Analyzing the 4.16 Cassiopeia rework from the eyes of a Cassiopeia main

Analyzing the 4.16 Cassiopeia rework from the eyes of a Cassiopeia main

                As many of you know I'm a long time Cassiopeia main and have played well over a thousand games on her between norms, ranked, and other accounts. I've gotten a lot of people asking for my opinions on the changes. When they first released that "revamp" a few weeks back the numbers were different and directly nerfed the champ hard but now that we have the finalized numbers and the patch hitting live tomorrow I figured it's the best time to do a write up. I'll mathematically break down and theorycraft some of the new damages and discuss where she falls in the current state of the game, the pros, the cons, and some of my personal thoughts on the change overall. Hopefully it gives you some insight into the changes from an experienced Cassiopeia player and most importantly I can provide an example of why "best case scenario" mentality is really dangerous in gaming.

THE KIT CHANGES

Noxious Blast (Q) (old) 

                - Damage: 75/115/155/195/235 + (.8ap)

                - Movement Speed Increase: 15/17.5/20/22.5/25%

                - Cooldown: 3 seconds

                - Mana Cost: 35/45/55/65/75

Noxious Blast (Q)(new) 

                - Damage: 75/115/155/195/235 + (.35ap)

                - Movement Speed Increase: 10/15/20/25/30%

                - Cooldown: 4 seconds

                - Mana Cost: 40/45/50/55/60

                Previous PBE changes had the Q base damage severely nerfed but it appears that they're leaving its base unchanged as we go live. I still don't like that you can no longer really Q max against certain matchups efficiently and play pure ranged mage poke Cassio like you wanted to in certain matchups but this is overall not that dramatic a change after 20 minutes or so. And in the first 20 minutes you were relying mostly on base damage anyway.

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Miasma (W) (old)

                - Damage: 25/35/45/55/65 + (.15ap) PER SECOND

                - Slow: 15/20/25/30/35%

                - Cooldown: 9 seconds

                - Mana Cost: 70/80/90/100/110

Miasma (W) (new)

                - Damage:  10/15/20/25/30 + (.1 ap) PER SECOND

                - Slow: 25/30/35/40/45%

                - Cooldown: 14/13/12/11/10 seconds

                - Mana Cost: 40/50/60/70/80

                Shifting some of the damage towards the slow and a reduction in mana cost offset by slightly longer cooldowns. Miasma is typically a one point wonder but you usually only use it when spacing, sieging, wave clearing, and if you miss your Q so this hopefully won't be that big of a difference.

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Twin Fang (E) (old)

                - Damage: 50/85/120/155/190 + (.55 ap)

                - Mana Cost: 50/60/70/80/90

                - Cooldown: 5 seconds (.5 if target poisoned)

Twin Fang (E) (new)

                - Damage: 55/80/105/130/155 + (.4/.45/.5/.55/.6 ap)

                - Mana Cost: 30/45/60/70/90

                - NOW RESETS ON CAST RATHER THAN ON HIT*****

                - Refunds Twin Fang's mana cost PLUS 3% of Cassiopeia's total mana when it kills a unit

                Takes a little bit longer to ramp up but can now restore its mana cost so you can last hit under tower as well as having a lower cost at lower levels to reduce the risk of failed all-in's leaving you manaless. This is a massive buff if you can get to the mid game which becomes easier with the mana refund mechanic. Cass is actually really difficult to last hit under tower with until you have enough levels to instantly clear the back line and grind through creep waves so this is a huge quality of life change as well as a late game so you no longer "need" a mana item.

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Petrifying Gaze (R) (old)

                - Damage: 200/325/450 + (.6 ap)

                - Mana Cost: 100/100/100

                - Cooldown: 130/120/110 seconds

Petrifying Gaze (R) (new)

                - Damage: 150/250/350 + (.5 ap)

                - Mana Cost: same 100/100/100

                - Cooldown: 120/110/100 seconds

                - NOW ACCURATELY HITS UNITS DIRECTLY IN FRONT AND ON TOP OF CASSIOPEIA *********

                The "accurately" hits is yet to be seen but if this is even close to accurate this is a huge quality of life change that even extends to improving certain matchups that were previously challenging. Other than that, lower cooldown for less damage is actually a trade I'm ok making because the cooldown was so much longer than most other mids. Couple this with the 25% from the new passive and we're in business.

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Passive (old): Deadly Cadence - Casting a spell causes any subsequent spellcasts within 5 seconds to cost 10% less mana, stacking up to 5 times.

Passive (new): Aspect of the Serpent - Cassiopeia permanently gains a stack of Aspect of the Serpent for each second that she has poisoned an enemy champion, for each poisoned unit that she kills, and every time she hits an enemy champion with Twin Fang. Caps at 400 stacks.

• ·         75 stacks: +5% ability power and Twin Fang restores 6/8/10/12/15 + (.1 ap) health
• ·         200 stacks: Ability power bonus increased to +10% and Cassiopeia gains 25% CDR
• ·         400 stacks: Ability power bonus increased to +30%

                The new passive seems insanely powerful. You get a ridiculous amount of gold value from a passive ability which seems broken but it will all depend on just how fast you can stack. A lot of the power of her kit was sacrificed and shifted towards this passive so its reliability will be important. My guess is that you can reasonably stack this up between 17 and 20 minutes.

Overall opinion of the kit rework

                I was really afraid of how far they nerfed her base damages in the first two rotations on the PBE so much so that I thought they'd kill the champion for good but now that they've reverted the Q change and tweaked some of the other numbers I honestly think this kit has the potential to be ridiculous. I like that they left the Q max option available albeit weaker.  It's really important to look at this new kit with an "average case scenario." It's way too easy to look at a full build, full stack Cass and be like "OMG OMG BUFFS WOWWW" but it's just not realistic. How often do you get there? Not very often. So let's break this down by phases of the game.

• ·         Early game: Weaker for bullying and all ins, but still decent enough at it for Cass to do her job. Being able to last hit more reliably by having Twin Fang as an less punishing option is a really understated buff.
• ·         Mid game: This is hard to judge. I feel like this actually depends on how quickly the passive stacks but with a lower ult cooldown you're punished a lot less for using it just for damage (or just missing it). Also, if the new ult actually is more accurate and reliable that could end up being yet another mid game buff.
• ·         Late game: She was already a hyper carry. Let's temper the expectation here. She didn't need late game changes... but I'm not complaining that she got better.

                The question becomes whether or not its significantly harder to get her to this late game hyper carry point. On one hand they've given her the tools to get there with lower cooldowns and mana costs, as well as a mana refund. On the other, they've taken away a lot of her early damage to eliminate her highly potent early game dueling and lane bullying. If you can get to the late game, yea she'll be significantly stronger as a damage source. But if not, I actually feel this is a slight nerf. Let's keep in mind that while the ult and E mana refund changes affect certain matchups, Cassiopeia retains most of the problems she had before when it comes to other champions. She will still be weak and possibly weaker to assassins and with weaker poke and dueling potential she'll actually have an even harder time in lane against many of them and with the meta shifting in that direction, it could limit her potential.

THE TWIN FANG DPS MATH

                       I was originally going to write on this to show just how hard they nerfed the base damages but now that things have changed I'll just show some of the high end damage potential we're going to see.

                   
                      These numbers assume rank 5 Twin Fang, 15 ability power from runes, and archmage mastery as well as havoc mastery but I'm excluding CDR (which is more of a factor now that it checks immediately instead of on landing). It's perfectly possible that I've missed something so if you spot it please let me know!!

*some rounding up was done*

EDIT: Thanks to /u/papajacky on reddit for clarification on the math which should be correct now

EDIT: Obviously different builds vary and it's yet to be determined what will be optimal but I was just using these for an example.

EDIT: These numbers didn't factor in the Mental Force (ap per level) mastery cuz I'm dumb so add a little to each number.

100 ap (roughly Dorans + Initial Rod of Ages, 10% from passive)

New: (100*1.05) = (105 ap)*1.05 = 110--->110*.6=66, 155 + 66 =221 + 3%(Havoc)=227.6 per Fang

Old: (100*1.05) = 105ap ---> 105*.55 = 57.7, 190 + 58 = 248 + 3% (Havoc) = 255 per Fang

200 ap (Dorans + Stacked Rod + Needlessly Large Rod + 10% from passive)

New: (200*1.10)=(220ap)*1.05 = --> 231*.6 = 139,  155 + 139 = 293 + 3%  (Havoc) = 303 per Fang

Old: (200*1.05) = 210ap ----> 210*.55 = 115.5, 190 + 115 = 305 + 3% (Havoc) = 314 per Fang

312 ap (Dorans + Stacked Rod + Deathcap (bonus included), 30% from passive)

New: (312*1.30)=(405.6ap)*1.05=425.88 -> 426*.6 =256, 155 + 256 = 411 + 3% (Havoc) = 423 per

Old: (312*1.05) = 327.6 ----> 328*.55 = 180, 190 + 180 = 370 + 3% (Havoc) = 381 per Fang

403 ap (Dorans + Stacked Rod + Deathcap (bonus included) + Void Staff, 30% passive)

New: (403*1.30) = (524)*1.05=550 ----> 550*.6 = 330, 155 + 330= 485 + 3% (Havoc) = 500 per 

Old: (403*1.05) = 423 ---> 423*.55 = 233, 233 + 190 = 423 + 3* (Havoc) = 435 per fang

and so on and so forth the gap grows further and further apart the more ability power you have...

** RETRACTION/WARNING: After playing with the new build a little bit more actually stacking her passive is more difficult and unreliable than I originally thought making the late game even tougher to reach. Some of these predictions like the 312 ap example probably wouldn't have the 30% passive yet. ***

                What this basically means is that somewhere in the upper 200s ability power (I'm bad at algebra so cut me a break) there is a point where the new passive overcomes the ratio and base damage reductions strictly on Twin Fang. Now at this point you could have 30% cdr (masteries and 25% from passive) which would bring the cooldown of Twin Fang down to 0.3 seconds which is more relevant than it used to be because you no longer need to build CDR to see the benefits and Twin Fang also checks on cast no upon reaching its target. If you include these changes you could argue that the passive becomes worth it a bit sooner but we'll stick purely to damage for this conversation.

