Gaming

Diana, Scorn of the Moon - Base Stats and Spotlight

2012-08-07T14:22:00.001+01:00

Diana, Scorn of the Moon

Mage Melee Fighter Jungler

	Attack Power
	Defense Power
	Abiltiy Power
	Difficulty

Health 438 (+90)   Attack damage 51 (+3)
Health regen. 8.88 (+0.12)   Attack speed 0.625 (+2.88%)
Mana 230 (+40) Armor 16 (+3.6)
Mana regen. 7 (+0.12)   Magic res. 30 (+1.25)
Range 150 Mov. speed 320

Abilities


Moonsilver Blade	(Innate): Diana gains 20% additional attack speed. Every third strike cleaves nearby enemies for 20 / 25 / 30 / 40 / 50 / 65 / 80 / 95 / 110 / 125 / 140 / 155 / 175 / 195 / 215 / 240 / 265 / 290 (+0.6 per ability power) additional magic damage.
		Leveling up
Crescent Strike	(Active): Diana unleashes a bolt of lunar energy, dealing magic damage in an arc. Crescent Strike afflicts enemies struck with Moonlight, revealing them for 3 seconds. Cost: 55 mana Range to center of AoE: 400min, 800max (estimate) Radius of AoE: 50 (estimate)	Cooldown: 10 / 9 / 8 / 7 / 6 seconds Magic Damage: 80 / 125 / 170 / 215 / 260 (+0.8 per ability power)
Pale Cascade	(Active): Diana creates three orbiting spheres that last up to 4 seconds and detonate on contact, dealing magic damage to all nearby enemies. She also gains a temporary shield that absorbs damage. This shield is refreshed if all three spheres detonate. Cooldown: 10 seconds AoE radius of sphere damage: 200 (estimate)	Cost: 60 / 70 / 80 / 90 / 100 mana Shield Strength: 55 / 80 / 105 / 130 / 155 (+0.4 per ability power) Magic Damage per Orb: 20 / 36 / 52 / 68 / 84 (+0.2 per ability power) Maximum Magic Damage: 60 / 108 / 156 / 204 / 252 (+0.6 per ability power)
Moonfall	(Active): Diana draws in all nearby enemies and slows them for 2 seconds. Cost: 70 mana Effect radius: 250 (estimate)	Cooldown: 26 / 24 / 22 / 20 / 18 seconds Slow: 35 / 40 / 45 / 50 / 55 %
Lunar Rush	(Active): Diana becomes the living embodiment of the vengeful moon, teleporting to an enemy and dealing magic damage. Lunar Rush has no cooldown when used to teleport to an enemy afflicted with Moonlight, and will consume all active Moonlight debuffs. Range: 800 (estimate)

Diana, Scorn of the Moon, Revealed

2012-07-30T13:19:00.002+01:00

Abilities:

Moonsilver Blade (Passive): Diana has increased Attack Speed. Every third strike cleaves nearby enemies for additional magic damage.
Crescent Strike: Diana swings her blade to unleash a bolt of lunar energy, afflicting enemies with Moonlight and dealing damage in an arc before exploding.
Pale Cascade: Diana creates three orbiting spheres that detonate on contact with enemies to deal damage in an area. She also gains a temporary shield that absorbs damage. This shield is refreshed if all three spheres detonate.
Moonfall: Diana draws in and slows all nearby enemies.
Lunar Rush (Ultimate): Diana teleports to an enemy and deals magic damage. Lunar Rush has no cooldown when used to teleport to a target afflicted with Moonlight.

The tide of battle is turning, summoners. With ceaseless aggression, powered and protected by the lunar light, Diana, Scorn of the Moon, controls and chases her enemies through the battlefield, leaving them no sunlight for solace.

Diana’s high area of effect damage and defensive abilities make her an ideal jungler. Pale Cascade creates three orbiting spheres that detonate and deal damage to any enemy that comes close, while protecting her with a shield that absorbs any incoming damage. If all three orbs are detonated, the shield effect is refreshed, allowing her to absorb even more punishment. This destructive shield, combined with a cleaving attack from her passive, Moonsilver Blade, helps her deal out significant damage to multiple targets as she quickly tears through jungle camps.

Drawing power from the moon, Diana’s kit revolves around her use of Moonlight to prep her enemies for an incoming attack. The breakneck pace of Diana’s gameplay and her relentless chasing potential are driven by the interplay between Crescent Strike and her ultimate ability, Lunar Rush. A unique curved skillshot, Crescent Strike unleashes lunar energy in an arc, damaging any enemies in its path and simultaneously afflicting them with Moonlight. Casting Lunar Rush to teleport to an enemy afflicted by Moonlight will reset the ability cooldown while consuming all active Moonlight debuffs. Judicious use of Moonlight combined with accurate casts of Crescent Strike gives Diana incredible mobility and sustained damage throughout a long fight. While using Lunar Rush only in combination with Moonlight will give Diana the highest damage output over time, you may make a judgment call and accept the longer cooldown to either directly rush a vulnerable target or double tap a Moonlight afflicted enemy for heavy burst damage.

Diana’s kit really comes together in a team fight. After initiating with Crescent Strike and Lunar Rush, she can follow up with Moonfall, drawing in and slowing all nearby enemies, holding them in range for Moonsilver Blade and Pale Cascade until Crescent Strike is ready again. The added durability of her shield helps her survive heavy damage, while the mobility of a Moonlight-enhanced ultimate helps her pursue and assassinate high-value targets. With the complex interplay of her abilities, Diana’s got the potential to control the jungle while executing quick ganks and threatening enemies in team fights.

ZYRA Champion Spotlight

2012-07-24T10:58:00.000+01:00

Welcome to the Zyra Champion Spotlight!

Riot just released the Spotlight to the newest addition to League.

I think she looks pretty ok, Im not sure if I think shes gonna be OP but we will see.

Enjoy :)

Mid July Patch Notes

2012-07-20T12:37:00.001+01:00

New Skins in the Store

Mythic Cassiopeia

PvP.net v1.63

New Matchmaking Upgrades
- Players who are under Level 30 are far less likely to face Level 30s
- Greatly improved matchmaking for premade groups of 4
- Matchmaking improved for highly skilled players trying to queue with lower skilled friends
- Matchmaking in Ranked Solo/Duo Queue now restricts the number of duo queue pairings on each team to 1 per team
Improved initial seeding for Ranked Teams composed of skilled Ranked Solo/Duo players
Summoner Profiles now display the highest Ranked Team rating, instead of Arranged Team ratings

League of Legends v1.0.0.143

Zyra, Rise of the Thorns

Pending the completion of some further testing on PBE, Zyra will be released at a future date.

Akali

Fixed: Mark of the Assassin's tooltip now states the correct Energy return amount

Amumu

Fixed: Despair now displays a range indicator when hovered over

Corki

Fixed: Valkyrie's targeting indicator now scales with distance from Corki

Evelynn (Remade)

Shadow Walk (Passive)
- Evelynn fades away into the shadows. She can only be seen by nearby enemy Champions or true sight
- While in stealth, Evelynn regenerates 1% of her max Mana every second
- Casting spells, taking damage, or dealing damage unstealths Evelynn for 8 seconds
Hate Spike
- 19/23/27/31/35 Mana, 1.5 second Cooldown
- Evelynn fires a line of spikes through a nearby enemy, dealing 40/60/80/100/120 (+0.45 Ability Power) (+0.4 bonus Attack Damage) magic damage to all enemies in its path
- Hate Spike prioritizes what Evelynn has attacked recently
Dark Frenzy
- No Cost, 20 second Cooldown
- Passive: Evelynn's spell hits on enemy Champions grant her 4/8/12/16/20 Movement Speed for 3 seconds (effect stacks up to 4 times)
- Active: Evelynn removes all slows affecting her and gains 30/40/50/60/70% Movement Speed for 3 seconds
- Champion kills and assists refresh Dark Frenzy's cooldown
Ravage
- 50/55/60/65/70 Mana, 9 second Cooldown
- Evelynn slashes a target enemy 2 times, dealing 35/60/85/110/135 (+0.5 Ability Power) (+0.4 bonus Attack Damage) magic damage with each strike
- Evelynn then gains 60/75/90/105/120% Attack Speed for 3 seconds
Agony's Embrace
- 100 Mana, 150/120/90 second Cooldown
- Evelynn impales all enemies in the targeted area, dealing 15/20/25% (+1% per 50 Ability Power) of their maximum Health in magic damage and slowing their Movement Speed by 30/50/70% for 2 seconds
- Evelynn siphons their pain, gaining a 150/225/300 health shield for each enemy Champion hit which lasts up to 6 seconds

