Hey everyone this is CTRL ULT ELITE. Hope everyone is doing well and enjoying League of Legends. I am in the last week of my current contract and I am excited to get some much needed time off in the next couple of weeks. As far as CCS goes we have had a fairly quiet week for some reason. Only like 100 messages in general compared to the several hundred we normally get until I stirred up the hornets nest. Next week we have power rankings coming!

 This is how the season is currently looking for all teams. Currently teams are starting to break out into packs. OE, ROK and BCWB are all sitting undefeated in terms of series scores and are hunting for the top 2 spots giving them a playoff bye. From 4th to 8th in our standings are the teams that are still very much in the playoff hunt trying to make sure that they can be in the top 6 and make it to the playoffs. Unfortunately with winners there are losers and CBG and TMG are 2 teams without a series win so far in CCS.

Predictions

ShadowZ Platinum Vs True Minded Gaming

Prediction 2-0 for ShadowZ Plat

Lane to Watch: Mid Lane

As far as seeding for playoffs I think that this series is going to have the most implications out of every match this week. Both of these teams are currently not in the top 6 and need to start picking up series wins to have a shot at making the playoffs. I have ShadowZ to win this series because as a team it looks like they have a plan going forward and everyone on this team played really well last week . It also helps that SHZ just came off a clean 2-0 over Let Em Cook, a team that beat True Minded Gaming back in week 2. They also won their series 2-0 last night in BOL SHZ is coming in with speed violence and momentum.

SHZ Plat has learned how drafting works hallelujah! Well at least how to counter pick on the Red side as LEC took the blue side both games. I mean look at these drafts! Picking strong laning answers right away. Giving top counter pick and using that for strong side winning lanes. Having great gank assist. An overall style of team. It’s all here thank god.     

For True Minded Gaming I hate to say it but this needs to be the turning point for your team or playoffs is going to slip away. The top 6 make playoffs and I'm guessing you are going to need somewhere around 4 series wins to get there. If you have any shot SHZ is going to be one of the teams you need to beat in order to get to the playoffs.TMG Cone has come in as your top laner solving some of this teams roster problems hopefully. Draft wise I think in game 1 your team needed some sort of AP. Lissandra just gets to rush an Zhonyas and was powerful. You just needed to hard camp 1 of Jax or Yone and get them ahead. Game 2 I get the decisions Rek’Sai good into Lee, Xayah prio. Gnar was super questionable in top with their flexes available and you drafted no wave clear whatsoever.   

Why would mid lane be the lane to watch this series? It's simple Devil milk tea is the best player on True Minded gaming right now and seaborg has noticed. Devil Milk tea has the highest dmg % on the team, the highest KP other than seaborg and has one of the higher KDAs. He also gets first blood in some of his games unlike most of TMG’s players. Eazy might be the best player right now on SHZ. He also only has the 1 series so it's not like we can compare the stats between these players. It is fair to say that Eazy made a dramatic difference for SHZ in his debut last week and had some great games. 

CB Rush VS Elysium Frost Stream 2

Prediction 2-1 for CB Rush

Lane to Watch: Mid

        ANother series with huge playoff implications we have CB Rush vs Elysium Frost. These 2 teams are sitting at 4th/5th and a win here for CBR ties them up in the standings. I thought I was going to be predicting the upset here, predicting the lower seed team to win but almost everyone else in pickems also picked CB Rush to win this week over ELY. I think that this should be a very exciting series to watch. Both teams have around the same Kills, deaths and assists every game and take nearly identical amounts of  neutral objectives. Both teams also have players with near identical dmg per minute numbers. I just think that CB Rush has these stats and has had a much tougher schedule. I think that in week 1 ELY got some pretty easy stat boosts playing against CB Galaxy.

        As far as last week's drafts CB Rush was playing some new stuff. Number 1 is we got to see A Sol in action(who I swear is banned in almost every solo que game I play). CB Rush was playing very much to scale this game with A Sol and Camille. They played Cait, Nami down bot with a Diana jungle to threaten early bot lane plays and get early dragons. Eventually both of their scaling options came online and they took the game. In game 2 they played much more towards very heavy CC. Their team had Gragas Sej Anivia, Taric and Cait. I cannot imagine trying to move vs that team and they took the game 10 minutes quicker than the scale fest of game 1.   