                So you're losing damage on your Petrifying Gaze, Noxious Blast, Miasma, and Twin Fang (all of your skills) until you have roughly 300+ ability power. And it's actually even more if you count the base damage you lose on your Noxious Blast and Petrifying Gaze if you choose to factor that into your combo.

CONCLUSION

                The new Cassiopeia theoretically will perform significantly better in terms of raw damage after she hits the 2.5 to 3 item threshold. But these calculations ALL include Rabadon's Deathcap. To me, it's still an overall damage nerf. They've given her the tools to sustain through lane as a way to smooth out your journey to six items with the mana refund from Twin Fang and lower mana costs accross the board but have nerfed her lane dominance pretty heavily. Cassiopeia used to have a strange power curve where she spiked early, dropped off mid, and then became an AP hyper carry again later. They have made her "better" at the late game but what a lot of people forget about in seeing all these new flashy bonus AP numbers is that she ALREADY WAS A HYPER CARRY LATE, the challenge was getting there which you used to do by bullying out your lane and getting ahead enough to deal with the mid game.

                These changes severely limit variety in builds almost forcing you into a second item Deathcap or your damage will pale in comparison to its previous numbers which is incredibly frustrating if, for example, you're against a fed assassin and need resistences or a Zhonya's. One of the the unsung strengths of this champion was that her base damages were high enough that you could afford a first item Rylai's or just a couple Doran's and sorc shoes and build whatever defense you needed to help get you by. That option is now substantially weaker. The penetration focused Sorceror's Shoes to Haunting Guise option also takes a significant hit.

                But it's not all bad. There is a very good possibility that the quality of life changes alone could make up for all of this. A more reliable ultimate for close targets, Twin Fang checking on cast and not landing, as well as some "free" CDR actually up the amount of Twin Fangs you can cast and all of this could add up to higher DPS. A lot depends on whether or not games actually get to this threshold with such a weak early game and just how quickly the passive actually stacks up in an "average case scenario."

                Cassiopeia has always been a high upkeep champion. What I mean by that is that you need to be good with her and playing her a lot to stay good but at the end of the day, the ceiling just isn't that much higher than certain others that have a bigger impact or easier time getting to that point (Ryze, Karthus, Orianna, Ziggs, etc.). Although games are going significantly longer on average (see my stats Vlog for recent months), the upkeep factor combined with the direction the meta is heading toward (mobile assassins again) make me feel as if this rework didn't come at the right time but could potentially be impactful down the line.

                It's always a bummer seeing your favorite champion changed and while I do feel as if it's a slight nerf or roughly the same in an "average" game I do think it is a step in the right direction from a design standpoint. I think a little bit of time live and some number tweaking and we'll be good as...old.

                Thanks for reading! Feel free to leave comments, questions, concerns, and other inquiries here or on my Twitter and as always come on over to the Live stream where I'll inevitably be playing a lot of Cassiopeia in the coming weeks.

-Gelati

Twitter: @GelatiLOL

Live Stream: www.twitch.tv/GelatiLOL

Analyzing My Successful Push to Diamond

As some of you may know I recently achieved Diamond in solo queue after many many months (see my immediate response here) and the man (lich?) that got me there and the specific method for doing so was not one which I expected to work but in hindsight makes quite a bit of sense. The following is my analysis of the final push to diamond that I did over the weekend.

        The Catalyst         

  

                The day of July 8th started the beginning of an extended losing streak that would bring me from 67 league points in Platinum 1 all the way down to 55 points in Platinum 2. During this 27 game period I went an abysmal 10 - 17 including a pair of 5 game losing streaks. Those of you that know me understand that I'm all about "not tilting" and remaining psychologically stable in the presence of unstable conditions such as losing streaks but this streak was one that really got to me. I was growing frustrated, playing champions I didn't play very often out of frustration, not experimentation. During this 27 game run I played 16 different champions which around the amount I play in a given month of games (between 60-80 typically). I wasn't raging but I was taking a lot of risks, playing champs out of desperation, and generally not performing well.

Something had to change...

The Problem

                This is about as classic a tilt situation as you can find. What happens when you go on tilt? You start thinking emotionally and not logically. I wasn't being rational. How did I get to where I was before this losing streak? I played champions I was comfortable with, despite nerfs/buffs, and remained consistent by playing to my strengths as a player (focusing on lane and not roaming, farming well, and denying/controlling vision instead of creating map pressure with ganks). In my frustration I began trying to do too much and was trying to force ganks and jungle invades that were just not solid strategic options. I was playing over aggressive in lane and not calculated like I usually do. I wasn't spending the money on wards like I usually do (you could say I spend too much).  In so many words I was trying to compensate for team deficiencies as well as poor play in previous games. I was "overplaying." This is the opposite of my normal approach to solo queue.

