TBQ: An In-Depth Analysis on Ganking Priority and Success

This analysis is focused on TBQ, the jungler for LGD. TBQ is not known as one of the mechanical beast junglers from China like Clearlove, Swift, or Spirit. TBQ is more viewed as a supportive jungler who aims to control the game versus taking it over. He is the weakest member on LGD. This isn’t a big ordeal though because LGD has learned to adapt to help TBQ and improve their team’s overall strategy. TBQ requires Pyl to roam with him at times to increase his gank success. This is especially the case if LGD is facing a team with a heavier focus on their jungler like EDG with Clearlove. TBQ is capable of impacting the game on a select few champions, but he can’t replicate these results on several champions. Now that you have some basic information on TBQ lets start going over his gank priority.

Note: All the stats are collected from the playoff games including the seeding match series against VG.

 

Overall Gank Priority

Mid > ADC > Top > Jungle

TBQ will prioritize GODV first at 36.36%, Imp second at 25.45%, Acorn at 20%, and jungle at 18.18%. The physical gank location priority is top lane 20%, mid lane at 36.36%, bot lane at 25.45%, and jungle at 18.18%. As you can notice there is no difference between role priority and location priority. Usually the difference in role priority and location priority is small and only involves changes in the top and bot lane. Now looking at the role priority for ganks we notice GODV is highest. GODV is an essential carry for LGD. He will completely take over games and with his wide champion pool this allows him to not be confined to being banned out. In other words, he usually isn’t going to be the player who gets forced onto an uncomfortable pick and play more passively. With this in mind, TBQ will gank mid to get GODV snowballing who then in return will roam to apply even more pressure. Include the roams by Pyl and this will cause a lot of pressure in the side lanes.

The second highest gank priority is Imp. Imp is known to be hyper aggressive, but since coming to China he now has controlled aggression. He will push forward like he always has, but he does it intelligently versus mindlessly. He can be counted on to deal large portions of sustain damage while maintaining proper positioning. His main champion for the playoffs was Kog’maw who he played 7 times. Kog’maw is a high scaling ADC and if he gets ahead early it can be a disaster for the enemy team. All of this makes Imp more of the 2^nd carry compared to Acorn.

Acorn is third on the list. Even though Acorn isn’t known to be the 2^nd carry on LGD he can step up if required like we have seen in LGD vs QG game 2 where he plays Fiora. It also is still important to gank for the top lane since if your top laner is ahead it can make your team’s teleport and split push more impactful.

Lastly is jungle priority. This number is the typical priority a jungler will put on setting up ganks in the jungle. When EDG gets more pressure in their lanes Pyl will roam in deep to ward to help secure possible jungle ganks with TBQ. Looking at the overall encompass of LGD’s priority they are more similar to QG than SKT T1. SKT T1 puts all their focus in mid and top. LGD is more balanced with their highest focus being mid versus QG’s being ADC.

Overall Success Rate

The overall success rate for TBQ’s ganks in the playoffs was a 43.64% success to get a kill, 32.73% to just blow a summoner, 18.18% to just cause pressure, and 5.45% to achieve nothing. The chance an ally or himself die is 14.55%. The first thing to notice is the chance to do nothing is low, which is of course good. If a gank results in nothing then the enemy gets knowledge of your jungler location and can make a play themselves using that info. The kill percentage is lower than 50% which isn’t the most optimal. The more kills TBQ can achieve for his team then the stronger the early game his team can have. However, blowing summoners can be more useful at times. If an enemy mid laner doesn’t have flash then GODV can out pressure him so he can roam more. The end result is more pressure mid and in the side lanes. The death percentage is actually lower than the death percentage for both Bengi and Swift. This is a very good sign since TBQ is a lower impact jungler so he can’t be having ganks resulting in high death totals.

Overall Specific Role Success Rates

Acorn

TBQ’s success rates in his ganks for Acorn are 45.45% to secure a kill, 9.09% to just blow a summoner, 27.27% to just apply pressure, 18.18% to achieve nothing, and the chance an ally dies is 0%. If we notice the success rates for Acorn doesn’t look too good. The kill success rate is under 50%. The chance to blow a summoner is not even 20%. I view blowing a summoner and securing a kill to be impactful while pressure isn’t the case all the time so TBQ actually affects the lane 54.54% of the time. I believe TBQ can’t get the same success with Acorn because for one Acorn isn’t always on a champion that can follow up or brings crowd control to lock up the enemy top laner. Looking at the champions Acorn played his top three were Gnar, Lulu, and Fiora in that order. All three of these champions don’t have the best follow up early on and if the enemy top laner is playing safe there isn’t much to be done. Another reason can be that Lulu and Gnar typically push in the lane due their superior range and AOE. This leads to the lane being harder to gank with the enemy top laner being under his turret. The only good thing to take away from the ganks for Acorn is none of the times anyone died.