Gangplank

Parrrley
- Now refunds half the mana cost if Parrrley kills the target

Garen

Perseverance
- Added a buff timer to show when Perseverance will reactivate

Gragas

Fixed: Body Slam no longer stops when encountering created terrain (ex: Anivia's Crystallize)

Graves

Smokescreen
- Sight reduction range reduced to 675 from 800

Jax

Fixed: Counter Strike's dodge component now works properly against Shen

Kassadin

Riftwalk
- Damage reduced to 60/70/80 from 60/90/120
- Ability Power ratio increased to 0.8 from 0.5

Malphite

Ground Slam
- Armor ratio reduced to 30% from 50%
- Now has a 0.2 Ability Power ratio
- Attack Speed reduction duration reduced to 3 seconds from 4

Malzahar

Summon Voidling (Passive)
- Voidlings prioritize enemies Malzahar is autoattacking if Malefic visions isn't present
- Voidling pathing and general AI improved
- Voidlings will now hide in brush and won't attack if Malzahar is in brush and not in combat
- Voidling dance animation added
Call of the Void
- Delay is now consistent at 0.6 seconds
- Now deals damage in a single hit - rather than two separate hits
- Now grants vision along the entire line path - rather than only at the two end points
- Now deals damage to units surrounding the end points
Null Zone
- Cast time removed - Malzahar may now cast this ability while moving
- Damage now starts 0.25 seconds after casting the ability
Nether Grasp
- Malzahar ignores orders that would cancel his ultimate within the first 0.5 seconds of Nether Grasp
- Voidlings prioritize champions immobilized in Nether Grasp above all other priorities

Mordekaiser

Fixed: Children of the Grave's initial damage now correctly draws turret aggro

Morgana

Black Shield
- Cooldown increased at earlier ranks to 23/21/19/17/15 seconds from 15 at all ranks
- Cast range increased to 750 from 600
Soul Shackles
- Leash range is now more accurate (now updates every 0.25 seconds from 0.5 seconds)

Nocturne

Shroud of Darkness
- Shield duration reduced to 1.5 seconds from 2
Paranoia
- Cooldown increased at earlier ranks to 180/140/100 seconds from 160/130/100
- Updated Umbra Blades tooltip

Nunu

Fixed: Visionary will now grant free cost spells even if spells were ranked up while the Visionary buff was already active

Orianna

General
- Fixed: Attack Range is now 525 at all times.
Command: Attack
- Ability Power ratio increased to 0.5 from 0.4
Command: Shockwave
- Fixed: Now stuns enemies that were in the middle of a movement skill.

Sejuani

Fixed: Arctic Assault no longer stops when encountering created terrain (ex: Anivia's Crystallize)

Sona

General
- Basic attack and Power Chord missile speeds increased to 2000 from 1500
- Aura persistence duration reduced to 1 second after deactivation from 2
- Global cooldown reduced to 0.5 seconds from 2
Power Chord
- Power Chord now resets your attack timer so you can use it immediately
Crescendo
- Now deals all its damage instantly, rather than over time
- Fixed: Opponents can no longer Cleanse the damage portion of Crescendo

Shen

Ki Strike
- Damage reduced to 4 + 4 per level from 4 + 6 per level

Teemo

Camouflage (Passive)
- Fixed: Teemo now gains the Attack Speed buff instantly after leaving invisibility

Tristana

Explosive Shot
- Fixed: Passive damage no longer activates from spell damage
- Fixed: Tooltip now reflects the Ability Power ratio

Twitch (Remade)

Stats
- Attack Range increased to 550 from 500
- Base Health increased to 389 from 356
- Health per level increased to 81 from 78
- Base Mana increased to 220 from 180
- Mana per level increased to 40 from 35
- Base Attack Damage reduced to 47 from 51.56
- Attack Damage per level reduced to 3 from 3.3
- Attack animation improved
Deadly Venom (Passive)
- Damage reduced to 12/24/36/48 per stack from 15/30/45/60
Ambush
- 60 Mana, 16 second Cooldown
- After 1.25 seconds, Twitch becomes invisible for 4/5/6/7/8 seconds and gains 20% Movement Speed. Twitch gains 30/40/50/60/70% Attack Speed for 5 seconds after revealing himself
Venom Cask
- 50 Mana, 13/12/11/10/9 second Cooldown
- Twitch hurls a cask full of venom to target area that slows targets by 25/30/35/40/45% for 3 seconds and adds 2 stacks of Deadly Venom
Expunge
- 70/75/80/85/90 Mana, 12/11/10/9/8 second Cooldown
- Deals 20/35/50/65/80 plus 15/20/25/30/35 (+0.2 Ability Power) (+0.25 bonus Attack Damage) per stack of Deadly Venom as physical damage to all nearby enemies affected by Deadly Venom
- No longer removes Deadly Venom stacks
Spray and Pray
- 100/125/150 Mana, 120/110/100 second Cooldown
- Twitch's basic attacks become powerful piercing bolts with 300 bonus range, and Twitch gains 20/28/36 Attack Damage. Each bolt deals 20% less damage to subsequent targets down to a minimum of 40% damage. Lasts 7 seconds.

Urgot

Acid Hunter
- Damage adjusted to 50/80/110/140/170 (+1.2 bonus Attack Damage) from 10/40/70/100/130 (+0.85 total Attack Damage)
- Lock-on missile cast range reduced to 1200 from 1500
- Fixed: Rank 1 range is no longer higher than the other ranks
Noxian Corrosive Charge
- Cooldown increased to 15/14/13/12/11 seconds from 11 at all ranks
- Cast range reduced to 900 from 950
Hyper-Kinetic Position Reverser
- Cast range reduced to 550/700/850 from 700/775/850

Vladimir

Sanguine Pool
- Movement Speed bonus now decays over time

Xerath

Arcane Barrage
- Reduced the delay between casting the spell and the impact to 0.5 seconds from 0.875 seconds
- The visual indicator for the ultimate will appear at the start of the cast bar instead of at the end

Xin Zhao (Remade)

Stats
- Base Attack Speed increased to 0.672 from 0.658
- Attack Speed per level increased to 2.7% from 2.5%
Challenge (Passive)
- Xin Zhao challenges his target with his basic attacks and Audacious Charge, reducing their Armor by 15% for 3 seconds. Only one target can be challenged at a time.
Three Talon Strikes
- Now reduces his other ability cooldowns by 1 second with each strike
- Attack Damage ratio increased to 1.2 from 1.0
- Cooldown reduced to 9/8/7/6/5 seconds from 10
Battle Cry
- Passive: Heals Xin Zhao for 26/32/38/44/50 (+0.7 Ability Power) every third basic attack
- Active no longer reduces other abilities' cooldowns
- Cooldown reduced to 16/15/14/13/12 seconds from 24/22/20/18/16
- Mana Cost increased to 40 from 35
Audacious Charge
- Now challenges the target
- Damage increased to 70/115/160/205/250 (+0.6 Ability Power) from 70/110/150/190/230 (+0.4 Ability Power)
- Slow increased to 25/30/35/40/45% from 20/25/30/35/40%
- Slow duration increased to 2 seconds from 1.5
- Range reduced to 600 from 650
- Cooldown reduced to 13/12/11/10/9 seconds from 16/15/14/13/12
Crescent Sweep
- Now knocks all unchallenged targets back
- Now has a 1.0 bonus Attack Damage ratio
- Cooldown increased to 100/90/80 seconds from 75
- Armor and Magic Resist bonus adjusted to 15/20/25 per champion hit from 25 + 7/10/13 per champion hit
- Now has a new particle

