he is performing better in wins and that this is just a result of losses. The only thing that is really changed is better laning statistics — averaging significant gold leads at fifteen minutes and a slightly larger percentage of his team’s economy and resources while still not outputting impressive damage per numbers.
It is has been an under-discussed weak point with Golden Guardians — especially with Lost being tapped for the duties over several names either still in academy or currently sitting on Cloud9’s bench. And while his support has had flashes of brilliance, they’re making the argument for being one of the worst in North America.
But the top side of the map has continued to impress. Milo “Pridestalker” Wehnes continues to put up some of the best individual statistics among junglers in the LCS — battling the usual suspects in early game leads and damage per minute numbers. His ability to be everywhere at once is a solo queue dream. If he doesn’t make an All-Pro team, we riot. Seriously.
And Licorice has continued to look great after leaving FlyQuest. The two have complimented each other incredibly well in the early game and its paid off.
Golden Guardians average the fourth largest gold difference at fifteen minutes in the LCS. It has primarily come as a result of how well they play around turrets. They’re securing a league-best 6.6 turret plates per game. They have the third-best herald control rate and the second-best first turret secure rate.
It’s the power of not roaming. Just let Pridestalkr do his thing.
In theory, this is a team that shouldn’t work. They shouldn’t be in this position. And for the most part, it hasn’t. You sometimes have to get a little lucky.
Despite being one of the better early game teams, they’ve failed to out slay their opponents in 7 out of their 10 matches at fifteen minutes. In only one match this season did Golden Guardians have more kills plus assists as a team than their opponents at fifteen minutes. However, in 7 out of their 10 matches, they’ve either improved their gold lead or reduced their gold deficit between ten and fifteen minutes. Golden Guardians do a very good job at staying in games. It allows them to take advantage of an error or an opportunity.
Against Immortals, it was taking advantage of split team-fighting. Against Team Liquid, it was Ablazeolive popping off to save a team fight. TSM’s loss to Golden Guardians in the first half of the season is just embarrassing.
They haven’t had a “convincing” victory. They don’t feel like a decent team. And here they are, tied for fifth.
A second-half comedown feels inevitable at this point. With line-ups developing more chemistry, the flaws with GGS will finally be punished. The opportunities may no longer present themselves. But it shouldn’t discredit some of the great things that have come with this line-up.
Because once again, it feels like Golden Guardians are onto something. They’re close to something special. The team just needs that additional investment, that additional spark to the line-up to bring it to the next level. It isn’t the perfect construct but then again, neither was the line-up that they sold to 100 Thieves.
During what is a relatively meaningless split, it would be interesting to see if the team begins to take risks. The coaching staff has been relatively conservative when it comes to roster moves and general drafting strategy. Just a bit of spice, just a little bit of seasoning. Because for a team that is good at taking advantage of opportunities on the rift, the organization continues to turn a blind eye.
They’ve been gifted with great, young talent. It’s time to finally take advantage of it.
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