        For ELY last week's series was interesting. Number 1 they brought in a new support for this week and lost 2 bans. The weirdest thing about this series VS OE was none of the games on a game by game basis were close at all. Game 1 ELY lost in 22 minutes and had 8 kills to the 29 of OE. As red side they did not secure a single winning lane matchup so Vi was unable to really get anything done early. Game 2 was a complete stomp for ELY this time winning in just under 27 minutes. ELY Vortex as Varus ADC had more kills than almost everyone else on both teams put together. ELY GRAND CANYON also popped off as Azir having a 17.0 KDA. In game 3 OE came back with a vengeance and won again before 25 minutes. ELY again took too many picks for scaling and did not have any winning lanes. If ELY stalled this game to 35 minutes it was an easy win. But with Kled, Hecarim and Sylas with Maokai ult to abuse it looks like OE dove ELY on repeat. Kled had a prowlers claw for god's sake.

        The lane to watch in this series I think is going to be mid lane. Both Prophet of Tears and ELY GRAND CANYON have shown they have a large roster of mid laners and are the foundation of late game for their teams. I don’t know if this is intentional or not but Prophet of Tears across the 7 games he has played has yet to play the same champion twice. ELY GRAND CANYON has also played 5 different mids in 7 games and is the only player in the league who has touched some of them(Velkoz). As far as the 2 are concerned in game stat wise Prophet dies a lot more so he has a much lower KDA but he does have slightly better farm stats and dmg stats. Prophet also has more solo kills getting 7 compared to the 2 of ELY GRAND CANYON but ELY GRAND CANYON has more First Bloods. Like I said both of these players are almost always playing scaling picks are a core part of their teams late game. I imagine if one mid is able to get a huge early lead it could easily swing the game and influence the map more than any other role in this series. 

Optimal Esports VS Reign of Kings Stream 1 

Prediction 2-1 for OE

Lane to Watch: Mid

        Coming into the 1st streamed match of week 1 we have 2 of the teams in CCS that are undefeated. On 1 side of the rift we have ROK, a team that has not even dropped a game so far this split dominating so fair this split. On the other side of the Rift is OE and while they have dropped games they have still won every series they played. I think it is safe to say that out of the 3 teams we have undefeated so far in CCS Novice ROK have had the easiest matchups playing 3 teams that have only 1 series win between them. OE on the other hand has played 3 teams that are all still in playoff contention.

        Optimal has the edge over ROK in several key team stats. They look like a team that is playing much for early tempo on the map. Playing against worst teams I am surprised that ROK does not have all of the stats I am going to discuss higher than OE. OE games finish 2 minutes faster on average, get first dragon 13% more, Rift Herald 40% more and they get first blood in 63% of their games compared to the 50% of ROK. ROK does have the superior late game stats farming better, securing more barons and dragons on average.

        In terms of Draft OE have started prioritizing Hecarim in jungle almost every game they 1st picked it all 3 games of their last series. I am not sure why as it's not like HunterSteelWolf5 has had dominant games on it but I guess Hec is flexible. If Hec ever does get ahead and is allowed to build damage he quickly takes over games or just builds radiant and is a great team fighter. ROK is continuing to draft well; they are picking multiple flex champions every week on blue and for counters on red. I think teams might want to consider banning Annie when ROK is on blue as they flex it almost every series. 

        The best player according to the stats on ROK is Falsën their mid laner. With 32% of his teams damage and having the most damage a minute out of every player it's clear to see where the power of ROK is. On the side of OE they have no clear carry according to the stats. Every player is close to one another in DMG%, Gold % and damage a minute. ThEpiChampion is the only player on this team that is behind normally at 15 minutes in terms of CS difference. So mid is obviously where we need to look and focus. Is ThEpiChampion going to be able to hold Falsën? That should be the narrative going into this game. If Falsën does not get a lead and start to carry the rest of OE are much better suited to take over.

Bing Chillers Worry Brothers VS DZG Styx

Prediction 2-0 for BCWB

Lane to Watch: Bot

Another week another 2-0 prediction for BCWB. What can I say? I guess I am a fan. On the side of DZG this series should probably be a worry for you. Your team is coming into this series with 2nd lowest kills a game of every team in CCS with 16. BCWB have more or less the exact same game time average as you and get 12 more kills a game(28 a game) the highest out of every team. Both of these teams could not care less about herald it seems both teams take 1st rift in less than 30% of their games. Both teams have great baron usage and take it a lot so expect the baron dance to be the win conditions for these games not stacking soul. For DZG for draft I would look into being Red side and doing your prep there as BCWB take blue every game they can. The thing that worries me the most about your team is your damage numbers. Almost every on your team is sub 400 damage a minute which puts your team nearly tied for dead last. BCWB are doing 30% more damage a minute to champions in comparison to DZG as a team and making 200 more gold a minute. So in a standard game at 20 minutes BCWB should be about 4k gold up.  

Draft wise last week BCWB had good drafts. Game 2 they showed off the rizz(Oh god why am I trying to use slang) and flexed so many picks that TMG had 0 idea what lane was what. Game 1 was much more standard but TMG did not get any real counters to what you drafted. For DZG you guys need to start picking a lane to win though and draft for it. Both games last week there was not a single winning lane. You have teamfight picks but no way to get there.

For the lane to watch again it's probably bot lane every series with DZG. Just as Falsën dominates for ROK, Dragone943 is the same for DZG as their ADC. It is a totally valid way to play the game and plenty of pro teams have had rosters in the past that play for bot I see no problem in it. The issue I have with it on this team is that Dragone943 and Angrypresesnt are the only people on this team with a positive gold lead at 14 minutes on average. Everyone else is a negative. It's not like Dragone943 should have a cake walk either. Fujin for BCWB is a definite point of strength; he's probably the best ADC in the league. He matches Dragone943 in almost every stat as well, both farm 8 CS a minute, do over 25% of their team's damage and are some of the wealthiest players in the game. Both are top 10 at that stat. I think honestly Dragone943 is not going to have the same level of dominance they are used to in this series and it will be interesting to see how DZG adapts to that.

CB Galaxy VS Let em Cook

Prediction 2-1 for CBG

Lane to Watch: Top

        At 6-4 in favor of CBG this is the most debated series of this week. CBG are currently tied with TMG for last place in the league sitting with a 1-6 game record. Let Em Cook is coming into this series just above CBG are sitting in the 4 way tie for 5th with a 2-5 record. A win for both of these teams is huge. If LEC wins they are able to move themselves up into playoff contention and prove they are in a different tier than those below them and gives them a decent shot at one of the lower seeds for playoffs. For CBG they need this win quite frankly. This is the 2nd week that you are playing a team that I had rated C tier or lower in my initial power rankings and that was the only time you picked up a win. This is the week to start your playoff run if it's going to happen.

Comparing these 2 teams we start to see why both of them are towards the lower end of the league. CBG has few positive stats of note and that's what I am going to focus on. They get 1st herald every game they play and get both heralds 71% of the time. Rift Herald is a great objective to take early as it can be a huge surge of income for 1 lane. LEC is the only other team in the league that prioritizes Rift Herald though it's not going to be a simple trade. Both LEC and CBG also get 1st dragon in 56% of their games. That's not great but it's not bad either. Lets just say the rest of CBG’s stats show that they have trouble in the early game. For Let Em Cook they are a super bloodthirsty team. They have the highest deaths out of every team in CCS, are 5th in kills and assists. LEC has won their 2 games on red side having a counter pick and lost every game on blue.

Top lane is where these teams need to be focusing this game. Secroza for CBG has been getting better every week and is now dealing the most damage per minute for his team. Secroza also is kinda coin flipping. He has the most kills on this team with 20 just ahead of his mid laner Spires but he also has 31 deaths way more than everyone else on his team. Secroza is going up against Weakside Warrior who has been the reason that LEC won their series. Weakside Warrior does the 2nd most damage a minute on his team and plays exclusively for the 1v1 in top lane. With changes to the jungle happening this patch it’s possible and rewarding to counter jungle so if one team splits the map and camps top you're going to get a lot of kills.

Interviews

This week I am changing it up and trying out google form responses. With writing in 2 leagues on top of everything else going on in my life I do not have time to DM every team and ask for updates. I want to still do interviews so I am going to try this. Sticking with more general questions and then the silly questions. If this does not work maybe I will try to just interview teams from the steamed games or something else. I got 7 teams to respond which is not bad. 