Yorick

Fixed: Unholy Covenant (Passive) no longer reduces true damage

Ziggs

Satchel Charge
- Cooldown reduced at earlier ranks to 26/24/22/20/18 seconds from 30/27/24/21/18

Summoner's Rift

Outer turret vision range increased to 1095 from 800

Twisted Treeline

The Dragon on Twisted Treeline now has the same chat kill announcement as the Dragon on Summoner's Rift

Items

Heart of Gold
- Health reduced to 200 from 250
Ionic Spark
- Added a counter to show when Ionic Spark will be charged
Philosopher's Stone
- Health Regen per 5 seconds reduced to 15 from 18
Avarice Blade, Heart of Gold, Kage's Lucky Pick, and Philospher's Stone now have counters in their tooltip to indicate how much gold the item has generated over the course of the game

Co-op vs. AI

Changed the way bots evaluate towers to better take into account minions and enemies
Changed return to base logic for bots to make them more likely to heal and purchase items
Dominion bots should now properly ignore invisible units when deciding to defend capture points
Beginner bots are now less likely to assist each other during kill and retreat situations
Fixed: Bot assist logic now works during the laning phase
Updated Ashe Bot's item build
Master Yi Bot should now properly purchase Sanguine Blade on Dominion instead of The Bloodthirster

General

Added character portraits to the Spectator-mode Dragon and Baron kill announcements
Fixed: Spectator no longer occasionally causes floating text announcements to be permanently displayed throughout the game
Fixed: When using time controls, gold numbers will no longer get stuck on the screen for some users
Fixed several issues that occur when reconnecting, including ghost minions, invisible champions, untargetable towers, and strange store behavior
When disconnected, the game will now attempt to reconnect automatically

Evelynn the Widowmaker REMAKE finally!

2012-07-17T13:35:00.000+01:00

Ok so for as long as I can remember Evelynn has been absolutely shit in League. Her abilities were weak and she just wasn't viable in games. She's probably the most common troll pick in games.... but anyways I just found this new Champ Spotlight about the Evelynn remake and thought I'd share. The video has all the details on the new Eve abilities.

I hope after this remake I will see her in a lot of games not as a troll pick but as a champ that actually wants to win a game

Zyra, Rise of the Thorns

2012-07-13T14:50:00.001+01:00

Zyra, Rise of the Thorns is the newest addition to League. Im assuming she will be AP ranged mage. She also reminds me of Slither from Heroes of Newearth, he was pretty OP in HoN so I hope she's just as good in LoL.

I inserted to videos at the end of the post. One is a Zyra skin spotlight and other is Art spotlight.

Queen of Thorns (Passive): Upon dying, Zyra transforms into a vengeful plant that fires one last shot before expiring.
This seems useless to me as you have to be dead for it to happen which you never want to happen.

Deadly Bloom: Zyra grows a bud at target location. After a brief delay it explodes, launching damaging thorns at all nearby enemies. If cast on a seed, Deadly Bloom grows a Thorn Spitter plant, which fires at enemies from afar.

Cost: 75 / ? / ? / ? / ? mana

Magic Damage: 75 / 120 / 165 / 210 / 255 (+0.6 per ability power)

Magic Damage of Rampant:62 / ? / ? / ? / ? (+0.25 per ability power)

Acts like Cho'Gath's knock up without the knock up :D Instead it activates her E for a plant to grow and do damage.

Rampant Growth: Zyra plants a seed, granting vision of an area for up to 30 seconds. Other spells cast on seeds will turn them into plants who fight for Zyra.

This skill seems weak as you have to chain it with another to get the full effect and when you do, the plants do not do much damage at all.

Grasping Roots: Zyra sends forth vines through the ground to ensnare her target, dealing damage and rooting enemies they come across. If cast on a seed, Grasping Roots grows a Vine Lasher, whose short range attacks reduce enemy Movement Speed.

Cost: 70 / ? / ? / ? / ? mana

Magic Damage: 60 / 100 / 140 / 180 / 220 (+0.6 per ability power)

Root Duration: 0.75 / 1 / 1.25 / 1.5 / 1.75 seconds

Magic Damage of Rampant:50 / ? / ? / ? / ? (+0.25 per ability power)

Slow of Rampant: 30 / ? / ? / ? / ?%

Stranglethorns (Ultimate): Zyra summons a twisted thicket at her target location, dealing damage to enemies as it expands and knocking them airborne as it contracts. Plants in the area are enraged, increasing their Attack Speed.

Cost: 100 / ? / ? mana

Magic Damage: 200 / ? / ? (+0.7 per ability power)

Lore:
Longing to take control of her fate, the ancient, dying plant Zyra transferred her consciousness into a human body for a second chance at life. Centuries ago, she and her kind dominated the Plague Lands, using thorns and vines to consume any animal that set foot in their territory. As the years passed, the animal population steadily died off. Food became increasingly scarce, and Zyra could only stand by helplessly as the last of her kin withered away. She thought she would perish alone, until the appearance of an unwary sorceress presented her with an opportunity for salvation.
It was the first time in years Zyra had sensed a creature wander so close. Hunger drew her to the sorceress, but some other, deeper instinct compelled her. She enveloped the woman in thorns with ease, but as she savored this final meal, foreign memories invaded her thoughts. She saw great jungles of metal and stone where humans and animals thrived. Potent magic surged through her vines, and she devised an elegant but risky plan to survive. Using the woman’s memories, Zyra poured her newfound magic into the creation of a human-shaped vessel. She didn’t know what sort of world awaited her, but she had nothing left to lose. When Zyra opened her eyes, she was overwhelmed by the raw power ready at her fingertips. It wasn’t until she noticed the shriveled remains of the plant she once was that she realized how vulnerable she had become. If this body died, there would be no network of vines to retreat through, no roots to regrow her...but she felt truly alive. She beheld the world for the first time as animals did, and a dark smile crept across her lips. She was reborn, and there was so much now within her grasp.
“Closer to the flower, closer to the thorns.” - Zyra

Zyra Art Spotlight

Finally from whats been released on the PBE there are some new skins coming as well. I will post the patch notes as soon as they come. Enjoy :)

All the Jayce Patch Notes here

2012-07-02T16:33:00.002+01:00

As per usual with riot there are some interesting changes in the upcoming Jayce patch. There is alot of work being done on the skins which I have mentioned in a previous blog already but here is some of the new mentioned changes here.

These are some unofficial patch notes that may be implemented or tweaked a little aswell:

Gragas

Base Health increased to 523, from 493.
Armor increased to 19.6 (+3.6), from 18.7 (+2.7)

This reminds me of the recent buff Malphite received. Yes it was minor but i have been seeing him played a little bit more, i hope this will make Gragas a little bit more viable mid in high elo play.

Kennen

Base Damage decreased to 49.3, from 54.6.

A very small nerf but i think it is deserved. Kennen played well can decimate a team 1v5 so a light AD reduction wont affect him too much.

Kog'Maw

Health decreased to 484, from 524.
Living Artillery Additional Mana Cost Cap increased to "Each subsequent Living Artillery in the next 8 seconds costs additional Mana up to a maximum of 400 Mana, from Each subsequent Living Artillery in the next 6 seconds costs additional Mana up to a maximum of 200 Mana.

