Gambit Gaming vs ROCCAT: By the Numbers

Gambit is the sleeper powerhouse of the European LCS.  Their latest win now puts them on a 7-0 winning streak--just one victory shy of SK's season opening streak.

Gambit has worked out a style that works for them.  It starts in champion select.  They plan for the mid-late game, choosing champions that become powerhouses later and mix them with champions who have the ability to lock down (Morgana) or disengage (Janna).  In game, they make early, calculated concessions--perhaps first blood, perhaps a dragon--and steadily apply the pressure.  By the time late game rolls around, their steady give and take becomes a whole lot more take than give, and eventually they break their way into the base.

Will the strategy continue to work?  So far it's brought down the likes of Fnatic and Elements--perhaps they will even be able to take down SK with this explosive late game style.

Edward gives up first blood--not exactly planned, but not enough to throw them off.

1.  The early concessions.  Cabochard said it best in his post game interview yesterday, "We just had to give up pressure early on to win later."  Even though they gave up Diamond's typical early game pressure with the Sejuani pick, they decided that the trade off for later team fights was well worth it.  Teams know during pick and bans what sort of game they're setting themselves up for, but you don't often hear teams expecting to lose early as part of their strategy.

Betsy accepts the nice blue buff donation.

2.  The split push.  Betsy (Zed) and P1noy (Tristana) were always pushing back a minion wave somewhere.  They aren't quite as timed in their rotations as SK, but they keep up the pressure nonetheless.  It also helps when Betsy is able to take a free blue buff just for being in the neighborhood.

Nothing scarier than a poro-riding viking.

3.  Deterrence.  A dive in the early game--even if it seems like a good idea--could cost a player dearly with Diamond riding around the jungle.  Gambit has a play style that keeps their opponents second guessing themselves for ganks.  One particular occasion was noteworthy in the mid game, when three members of ROCCAT had a lower health Betsy in their sights, but because of his aggressive jaunt through their jungle they did little more than trade a little damage back and forth, for fear that Gambit would collapse on them from the fog of war.

A sliver of health?  No problem--Betsy can probably get another kill out of it.

4.  Quick capitalization.  Once Gambit secures a team fight, they don't lose any time returning to base.  It's not uncommon for Gambit to take advantage of a little lead in the moment, and give a little push wherever they can make it count.  Granted, this strategy ended in Betsy's death on more than one occasion, but in the end they traded a death for a valuable objective.

Yes, that tower lost over half its health that quickly.

5.  Late game powerhouses.  By late game, there's really no one you want to engage directly.  Gambit's frontline--Diamond and Cabochard--makes the choice a tough one.  Tanky enough that he can take a bit of beating, Diamond is a CC machine that can slow, knock up, or freeze a clumped group of enemies.  On the other hand, unless you can guarantee a shut down jumping on Cabochard is likely to result in a Dark Binding and Soul Shackles, if there's enough commitment.  Betsy on Zed is mobile enough that jumping on him almost guarantees a Death Mark on your back line, and P1noy on Tristana is going to Rocket Jump his way to more resets.  If the fight goes awry, no worries--Edward is there with Janna to reset the whole encounter.

ROCCAT pushes into Gambit's base while they limp back after Baron.

6.  Although, a mirror could be their weakness.  After Gambit took control at around 17 minutes, they kept in control for the rest of the game--except for that brief respite around 30 minutes when they took Baron.  ROCCAT, seizing an opportunity, decided not to engage Gambit directly, but instead pushed to secure three towers, an inhibitor, and a Dragon.  Perhaps the strategy's undoing is the strategy itself.

Other interesting statistics:

• Diamond really absorbed the damage.  It took an average of 24.2k damage to take down this monstrous poro-riding beast.  Next was P1noy at 19.2k, and then Edward at 15.6k.

• Nukeduck continued to dish out a lot of damage than he took with a ratio of 1.9.  P1noy was next with 1.6, followed by Cabochard at 1.4.

• Vander pulled his weight in the team fight category, netting 100% Kill Participation.  Next was a two way tie between P1noy and Edward at 80%.

• Gambit was also effective with their damage, averaging 5.5k damage for each kill.  ROCCAT had to commit an average of 8k for each kill.