CB Rush

Name, Role and Team (Ex CTRL ULT Top for Basement Dwellers)

ProphetofTears, Mid, CB Rush

What is the series score going to be for your next set of matches? Any thoughts on the team that you play?

I am going to say 2-1 for CBR. I haven't seen them, but the other team seems like they have a pretty strong late game based on their stats. I think now that we have some more experience together we can win early or late and should be able to beat them.

What was the biggest takeaway from your match last week?

Improvement. We were not playing to our potential in the first two weeks, and I didn't feel as confident as I should, Last week I think everything came together and it is something we can build off of going forward.

Who's the most competitive member on the team and what's the biggest argument you've had in-game? 

Rutledge. No doubt. I don't think we have had any arguments. It is typically Rutledge calling people out and the rest taking it into account for the next fight, game, etc.

If you had to describe your team's playing style in three words, what would they be? 

Flexible, Aggressive, Opportunistic

What's your favorite skin in the game and why? 

Nightmare Cho'Gath. Best skin for the best champion.

What's the best advice you've ever received from a coach or teammate? 

Drown out the noise and focus on the game.

What's the most memorable game you've ever played and why? 

No league of legends games stick out to me, so I will give you a high school game. Playing tennis I won a match against the other school's #1 player with a broken racket. (the middle 3 strings busted right before the match) 

If you could pick one champion to main for the rest of the season, who would it be and why? 

Gragas. He is flexible and allows me to fill multiple roles in soloQ. Sometimes the rest of your team wants to play Quinn, Yi, Lux, and Cait and having one tank/engage champion makes the difference.

What's the most important lesson you've learned from playing League of Legends? 

Do the little things right. If you can do them without thinking then you can focus on the rest.

If you could swap roles with any member of your team for a day, who would it be and why? 

I would say Rutledge. I know he can mid and I am interested in how different it is to jg in competitive vs soloQ.

If you were a character in a horror movie, what would be your survival strategy? 

It highly depends on which type of horror movie. In general it would be not going off alone or with small groups of people. 

If you could eliminate any one type of food from existence, which would it be and why?

The type of dumplings from chicken and dumplings. The texture makes it inedible to me and it has next to no nutritional benefits.

Optimal Esports

Name, Role and Team (Ex CTRL ULT Top for Basement Dwellers)

MxTato - Support - Optimal Esports.

What is the series score going to be for your next set of matches? Any thoughts on the team that you play?

We play against ROK next week, and I think they're one of the best teams in the league besides us and BCWB. I expect the series to be close but with us winning in the end, so I predict a 2-1 in our favor.

What was the biggest takeaway from your match last week?

That we suck every game 2.

Who's the most competitive member on the team and what's the biggest argument you've had in-game? 

Everyone is competitive, we always strive to play well. Our biggest argument is basically "Why do we suck every game 2"?

If you had to describe your team's playing style in three words, what would they be? 

Organized Chaotic Stampede

What's your favorite skin in the game and why? 

Star Guardian Rakan, it looks amazing and I like the colors.

What's the best advice you've ever received from a coach or teammate? 

"Be more confident in Yourself".

What's the most memorable game you've ever played and why? 

Game 5 of my first competitive split ever, back in 2018. It was around 12-1 AM, and my team ended up winning. It was the first time I've felt something like that.

If you could pick one champion to main for the rest of the season, who would it be and why? 

Probably Karma, because she's really versatile and fun.

What's the most important lesson you've learned from playing League of Legends? 

Learning how to control my temper, because soloq is aids.

If you could swap roles with any member of your team for a day, who would it be and why? 

I would swap roles with my midlaner, because I like playing mid as an off role... Sometimes.

If you were a character in a horror movie, what would be your survival strategy? 

It depends if the horror movie wants to be inclusive or not. I'm Mexican, so I'll either die at the beginning or at the end.

If you could eliminate any one type of food from existence, which would it be and why?

Any smelly food, why? Because they smell bad.

Reign of Kings

Name, Role and Team (Ex CTRL ULT Top for Basement Dwellers)

badcop74 support for Reign of Kings

What is the series score going to be for your next set of matches? Any thoughts on the team that you play?