I think this is defiantly needed. After Graves minor change last patch Kog'Maw has been one of the best AD choices by far and a very strong mid hero essentially giving you a 2in1 combo. This will nerf some of his early game presence and Ultimate damage which can just chunk down enemy Champions.

Rumble

Electro Harpoon Tooltip updated: Danger Zone Bonus: Deals 30% additional damage and slowpercentage is increased to20/26/33/39/45%.
Scrap Shield Tooltip udpated: Danger Zone Bonus: 30% increasein shield health and Movement Speed is increased to13/19/26/32/39%.

Not sure if these were already the numbers Rumble was doing and the tooltip was just wrong but these buffs will make him seen more Top in ranked play.

Warwick

Hungering Strike AP Ratio increased to 75/125/175/225/275 (+1) and 8/10/12/14/16% (+1), from 75/125/175/225/275(+1) and 8/10/12/14/16% (+0)

I don't think this is really needed. Warwick has been nerfed and buffed for a long time and i think he is one of the most balanced Champions in League.

Items

Mana Potion

Gold Cost reduced to 35, from 40.

Good change in my opinion, never really could find a good reason why mana potions cost more.

Back to Jayce again here are his abilities in action. I can't wait to try this guy out.

So they have updated his abilities names. Read my other blog post to see what they do :)
Q - To the Skies / Shock Blast
W - Static Field / Hyper Charge
E - Thundering Blow / Acceleration Gate
R - Deformation

Jayce and ARAM?

2012-06-22T23:47:00.002+01:00

So I have been snooping around for info on the new upcoming stuff for LoL in the new patch and stumbled on the abilities for the 100th champion for LoL and the new All Random All Middle map, a custom game like dominion were there is just one lane and when you die you swap to a new hero but keep the items bought and the level you reached.

Passive: Jayce gains 40 bonus Movespeed and ignores unit collision for 1.25 seconds after each shift.

Hammer Form:

Q – Thunderstrike: Deals magic damage based on % of target’s max HP and knocks target away.
W – Thunderleap: Jayce jumps to target location, dealing physical damage and applying a slow to all enemies hit.
E – Shift Cannon: Shifts into cannon form, gaining increased range and new abilities.

Cannon Form:

Q – Gate of Speed: Jayce summons an electrical gate boosting the Movespeed of teammates passing through. If Jayce’s ranged attacks pass through this gate, the projectiles gain damage/range/speed.
W- Energy Charge: Jayce charges himself with electricity, gaining attack speed for a few attacks.
E- Shift Hammer: Shifts into hammer form, gaining passive armor and magic resist and new abilities.

R- Lighting Field (Both forms): Passive: Jayce gains Mana on Auto attack. Active: Create a Lighting field dealing AoE damage over time.

I have only found his voice but he reminds me of Zeus in Dota. This guy seems like Kennen's big brother he has a strong nuke and movement speed buff with his Q. A gap closer and adrenaline skill with his W. A rang increase and defense buff with E. Finally a AoE spell for team-fights with his R. Any hero that games two abilites from a single spell is strong in my opinion for the amount of utility they bring to a team. The obvious example is Lee Sin and it would be nice to have another hero like him in the League :D

Big Weekend for LoL

2012-06-16T14:55:00.001+01:00

Where to begin, lets start with the good stuff! The new Ezreal skin with its upgrades as you level and with its visual look itself makes it in my opinion the best one to date.

Props to SkinSpotlight on youtube you can check his channel below. As you can see there, the next champion will be Jayce, Tryndamere's sword is getting a much needed size increase, A Scorched Earth Xerath skin, a new Ahri skin which looks nice and a Panda skin for everyone's favorite Teemo :D

http://www.youtube.com/user/SkinSpotlights

I am defiantly going to purchase this skin, the thing i love the most is after a few seconds of running his jetpack animation goes off and looks really cool. I hope Riot keep this trend and introduces more skins with visual changes as you level up. In my opinion it adds more realism to the game, for example when you are hitting for 60 at level 1 and 600 at level 18 and you dont look any different its a bit weird. But if you get a bigger sword or a bigger gun it would make more sense. Hopefully they will make a Pulsefire theme including maybe Tristana, Caitlyn, Orianna and Gangplank.

Next up is Dreamhack over this weekend. I watched M5 beat AL last night and look forward to today's games. Some big teams going to be playing so tune into that. Ill be watching on www.solomid.net Also Riot have introduces LoL to Greece on EU east which will improve the player base there as it is quite small compared to NA and EU West. I hope you all have a nice weekend and enjoy some League of Legends fun.

TSM beat CLG.eu! Next Dignitas vs Dynamic

2012-06-10T00:33:00.001+01:00

After 3 action packed games, TSM take the win over CLG.eu, both teams were looking really dominant throughout the games never giving up much to each other, the last two games were so so close with neither team giving up more than 2k gold at a time, it really was a rocking horse with CLG taking an advantage just as TSM scrape it back and go into the lead. The first game TSM came out really strong winning all the lanes and having a huge advantage winning the game, the second game was very close and the deciding fator was when TSM got baron and Froggen immediatly replied with a quad-kill that made him snowball to victory. The last game was the best as CLG where creeping ahead early game and were looking generally stronger than TSM, until Dyrus on Kennen and Regi on Morgana got their Zhonya's Hourglass' and won a crucial team fight which turned the game around and they pushed hard and fast for the win.

Next up is Dignitas Vs. Dynamic :) what are your predictions for this, im leaning slightly in favour for Dig as they have always been so strong and a genuinely nice team. Check it out live here http://www.solomid.net/livestream.php?s=3249

Draven, the Glorious Executioner. Updated

2012-06-01T03:35:00.002+01:00

Riot have gone all out over the past few weeks releasing two new champions and now a third is on the way. Draven is the newest lineup to the leagues roster. He looks very flashy, fancy and more interested in fame and glory, almost like a happy go lucky killer :D He is defiantly the more bright sided sibling as Darius is just a cold blooded murderer. I do like the sound of him and I am very eager to see how he fairs against Varus, Sivir and the rest of the AD Carries.

So here are the statistics for this guy.

Health: 358(+82) Attack Damage: 46.5(+3.5) Armor: 16(+3.3)
Health Regen: 5(+0.7) Mana: 240 (+42) Magic Res: 30
Mana Regen: 6.95(+0.65) Range: 525 Mov. Speed: 305

Overall I would say his stats are below average for AD's. His range is really an issue with it being a lot lower than most of the other Carries, taking unnecessary poke coming in to last hit. His armor and mana are also below average, this wont matter end game but in lane he is going to be babysat extra hard.

Look at that cheeky little grin, reminds me of a chaotic good rogue or something :) I have looked around for his abilities damage and its scaling and this looks correct. Please don't get mad if its slightly different on release haha.

(Passive) Wicked Blades: Draven's critical strikes deal 30 + (4 × level) bonus physical damage over 4 seconds. Spinning Axe also causes this effect even if it does not critically strike.
I do like this passive, it adds a little RNG back into the game which I do enjoy. I can see an early Avarice Blade being used in a few non-cookie cutter AD Carry builds.

Q: Spinning Axe: Draven's next attack will deal bonus damage. The bonus is equal to 45 / 55 / 65 / 75 / 85% of his total Attack Damage.
This axe will ricochet off the target high up into the air. If Draven catches it, he automatically readies another Spinning Axe.
Draven can have two Spinning Axes at once. Range: 300

Cooldown: 12 / 11 / 10 / 9 / 8 seconds Cost: 45 mana
This sounds like a weaker version of Sivir's Ricochet and even Olaf's Undertow. For an AD Carry to run into range to "pick up" his weapon could but him in a bad position and it doesn't seem worth it in the laning phase.

