Tag: dragon

Still not sure how I feel about the dragon changes

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Though I’ve spent most of my gaming time in Cataclysm lately, I have been sneaking a few games of LoL with my brother. There’s been a lot for both of us to catch up on, though the dragon change has probably had the most impact. Teams are definitely playing the game differently now that dragon is worth so much gold.

One of the most interesting setups I’ve seen was a team that ran two junglers. I’d seen it before, but it had never seen all that effective. I guess I should mention they were both jungling in their own jungle. I was jungling ours (and getting ganked all the damn time – there is no getting away from Nunu and Trundle). With two people constantly mia, our lanes were playing very safe. No one was farming well, so no one wanted to buy wards. Obviously this is all a bit anecdotal, since it was just one game, but there does seem to be a lot more focus on dragon in general, and more games seem to slip away from me early if my team doesn’t ward.

I really think the double change – XP nerf, gold buff – was a little too much. Dragon is such a crucial element of the game that I’d always prefer to err on the side of moderation rather than dramatic change. I’m still working to figure out just how much it matters, and there are some farming toons/comps I’d really like to try to exploit the extra cashflow. What have you seen?

Pro Tips: Control the Dragon

Dragon control.

At the outset, this seems like a very simple and sort of “no shit” post, but based on my experience I think this post is necessary, particularly with as young as ranked play is. If there’s one thing I find myself furiously pinging in almost every game, it’s little skull over the dragon. As Phreak reminds us in almost every Champion Spotlight, the dragon is not only worth more than a tower in gold, it’s also a couple heroes worth of XP for your entire team. If you find yourself having problems in ranked, start playing toons that can keep control of dragon.

It should go without saying that this won’t guarantee wins, but it can definitely improve your chances and hopefully give your team the edge for early ganks that may have otherwise gone the opposite direction. Most jungling toons are also good at taking down dragon, though some may require a little itemization to deal with the dragon’s health pool. Examples of good junglers/dragon-killers would be toons like Udyr, Shaco, Xin Zhao, Warwick, Amumu, and Fiddlesticks. While Shaco and Xin Zhao are regularly banned (occasionally Amumu as well), I almost never see an Udyr or Fiddlesticks ban, and despite some nerfs, both remain strong characters. There are some less played options as well. Gragas makes a surprisingly good jungler, and Poppy is plenty capable of killing dragon with a little help.

When you’re running one of these characters, dragon should be your number one priority. I cannot stress that enough. Remember the gold and experience benefit to your team. Getting dragon early and often means your team has both a level and gold advantage which only grows as the game continues. Once you’ve taken a few dragon kills, dragon also creates a great choke point to encourage the team fight that will hopefully be working in your favor. If the other team isn’t trying to stop you, it just makes dragon that much easier.

Even when your team is in control of dragon, make sure you’re warding. It’s easy to be out of position when the dragon spawns, and though you should be focusing on dragon, it can be advantageous to knock down a tower if your opponent is out of position. Even if you have the opportunity to push while the other team takes dragon, abandon the tower. Always keep in mind how much the dragon provides. It’s not a little game inside in the push/gank game. The dragon is the game, it’s just something people tend to ignore.

I like to think about things this way – the towers, the heroes, the creeps, all of those things will be there regardless of whether or not you go for dragon. If the other team is serious about dragon, though, you will be woefully behind.

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