2-0 against optimal esports. They seem like a good team. We dropped a scrim against them pre season when we first picked up our new mid. But our team has been playing better and better together. So I have no doubt we win. 

What was the biggest takeaway from your match last week?

We our team is on the same page I don’t think anyone can beat us. 

Who's the most competitive member on the team and what's the biggest argument you've had in-game? 

Hmm. I would say me or Hastega our jg. Mostly just when someone dies before an objective or they die with sums up lol kinda a running joke we have. . 

If you had to describe your team's playing style in three words, what would they be? 

Fast. Hard. Aggressive. 

What's your favorite skin in the game and why? 

Lately it has been Cafe Cuties Bard. I’ve been drinking more tea irl the passed few months so I really enjoy putting down cups of tea for everyone. Sharing is caring. :)

What's the best advice you've ever received from a coach or teammate? 

Go hard or go home. 

What's the most memorable game you've ever played and why? 

Not sure honestly tough question. I tend to just forget games after they are over lol 

If you could pick one champion to main for the rest of the season, who would it be and why? 

I would probably pick Renata. She’s new and I started playing her quite a bit this season for the first time. I’ve been doing well on her and she always seems to be helpful to the team. 

What's the most important lesson you've learned from playing League of Legends? 

If you aren’t having fun why are you playing?

If you could swap roles with any member of your team for a day, who would it be and why? 

Probably Wítt our adc. 1 because I like playing ad and 2 so I can take all the cannons I want and he can’t say shit. 

If you were a character in a horror movie, what would be your survival strategy? 

Don’t hide in a tool shed. Always keep tp and duct tape handy. 

If you could eliminate any one type of food from existence, which would it be and why?

Let’s say pizza because we all love pizza. 

Pet Pic?

Bing Chillers Worry Brothers

Name, Role and Team (Ex CTRL ULT Top for Basement Dwellers)

UBC Sauder, Top for Bing Chillers

BCWB Support Ah0p

What is the series score going to be for your next set of matches? Any thoughts on the team that you play?

2:1

Hopefully 2-0 as long as we don't decide to int a game for content. DZG looks to win most of their games through bot lane. I think our topside should run through theirs. 

What was the biggest takeaway from your match last week?

My teammates need to be yeeted next split

"Wait we can beat these guys with Yasuo jungle??" 

Who's the most competitive member on the team and what's the biggest argument you've had in-game? 

Everyone is extremely competitive, there have been no arguments yet

I think everybody definitely cares about winning. We really haven't had any big arguments, just trying to figure out how to win the game. 

If you had to describe your team's playing style in three words, what would they be? 

Yasuo Jungle Angle

Just fight them

What's your favorite skin in the game and why? 

Special Forces GP

No idea

What's the best advice you've ever received from a coach or teammate? 

Just be better

You can apply more pressure sitting in fog than you can showing yourself on a roam you know isn't going to work. 

What's the most memorable game you've ever played and why? 

The games I played today

Probably a normal game with IRL friends from 2015. We 5 man back doored to win a game we were definitely losing. I think I might still have hearing loss from the call. 

If you could pick one champion to main for the rest of the season, who would it be and why? 

Kennen, buffed next patch

Thresh - I always feel like I can find something useful to do on that champion regardless of gamestate. 

What's the most important lesson you've learned from playing League of Legends? 

You cannot control your teammates

If you can't say anything nice don't say anything at all : ) 

If you could swap roles with any member of your team for a day, who would it be and why? 

Mid (Matg) because his top is elite too

Probably UBC Sauder. Show him how to play Lee Sin top. 

If you were a character in a horror movie, what would be your survival strategy? 

Kill the thing

Shoot straight

If you could eliminate any one type of food from existence, which would it be and why?

Skim Milk, tastes bad

Marmalade. Terrible childhood experience. 

CB Galaxy

Name, Role and Team (Ex CTRL ULT Top for Basement Dwellers)

Hai Legacy Bottom for CB Galaxy

What is the series score going to be for your next set of matches? Any thoughts on the team that you play?

I believe we can 2-0 or 2-1 "Let Em Cook". I have not played against any of their players before but base on their roster and standings they seem to be a lower tier team.

What was the biggest takeaway from your match last week?

From our last series against "Reign of Kings" we definitely need to transitions from early game to mid/late game better. Our team fights are a bit sloppy, but we are able to get small leads in the early game.

Who's the most competitive member on the team and what's the biggest argument you've had in-game? 

We have not have any big argument in game, just typical joking around or poking at one another. I would say we are all fairly competitive and want to win and understand as a team what we lack. 

If you had to describe your team's playing style in three words, what would they be? 

Encounter random team-fights

What's your favorite skin in the game and why? 

Lunar Beast Aphelios, I really love asian culture and enjoy celebrating lunar new years with my family.

What's the best advice you've ever received from a coach or teammate? 

I am trying my best to learn a lot from competitive play because it is drastically different in solo/duo queues. I gotten couch by a high elo player on how to approach team-fights and he noticed how I lack in using my abilities. The best advice I got was just try to use my abilities more off cooldown and get more dps in each team-fights.

What's the most memorable game you've ever played and why? 

Back on my college team, Iowa State. My mid laner and I had a great 2v5 to stop the other team from getting baron and won after it. I was playing Miss fortune and he was playing Oriana. At first I tried to stop them on my own and baited them towards the red side jungle where my mid laner was coming from base and we just both ulted them and I got a penta from that. Shortly after that we got baron and ended the game.

If you could pick one champion to main for the rest of the season, who would it be and why? 

I typically play utility adc that build on hit in solo/duo queues like ashe and varus, but I really enjoy Aphelios. I would love to one trick aphelios cause he is a complicated champ and so satisfying to make plays with.

What's the most important lesson you've learned from playing League of Legends? 

Unironically I learned how to control my anger from playing league. No one enjoys playing games with a toxic player and being rude to someone doesn't really help them or yourself. No one is perfect and I don't suspect anyone to be, so I just continue playing and try to enjoy the game. 

If you could swap roles with any member of your team for a day, who would it be and why? 

Definitely one of the solo lanes. I am really poor at solo laning and when to trade with my laners. The champions pool though are so drastically bigger than an adc champion pool. For the question I would choose top cause mid a bit too difficult for me. Also, I really enjoy playing some Shen in the top lane. 

If you were a character in a horror movie, what would be your survival strategy? 

The few horror movie I seen are based on haunted houses, so my survival strategy is to leave the house as soon as possible. 

If you could eliminate any one type of food from existence, which would it be and why?

I probably would get hate from this but peanuts, I am allergic to it so I never really enjoy seeing them in some dishes I get. Some Asian cuisines have peanuts in them and are rarely noticeable in the menu. I can't enjoy my dinner with my family if it just randomly have peanuts in them. 

Let em Cook

Name, Role and Team (Ex CTRL ULT Top for Basement Dwellers)

Ruined King Jungle for Let em Cook

What is the series score going to be for your next set of matches? Any thoughts on the team that you play?

Our next opponent is CBG and they are ranked lower than us. Not many thoughts on the enemy team just wanna focus on our game and play the way we want to play.

What was the biggest takeaway from your match last week?

Biggest takeaway is that the jg support synergy is a must in order to snowball leads

Who's the most competitive member on the team and what's the biggest argument you've had in-game? 

Barleymoishe is the most competitive and we've gotten into a fair amount of altercations about gameplay but nothing happened in game.

If you had to describe your team's playing style in three words, what would they be? 

Cook the enemy!

What's your favorite skin in the game and why? 

Battle Queen Qiyana. Do i even need to explain??

What's the best advice you've ever received from a coach or teammate? 

In a team environment, you have to trust your team more than you trust yourself.

What's the most memorable game you've ever played and why? 

Most memorable game was probably when i first picked up qiyana and i got the full combo perfectly. Really showed that my time in practice wasnt in vain.

If you could pick one champion to main for the rest of the season, who would it be and why? 

Viego duh

What's the most important lesson you've learned from playing League of Legends? 

If im not winning im not having fun

If you could swap roles with any member of your team for a day, who would it be and why? 

Definitely our mid laner just bc I love the mid role in general

If you were a character in a horror movie, what would be your survival strategy? 

I'm black so i would probs die regardless...

If you could eliminate any one type of food from existence, which would it be and why?

Seafood, sorry not sorry