In terms of slang, being called a dirty rat has a lot of negative connotations. Normally, you’re considered a liar, a schemer who betrays their allies and is only out for themselves. Maybe you think of noted dirty rat Peter Pettigrew, or Randall from Recess or even Gollum. A clever, tricky scheming rat that doesn’t jump into mind immediately is probably jungle Twitch, whose antics allo

With week one of the World Championship stage past us, teams have gotten more and more used to playing on the Worlds patch and discovering what does and doesn’t work. For the most part, the priorities that were cemented in the play-in stage seem to have remained relatively constant. Hypercarries have ruled the bot lane alongside Ardent Censer supports, but the top lane has seen visceral change fro

Sometimes, the off meta picks that I cover here have found their way into the highest levels of competitive play. Not only that, but those picks normally do very well for themselves, netting positive win rates and praise for innovation. This time however, while the cat's out of the bag in solo queue, Rengar top has not been picked up in pro play. Yet.Rengar sits at well above a 50% win rate in the

As competitive play sits on patch 7.18, the current World Championships have brought about a meta focused on Ardent Censer. However, that's not something that the live servers are completely in tune with. Instead, patch 7.19 has brought some much needed nerfs to Worlds picks, and with that, a new and different sense of what's strong and what can be abused in the game.By far the biggest cha

As the 2017 World Championships have come into fruition, the Play-In stages have given us a few insights as to how exactly the picks and bans will shape up for the later stages of the tournament. Many different champions that everyone has suspected to crop up have, but one that has been a particular sight to see is Galio in the top lane. Featuring both the highest presence and the highest win rate

When it comes to the mid lane in competitive play, control mages and AD carries take up the likely choices for people such as Bjergsen and Jensen. However, there are a few stellar picks that totally avoid being seen in competitive play. Often, this is because more co-ordinated teams can shut down these picks.Or, it's also because no one plays it, so they have no idea it's good. Pros often

Barely any competitive play has surfaced in the past week, but Patch 7.18 has come around, giving us insight on what to expect at the World Championship. This week, I'm going to take a look at what I believe we will see at all stages of Worlds.A massive patch in its own right, going through each position will glean insight on what's strong in the patch and which champions will inevitably r

There’s a classic mantra in Riot’s champion game design that's often forgotten yet often utilized: if your favorite champion is total trash in the lane they’re meant to be played in then maybe you should try jungling with them.That saying rings true for a lot of cases. Graves’ rework threw him in the jungle. Lulu, now that she is out of the meta a bit, sees that junglin

League’s latest playable champions in competitive have resurfaced as extremely powerful picks in the current meta, and mostly as separately playable champions rather than a perfect pair.In competitively play, the duo see themselves often picked up in the first phases of the draft, in order to aggressively utilize their early and late game power, try to collect both of them in one draft rotation an

The jungle is boring right now. You know it, I know it, everybody knows it. Junglers are mostly tanks in the current meta, ones looking to farm and become big balls of stats to protect their carries. But take heed, because Talon jungle can make jungling fun again in this drab meta.The Blade's Shadow has extreme mobility and immense invade pressure that will completely throw off current jungle pick

Junglers, alongside AD carries, have seen some of the lowest diversity in the latter half this split. Though Elise stands alone as a frequently used carry jungler, tanks have mostly populated the forested portions of the Rift. It makes sense, thanks to the new tank item buffs and the need for beefier frontlines in the face of a hyper carry backline meta.In Europe, Gragas is completely faltering, w

If there’s one skill that sums up solo queue mentality, it’s the idea of the “1v9”. The theory and necessity that suggests that individuals have to carry games on their own, because they are the only reliable piece to succeed across all games they play. This mentality is often wrong, and even the best 1v9 attempts need the help of teammates to either be creators of space or full distractions for t

Often, I've been described by others as a mad scientist of sorts. I come up with wacky ideas that end up working out, and even eventually see professional play. Listen, not everyone can be an adopter of the best ideas on day one. I understand, it makes sense. Part of the insanity of being a theorycrafter is when new and reworked items and champions come out. You just can't help but want to test ev

The last time we took a look at duos raging through the competitive ecosystem we saw Sejuani and Braum, a tanky tandem that could dish out abnormally large amounts of chain crowd control across multiple targets. They were also a good setup to protect hyper carries and splitpushers alike.As patch 7.16 comes upon us, they also took a backseat to a new emerging combination among pro players and teams

One of the most important things that any top or mid laner should know is how to teleport effectively. A good teleport can completely swing fights, protect objectives, and put pressure on the map that needs to be addressed. The skill is so impactful, in fact, that its cooldown is one of the highest ones in the game, having the same cooldown time as Flash.There are a few different kind of teleports

Ardent Censer is a genuinely silly item. Repeat after me, Ardent Censer is a genuinely silly item.The gold value it can give your teammates is, at its lowest point, at least a Recurve Bow worth of stats. It can do that to everyone, and the buff it gives lasts for roughly a bajillion seconds. So why not have Ardent Censer on champions that fully don’t deserve it, and make it work anyway becau

In the current meta, picks that look like they can be used for more than one role are few and far between. In the 7.15 status quo, picks that used to look like flex picks no longer stand out as such. Teams are aware that a former flex pick, such as Gragas or Galio, is 95 percent likely going to be in one particular role due to its optimized strength in that position. On patch 7.15, teams have pick

One of the most underrated skills one can have in life is knowing how to prepare for coming events and needs. Good preparation can help you with a lot of things in life. It makes meals taste better, gives you higher marks in school, and yes, even helps with League of Legends.A good portion of this series has been dedicated to helping you perform while you are in the game. However, games are someti

We’ve seen Malzahar in many lanes since his rework. He’s punished mid laners forever, and become the support that’s turned back time (only to have the same events replay themselves). However, we have yet to see Malzahar in the top lane, as a threatening presence against tanks who have risen to prominence there. Now that tanks have become the soup du jour, Malzahar has skyrocketed

Support items have seen radical changes across season 7, with reworks and stat shuffles often yielding an ideal standard for all supports to run with. With the Locket and Redemption combo essentially neglected and Knight's Vow nerfed, teams have turned elsewhere to get the best bang for their buck on support. Enter Ardent Censer.Ardent Censer has ascended to the highest tier of items in the cu