Shanco

Here have some J-pop

Can't believe I never played ranked this season before now... First few mins went fuckward, Yasuo got FB but I managed to get a triple kill down bot. Later on, we began stomping fights but Amumu threw a tantrum (no pun intended) because Janna would always shield Caitlyn over him and he always died...lol. Thus, he decided not to teamfight anymore, and we ended up losing map control as a result, and with it, Baron, but I was able to kite and stall them out long enough for the rest of the team to catch up in CS and items. In the last teamfight, I initiated with a ballsy flash Satchel, Quinn recovered from coughing up first blood and got a penta, and that was all she wrote. A lot more stressful than it needed to be, but I did my part well! EDIT: Yeah, Janna was the real MVP. Best peel NA.

Glad Teemo is getting his Satanic skin, but I'm kinda disappointed about Morgana. She could really use something 1820-tier as an excuse to get out of that awfully outdated rig she has now. Rabadon's, totally! He has the scalings to use Rabadon's very well if he's got the cash. Nashor's? Uh, I don't know, but I can see the wisdom in this pickup. The AP and CDR are hella nice, but it's like building said item on Twisted Fate. You can't always justify being in autoattack range, even with the generous damage boost, so oftentimes when you're playing from the back line in teamfights (as you should be) the Attack Speed and bonus damage passive from Nashor's can really go to waste.

Now I haven't been watching a whole lot of Worlds - in fact, I haven't watched any at all. I've been instead playing, both on live and on the PBE, with the latter having an upcoming champ enabled for testing. That's what I've been watching - Ivern play. But why would I just watch? I've got a couple of Ivern games under my belt, so here are some initial thoughts. Ivern's Niche Mage-jungler who transitions to a full support later into the game. Pairs very well with Melee champs like Darius. Pros Impressive AP scalings Tons of utility, including an immensely powerful slow on a basic spell Doesn't need a leash at level 1 Deceptively powerful early game The perfect complement to "punish" characters like Darius and Blitzcrank Controllable, tanky-ass minion draws aggro Two blue buffs (Just don't let one fall into the wrong hands!) The character's goofiness makes him fun to play Cons No sustain. Reliant on red buff for health returns No immediate escapes Poor counterjungling Long base cooldowns for rank 1 spells Does only magic damage with no % health bonuses Very tricky/awkward character to play at first (not confusing, just...really weird) Ivern's Damage Outside of his own autos, everything Ivern does - including Daisy's autoattacks - is AP-scaling magic damage. That said, both Rootcaller and Triggerseed have 70% AP scaling on their damage portions, which will really leave a mark if Ivern gets ahead. It makes sense to buy AP for this whenever reasonable, as Daisy's damage, Health, Armor and Magic Resist all scale with it. Maturing and freeing camps This is the most confusing part of playing Ivern, but is pretty easy once you figure it out. Ordering a basic attack on a monster camp instead expends a portion of Health and Mana to place a grove on it after a short channel. This grove matures over a time (40 seconds, but it gets gradually shorter with level), and once the grove is ready, your team will be notified with a silent ping on the minimap. Simply right-clicking a "mature" camp frees the monsters, which is the equivalent to clearing it out, granting all the camp's gold and experience. Once you learn how to harness this passive, the possibilities are endless. After Smiting down the red camp to gain level 2 (which I would only recommend doing in specific situations), you can do something like drop a grove on blue, go gank mid, then come back and kablammo, the camp's ripe for the picking. Alternatively, you can go along and grove the camps, then after a recall or something, you can pick them one by one as you go along. Ivern is extremely flexible in the early game because of this; it's going to take a lot of time to get used to, but once you figure him out, you'll come to appreciate this champion's extreme gameplay flexibility. You have to wait until the grove has matured to free the camps, but the impatient can always Smite one to free it immediately. Power spike Despite all the power that Ivern possesses being (on paper) very powerful in teamfights, don't be fooled; this champion is an early-game monster. He simply is not limited in things to do pre-6, combined with ganks that are devastatingly powerful, especially in the top lane. The dearth in power that Ivern feels is through the mid-game, when it's harder to successfully use his control skills, but it's not difficult for him to enjoy success in the late stages of the game simply due to his AP scalings and all dat utility. Ivern in other positions I would not be surprised if Ivern entered the competitive meta as a dedicated support. Utility, base damage, mind games, Ivern's got it all. He is also a huge help in jungle ganks, applying Rootcaller for a free dash, and Triggerseed to provide some extra muscle for going deep. Paired with a champion like Corki or Graves, the two can combine their immense burst to punish a positional mistake so hard that you'll make the enemy ADC cower in fear. And if you get the lead and take out a turret, Ivern can prove crucial in seizing control of the enemy jungle, as well as providing an escape for his teammates simply by throwing a Rootcaller at a nearby monster to help your mates nope.avi straight the hell out of a bad jungle fight. Example build 1 Ivern can take numerous item build paths, but here's one build, all of which being items you should take into consideration. Tracker's Knife w/ Runic Echoes ench. Ionian Boots of Lucidity Athene's Unholy Grail Hextech Protobelt-01 Liandry's Torment Dead Man's Plate Runic Echoes is almost a must on Ivern; he's not a tank, he's a mage! Runic Echoes applies to the already pretty high base damage of Rootcaller, making Ivern's Q hurt a ton in ganks. Ionian Boots of Lucidity is a great buy, due to how heavily Ivern hinges on Cooldown Reduction, as well as the Flash CDR being a huge boon for a rather immobile champ (not to mention how much the Smite CDR helps his clear). This is about where Ivern's build core ends. After those two items are built, you can change your build up quite a bit from game to game. One very notable item is Athene's Unholy Grail; Ivern loves Cooldown Reduction, and the shield works well with the passive from Athene's. Hextech Protobelt-01 is an interesting move that can give Ivern a little extra burst, an extra escape, or a tool to help him get in range to land the slow from Triggerseed. Next, given Ivern's high base damage and the amount of CC he has, Liandry's Torment is an item to consider, and finally, Dead Man's Plate gives him much-needed mobility out of combat and an autoattack buff that complements his Brushmaking ability very well. I might add to this later, but for now, here's his Champion Spotlight, which will teach you a lot of Ivern tricks provided you can deal with the tree or four bad puns...

BOMBS AWAY! Not the character I imagined I'd first reach mastery level 5 with, but we take those

By the time I had thought to stop buying pinks and get the alteration, the game was over. EDIT: Not only did I do damage, I did damage control after a disastrous start for our top nearly cost us all.

I haven't played Leona in years, and for some reason it was like riding a bike.

Because the game knows that anyone who can pull off the Dive Bomb Aatrox build is a straight up G. EDIT: Getting chased all the way down mid lane at 800 Movement Speed by Yi/Udyr is a very scary experience, but I survived long enough to get the bombs that counted.

There's no way Urien can be low tier with how amazing his buttons are. Super long range, many lights and mediums are safe as fuck, and crouching heavy punch is a nightmare to get hit by. But yeah, his meta needs to be developed before we can get an actual scope on where he's at. So far, we know he absolutely facerolls once he has the momentum, but his wakeup is beyond awful, even for a game with awful wakeups in general. He's forced to use EX headbutt for his only invincible reversal, and you can bet that shit is hella unsafe. Opinions seem mixed on his Super, but he can OTG with it, so a Crush Counter sweep will combo into it nicely without the need to use Aegis Reflector to set it up. While Tackle seems inferior to Headbutt on the surface, it has some very noteworthy properties: It closes large gaps quicker and safer than Headbutt It's a solid ender to his BnB (Cr. HP, HP fireball, any Tackle) When combined with V-skill it almost completely nullifies zoning since you can punish fireballs on reaction with the HK or EX version. EX causes hard knockdown, which couples Urien's above-average wakeup pressure very well. HK version can cross-up, even on block, if combined with Aegis Reflector. All versions cancel into Super making it a gross hit confirm to finish the round. Also worth noting, the Super cancels out fireballs, which means he's almost untouchable while the Super is still going (super punishable recovery, however). This priority also means that it ends up cancelling out itself in the Urien mirror match. This man is gonna be such a pubstomper

Looks like there is a small tidbit in the information provided that it seems everyone missed. Star Guardian Jinx is a Legendary (1820 RP) skin. Every other skin is 1350, so they aren't gonna break your wallet as hard when you're saving for the next Lux skin...or the Ivern skin, which is expected to be revealed today alongside Ivern himself.

This was the stupidest thing...

Still not confirmed, but a supposedly credible source has provided us with the name for the next Ultimate skin, and it could come as early as next PBE cycle. The supposed skin: I'll keep you guys posted as more info pops up, but for now, take it with a grain of salt. EDIT 1: This same source has provided us with which four champions are supposedly getting the next Star Guardian skins: Lulu, Poppy, Jinx, and Janna. They also stated that Ivern's release skin will be Candy King Ivern. They stated that these 5 skins will be on PBE next week alongside Ivern, but there is no word of when the Ultimate skin will be revealed. Unlikely that the Ultimate skin comes next week; never has an Ultimate been released alongside another skin, but early beta testing is definitely possible (DJ Sona took two, maybe three cycles to finish).