W: Blood Rush: Draven gains 40/45/50/55/60% increased Movement Speed for 1.5 seconds and 20/25/30/35/40% increased Attack Speed for 3 seconds. The Movement Speed bonus decreases rapidly over its duration.
Catching a Spinning Axe will refresh the cooldown of Blood Rush.
Cost: 40 mana Cooldown: 12 seconds

Again this reminds me of another of Sivir's skills, On The Hunt. in my opinion this adrenaline skill gives him the potential to hyper carry. This ability synergizes extremely well with his Q. Start with W, land a Q, Pick up the Axe, W again, Q again, pick up the second axe and W once more, if chasing a hero 1v1 this is pretty much a guaranteed kill. I want to see this done in game as it sounds stupid and confusing when written down :p

E: Twin Axe: Draven throws his axes, dealing 70/100/130/160/190 (+) physical damage to targets hit and knocking them aside. Targets hit are slowed by 20/25/30/35/40% for 2 seconds.

Cooldown: 18 / 17 / 16 / 15 / 14 seconds Cost: 70 mana
This is similar to Dota's Beastmaster's Wild Axes. I hope the range on this is quite far giving Draven the ability to chase down and kill fleeing champions, the high damage and slow on this with the fact it scales with AD will make this a very yummy skill.

R: Whirling Death: Draven hurls two massive axes to deal 175/275/375 (+) physical damage to each unit struck.
Whirling Death slowly reverses direction and returns to Draven after striking an enemy champion. Draven may also activate this ability while the axe is in the flight to cause it to return early. Deals 8% less damage for each unit it hits (Minimum 40%) and resets when the axes reverse direction.
Cost: 120 mana Cooldown: 110 seconds Range: Global

A very unique Ultimate, it looks like the significant AoE damage from this can turn a team fight around, you will want to use this at max range no matter what to get the maximum amount of carnage from it. Also if you can see the team trying to spread you can instantly return it to catch a hero before they leave the line of fire.

The more I look at Draven the more I like it. His look defiantly appeals to me, he just looks like a really cool crowd pleaser and I hope he will not disappoint. Lore and Artwork aside I think this champion will be another fresh AD carry that will just dominate in a 1v1 situation with the Q and W combo, finally with the AoE damage from his E and R combo will make him formidable in team fights as well. It doesn't look like he has any weak areas except a lack of escape so I am very eager to see his capabilities on the field. Lastly here is a video of his alternative skin and his skills, check it out now!

not active for a bit

2012-05-27T02:19:00.001+01:00

Im currently moving countries so I wont be on much over the next two weeks hopefully after that should be back to normal :D currently watching the TSM invitationals you cant watch it at http://www.solomid.net/

Champion Spotlight and Patch Preview - Darius, the Hand of Noxus

2012-05-23T18:28:00.001+01:00

I thought id share this with you as the Champion is out soon and Phreak as always is giving tips on how to play him. He looks like a good top/jungle hero but it doesn't look like he has very good sustain. The Champion Spotlight videos are always funny to watch for me as the people Phreak is killing really have no clue :D

Hope you enjoy and learn a few things, I am looking forward to him as I enjoy playing top and hope he will be viable. Of course he will counter some heroes and in turn be countered by a few aswell but thats part of the fun in LoL.

The Darius skin just looks like a pimped out shiny version of the original Darius. Its nothing special and I doubt i will be buying the riot point bundle.

In case you have not seen the patch preview this will keep you up to date of all the new changes incoming with Darius, there is also the visual updates and new item and champion changes in the video. Enjoy.

My Favorite Skin Theme

2012-05-22T23:50:00.002+01:00

So there have been a lot of themed skins for LoL with the Hextech, Commando, Pentakill and the Winter/Frost themes etc. They are all really good but my favorite is defiantly the Doctor theme :D

Kennen M.D. has the exact look of House which always makes me laugh when I see him. Im pretty sure every guy alive likes the Nurse Akali skin, for a character she is very cute haha. Lastly Surgeon Shen reminds me of Turk from Scrubs, he looks so intelligent here unlike his other ninja based looks.

These are the other three skins I also love, Ziggs' voice is crazy as it is so when you add this skin as well its even more hilarious. Corporate Mundo is my personal favorite skin at the moment, its so awesome seeing an educated side to the Dr. I wish he would throw his phone sometimes, I would probably just be sitting there throwing suitcases and phones at the trees! Finally everyone's most loved champion... Astronaut Teemo :p if people say they hate him they are secretly lying. His voice is so adorable through a microphone and he drops little satellites instead of mushrooms :)

I have put a poll up and want to see you guys most favorite skins. Please vote so i can see which ones you like.

LoL overhauls with Darius, TSM and Athene!

2012-05-19T22:19:00.001+01:00

This is a very anticipated upcoming patch in LoL, Riot have completely redesigned Summoners Rift and are making it look gorgeous, I have seen it on the test realms and all the new details make it look so much more pretty, from the new animations to the color of the water and a new shopkeeper that looks like Teemo's father :D

So here are the stats for the new hero.

Darius The Hand of Noxus

Damage:53.5(+3.5 per level)
Health:519(+93 per level)
Mana:237.5(+37.5 per level)
Movement Speed:315
Armor:23.5(+3.5 per level)
Magic Resist:31.25(+1.25 per level)
Health Per 5 Sec:8.25
Mana Per 5 Sec:6
Range:125

Hemorrhage

Darius aims his attacks strategically, causing his target bleed. This effect stacks up to five times.

Pretty straight forward passive, nice extra damage similar to gangplank and every stack on an enemy increases your ultimate damage.

Decimate

Deals 70/105/140/175/210 (+0.7) physical damage to all nearby enemies in a circle. Champions in the outer half of the ability are struck by the blade, taking 50% additional damage.
Cost: 40 mana
Range: 425
Cooldown: 9 Seconds

Nuke with a nice little twist, praises good positioning which i like and encourages you to get up close in team fights to hit multiple targets.

Crippling Strike

The next basic attack deals 120/140/160/180/200% damage and slows the target's movement and attack speed by 20/25/30/35/40% for 2 seconds. Crippling Strike's cooldown is reduced by 1 second for each stack of Hemorrhage on the target.
Cost: 30/35/40/45/50 mana
Range: 300
Cooldown: 8 Seconds

Darius' slow, hopefully it will reset swing timer so you can do some burst and slow at the same time, with some Cooldown Reduction and 5 hemorrhage stacks on target, this skill will instantly refresh.

Apprehend

Passive: Grants 5/10/15/20/25% armor penetration.
Active: Pulls in all enemies in front of Darius.
Cost: 45
Range: 550
Cooldown: 24/21/18/15/12 Seconds

I do like the look of this skill, the passive armor penetration will let him scale into late game and another mini cc for him to keep time on target.

Noxian Guillotine

Leaps to target enemy champion and strikes a lethal blow, dealing 160/250/340 (+1.2) true damage. For each stack of Hemorrhage on the target, Noxian Guillotine deals an additional 20% damage. The cooldown is refreshed if Noxian Guillotine kills the target.
Cost: 100
Range: 475
Cooldown: 60 Seconds

A similar ultimate to Garen, he can charge a hero for a huge nuke on the target, if Hemorrhage is stacked this can easily take a hero with 20% hp to dead. I cant wait to see a Play of the week where Darius does 5 ultimate's on a almost dead team after a team fight and get a pentakill :p

So Darius will be a very strong Jungler and equally as viable as a top lane, I hope see him in competitive play soon! There are some slight changes to a couple of other champions in the upcoming patch as well.

Dr. Mundo

Sadism - Maximum Health regenerated reduced to 40/50/60%, from 40/55/70%.

Sad to see as I love Mundo but I think it was needed, not a huge nerf as you will still go from almost dead to full hp with a spirit visage.

Hecarim

Rampage - Damage to minions increased to 66%, from 50%.

Nice damage buff but I doubt it will be enough to see him more in ranked play.

Lulu

Glitterlance - Damage and ability power ratio reduced to 80/125/170/215/260 (+0.5), from 80/130/180/230/280 (+0.6).

This was defiantly needed, Lulu's damage was insane if she went AP carry mid way too much damage and utility from one hero

Malphite

Health increased to 513 (+90 per level), from 505 (+82 per level).

Nice little buff but like Hecarim I doubt it will be enough to see him being played in the Jungle or Top in ranked play.
Fiddlesticks

Darkwind - Damage to minions is increased by 50%.

This change will help Jungle Fiddle's clear time so I like this buff, plus a friend of mine loves playing Jungle Fiddle so he is happy about it :)

Gangplank

Parrrley - Total Gold Plundered added to tooltip

Nice update, like Veigar it will show you how much extra gold you have accumulate from Parrrley.
Ashe

Hawkshot - Total Gold Retrieved added to tooltip.

Like Gangplank this change will be good to show you how much extra gold you have gained. Also in the upcoming patch the Ashe Classic skin will get a big change and hero, Volley and Enchanted Crystal Arrow's color will change for each skin. I have seen pink, purple and light green animations and does look really nice.

So with this huge LoL make-over of course Riot have added a new item to the game and Athene managed to get enough referrals to get an item designed for the game.

Athene's Unholy Grail

Item Cost - 2950
Recipe Cost - 500
Components - Fiendish Codex, Amplifying Tome, Chalice of Harmony
Stats - +80 Ability Power, +40 Magic Resist, +15 MP5, +15% Cooldown Reduction, Passive: Restores 12% of your max Mana on Kill or Assist, UNIQUE Passive: Increases your Mana Regen by 1% per 1% Mana you are missing. Does not stack with Chalice of Harmony.

This will add some variety for the mana hungry AP heroes, I can definatly see this being a core item for Galio in the future.

Speaking of Athene, he managed to get the World first level 60 on Diablo 3 even though he was 6 hours behind the Asian servers. He was also going for World First Inferno Clear but had to stop as Blizzard hot fixed a skill in which their Monk characters could go invulnerable for 2 seconds down to half a second. He decided to go for it with a new setup with a Barbarian Tank and 3 Demon Hunters but Method finished Inferno difficulty it earlier today.

Finally in the National ESL Pro Series, the match was TSM vs CLG.NA, I enjoyed the two matches between them, the first game was very close for the first 20 minutes, it looked like CLG had the advantage with a lot of successful Blitzcrank hooks onto Reginald who was playing Karthus. I don't know if TSM planned to eat these hooks but it worked in favor for TSM every time, Karthus would get some huge AoE damage on CLG's team and just before death, Dyrus playing Kayle would use his ultimate and save Reginald from certain death. This won TSM the team fights and led them to win the game. In the next game TSM really steamrolled CLG going up 17-0 within 20 minutes and going on to effortlessly win the game 24 mins in. This was a slaughter not often seen between two professional teams.

Champion Sneak Peek - Darius

2012-05-16T19:49:00.001+01:00

The newest Champion to join the League has been announced Darius, the Hand of Noxus. This guy looks like an absolute beast! :p a lot of speculation after reading forums that he might be similar to Ax/Legionare from Dota and HoN. There are not any "proc" effecs in LoL so I don't mind seeing this hero being introduced with a similar effect. If you are unfamiliar I will show you what i mean.

		The Legionnaire's skill with a Battle Axe is unrivaled. Every time he is attacked, he has a small chance to perform a Whirling Blade maneuver, which damages all nearby enemies.

Skills Table

Level	Mana Cost	Cooldown	Cast Range	Area of Effect	Duration	Effects
1	N/A	0.7 seconds	N/A	300	N/A	17% chance to damage enemies in radius for 100 when attacked. Gains one charge when attacked, automatically spinning when the 12th charge is gained.

Charges are reset to zero when a spin happens or 5 seconds pass without being hit.
Whirling Blade procs even when stunned, hexed, silenced, etc.

Counter Helix (X)
Mogul Kahn counters some blows made to him dealing damage to all nearby enemy units. 17% chance to trigger.
Level 1 - Deals 100 damage.
• Damage type: physical
• Counter Helix checks for triggering whenever an attack against Axe begins, not when Axe is actually damaged by said attack.
• Area of Effect: 300
Mana Cost: N/A
Cooldown: 0.7/0.65/0.6/0.55

So this is what might be being introduced, the ability is slightly different in HoN with a guaranteed proc after being hit 12 times, from experience i would say i am an unlucky Axe player :) i have sat there in a HoN game watching the 12 stacks count up before getting my swing in the jungle. Garen already has the ultimate but I can see something identical being used. A lot of heroes have an AoE stun as an Ultimate so having two with an execute wont be a problem. I am excited about this new hero as i can see him being a solo top or jungle monster haha, roles I do enjoy playing. And the last four heroes have been AD carry, Jungle, Support and AP mid respectively so i am confident he will be a new addition to the pool of Solo Top heroes :D This is the teaser Riot have released on him, hope to see some updates on skills soon!If you’ve ever been frustrated by your progress in a given position, you might want to look to Darius, the Hand of Noxus, for inspiration. In order to secure his own advancement, this determined champion has repeatedly employed the foolproof method of lopping his boss’ head off. So whether you believe that the road to power is paved with the headless bodies of your enemies, or you simply think that a good beheading is a rather expedient method of dealing with red tape, we think you’ll agree that Darius makes a fine addition to the League of Legends.

* Riot Games does not endorse participation in any beheadings, decapitations or other incidences of fatal mayhem. In the event that you should experience sudden bouts of Machiavellian violence or rapid and very explicable career advancement, please consult your doctor or therapist. By purchasing Darius you absolve Riot Games of responsibility for any maniacal rampages that may ensue.

Athene Going for EU First Level 60 Diablo 3

2012-05-15T00:00:00.000+01:00

So Athene the worlds most famous record breaking profession gamer is going to go for EU first level 60 on Diablo 3, He will be doing it 4 player Co-Op with other WoW legends including Hydra, in my eyes the worlds best Priest player and has been for years. Braindeadly, the Neilyo of Hunters :D and of course Jimos the funny Retribution Paladin, its nice to see the three Englishmen with Athene I bet they are having such a laugh getting prepared for this. Athene is promoting this on his live stream Operation Sharecraft.

This first video had people wondering if he had been banned on the Chinese battle.net, as they could play 6 hours earlier but this was just Athene being Athene :p it was fake and they haven't been banned, they will be starting very soon trying to include the whole community by getting them to donate in game game to level Blacksmithing for him, every 5 thousand gold donated will put you in a pool to win some Razor gear from Operation Sharecraft (which has in fact raised over 625 thousand dollars which is insane and so great!)

I am pretty confident he will make the record as he is a very intelligent gamer and has been practicing on the Diablo 3 Beta a fair amount, and with the amount of fans helping him just like with WoW record and Starcraft record etc. It should not be too hard for him.

Check out his live stream he will be starting very soon http://www.athenelive.com/stream/42146/?Athene

Manchester City Win the Premier League!

2012-05-13T17:46:00.003+01:00

Manchester City scored twice in stoppage time to be crowned champions for the first time in 44 years by beating Queen's Park Rangers to win the Premier League on goal difference.

City took the lead through Pablo Zabaleta seven minutes before half time as they looked set to seal their first league championship since 1968.

But their dreams looked set to be shattered when Djibril Cisse and Jamie Mackie put the R's 2-1 up.
However, Edin Dzeko hit a 90th minute equaliser befor Aguero wrapped up the title with practically the last kick of the season to send the Etihad support into hysteria.
Mancini said: "It was incredible — they deserved this. To win it like this is incredible. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a finale like this.
“We didn’t deserve to lose, we had a lot of chances and we deserved to win the game and championship.
“It’s fantastic for the club and the supporters after 44 years. It’s been a crazy season and a crazy last minute.”

Possession

QPR 38% Manchester City 62%

102mins

City were defiantly dominant in their game and even though im an Arsenal fan they deserved the trophy. A lot of people will say they bought it but i have watched them play and they have gelled well over the season and are a very strong team indeed. The league tables was very close for the 3-6 spots for the UEFA and of course the Champions League, it will be interesting how Newcastle will do as they have come out of nowhere this season and have been incredible, this is the table after the final matches today.

#	Team Name	P	W	D	L	F	A	GD	PTS
1	Manchester City	38	28	5	5	93	29	+64	89
2	Manchester United	38	28	5	5	89	33	+56	89
3	Arsenal	38	21	7	10	74	49	+25	70
4	Tottenham	38	20	9	9	66	41	+25	69
5	Newcastle	38	19	8	11	56	51	+5	65
6	Chelsea	38	18	10	10	65	46	+19	64
7	Everton	38	15	11	12	50	40	+10	56
8	Liverpool	38	14	10	14	47	40	+7	52
9	Fulham	38	14	10	14	48	51	–3	52
10	West Bromwich	38	13	8	17	45	52	–7	47
11	Swansea	38	12	11	15	44	51	–7	47
12	Norwich	38	12	11	15	52	66	–14	47
13	Sunderland	38	11	12	15	45	46	–1	45
14	Stoke	38	11	12	15	36	53	–17	45
15	Wigan	38	11	10	17	42	62	–20	43
16	Aston Villa	38	7	17	14	37	53	–16	38
17	Queens Park Rangers	38	10	7	21	43	66	–23	37
18	Bolton	38	10	6	22	46	77	–31	36
19	Blackburn	38	8	7	23	48	78	–30	31
20	Wolverhampton	38	5	10	23	40	82	–42	25

Mentioning the United game i thought it was very dull i hate to say it but their last few games have been very similar and i feel like they lost the passion after their loss to City a few weeks ago. I will be very looking forward to the transfers coming up the biggest rumor i have heard is Gareth Bale going to Barcelona.

But wow congratulations to Manchester City with your well earned trophy, i am very very excited for next season, i want to see some flair from Liverpool and Chelsea to see them climb the tables and show England they are still some of the best teams out there :D

Solomid EU Invitationals

2012-05-12T14:55:00.000+01:00

Just a quick update because im watching the stream live myself but its the TSM is having their first European tournament, eight invited teams will compete for a prize pool of 1500 Euros. Attending teams include Against All Authority, Counter Logic Gaming EU and Absolute Legends, and of course Team SoloMid. The tournament is live right now and continues on Sunday, May 13 at 4:00 am Pacific Time (13:00 CEST). Follow all of the action at http://www.solomid.net/

This is mostly for fun with only 1.5k up for grabs but im sure tsm will make most of the money back for the stream over the next two days, its the first match and there are already 19k viewesr, and a few thousand on dyrus and chaox streams aswell. This is going to be very entertaining as its TSM vs AL first go check it out

TSM not going to ESL

2012-05-11T03:22:00.001+01:00

So Team Solo Mid are not attending the upcoming ESL due to them not being able to stream it. As it is their main source of income and ESL also make all the people attending unable to stream so they get all the viewing commerce. ESL also make the teams and players pay to travel and thier own accommodation, so even if TSM won they wouldn't make as much money from streaming it.

1.6.1.4 League bans and penalty points outside The Intel Extreme Masters League bans and penalty points outside the Intel Extreme Masters do normally not apply towards the Intel Extreme Masters the exception is when the penalty points have been awarded due to cheating. Some other misbehaviours like ringing/faking or insults can also be punished, depending on the severity.

The casters have made enemies here and there are rumors that they are going to be banned to other upcoming tournaments for a year but this is just false. Others are saying TSM want to dodge this tournament as they haven't been playing to their full potential loosing scrims to team as SK and Epik Gamer. Being a TSM fan this saddens me but at the end of the day they need to pay bills and could easily come to a deal with ESL to share the income from streaming to the 200+ thousand expected viewers.

New Free Champion Rotation (Season Two: Week 24)

2012-05-09T00:36:00.000+01:00

So he is here, and yeah he is pretty unstoppable. Played him a lot today and he is very hard to beat, his damage is naturally high with a passive Wit's End, and a quick double tap of Q in a trade if you have 3 stacks of your passive on your target will win even against Vayne's burst.

His passive is better than I expected, if you need to push a lane his passive last long enough for you to kill a melee creep just in time to refresh on another melee creep. His Q is so much fun and reminds me of when I played Windrunner in Dota, she was one of my favorite heroes so this makes me really happy haha.

His W is also good as it is % health based, this makes him a strong carry throughout the game so i am looking forward to see him in tournament scrims and upcoming matches. His E is a tiny bit weaker than i thought, yeah it slows and reduces healing received but the debuff is instantly gone if you move out of it. I suppose if it was not like that it would be considered too OP, I usually use it a few seconds into a team fight or in choke points so enemies have to run through it to chase you. Finnaly his ulti is so fun, i remember a match today we were loosing a team fight, i cast it and it bounced through all 5 heroes cripplingly slowing them and we turned the fight around and aced them :D

A good mix of Free to Play heroes this week

Mid: Annie Twisted Fate Vladimir Talon
Top: Kayle Malphite Olaf Warwick Vladimir Talon
AD: Caitlyn Twisted Fate
Jungle: Olaf Talon Warwick Malphite
Support: Kayle Leona

Alot of bruisers this week mainly top/jungle heroes, nobody too OP so thats nice, lastly IPL 5 Open Regional Qualifiers has been announced so I will be watching that routing for TSM :p

Varus, the Arrow of Retribution

2012-05-06T02:29:00.001+01:00

So I am pretty excited about this new hero coming out. This guy is going to be a new AD carry, I am a solo top player but play AD carry as my second choice so I will defiantly be trying him out, I have done some research and found some builds that can build him as AP and he can almost do as much damage if he was AD. This means he has the potential to go mid like Kog'Maw and Tristana.

Health 482 (+82) Attack damage 49.0 (+3.2)

Health regen 4.5 (+0.55) Attack speed 0.658 (+2.65%)

Mana 286 (+36) Armor 16.9 (+3.4)

Mana regen 6.5 (0.6) Magic res. 30

Range 575 Mov. Speed 310

Ok so these base stats are really good, alot of them are higher than all other AD carries so he is looking very promising. Now for his abilities.

(Innate): On champion kill or assist, Varus gains 40% attack speed for 6 seconds.

On minion kill, Varus gains 20% attack speed for 3 seconds.

Im not too sure about this passive, obviously it is good in some situations, for example in a team fight if you manage to pick off a hero early, maybe the support or someone out of position you snowball and can do some really good damage. But when you are laning the 20% is kind of useless as you are only last hitting, it could be okay if you last hit the last creep of the way then get some cheeky fast shots in.

Q Piercing Arrow

(First Cast): Varus starts drawing back his next shot, gradually increasing its range and damage.

(Second Cast): Varus fires, dealing physical damage, reduced by 15% per enemy hit (minimum 33%). While preparing to shoot, Varus cannot autoattack or use abilities, and his movement speed is slowed by 20%. After 4 seconds, Piercing Arrow fails but refunds half its mana cost.

Cooldown: 16 / 14 / 12 / 10 / 8 seconds

Cost: 70 / 75 / 80 / 85 / 90 mana

Minimum Damage: 10 / 43 / 77 / 110 / 143 (+1.0 per attack damage)

Maximum Damage: 15 / 65 / 115 / 165 / 215 (+1.6 per attack damage)

This skill is very interesting, it reminds me of Windrunners Q in HoN, you press Q and the range steadily increases until you release the shot, you can move around but your movement is slower, the damage is small early but with a 1.6 attack damage scale end game it will be doing 500 or so damage which is not bad.