The Strategic Solution

                 I've always been able to reel it back in during tough losing streaks by going back to basics. The acronym K.I.S.S. ("Keep it simple, stupid") is what I usually default to in competitive times of need. During my losing streak I was "overplaying" and trying to do too much so I started thinking specifically about a hard stance in the opposite direction.

                So what is the opposite position? What can I do that will force me to remain consistent each game? Well first I needed to identify what is consistent from game to game. To me there are very few things that remain the same from game to game in League. One of those things is you and how you play the game. The other is parts of the game itself, namely minions, income, and objectives. Minions and objectives are always the same each game but it's up to you whether you get them or not. Perhaps the most cliche advice in League is "just farm well" but most people don't actually do it, including people around my rating. Another cliche bit of advice is that "minion gold is more consistent than champion kill gold" which is correct in most situations. So according to this concept I just needed to improve my farming from game to game to recapture that consistency. Seems relatively sound and simple to me, but often what seems simple is quickly forgotten and you return to those bad habits, so how was I going to actually put this concept to work.

                The previous month in my Advanced Solo Queue Statistics VLog I actually discussed that my overall farming numbers were down in the previous 2 months and that was a goal to improve on for this month. Normally I just try to focus more on it during the game but this clearly wasn't working and I had to do something to force myself to get better at it and this is where I started to really start putting together the concept that would completely reconstruct my in game approach to consistency.

The Karthus Effect (Vanguard of the Consistency Solution)

                Once I recognized that income was the main obstacle preventing me from being consistent during the losing streak the first step was to improve it, but the second step was to maximize it if I was going to focus solely on that facet of the game. I needed somebody that could farm well and provide inevitability by doing so. Ziggs, Karthus, Lulu, Ryze and Orianna were the first to mind. Ziggs had provided a lot of success for me but with some slight nerfs in previous patches and more incoming I decided against him (at least temporarily). Orianna, while safe, can really make huge mistakes in team fights if you miss your ult. Lulu was never something really comfortable for me and her late game is solid but not what I would call something that provides inevitability. Ryze provides the inevitability but can be kited but the popular hyper carries (kog and trist) and doesn't provide any wave clear except when ulting.

                 So it was down to Ziggs and Karthus. I started to break it down further using some analysis techniques I learned from Magic the Gathering. Both are great when they're ahead (as most champs are). Both champs are good at parity (an even game). When behind Ziggs has the edge because of his insane wave clear but Karthus isn't as bad as you'd think and even has some tools that can make him better in certain situations. Both champs possess certain intangibles but I feel Karthus has the edge here. Let me explain because this is a key part to the champion and it actually sort of reflects on my "winning means more than KDA" mentality.

                One of the main strengths Karthus has is that he has "guaranteed damage" because of his passive. Assume you get instantly killed in a team fight. You have that second, and 7 more seconds to dish out AOE damage (and shred from wall), as well as your ultimate and however many Q's. There are fights in which you die and can still deal out thousands of points of damage allowing your team to do the rest which is incredibly useful when compared to those times where you get jumped on as Cassiopeia and you're dead before you even get to ult. So you get guaranteed damage when you're ahead. You get guaranteed damage when you're behind (even if it takes suiciding into the middle of a team fight). And you get guaranteed damage when it's even. This allows you to initiate fights, split push with teleport, soak damage and cooldowns for your teammates, and the most important thing, DEAL TONS OF DAMAGE.

                Oh yea, that was another problem I was having during the losing streak. I wasn't actually affecting the game at all. I wasn't farming well and therefore, wasn't doing a lot of damage. The damage made me realize that another way to remain consistent from game to game was to just pick champs that "always" get their damage down. I feel you're starting to see why the Karthus pick makes sense.

                I could easily, and safely farm (not the safest but close enough). I could ALWAYS get my damage down in fights whether behind or ahead. And because of the passive, I could start the fight in a pinch if my team didn't have the decisiveness to do so. It all adds up. Karthus was my own personal remedy to my consistency problem.

Applying the Solution

                I've always been a late game player. I thrive in that situation for whatever reasons but the challenge of being that kind of player is to get to that point. I'm not a mechanical beast or hyper talented or anything like that but I do have a strong mind for the strategic and macro points to the game and I team fight really well for a player of my rating. My best games are ones where I can farm up before I outplay. I'm very much a season 2 style player or if you need a modern player to compare to it'd be Easyhoon from SK Telecom T1 S.   

                There are certain challenges that make this difficult in solo queue (although it's even harder in arranged 5s). People tend to play aggressive more than passive, people tend to lose harder (or win harder), and building team comps isn't exactly something that happens in every solo queue game so they become very snowbally in one direction or the other (especially in high platinum but this is a different topic). These extremes can cause a lot of distractions. Maybe you feel pressured to gank because your top lane is getting stomped. Maybe you feel that trying an all in on your opponent is worth a shot. Maybe you start building completely differently or, in my case, playing different champions to "make up" for other people's deficiencies. All of these are bad adaptations and distractions. Your goal should be to make the other team play the game on your terms or in a way which benefits you.