Revisited Yasuo after a very long time without touching him. Lane was kinda rough until Wit's End rush was finished, then I just ran around destroying skirmishes with Volibear. It was awesome.

My guesses: Gangplank, Hecarim, Ekko, Ashe, or Soraka

I don't know, I have a lot of stuff to sort out I'm not above getting some help for the next one (and I probably will).

Yoooooooooo. As mentioned before, popular demand has dictated that the next iteration of the Smash 4 Power Rankings not be left in limbo, so alas, here it is. There's a lot more data to go off of this time than the last - three events (counting Summer Struggle Wii U / 3DS separately), loads of friendlies, a number of replays, and even some out of region results for a handful of folks. This made this iteration of the Power Rankings much easier to conceive than the last - well, until I realized DD and Pyrrhon needed to fight for #1. Some fresh blood on the PR, some returning veterans busting out strong secondaries - it's very heartwarming to see the game being played so broadly and so competitively. Of course, not everyone can share the stage of history, so the top 5 and HMs have been handpicked ever so carefully using the forementioned factors. And without further ado, here it is. Dark Desire (Bayonetta / Corrin / Pittoo) - After heavy dedication to his main of Bayonetta, Dark Desire has asserted his reign over the Reborn Smash community. Victories in tournaments on both platforms are huge for his ranking, reaching heights with Bayonetta where the crutch of a secondary is no longer needed. Most notably, he nearly went the entire Spirit of EVO tournament without losing a single stock until he ran into Abbey Street in Grand Finals. Definitely someone who deserves some offline exposure should he ever find an opportunity. Pyrrhon (Luigi / Shulk / Kirby) - The poster boy for consistency, Pyrrhon took the Summer Struggle's Wii U side without much of a...er, struggle, and went head to head with Dark Desire on the 3DS side. His Luigi is very strong, with the secondaries to back it up. His no-show at Spirit of EVO led to him losing his title to Dark Desire, but with potential for more events in the not so distant future, there's no doubt that Pyrrhon will return to claim what once belonged to him and his crazy-ass Luigi. Abbey Street (Roy / Ganondorf / Lucina) - Despite being surpassed by Dark Desire to go alongside a switch of mains, Abbey Street stays the middle of the rankings. With results both online and offline, and being able to easily handle horrible matchups using mediocre characters, Abbey was a prime candidate for #2 but Pyrrhon has consistently run a truck through him in games outside of tourneys. Losing terribly to Maelstrom at Summer Struggle didn't help his standing either, but he remains a force who can still hold his own against the vast majority of the community. Maelstrom (Corrin / Ike) - Maelstrom snuck into the rankings after impressive performances on both platforms on which the Summer Struggle was held, resorting to Corrin as well as his classic Ike. Despite his results being arguably inferior to OmegaRa1der's, he has better wins in those tournaments, including a convincing victory over Abbey Street. Like Pyrrhon, his secondaries are also very strong, including Ike, DK and Mewtwo. A first-place finish at a future event is anything but out of the question. OmegaRa1der (Ganondorf / Cloud) - After tutelage from fellow Canadian Ganondorf players like Kosk and Abbey Street, OmegaRa1der has finally garnered notable results. He has racked up his fair share of quick, decisive victories using both Ganon and Cloud, enough to leapfrog both FraRPetO and Godot. His performances against Dark Desire and Pyrrhon, however, haven't been the greatest, but given the work he's put in so far with his characters of choice, we're eagerly awaiting the next time he joins an event. HONORABLE MENTIONS FraRPetO - despite some noteworthy victories his results still fall short of the top 5. His Marth has reportedly shown a lot of promise, so maybe if he puts in a little more work on this character, he can get his PR spot back. Godot - Godot's only recent result was a disappointing 5th at Spirit of EVO, so for the large part his fall from grace can be attributed to inactivity. Don't ever write him off, though, as his Yoshi and Duck Hunt are the stuff of nightmares. Felix the Cat - A second place finisher at Summer Struggle's 3DS end, Felix has yet to prove himself with his true main - R.O.B., which was banned from said event. Future events will promise to give Felix ample opportunity. Again, if you're not here, or even if you are, we want ya to come out and play us! We're always down to fight some fresh blood (or returning veterans). There isn't a shortage of people to play here on both systems, so if you're really feeling it, go ahead and give us a challenge.

I outdamaged everyone in the game with 40% CDR rush, but that don't mean shit when your Kog never teamfights. EDIT: Why in the world do people at this elo prioritize red buff over protecting tower/inhibitor? Dammit, Ryze...