Took Memorial Day off but now some updates of competitive play you may have missed this week and a few extra to pumpkin spice up your Tuesday. Just a quick reminder for VIS fans, the league is taking this week off but will be back next Wednesday the 8th with a huge triple-header.

VIPL Update : GankStars Eliminated in the Semi-Finals

GankStars Sirius fell this week to Korea VGL Winners Hack in the VIPL semi-finals in a dominant 2-0 series. Entering the match, GankStars actually had a better record in kills and creep score throughout the league, positioning them to be the favorite despite both teams finishing first in their respective groups. The Semis are the first time VIPL was played on update 1.17 so the teams had a chance to play comps that were well-tested meta for a while.

In game one, GankStars brought tried and true tactics with a solid team of Blackfeather, Skye and Ardan, but struggled against a rather off-meta (at least for NA) comp of Petal, Kestrel and Catherine. While Sirius was able to fend off early aggression from a full rotation by Hack, the punishing power of weapon Ketrel with mid-range Glimmershots started to overwhelm the tanky jungle duo “Blardan”. Excellent control by SensePlay on Catherine allowed Hack to lock down Iraqi’s Skye quickly while ILoveYoungJoo’s Petal kept FooJee at bay with well-timed Trampolines. With an Ace around 14 minutes, Hack pushed into GankStar’s base and then double backed to secure Kraken. Sirius contested the unleashing of Helga but Hack positioned the capture to happen in GankStar’s tri-bush of the jungle and were prepared to defend. This prevented any sort of last ditch surprise and Recked was forced to drop a Gauntlet around all three members of Hack. Sirius eliminated one member but were ultimately Aced again and Hack closed out the game.

Game two saw hero changes on both sides of the field. GankStars opting for the aggressive Fortress and Glaive that has seen copious play over here in the states, with Skye still in lane. Hack also kept their laner with Kestrel but ran Blackfeather in the jungle alongside Ardan. GankStars hoped to use early jungle push to starve out the late game power of BlackFeather but were soon caught on their own heels. FooJee built Tension Bow on Glaive and then more weapon power to try and burst down Hack, unfortunately this made him pretty fragile against the double WP comp. Game two for the Koreans was much more focused on giving Ketrel room to breathe in order to fire off enough Glimmershots and that posed no significant problem as the jungle players ran interference. An all around oppressive performance, Hack closed out the series with a definitive line of 12-1.

Well played to both teams! Here’s the video if you want.

App Bounty Fox Hunt

The Vainglory League showcased a special tournament in EU this week with the Fox Hunt, sponsored by App Bounty. With a 24k ICE prize to the winning team, players in EU were encouraged to add VaingloryLeague in game and queue up to try and beat SK Gaming in Battle Royale. SK had a king of the hill challenge ahead of them as they had to fend off teams for the duration of the three hour stream. If any team was able to beat SK three times in a row during that period they would take home the 24K ICE, otherwise SK would receive half of the bounty and the rest would be rolled over to the next hunt.

SK stepped up with fantastic fashion, knocking out ten straight teams without a single loss against them. Among the fallen were Lemon & Lime, Snow and Mousesports, so this was no one-sided match up. With time running out for the community to dethrone the champs, GankStars Cerberus’ squad entered the lane. The matches were still competitive, but Ceberus roared to a 2-0 lead with only twelve minutes left in the stream. The last BR random draft dealt SK a tough hand with Reim, Ozo and Petal. Cerberus were much more comfortable with their Kestrel, Ringo and Krul comp and were able to close out a third game and take the prize with only a few minutes to spare. Huge props go out to SK Gaming for putting on such a stellar performance. Catch the VOD here.

A Formal Introduction to Lance



The early verdict is that the Fold’s new roam hero is an all around beast of viability. Lance has made his first appearance in competitive play only hours after arrival as VONC played jungle WP in Vainglory Invitational Series against Liberation. While not exactly successful, it certainly was entertaining.