                I was picking Karthus into matchups that I knew were bad even going as far as to blindly first pick him (which I wouldn't advise). I ran teleport/flash most of the time and would simply never gank or leave lane unless it was almost a guaranteed kill (read: worth more than continuing to farm). People would try to counterpick (most often with Orianna) or play overly aggressive because "hey Karthus is an easy kill." I wouldn't care. You could kill me a million times (ok that's a bit extreme) as long as I get my farm.  A lot of times people would kill themselves trying to "outplay" me. I'd often use teleport just to get back after purchasing to not miss any farm. My build varied but it often contained Rod of Ages and Zhonya's as my first two items. A couple of games I was able to get a Rod of Ages on the first back. There were games where I'd die more than 10 times but have 40% of my teams damage and we'd win. In other games we were behind and because I could continuously get my 8-10 seconds of "guaranteed" damage we could fight other teams off of objectives. I'd frequently approach 10 creeps per minute as well as jungle camps.

The Psychological Shift

                In one of my previous blogposts titled "Results Oriented Thinking" I mention that when playing a game with high variance (like League solo queue) one of the only things you can control is your consistency from game to game and the quantity of games you play. A person does this by eliminating risk and improving the "bottom line."  An old coach of mine used to say that "you don't need to very win, just win." Karthus was literally enforcing this mindset.

                On Karthus you don't care about dying. You only care about farming and providing that inevitability (read: winning). You suddenly don't tilt as hard when you get camped because you simply don't care because your damage is going to happen regardless and if they win before that point then good for them but I am certainly going to MAKE THEM BEAT ME. In other words I was presenting a threat that HAS TO BE DEALT WITH, but there isn't really a good way to deal with it without a lot of coordination. I went from thinking Karthus was terrible in solo queue because you couldn't "outplay" people to realizing that, when you're matched against even or more skilled players than you, that outplaying is much rarer and more difficult. Karthus was actually doing the opposite of what a lot of people think he does. He was reducing risks.

Consider this example:

                The enemy mid laner and yourself are exactly even in terms of mechanical skill, decision making, etc. Your rating (in my case Platinum 1) says that this is mathematically the case. Now of course this isn't always true but for the sake of this example let's assume it's at least close to the truth. You decide to all-in your opponent. Odds would say that, excluding champion mismatches, each player has a 50-50 chance of winning or losing the exchange. Assume the same for ganks, jungle invades, 2v2 skirmishes, etc. 50% isn't bad or good, it's exactly even so over the course of 100 of these decisions, you'll succeed in 50 of them. A professional poker player would quickly be out of a job if his win rate was like this.

                Earlier on I mentioned that "minion gold" is more consistent than "champion kill gold" and the reason that this is the case is because there is  A LOT less risk involved with minion kills. If you had the option to take a road that has a 60% chance to lead you to a point (in this case a certain gold total) vs a 50% chance to lead you to the same point, wouldn't you take the higher percentage? I know I would, and that's exactly why I started doing this.

Conclusion

                Farming is lower risk than pretty much everything else in the game. Decide you want to gank bot lane? You take on certain risks. Going to help your jungler steal their red? That's perfectly fine but understand the risks. For me the simplest way to eliminate these risks was to "AFK farm" and play a champion in Karthus that guarantees that at least some of his damage resolves and provides a means through which farming can be done safely and provide a degree of inevitability. Karthus also makes other players play the game the way I want to. I reduce risk, start a snowball, and eventually present a threat that says "Can you deal with this?" and from there I capitalize on raw power and enemy mistakes.

                This isn't for everybody. To most people this is boring and you could actually make an argument that it doesn't really improve you as a player (which I both agree and disagree with). Personally I like winning and this isn't that boring a way to do it in my opinion (what other clothy wants to just run into the enemy team and that's often the correct decision?). There are times where your teammates will rage for not following on a gank, or maybe you dive to start a fight and your team doesn't follow up. I'm not trying to say that this is the "technically correct" way to play but what is? All I know is that if you eliminate as much risk as you possibly can you raise your floor ("bottom line", worst case scenario, etc.) and in a game where it takes a lot of grinding once you become evenly matched this is the difference between 51% and 52% win rate.

Now it's time to bring the (wall of) pain to the ranks of Diamond and lay waste to my opposition.

Until next time...

-Gelati

Any questions about specific in-game techniques, builds, numbers crunching, strategy, etc. I'm more than welcome to answer and discuss. I just wanted to share the mindset (CONSISTENCY) and technique, albeit sort of extreme, that actually got me out of a division that I'd been stuck in (Plat I) to a goal that I have had for a long, long time.

What a long strange trip it's been....

