As most teams in the NA and EU LCS are on the off-season, the Garena teams are underway in the League of Legends Nova League (LNL) tournament where teams are vying for a top 4 finishing position to secure their guaranteed spots in the 2014 Garena Premier League (GPL) Spring 2014 season as well as the LNL Spring 2014 season as well. Because this is Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Macao’s first regional and fully professional League of Legends league, many big names such as Taipei Assassins, Taipei Snipers, ahq e-Sports Club, and the yoe Flash Wolves (formerly known as the Gamania Bears who represented Taiwan at S3 Worlds) will be playing along with some rising amateur teams.
With Week 2 of the LNL tournament coming to a close, there were some highlight games that came up with teams running very unusual team compositions that are quite unique compared to the other regions in the international competitive stage.
Support Morgana
Despite Morgana falling out of favor in the competitive scene since the end of Season 2, ahq e-Sports Club had other ideas when their support, GreenTea, brought out his support Morgana in two different games that AHQ played recently against yoe Flash Wolves (aka Gamania Bears) and Taipei Assassins.
AHQ E-Sports Club vs. yoe Flash Wolves (Week 2, Day 1):
VOD: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jr15Xl79CIM
Note: Use link above for referencing the different plays highlighted below.
AHQ used the Morgana support along with Lucian to heavily push waves using Morgana’s Tormented Soil along with Lucian’s Piercing Light and Ardent Blaze against the Vayne and Zyra duo lane. Morgana not only provides a lot of pushing power, but she also has a fairly long range single-target snare that is an easy kill if landed as well as strong AOE CC and peel presence both in a duo lane as well as in a teamfight.
(Start VOD at 27:17)
Looking at this, GreenTea flashes in and activates Morgana’s Soul Shackles right in between Vayne and Zyra forcing them to split up or otherwise both be stunned in place. This allows Naz’s Jarvan IV who was waiting in the brush to jump right onto the Vayne for an easy kill to go to Lucian as well as a Dragon for AHQ as well.
Morgana’s CC and wave clear assistance is not only valuable in lane, but also when a team is sieging a tower. Morgana can help push the wave into the tower with a maxed Tormented Soil (W) during the mid game and then provide peel and CC with Dark Binding (Q) to stop incoming enemy initators, Black Shield (E) her allies from being CC’d, and activate Soul Shackles (R) in the middle of the chaos to not only shut down engages, but also potentially lock down/force Flashes from enemy carries.
(Start VOD at 39:22)
In this part of the game, AHQ was sieging mid tower and GreenTea smartly positions himself right in between the tanks (Jarvan IV and Shyvana) and the carries (Orianna and Lucian). When the Flash Wolves engaged into AHQ, Morgana got two Soul Shackles binds onto the enemy Jax and Elise while Black Shielding Shyvana allowing her to enter the backline unopposed. This allows Lucian and Orianna to kite allowing AHQ to get a couple kills and secure the tower.
Here’s another teamfight where GreenTea lands a bind onto the enemy Jax allowing AHQ for an engage into the enemy team.
(Start VOD at 43:06)
After landing the bind and the fight began, Morgana once again will Flash + activate Soul Shackles tying four people up zoning Syndra and Vayne away from the AHQ members while forcing the Flash Wolves to disperse allowing AHQ to easily pick targets off. When the dust settled, it was a 4 for 2 exchange in favor of AHQ with Lucian (known as “Obama” according to the Taiwanese casters) getting a Triple Kill in the end who already completed his Trinity Force and Infinity Edge. This leads to an easy mid tower and inhibitor for AHQ.
Closing Thoughts:
Although Morgana has not really been used at all in competitive until tomorrow, AHQ demonstrated the potential and the threat it can pose when Morgana is utilized to her full potential. Morgana is extremely useful in a tower siege comp with good wave clear to help push the minion wave into the tower, two CC abilities to stop incoming tanks or to pick people off, as well as giving a carry a free spell shield to prevent being CC’d. Whether we will see Morgana more often in the support role in competitive, we have yet to see other international teams pick her up, however it is possible with AHQ showing the potential of Morgana as a support.
