The Mid Season Showdown continues to roll along, as TSM knocked Evil Geniuses out of the loser’s bracket in a 3-1 series and 100 Thieves 3-0’d Dignitas. Team Liquid and Cloud9 won Round 1 of the winner’s bracket, so they will square off next weekend, while TSM and 100 Thieves face each other. The MSS overall has played out pretty close to expectations, but some champions, players, and teams have shifted statistically compared to their regular season showings. Here are some of the big ones.
Champions: Gnar, Nocturne, Nautilus
Gnar has really taken off as a 100 percent presence, 100 percent win rate champion in the Mid Season Showdown. Compare that to his 69 percent presence and 52 percent win rate during regular season. The top teams seem to know exactly how to leverage Gnar’s strengths into winning games. Ssumday, Impact and Alphari brought Grasp of the Undying and built Stridebreaker as their Mythic item. Gnar’s teamfight strength outweighs any laning phase weakness he brings to the game.
Nocturne turned out to be a pocket pick for Huni in TSM’s series versus Evil Geniuses. While he didn’t do much in the laning phase, TSM did win both matches they played Nocturne top. Huni came away with a 6.3 KDA on the champion, and TSM averaged a 28:38 game time across the two games. Huni’s ability to join fights and limit visibility with the semi-global Paranoia helped TSM accelerate their matches. EG even banned it once. Will other players try this pick during MSS?
Finally, SwordArt and CoreJJ proved Nautilus to be a strong pick during MSS. With Tristana becoming such a staple pick right now, Nautilus pairs well with her in bottom lane, and he can play well as a support into her. The Dredge Line can hook Tristana out of her Rocket Jump, and Depth Charge can help engage or peel fights for the team. Nautilus has gone three-for-four in MSS with a 64 percent pick/ban rate, which is much higher than the regular season 60 percent winrate and 21 percent presence.
Players: PowerOfEvil, Huni, Jensen, Tactical
TSM’s mid laner and top laner have shown some different standout stats during MSS. PowerofEvil has stepped up to 78.3 percent kill participation, a full 17.7 percent higher than the regular season. Adding supportive picks like Seraphine and Twisted Fate into his champion pool truly boosted his participation with the team.
Meanwhile, Huni has doubled his average deaths per game. During the regular season, he only died 2.1 times per game, contributing towards his 4.2 KDA. In MSS, Huni has averaged 4 deaths per game, coming away with a 2.3 KDA. The Rumble and Gragas picks against Team Liquid truly tanked his KDA, while the Renekton and Nocturne matches helped him find the right balance. Moving into their series versus 100 Thieves, TSM will want to help him clean this up.
On the Team Liquid side, Jensen and Tactical similarly stand out. Jensen is one of the only players with higher kill participation than PowerOfEvil, with an 87.1 percent KP. That is also currently the highest of all players in MSS. This is a huge change from Jensen’s 68 percent participation in regular season. The expanded champion pool and building Everfrost three games brought Jensen so much added utility in fights.
While Jensen stepped up for the team, Tactical has fallen in one of his most important stats–gold difference at 15 minutes. During the regular season, Team Liquid could rely on Tactical and CoreJJ to bring a strong lane advantage into the mid game. Tactical averaged 447 gold ahead during the regular season, good enough for fourth highest in the LCS. During MSS, that has dropped to 70 gold ahead–pretty much a negligible amount. While Team Liquid still won their series versus TSM, Cloud9 will not be as easy an opponent. Zven and Vulcan will gladly come out of lane with a strong lead. Tactical will need to rediscover his oppressive laning if Team Liquid wants a strong chance to win the tournament and beyond.
Teams: Cloud9, TSM
Cloud9 actually improved quite a bit in the teamwide K:D ratio department. During the regular season, C9 came away with a 1.41 K:D across the squad, which was second only to Team Liquid at 1.52. From their series versus 100 Thieves, C9 ballooned to a 2.37 K:D, which is 1.04 higher than second place TL. This statistic just shows how C9 excelled in fighting 100T, earning nearly two and a half kills for every death on any member.
On the other hand, TSM has slumped in the early game from regular season to MSS. During the double round robin, TSM started the game with a slight advantage with 128 gold difference at 15 minutes. After playing Team Liquid and Evil Geniuses in MSS, TSM dropped to a 1,209 deficit at 15 minutes. Going down the list, Lost and SwordArt have started with a combined advantage of +47 gold, while Spica and PowerOfEvil start roughly 200 gold behind, and Huni starts 827 gold behind. Dignitas is the only team with a worse average deficit at 15 minutes.
Conclusion
While statistics do not tell the whole story, they can help color the narrative. They can help peer into trends, and when compared across different variables they can help provide insight. Comparing regular season to Mid Season Showdown assists in finding those differences that are helping teams win and lose games. Champions like Gnar, Nocturne and Nautilus have risen in priority for different reasons. Jensen and PowerOfEvil are joining their teams more, while Huni and Tactical might have degraded some of their usual strengths. And Cloud9 and TSM have changed their look a bit from regular season to MSS. As the tournament continues into the final four, some statistical standouts may continue and others may emerge.
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