The past week has been chock full of content displaying Lance’s flexibility of roles and serious might. I’ve collected “required” viewing if you plan to pick him up and haven’t already. For starters, Youtuber NoxFox put together this really slick montage. He’s definitely not just a Roam, and Rumblysuperset had a pretty impressive KDA with weapon power. Finally, Our own Fightastic made this beautiful Lance in slow motion video.

For those that haven’t understood the patterns with this new hero just yet, guest author for Broken Myth Sean has prepared this excellently comprehensive and concise guide to properly chaining his abilities. SEMC was very clear with the reveal and discussion of Lance that setting up combos is the most effective way to play. Take it away Sean!

Lance’s distinct kit allows him to create team-wide plays that can swiftly turn a fight around. Mastering his abilities is the key principal in order to execute this; specifically chaining your abilities together in order to achieve what they’re most capable of accomplishing.

ABILITY CHAINING

C -> B

This is the most basic combination Lance has, but at the same time the most important. We’ll be covering the two main uses of this which require precise timing and practice in order to be successful — saving an ally from a life or death situation or angled knockback on an enemy. Keep in mind overdriving Lance’s B provides CC immunity while active.

Situation #1: An ally Skaarf and an enemy Kestrel are fighting in the lane while Lance is in the brush patiently awaiting the right time to gank Kestrel. Skaarf barely manages to escape their fight, leaving him an easy target for Kestrel’s One Shot One Kill. However, Lance quickly jumps to action — he uses his C to close the gap, now directly in front of the One Shot One Kill trajectory. To save himself from taking the full damage of the ability, he casts his B towards Kestrel. Within moments, Skaarf safely ports back home and Kestrel is forced to back off.

Situation #2: An ally Vox is caught over-extending in the lane. The enemy Celeste and Ardan mercilessly chase Vox down from the brush, but Lance comes to his rescue. Lance activates his C in Vox’s direction, preparing for what’s next. Using his B, Lance knocks Celeste and Ardan back into the wall, stunning them both. This did not deal much damage to the duo, so they continue their hunt for Vox. Because of Lance’s short cooldowns, he’s able to use his C once again, allowing him to most effectively position himself just in front of Celeste and Ardan. With another B into the wall, they must retreat back down into the jungle and Vox is able to farm once again.

A -> C -> B

Utilizing Lance’s gap closer with his A and C allows for extended initiations. Always attempt to stun the enemy against a wall with his B so they can’t simply run away.

This requires either:

-level 1 C and at least 100 stamina

-level 2 C and at least 95 stamina

– level 3 C and at least 90 stamina

C -> A -> C -> B

This ability chain provides a late game long-range initiation, specifically if you’re eager to catch the enemy off-guard. Keep watch you aren’t using the abilities just to use them, rather, ensure they’re being used to acquire an advantage.

This requires either:

– level 2 C and at least 130 stamina

– level 3 C and at least 120 stamina

ITEMS

Several items contribute well to Lance’s ability chains. These items are according to your build and match status. They should usually not all be built together. Some of these include:

Energy Cell / Void Battery

Energy Cell or Void Battery are helpful items to pick up on Lance for longer ability chains, however, it is not always needed if you use his abilities at the most optimal time. If you seem to be having issues with Lance’s stamina, consider purchasing one of these but reselling it for a more useful item later in the match.

Frostburn

Frostburn can be a substantial item if you’re being picked off or the enemy is easily escaping fights. Coordinate Frostburn’s slow with the bonus CP damage from his C in order to suffice these issues. Building Frostburn for damage is not ideal, though, as WP items will provide more damage. The Frostburn slow has a shorter duration than Lance’s root, too.

Aftershock

Aftershock boosts Lance’s base 100 stamina and 15 stamina regen per second to 150 stamina and 20 stamina regen per second, which makes for better and longer ability chains. Additionally, you’ll be activating Aftershock quite frequently due to Lance’s low ability cooldowns. Be aware that Aftershock procs on only the first target hit, not all targets hit, despite Lance’s Heroic Perk!