                Those that follow me or watch my live stream got to see my reaction but for those that didn't, at about 1:15am this morning (Sunday July 27) I finally reached my long time goal of Diamond in solo queue. It took me almost 10 months (although there was a new season to start over from at some point there) of being in Platinum 1 to finally break through but I finally did it. I started the day Saturday in the morning with at 43lp in Platinum 1 and proceeded to go on a 5 game winning streak to help me qualify for my promotion series (this would be the second time). For the last few games I duo'd with my long time partner and friend Christian (Tuba). I then took a break for dinner before coming back a few hours later to take another shot at my best of 5 series and this time I took it down.

                Now there are people out there that may read this and think "Who cares, it's not like it hasn't been done thousands of times before? Hell people have done it way faster than it took you." and those people would be perfectly warranted in their analysis. But for anybody that has ever set and goal and achieved it they know that feeling of satisfaction that comes with it and I'm simply expressing myself here.

               I worked hard for this. I did the best I can to hammer down a schedule, eliminate as many distractions as possible, self analyze (see stat vlogs), and legitimately try to grind it out. There are very few things as rewarding as achieving a goal you set out for yourself. Finding something that is important to you, for whatever reasons there may be, and striving to improve and perfect to the best of your ability can be a very rewarding experience. I'm not a talented guy. I'm not some freakishly good mechanical player, I don't have perfect game knowledge, I make wrong decisions more often than it may seem. One thing I do have, and always have, is the ability to grind it out, self improve, and put my mind something.

                When I was at music school I was a vastly inferior talent compared to my peers but I outworked many of them. I structured my practice, put in more hours, recorded myself, logged and tracked my progress, and most importantly held myself to a high standard. This was much the same as League to me. I am not a talented player, I don't often make flashy outplays, I have to put the time in. I had to apply a process, perform due diligence, and stay the course by remaining logical and efficient, not emotional.

                To me, one of the most enjoyable things in the world is seeing work and dedication pay off whether that's at your job, relationships, or some pastime. The pursuit of excellence is something that drives me. Not in all aspects of my life but in many. Diligence, excellence, and the self respect to apply and adhere to a process are all things that I respect much more than most and I find the greatest satisfaction in the act of improvement. More so than actually reaching a specific goal, I am at my happiest when carving that path for myself. In other words, the journey  is what is fun for me but all travels must have a destination, or some kind of end game or you lose motivation.

                Some people play games as way to relax or as a social medium but to me the fun is in competition and striving to be the best. It was Seraph from The Matrix that said "You do not truly know someone, until you fight them." and that spirit of competition is another driving force for me. Vince (my name) is vastly different than Gelati. I've been able to find a different part of myself and a medium through which to express that and I feel as if this is the case for many gamers, for better or for worse. Having that kind of alter ego or second personality is fun, and invigorating and one of the main reasons I enjoy competitive environments so much. It caters to my craving to be the best.          

                The point I'm trying to make is that everybody likes achieving goals, some more than others, but it's important to have them. It doesn't matter if it's college, a job, a relationship, making 10 out of 10 free throws, or reaching a score in some random video game. Find something you are truly passionate about and get really good at it. It doesn't matter how stupid or lame other people might think it is because that doesn't matter. What matters is the process of self improvement and learning more about yourself by going through that process.

                I'll be making a separate post at some point about the mindset, logic, and theory behind the changes that got me to my goal within the specifics of the game but this post is meant for anyone and as a way for me to express how important this was to me and how great it feels to achieve something you set out for.

                For those of you that have supported me in any way I appreciate it and I hope to bring all of you, and perhaps most importantly myself, a high quality and constantly improving product as I move forward.

-Vince (Gelati)

June 2014 Advanced Solo Queue Statistics

June 2014

** There were 6 games in which there was severe lag, a DC, or server trouble, trolls (2-4). **

Misc. Statistics

Highest Placement: Platinum 2 (73 lp)     Lowest Placement : Platinum 3 (75 lp)

Win - Loss: 38 - 36 ( 4 - 0 in promo matches )

Kills/Deaths/Assists (avg): 443 / 395 /  (5.99 / 5.0 / 8.7) makes a 2.94:1 Ratio

Team K/D/A (avg): 2040 / 1958 / 3286  (27.6 / 26.46 / 44.41) makes a 2.72:1 ratio

Longest Winning Streak: 4 (8 out of 9 at one point)           Longest Losing Streak: 4

Largest LP Gain/Lost (single game): +21 / -21

Average CS For (non-support) / Against (all): 189.9 / 190.6

Average CS per minute For (non-support) / Against (all): 5.6 / 5.73

Highest (peak) Kills/Deaths/Assists (high in each taken from all games): 21 / 10 / 23

Highest Single Game CS:  341         

Combat Grades:

            Lane Effectiveness Avg (scale of -2 to +2):  +0.08

            Outside Lane Influence For Avg (scale of -2 to +2): +0.40

            Outside Lane Influence Against Avg (scale of -2 to +2): +0.30

            Roaming Effectiveness Avg (scale of -2 to +2): +0.41

Contribution Grades:

            Positive Contribution Avg:  19.84

            Negative Contribution Avg: 19.71      

            Net Contribution Avg:  +0.13

            Games +/-: 42+ /  32-         

            Record in Positive Contribution Games:  24- 18  Record in Negative: 14 - 18        

Damage Statistics      

Avg %Damage to Champions (% of teams total):  21.4%

                        Avg without support games: 23.0%

Gold Statistics

**Gold statistics are calculated rounding to the nearest hundred when recording (example: 9700)**

Avg Gold For (GPM): 11,613 (352.1/min)   -------->   in NON Support games: 12,248 (365.2/min) Avg Gold Against (GPM): 11,954 (363.89/min) ----> in NON-Support Games: 12.134 (361.5/min)

Avg For as SUPPORT: 8,634 (290.3 /min)  --->  Enemy Support Gold: 9,215 (312.5/min)

Avg Gold For Lane Partner:  9,900 (352.9/min)  ------>  Enemy ADC Gold: 11,108 (375.3/min)  

Champion Specific Statistics

Most Played Champion(s):

            - Leblanc (mid) (11 games) (7 wins - 4 losses)

                        - Avg CS: 167.7 (5.59/min), Avg K/D/A: 6.8 / 5.3 / 9.8, which makes a 3.13:1 ratio

                        - Enemy Avg CS: 178.3 (5.81/min)

                        - Lane Effectiveness Avg: +.18

                        - Outside Lane Influences Avg (against/for): +0.55 / +0.36

                        - Roaming Grade: +0.45

                        - Gold For (gpm) / Against (gpm): 11,582 (380/min) / 10,636 (346.5/min)               

                        - Avg Game Length: 30:20 (significantly shorter than average)

                        - % Damage to Champs per Game (avg): 25.86%

                        - Net Contribution Grade: -2.94

                        - Games + / - (contribution score): 5 positive (4 - 1) / 6 negative (3 - 3) 

Champions Played: 24 (lux support and lux mid differentiated, etc.)

Duo queue Statistics 

** I played a lot more duo queue than I normally do this month to practice with members of my 5s team **

            Record: 18 - 15

                        - Jin Seyeon: 1 game (0 - 1)

                        - Manadel: 3 games (2 - 1)

                        - Dorme Ornimus: 1 game (1 - 0)

                        - Flareonz: 3 games (2 - 1)

                        - Unholymend: 3 games (1 - 2)

                        - War Pigs: 22 games (12 - 10)

Match Time Statistics

Average Match Time:  32:46  Shortest Match Time: 20:24  Longest Match Time: 53:45

Match Time Distribution:

            -  <20:00:  0 games (0 wins - 0 loss)

            -  20:00 to 25:00: 7 games (2 wins - 5 losses)

            - 25:00 to 30:00: 29 games (17 wins - 12 losses)

            - 30:00 to 35:00: 15 games (9 wins - 6 losses)

            - 35:00 to 40:00: 13 games (7 wins - 6 losses)

            - 40:00 to 45:00: 2 games (1 wins - 1 losses)

            - 45:00 to 50:00: 7 game (2 win -5 losses)

            - >50:00: 1 games (0 win - 1 losses)

Pick Order Statistics

Avg position: 2.92    Avg Position of duo: 3.9

            - 1st pick: 18 games (11 wins - 7 losses)

            - 2nd pick: 11 games (6 wins - 5 losses)

            - 3rd pick: 14 games (5 wins - 9 losses)

            - 4th pick: 21 games (11 wins - 10 losses)

            - 5th pick: 10 games (5 wins - 5 losses)

Matchup Specific Statistics

Most Frequent Opponents:  

Lulu (1 - 4), Orianna (2 - 3), Twisted Fate (1 - 3), Ziggs (3 - 1), Caitlyn (2 - 3), Lux (3 - 1)

Strongest Matchups (3 or more games):

- vs Lux (3 - 1)      Avg K / D / A: 9.25 / 5.25 / 11 (3.86 to 1 KDA)

            - Avg CS per minute For / Against: 6.38 / 5.58

            - Net Contribution Score: -1.88

            - Lane Effectiveness Score: +0.25

            - Outside Influence For / Against: +0.25 / +0.75

            - Roaming Grade: +0.75

            - Champs Played: Cassiopeia (2 - 1), Kayle (1 - 0)

            - First Bloods For / Against: 0 / 0

Weakest Matchup (more than 3 games): 

- vs Lulu (1 - 4) Avg K/D/A: 2.33 / 6.33 / 7

            - Avg per minute For / Against: 6.0 / 7.6

            - Net Contribution Score: +3.97

            - Lane Effectiveness Score: -0.67

            - Outside Influence For/Against: 0 / +0.33

            - Champs Played: Syndra (1-0), Cassio (0-1), Orianna (0-1), Leblanc (0-1), Ziggs (0-1)

            - First Blood For / Against: 0 / 0

Multi Game Summoner Matchups: 

            - vs angelsolarxd: 2 - 0 vs his Morg support followed by top Ryze, stomped both

Situational Statistics

First Bloods For: 4                         First Blood Assist: 0

First Bloods Against: 4                 First Blood Against Assist:  3

Record when getting first blood: 2 - 2   Record when giving up first blood: 4 - 0

