This is the second part of the two-part series from Cloth 5 on taking a closer look at the Korean team, MVP Ozone. Part One covered the typical picks and team composition that Ozone plays. Ozone was the OGN Champions Spring winner and they are definitely looking to do repeat for this Summer season.

In this 2nd part of our series, we are covering Ozone’s general level 1 route, wards, and how they generally play out their early game.

Blue Side Level 1

When Ozone is starting on the blue side their level 1 route is standard. They favor splitting into a defensive line to cover every possible entrance into their jungle. Each player has a specific role at level 1. From top to bottom: Homme is the lookout at the top river brush, Dade is always scouting at mid while DanDy guards the entrance to their wraith camp. Imp will be on the lookout in the botside tribrush.

While the 4 members of Ozone are getting in position, Mata would place a green ward either in the topside banana brush or at the entrance to the enemy wraith between 0:30 and 0:35.

Whenever Homme plays champions like Yorick, his build allows him to purchase a ward at level 1. He always placed this ward at the top lane tribrush early on. Like Homme, whenever DanDy was able to play Nunu he would start with a ward and place it at the botside banana brush. When Ozone is on the blue side they usually do not use more than 1 ward at level 1 unless it is to counter ward.

When compared to some of the NA LCS teams like Cloud 9, Ozone’s level 1 tactics generally look simpler and more defensive. Ozone favors using only a one or two wards at level 1 and stay on their side of the jungle while Cloud 9 uses most of their wards deep in the enemy jungle getting as much vision as they can. This has a lot to do with the compositions they play, typically their champions are not very strong at level 1 and it is better that they just play safe.

Compare the opening of Ozone versus that of Cloud 9 in Week 4 vs. Dignitas:

Red Side Level 1

When Ozone is on the red side their level 1 is the polar opposite to their blue side route. It’s almost like they turned on their aggression with a switch. In all the games Ozone has played on the red side, they seemed to have a specific plan for each team they played against. There isn’t a pattern to Ozone’s level 1, they always groups up as 5 and invade the enemy blue or red while leaving behind deep wards. Regardless of whether they are invading blue or red, Ozone forces themselves into the enemy jungle without hesitation.

In Game 2 against Xenics Blast, Ozone heads straight into Blast’s red side jungle at level 1. They ward the brush at wraith and the brush after red then immediately back off. When Ozone was on the red side against the Jin Air Falcons, they were so cautious with their level 1 – having Mata use every single ward he had. This is most likely due to Reapered’s reputation for his early aggression.

Note: Mata has started with a pink ward every single game in OGN Champions Summer.

Early Game and Roles

Ozone is a very flexible team and often swap the lanes to their advantage. They would regularly force 2v1 lanes to give Imp an easier time on Vayne. Homme’s champion pool consists of champions that are excellent at 1v2 lanes, letting Ozone’s 1v2 lane last longer than their opponent’s.

MVP Ozone’s usual play style consists of champions that scale better late game: Imp being one of the best Vayne players in the world while Dade being a well-known Karthus and Ryze player. The composition they have with such hypercarries tends to be very weak in the early game, and needs time to ramp up and grow.

DanDy typically plays junglers that are capable of early game aggression (i.e. Lee Sin and Elise). This masks Ozone’s weaker early game with a heavy jungle presence. Even though he is not a gank heavy jungler, he is the reason why Ozone has been so successful in their early games. DanDy is amazing at being able to be at the right place at the right time. He is able to always counter gank the enemy jungler and turn the fight for Ozone. DanDy learns the patterns and routes of the enemy junlgers and predicts not only where they are going, but also how they would react to certain situations. With this knowledge, DanDy puts himself in the position to take advantage of the enemy jungler.

Ozone has an amazing level of communication through out the game and it shows in the game against Jin Air Falcons. Even though they lost the blue buff to the Falcons, Ozone was able to immediately collapse on Repeared and picking up first blood before the rest of the members could get in position to help him. Then Ozone turns around and kills Falcon’s support, StarLast, giving DanDy a double kill at 3 minutes into the game.

Homme’s champion pool contains Zac, Shen, Yorick and few others. What do all these champions have in common? All of them have a strong laning phase, allowing Homme to apply pressure early on in the game while giving the carries of his team to ramp up.

Note: When DanDy has 1k gold he will immediately buy mobility boots before anything else just so he can apply more lane pressure.

Overview

Ever since the group stages in OGN Champions Spring, MVP Ozone has been drastically improving week by week. Watching them play in the Summer group stages is like watching a machine at work.They completely understand their composition’s weakness and strength and are able to play them out methodically. For example, Ozone played Vayne and Ryze against Xenics Blast, they did not bother contesting any dragons in the early game. They pushed lanes and survived the laning phase, allowing them to win the game later on. This shows how much they understand their composition and knows when it’s alright to give up dragons.

Be sure to watch MVP Ozone play against the up and coming college team CTU on August 16th!