VIT vs H2K Game 1 Draft Analysis

H2K VS VIT - Game 1 Draft Analysis

Ban Phase 1

Azir - Allowed you to first pick the Ryze (as Azir is known as quite the tough match-up for the Ryze), plus Jiizuke could pop off on it (even though he could pop off on anything)

Xayah - Whilst banning on blue side can aid you in getting a solid first pick, bans on red are often directed towards getting incredibly powerful first picks off of the table, and xayah is one of if not the best first pick right now, as you force your opponent to either take away rakan first rotation (where he isn't known to be very good at all without Xayah) or to give away the xayah/rakan combo in the bot lane, which is one of the best bot lane duos in the game right now, only matched by Caitlyn/Morgana

Swain - Swain is a champion that has slowly been getting more powerful over the last few patches since his rework, and now his buffs have pushed him into a very strong state. He isn't an incredible first pick, however as a first rotation red side pick he can be a deadly pick, due to his strength and his ability to flex mid and top, giving you an easy counterpick come the last few rotations.

Galio - This champion has a 76% presence in the EU LCS (95% on 8.4 and 100% on 8.5) , and for good reason. He's a champion that really enables wombo combo/engage comps by allowing the front line a bit more tankiness whilst comboing the CC with his ult (which can also be used to snowball other lanes in the early game, among other things...) This means picking him with a Camille or even a Zac in red side first rotation can make life hell for blue side.

Tahm Kench - Kench is (alongside maybe Braum) the best support right now. He attracts a lot of bans, and it's not something you really wanna first pick with lanes like Xayah/Rakan and Caitlyn/Morgana roaming around. This means that if red side were to ban something like the caitlyn/xayah as their last ban, you'd have to let over kench or the other one of the two if you were to not ban it here, which could cause huge problems. (Or in this case, if they leave Caitlyn open)

Caitlyn - Now as stated previous, the two highest contention first picks at this point are Kench and Caitlyn, and with Kench took off the board it means that Red Side are forced to take the Caitlyn off as well (unless they would want to take the Morgana themselves, however I'm not sure if she could work that well against a Caitlyn)

Pick Phase 1

Ryze - You saw from the first ban that H2K were planning to possibly first pick the Ryze, and here we are. With Vitality being forced to ban the incredibly high priority first picks in Xayah/Caitlyn it meant that H2K could set themselves up nicely for this first pick. One other thing to note is that Ryze has a 97% presence in EU LCS for this whole split, which is a testament to how powerful and yet flexible the pick is, making it a very nice first pick.

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Thresh - Now one thing I originally thought when seeing this pick was "Wait why not pick Braum he's super good right now?", however when looking back at what Vitality were drafting for, this pick makes a lot of sense. Compared to a Braum, Thresh lacks the insane peel, however he makes up for it with his playmaking potential. When you look at what Vitality are known as, they're a team that wins in the early game by snowballing lanes, and so by picking the Thresh here it means that they can snowball the game a lot harder than if they picked Braum. However, this risks H2K possibly picking the Braum on the 2nd rotation, so a risky pick but by a risky team.

Varus - Now the Varus pick here really compliments the Thresh pick, as Varus is known for a somewhat potent laning phase, mainly in thanks to his very good poke. Adding this in with the Thresh, this shows H2K that this is a game where Vitality are going to want to play through the bot lane.

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Olaf - Seeing the bot lane emphasis from Vitality allow H2K to pick Olaf. This champion is overall a very strong pick right now, and with Vitality letting this over it means that H2K can start to draft a strong mid/late game teamfighting comp, which is where Olaf excels. Also by showing they're going to play through the bot lane, it means the likelihood is that they're going to be playing a peel heavy comp, and with Olaf's ability to run it down like a madman, he can reduce that peel to nothing.

Jhin - Speaking of a teamfight comp, Jhin excels in what H2K is going for right now. While you could pick a Tristana and play quite aggressive, it's very possible a Thresh hook (or some other cc that I'm expecting Vitality to draft) is going to be able to lock her down. With a Jhin however, he can engage from such a long range so that he can support the Olaf running it down (with his w and ult). Plus, whilst Jhin is pretty immobile, he has some insane burst damage, meaning that even if he gets caught out he can try and kill the person on him before he himself dies.

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Sion - Sion, whilst also being an incredibly powerful top laner right now, also fits into Vitality's comp very nicely. He adds on to the front line they already have with the Thresh, upping the protection Varus is going to get. Not only does he add on to the peel though, he also has quite the strong laning phase, meaning that unless H2K pick an aggressive top lane pick, they could also choose to snowball through the top lane (though it might not be as effective).

Ban Phase 2

Alistar - Now this Alistar ban makes a good bit of sense, mainly due to the fact that Alistar can easily headbutt or knock up any threats coming down into the bot lane, which is going to make Vitality's win condition a lot harder to execute on.

Zac - This Zac ban was done to try and prevent Vitality from forcing ganks around their winning lanes. With a Zac, you'e going to need some extensive vision control in order to combat his long range ganks, which will be very hard to attain when you're in a losing matchup.

Braum - In the same vein as Alistar, Braum provides some pretty insane peel, and it's not something you're going to want H2K to have considering that the game plan from Vitality is to snowball the bot lane.

Kha'Zix - Another jungle ban from H2K and for good reason, with Kha'Zix having now true invisibility, it means that once again if you're not able to attain this extensive vision control, he can pop out of nowhere and one shot a high priority target, whilst would cause a world of pain for the immobile Jhin on H2K's side.

Pick Phase 2

Trundle - Emulating Xerxe from the series that happened the day before, Vitality decide to lock in the Trundle jungle, which is really good at simultaneously strengthening Vitality's win condition and weakening H2K's. It helps Vitality, as with his movement speed buff and pillar, he can quite easily force ganks on laners if they decide to overextend, and can easily lock them down. Also, if Vitality do end up in the kind of teamfight H2K want, where Olaf is running it down onto their Varus, Trundle can use his ult to steal Olaf's armor and magic resist, meaning that the tanky Olaf storming it down into the Varus can become easy pickings for the Vitality squad.

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Camille - Now earlier I talked about how if H2K do not pick an aggressive laner, it means that Vitality could look to snowball the top lane, and so H2K decide to pick said aggressive top laner with Camille. She helps this comp in more ways than just that however, as she can also support the Olaf in engaging from a flank using her E, once again helping the squad on H2K focus down that Varus in the backline.

Morgana - With Alistar/Braum/Kench off the table, H2K were limited in what they could pick in order to help peel for the Jhin in these early fights that are likely to spring up in the bot lane, and this is where Morgana steps in. With her black shield, she can prevent the cc from the thresh hook from applying. He can still fly to her, but it's much better than nothing. Also, her Q makes it so that she can possibly stop an incoming trundle or thresh with a well placed Q. In late game fights, she also compliments the comp, as landing a Q onto a back line target and comboing it with a Jhin W can root a champion in place for a very long time.

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Taliyah - This is a really good pick to round out the comp of Vitality with. With her level 6 powerspike, she can use her ult to roam bot and help the team to force plays down on the bot side of the map. Added onto this, her disengage with her Q kiting and W knockback is going to be very useful in late game teamfights in order to prevent H2K from getting onto the Varus.

What pick would I change?

I would change the Camille pick into a Cho'Gath pick. Now this seems to go against what I said, as Camille did compliment this comp and countered the enemy comp quite well, however, H2K has a glaring problem in teamfights and that's their lack of a consistent front line. Compared to Vitality's comp, there is barely any protection for the side of H2K, which isn't good against a team like Vitality who are known to be quite trigger happy in their plays. The Cho'Gath fills in this hole in H2K's comp, by being able to provide a lot of CC whilst being an incredibly sturdy front line.