Record when getting FB or Assist: 2 - 2

Record when giving up FB or Assist:  5 - 2 (1 - 2 on just assist)

Positional Statistics

  - Mid: 52 games,  30 wins - 22 losses

            - Avg CS per minute For / Against: 5.81 / 5.83

            - Avg K/D/A:  7.1 / 4.73 / 8.88  Ratio of 3.38:1

            - Lane Effectiveness Avg: +0.15

            - Outside Influence Against / For: +0.31 / +0.43

            - Roaming: +0.48

            - Contribution Grade: -1.51

            - First Bloods For / Assists: 3 / 0

            - First Bloods Against / Assist: 4 / 2

  - AD Carry: 2 games,  1 win - 1 loss

            - Avg CS per minute For / Against: 6.99 / 7.02

            - Avg K/D/A:  4.5 / 4 / 5.5  Ratio of 2.5:1

            - Lane Effectiveness Avg: 0

            - Outside Influence Against / For: 0 / +0.5

            - Contribution Grade: -3.28

            - First Bloods For / Assists: 0 / 0

            - First Bloods Against / Assist: 0 / 0

  - Support: 16 games, 6 wins - 10 losses

            -  Avg CS per minute of Enemy AD: 6.14

            -  Avg GPM Enemy ADC / Support: 374.2 / 312.5

            -  Avg  K/D/A: 2.56 / 5.43 / 10.38 for a ratio of 2.38:1

            -  Avg CS/GPM Lane Partner: 5.46 / 353.0

            - Lane Effectiveness Avg: -0.06

            - Outside Influence Against / For: +0.4 / +0.2

            - Contribution Grade: -2.31

            - First Bloods For / Assist: 1 / 0

            - First Bloods Against / Assist: 1 / 1

  - Top: 2 games, 2 wins - 0 losses

            - Avg CS per minute For / Against: 5.27 / 5.68

            - Avg GPM For / Against: 392.5 / 307.2

            - Avg K/D/A: 5 / 3.5 / 8.5 for a ratio of 3.86:1

            - Lane Effectiveness Avg: +1.0

            - Outside Influence Against / For: -0.5 / +1.0

            - Roaming Grade: 0

            - Contribution Grade: +2.51

  - Jungle: 5 games, 0 wins - 5 loss

            - Avg CS per minute For / Against: 3.03 / 4.15

            - Avg GPM For / Against: 301.3 / 377.2

            - Avg K/D/A: 5.2 / 7 / 4.8 for a ratio of 1.43:1

            - Lane Effectiveness Avg: -0.6

            - Roaming: -0.2

            - Contribution Grade: -1.01

Environmental Statistics

Record in First Game of Session: 11 - 9   Record in Last Game of Session:  10 - 8

Record in Single Game sessions (counted as both first and last games): 3 - 1

Longest Single Session: 10 games (6 wins - 4 losses)

Time of Day (based on common playing blocks):

            - Night block (8:01pm to 4am):  23 games (16 wins - 7 losses)

            - Morning block (4:01am to 12pm): 6 games (2 wins - 4 losses)

            - Afternoon/Evening block (12:01pm to 8pm): 45 games (20 wins - 25 losses)

Day of Week:

            - Monday: 13 games (7 - 6)

            - Tuesday: 8 games (3 - 5)

            - Wednesday: 1 games (1 - 0)

            - Thursday: 2 game (2 - 0)

            - Friday: 1 game (1 - 0)

            - Saturday: 27 games (12 - 15)

            - Sunday: 22 games (12 - 10)

Music: 

            - Dirty Loops: 3 games (3 - 0)

            - Dubstep Mix: 31 games (16 - 15)

            - High Energy Mix: 20 games (9 - 11)

            - LCS Broadcast: 9 games (5 - 4)

            - Misc. Livestreams: 1 game (1 - 0)

            - Magic the Gathering Livestream: 1 game (1 - 0)

            - Melodic Death Mix: 3 game (1 - 2)

            - MLG Broadcast: 1 game (0 - 1)

            - OGN Broadcast: 1 game (1 - 0)

            - Summoning Insight: 1 game (1 - 0)

            - TesseracT: 2 games (0 - 2)

            - Words of Farewell: 1 game (0 - 1)

           

Goals from April/May:

1) Support play needs to improve despite having to play the role less.

-       Failure: Poorer numbers across the board except for KDA. I feel the I performed slightly better than last split but my lane partners certainly did not and the numbers showed that I am still dying entirely too much.

2) Finish adding a top laner and work on a meta-jungle pick like Lee/Elise/Jarvan/Vi

-       

Failure: Was not confident enough to play anything new other than Eve and lost every single jungle game.

3) Play more games.

-       Success: I played plenty of games including some 9 and 10 game sessions and performed well during them.

Goals for Next Month:

1) Reduce negative contribution score (This is done primarily through fewer careless deaths)

2) Support play still needs to improve (Nami seems to be a nice new addition for you)

3) Refocus on improving farm numbers (Roaming has been less often but more efficient)

BONUS: Plat 1 to Diamond