Serpent’s Mask

Serpent’s Mask provides sustained healing while building WP items due to the WP ratios on Lance’s abilities. It is a necessity while playing Lance in the Lane.

Lance Lore: Gythian Lance

Now that you feel like you him inside and out, why not take a step into his past with another slice of lore from SugarVenom? Alongside the arrival of Update 1.18, we were treated to the second part of Lance’s lore and his arrival in Gythia with Samuel. A very interesting aspect to Lance’s personality was revealed in his collection of Gythia artifacts and weaponry. What significance does Gythia have for this hero? Interestingly enough, when Lance and Samuel were pulled into the harbor by a sea troll, it was the boy that was greeted as a returning champion. Samuel is becoming quite the fixture in lore now and, as was so eloquently put by Fierte, has the vibe of the Stormqueen wherein his actions and story impact the lives of members of the Fold. He could one day become a hero we get to tap on, but until then his mystery grows.

Know Your OP History: Breaking Point Petal

If you’re but a baby in the world of Vainglory, you may not remember back around update 1.1 / 1.2 when Petal was a dominant force in the arena. That’s right, freaking Petal. Built with Breaking Point, she could use her longer range to keep opponents at bay while building stacks.

There are several factors at play here but I’ll start with the sprout herself. As I mentioned before, Petal used to have range of 7. This made kiting practically a breeze with coupled with common item builds Shiversteel and Frostburn. She also had higher weapon power, which was nerfed by 9 points in update 1.9, but didn’t have the temporary buff from Trampoline as that skill wasn’t even part of her kit yet. Probably most crucial to this Flora Destroya was her higher attack speed. Nerfed in 1.3 from 136% at level 12 to 111%, Petal could chew through enemies left and right.

Her main source of damage was old Breaking Point. The previous incarnation of this WP ramp-up devastator did not require too much other weapon power to be effective. Many of you probably recall Update 1.14 when the item’s stats were changed so it couldn’t be effective if built without any other offense, but that was primarily an issue with Roams grabbing a BP late game and turning the tables. In brief, the previous BP granted 40% attack speed and built stacks based on how many seconds you were in combat, giving additional weapon power and critical damage with each stack. It also had 100% pierce on it’s damage, so, you know, screw you. With the previously mentioned range, Petal could get these stacks while staying well out of danger, but it was her other two items that really made this a nightmare for opponents.

Possibly the most common supplement to Breaking Point was Frostburn. Back then Petal’s munions could apply the Frostburn slow and the effect didn’t decay over time like it does now. That means once the slow was applied, enemies were pretty much always in range of the little monsters that got quite deadly lickety split and then it was goodnight.

The alternative to Frostburn was Shiversteel. Not quite as impactful, but there was still a longer slow duration for ranged heroes using the on-hit effect. This also gave Petal some additional tankiness if and when an enemy hero managed to close the distance.

Why not both Frostburn and Shiversteel? Well, it wouldn’t have been a terrible idea but just like last week, Fountains of Renewel win out every time when opting for defense. Petal could stack Fountains and possess unparalleled sustain while she got those all important stacks.

So as you can see, this delightful cherub of the forest had her time in the sun and I whole-heartedly believe she will rise again. I didn’t get that damn Pumpkin Spice skin for nothing.

Vainglorious Trivia

You may know that Vox was originally going to be called Magnus, but do you know how he got his name in the end?

First correct response (comments section here, Twitter or Reddit) will be announced next week and awarded absolutely nothing because ICE doesn’t grow on trees, okay?

Thanks again for your patronage with the Weekly News! Come on by Broken Myth this week for more great stuff that no one else is writing out there. No one. NO ONE! Catch you later Lane Lance’s and long lost hero dances.