W Blighted Quiver

(Passive): Varus' basic attacks deal bonus magic damage and apply Blight for 6 seconds (stacks 3 times).

Varus' other abilities detonate Blight, dealing magic damage equal to a percentage of the target's maximum health per stack. This damage is capped against monsters.

On-hit Damage: 10 / 14 / 18 / 22 / 26 (+0.25 per ability power)

Blight Damage per Stack: 2 / 2.75 / 3.5 / 4.25 / 5% (+0.01% per ability power)

This passive is okay, if you max it first your auto attacks will be doing some nice damage but it scales with AP so im not sure how useful it will be, I do like the stacking debuff which detonates with another spell though, at max rank with 3 stacks on a hero you can do 15% of their max life which is insane. I can see some Vayne-like Black Cleaver builds on this guy.

E Hail of Arrows

(Active): Varus fires a hail of arrows that deals physical damage and desecrates the ground for 4 seconds.

Desecrated Ground reduces healing effects by 50% and slows enemy movement speed.

Cost: 80 mana
Range: 925

Cooldown: 18 / 16 / 14 / 12 / 10seconds

Physical Damage: 65 / 105 / 145 / 185 / 225 (+0.6 per bonus attack damage)

Slow Percentage: 30 / 35 / 40 / 45 / 50%

This ability is like Miss Fortunes Make it Rain, but it also gives a 50% healing debuff, again this ability is really strong, an AoE 50% healing debuff with a slow in a teamfight will just instantly turn it to your favour.

R Chain of Corruption

(Active): Varus flings out a tendril of corruption that deals magic damage and immobilizes the first enemy champion hit for 2 seconds.

The corruption then spreads towards nearby uninfected enemy champions, applying the same damage and immobilize if it reaches them. The corruption will continue to spread until there are no further unaffected targets in range.

Cost: 120 mana
Range: 1075

Cooldown: 120 / 105 / 90seconds

Magic Damage: 150 / 250 / 350(+1.0 per ability power)

This an AoE skillshot stun like Sejuani's, this has alot of potential if you Hail of Arrows into your ultimate you will have a huge edge in a team fight or just a 2v2 bot lane, I really like it but mixed with all of this other skills he seems a little overpowered, but most champions are like this on release. Overall I think this hero will be in almost every game for a few weeks as his base stats are naturally high and his abilities are really strong in 1v1 and in team fights.

Ill leave the lore here if you want to read it, it is better than some of the other ones haha

Lore:

For his incomparable skill with the bow and his unquestioned sense of honor, Varus was chosen to be the warden of a sacred Ionian temple. The temple was built to contain an ancient pit of corruption so vile that Ionian Elders feared it could envelop the island in darkness. Varus prided himself on his position, as only the most exceptional Ionian warriors were selected for the role. He lived with his family in a nearby village and led a quiet life of disciplined routine until the day the forces of Noxus invaded Ionia. Their shock troops left nothing but death and desolation in their wake, and the temple lay in their path. Varus was forced to make a decision. He was bound by honor to stay and defend the temple, but without him the village's few inhabitants could offer little resistance against the oncoming war machine. Gravely, he chose to fulfill his duty as a warden. The corruption could not be allowed to escape.

His arrows sundered the troops who tried to wrest the temple from him that day. However, when he returned to the village, he found that it had been reduced to a smoldering graveyard. Remorse at the sight of his slain family gave way to overwhelming regret and then to seething hatred. He swore to slaughter every Noxian invader, but first he needed to become stronger. He turned to that which he had sacrificed everything to protect. The pit of corruption would consume him wholly, as a flame devours a wick, but its abominable power would burn within him until he was lost. This was a path from which there could be no return. With grim resolve, he condemned himself to the black flames, feeling malevolent energy bond to his skin...and with it, the promise of ruin. He left, seeking the blood of all Noxians involved with the invasion, a grisly task that eventually led him to the invasion's most infamous perpetrators in the League of Legends.

''The life of an arrow is fleeting, built of nothing but direction and intent.''
-Varus

May Day

2012-05-02T22:52:00.003+01:00

So yesterday was great having a free day off, I decided to go with some friends to see 21 Jump Street. It was actually a very funny comedy, a nerd and a jock go back to school after 7 years undercover to find out who is selling a deadly drug, their roles somehow get reversed and Jonah Hill is the popular guy and Channing Tatum is the nerd. I was laughing from start to finish and would recommend you guys check this film out. Also check out the Avengers, i watched it on Sunday and it was epic :D

Im also thinking about going snowmobiling or skiing this weekend before the snow melts any more making it hard to do :(

Another pretty cool thing that happened for me at least :p was the new patch on LoL introducing spectator mode, allowing you to watch your friends and high ranking players play with a 3 minute delay, this is very nice as i already spend a lot of time watching the pros stream on Twitch/Own3d.

One final thing was the match between Manchester United and Manchester City, I watched the game on one of the only Sky box's in Iceland haha and I must say it was a very disappointing game. Being an Arsenal fan myself i'm happy with the 3rd place we should get but this match was going to decide the title, It was only 1-0 to City with the captain Vincent Kompany scoring a header from a corner kick in the 45th minute, apart from that it was very quiet with Unite not even having a single shot on target which hasn't happened for them in years. If these two team both win (and they should) their last two games then City will win the Premier League on goal difference which is absolutely crazy but hey, I guess that's why they call it the beautiful game. I hope you all enjoyed and spent the day well and I will write about something good soon :)

Golden Circle

2012-04-29T20:31:00.000+01:00

I have been so busy this weekend, I was planning to make a post on Friday then I got called into work over the weekend which sucked, I was planning on going to the Golden Circle on a tour bus with some friends. I have been before but the weather was nice and it seemed like a good idea. Alas work comes first. Ill show you what I missed out on.

So the first stop is Þingvellir. It is the area of the first parliament in the world founded in AD 874, every year people from all over Iceland would travel to this place of importance and throw a festival. Its located on 2 tectonic plates the Eurasian and American which is very unique. Its one of the most visited tourist destinations here :D

Next on the tour is my favorite, Gullfoss waterfall, it is a 100ft deep and just a spectacular sight, the mist spray is why there is a double rainbow haha, i had a picture of a triple rainbow but i cant find it :(

I have already mentioned the Geysers but it is on the tour, this is a picture of Strokkur, it is the bigger of the two geysers and erupts left, the other one, just called Geysir erupts once every 5 minutes but not as explosive :p

The last main stop on the tour is Kerið. I havent been here personally but I would like too, some tours miss out on this, Hveragerði which is a greenhouse village that has earthquakes everyday, Skálholt which is a historical church and Nesjavellir which is a geothermal power plant, I will write more about these places in a later post including snowmobiling! Back to Kerið though, it is a 3000 year old crater which filled with water making it a lake in the middle of nowhere. The caldera is still visable which gives the rocks that reddish tint which looks like nothing else i have seen before, I am very interested in going here and seeing it in real life lol. But yeah that's about it I hope you all had a good weekend I am off to watch the new Avengers film ^_^

more LoL

2012-04-26T17:16:00.001+01:00

Been really looking for ways to improve at LoL, going to start playing ranked a lot more and want to get my head around it :D found two more new cheat sheets that I am currently using. Take a look I hope they are big enough to read!

This pic explains itself, Every cool down, damage, creep and wards :p very nice guide to refer to to see how well you are doing. If its too small click on the image then right click and open in new tab, then you can zoom in and read it all ^_^

So this is a cheeky little guide to play the champions. I've learnt most of this so i know what to expect from my opponent and it really has helped me out.

Im sorry i don't know why i posted this pic haha ;) it really made me and my friends laugh. Hope you find it funny too, sorry for such a short post but im planning a trip to the Geysers in Iceland again should have a new post with some good pics soon.