Stats corner: LCS EU Spring group stage

Table of contents

1. Previously on "Stats Corner" 2. Introduction 3. Most picked 4. Most banned and most contested 5. Win rates 6. Where was it played? The games with the rare picks 7. Full stats for LCS NA Spring group stage

Previously on "Stats Corner"

The heroes of the S2 regionals World Championship, Day 1 Numbers and divinations before the S2WC grand final MLG Fall in the numbers What changed with Elise patch? The numbers from Las Vegas What do Koreans play What do Koreans play, reiterated Money matters January 2013 in the numbers Graphical history of IEM IEM World Championship in the numbers March 2013 in the numbers LCS NA Spring group stage

Introduction

The group stages for LCS spring in both North American and Europe are over and it’s reckoning time. In the second part of this LCS-special Stats Corner duology we examine the 112 games of EU spring group stage and put the metagame to graphs. Check out the stats from LCS NA SPRING GROUP STAGE here.

Most picked: King Varus

We haven't seen an AD carry take the top position in "Most picked" since Ezreal fell out of favor after January 2013, although several champions like Caitlyn and Miss Fortune came really close. With LCS Europe, however, we see Varus split the prestigious position (together with the eternal Sona, who by the looks of it is not going anywhere any time soon). Introduced to the EU circuit by Yellowpete, Varus did not remain an exclusive trademark of EG and soon enough other prominent carries like Wolves' TheTess and DB's Hosan picked it up. By the end of the group stage, Gambit's Genja would be the only AD carry to have never played the champion. A significant difference between EU and NA certainly, seeing how the latter have aimed for Varus just 20 times. Additionally, Europeans seem to prefer a smaller pool of carries overall, focusing on Miss Fortune and Varus, while we see Americans spreading across Caitlyn, MF, Twitch and Ezreal. Another big contrast between the two scenes is the smaller popularity of Jarvan IV. Although heavily contested (picked or banned) in both regions, we see Europeans preferring to stick to the Diamondprox meta, i.e. Nasus and Volibear, respectively the first and second most popular "pure" junglers in the graph.

Most banned and most contested: Fearing the reaper

Once again comparing LCS EU to NA, we see an abrupt rise in the hate towards Elise and Thresh, and this is understandable. Elise has been a problematic top lane opponent for a long time now but it doesn't end there. In current meta, Elise shines with extreme role versatility (viable on basically every role besides AD carry and especially potent on top, jungle or as support). Understandably, most teams just don't want to deal with a pick so ambiguous, especially now that European supports have started catching up to Asian meta and have picked up Elise in their pool. Speaking of European supports, Thresh's position is the most logical things we could've seen up here. With players like Edward and Krepo doing wonders with the champion, explaining the 50/112 ban rate (and 75% contested rate) is not at all problematic.

Win rates (For champions picked > 8)

I've never liked digging too deep into the meanings behind champions win rates because of the many confounding variables determining the outcome of a certain game so let's just summarize the highlights and major differences between the two circuits, shall we? • Miss Fortune and Twisted Fate are the only two champions to appear in both "Top win" graphs. • Lux and Caitlyn are the only two champions to appear in both "Low win" graphs. Apparently, the low win ratio on Lux is not a problem exclusive to North America, although Europeans do tend to do better at her (39% compared to 29%) • Zed's win rate has had the highest win rate increase comparing NA to EU (33% to 65%). Twitch and Varus are another two champions that see a marginal win rate increase from NA to EU. • Within the "Top/Low 10", Vi is the champion with the largest win rate difference between EU and NA (40% for EU, 62% for NA).

Where was it played? The games with the rare picks

Evil Geniuses vs Gambit Gaming

Evil Geniuses vs SK Gaming

Gambit Gaming vs SK Gaming

Dragonborns vs Gambit Gaming

Fnatic vs Copenhagen Wolves

Giants vs Fnatic

SK Gaming vs Giants

Dragonborns vs aAa

Fnatic vs Gambit Gaming

Full stats

Expect the next Stats Corner to come just before the all-stars tournament when we'll explore the other three major regions in competitive LoL -- namely Korea, China and SEA -- as to understand who will ban what and if Misaya will ever get to play Twisted Fate (probably not though). Total champions used: 82/111 Champions neither picked, nor banned: