Pro Play By Play - Rogue vs Misfits

Rilea -

In week 5 of the LEC Spring Split, top of the table Rogue were looking to defend their spot and defeat the 4th place Misfits. Both teams contest the drake and engage in a closely fought team fight, so let’s break it down.

State of the game

At 23 minutes, Misfits’ 1k gold lead is not particularly meaningful. However, they managed to take 3 drakes in the early game and earned themselves a Mountain soul point, hence why both teams are contesting the drake so heavily. Misfits comp is also fairly long range between the Jinx and Orianna, but they have some engage potential with a Xin Zhao, Camille and Lulu ultimate. Meanwhile, Rogue has drafted a mid range comp between the Ryze and Lucian, but with some long-range engages with the Nami and Ornn ultimates.

Poking the enemy

The skirmish begins with Rogue getting some good poke damage down on Xin Zhao (Shalatan) with the Lucian/Nami combos and from the drake:

Shalatan is forced to disengage from the drake and rejoin his team, while Ornn (Odoamne) pops up ultimate on the clumped up Mistfits members:

Jinx and Orianna (Neon and Vetheo respectively) are able to get out of the ultimate’s hit box, but Lulu (Mersa) is chunked for a good amount of health. Though Rogue have the health advantage at this point in the fight, they have already used two ultimates (Lucian’s and Ornn’s) without taking any meaningful advantage from them.

The Drake Dance

Both teams are reticent to engage and respect the other team’s team fighting power, so dance back and forth around the drake. Neither team pulls the trigger and are playing around some key abilities:

  • Rogue must be wary of Camille flanks and Orianna’s ball placement for the Shockwave
  • Misfits must watch out for Lee Sin flanks and the CC chaining potential of Nami and Ornn

Camille (HiRit) pops the nearby scryer’s bloom to reveal all Rogue members, including the Lee Sin (Malrang) who is attempting to move around the drake pit for a flank:

This prevents the surprise factor of a potential Lee Sin flank so Malrang backs off to rejoin his team. Rogue spot another opportunity to engage as the Misfit carries are clumped together, so Trymbi pops Nami’s Tidal Wave:

The placement of the wave also procs Nami’s passive and increases the movement speed of the Ornn, allowing Odoamne to follow up with his Searing Charge/Volcanic Rupture combo. However, Misfits use the Lulu and Xin Zhao ultimate to keep Shaltan alive and push back Ornn:

Both teams back off from each other again, as Rogue start to finish off the Drake and Misfits bide their time for a re-engage.

Patience and Opportunity

Although Rogue once again have the health advantage and control over the drake pit, they have used most of their engage tools and high damage ultimates, while Misfits still have the powerful shockwave and a Jinx whose damage can be buffed by a Lulu. Throughout the fight, Vetheo has been able to control space and threaten Rogue with his ultimate, and finally pulls the trigger:

The Shockwave catches Nami and Ornn and chunks them low enough to be finished off by Jinx’s ultimate. This procs Jinx’s passive who uses it and the stacked Lethal Tempo to clean up the Lee Sin and force the rest of Rogue to disengage with Ryze’s ultimate.

Summary

This was a very closely fought team fight, as both teams were vying for control over the pit throughout. Though Misfits were able to eek out a slight victory thanks to a triple kill on their Jinx and a 1 kill advantage, Rogue took the Drake and prevented Misfits from getting the Mountain Soul. Ultimately, this fight was dictated by who controlled the space better and Misfits ability to use the threat of their ultimates to control that space.

-Rilea