GODV

TBQ’s success rates in his ganks for GODV are 35% to secure a kill, 45% to just blow an enemy summoner, 15% to just apply pressure, 5% to achieve nothing, and the chance an ally dies is 15%. The first thing I want to bring up is the low kill success in the mid lane with GODV. One reason behind this is due to the enemy team preparing counter ganks. With such a heavy focus by LGD on mid lane it makes counter ganks more likely. This also supports the reasoning on why blowing enemy summoners is so high. These skirmishes like seen in LGD vs EDG game 2 where EDG first 4 man ganked GODV then they tried again, but LGD counter gank it are risky for both teams since misusage of summoners can lead to multiple kills for either team. I do need to include that summoner blown success rate is higher also thanks to Pyl roaming mid which forces the enemy mid laner to typically blow a defensive summoner or flash. If I combine these two values then TBQ has an 80% chance to have a strong impact in the lane with each gank. The pressure and nothing achieved success are low which is good since the higher success rates are pooled into kills and summoners blown. The death rate is reasonable for how often skirmishes break out in the mid lane.

Imp

TBQ’s success rates in his ganks for Imp are 57.14% to secure a kill, 28.57% to just blow an enemy summoner, 14.29% to just apply pressure, 0% to achieve nothing, and the chance an ally dies is 21.43%. When TBQ ganks for Imp he achieves the highest success rate for kills. However, ganking for Imp also leads to the highest death rate. Imp will aggress for the kill if given the correct opportunity. There are times though when LGD will overcommit in a gank for Imp and it causes them to get caught out by the enemy team’s jungler or teleport from their top laner. This doesn’t mean LGD is losing out on these trades still. If I combine all the kills and deaths from the ganks for Imp it totals to 14 kills and 5 deaths. LGD comes out on top with additional kills to put them farther ahead. This helps support TBQ’s decision to gank for Imp on a consistent basis since in the long run they will come out ahead. If I add in the summoners blown this is a combined 85.71% success in impacting the lane effectively, which further supports the choice to gank for Imp.

Jungle

TBQ’s success rates in his ganks in the jungle are 40% to secure a kill, 40% to just blow an enemy summoner, 20% to just apply pressure, 0% to achieve nothing, and the chance an ally dies is 20%. Jungle ganks usually involve higher success because you aren’t just randomly invading the jungle without support, pressure in lanes, or vision. The main concern though from invading the enemy jungle is not knowing if the enemy has wards around that area or support near-by. Support players returning from their back can move towards this jungle objective without being seen since it would require deep wards by tier 2 towers and entrances to see them coming. Nearby lanes can also technically sacrifice farm to assist. These additional factors can cause ganks to turn into skirmishes which result in a higher death chances.

Average Back Timings

These are just the average back timings for TBQ. There isn’t much to divulge from them on their own, but I will refer to them now and then in my analysis.

1^st Back: 5:18

2^ND Back: 9:22

3^rd Back: 12:02

4^th Back: 13:22

 

Specific Gank Priorities, Success, and Timings

1st Gank: Mid > ADC > Jungle > Top

Average Gank Timing: 5:34

TBQ will prioritize GODV at 43.75%, Imp at 37.50%, jungle at 12.50%, and Acorn at 6.25%. Overall, LGD will not prioritize Acorn much for the 1^st gank. It is better for LGD to get GODV and Imp to start snowballing. The first reason is GODV and Imp are LGD’s main two carries. They need to be fed in order to have a higher influence in team fights. The second reason is by having more pressure in their individual lanes it can offer chances for them to roam. GODV will roam if he is given the opportunity to while Imp can pressure his lane while Pyl roams. In the end this may help Acorn more so through having his teammates roam to his lane versus having TBQ focus on him. Based on this data TBQ will on average gank for GODV or Imp around the 5:30 mark of the game.

The success rate for the 1^st gank is 31.25% to secure a kill, 31.25% to just blow an enemy summoner, 31.25% to just apply pressure, 6.25% to achieve nothing, and the chance an ally dies is 6.25%. The combined impactful success is 62.50% for kills and summoners. This isn’t the highest percentage to want for a first gank. Even though applying pressure can help your laner farm safely for a minute or two it won’t offer a chance to snowball. Also, it being the first gank means usually first blood is still available. First blood is an additional 100 gold and certain compositions need to get ahead early or else they will quickly get out scaled.

2nd Gank: Top = Mid = ADC > Jungle

Average Gank Timing: 8:19

TBQ prioritizes Acorn, GODV, and Imp at 28.57% and jungle at 14.29%. This is a very balanced prioritization by TBQ. Based on this data it shows no evidence on where he would go. One reason this specific gank is more balanced is because this is around the time teams swap their top and duo to standard lane match ups. Factor in TBQ not having to start in a specific area means his pathing is more open compared to the first gank. The only safe bet to look at is he will gank somewhere around the 8:00 to 8:30 mark.

The success rate for the 2^nd gank is 57.14% to secure a kill, 28.57% to just blow an enemy summoner, 14.29% to just apply pressure, 0% to achieve nothing, and the chance an ally dies is 21.43%. The kill success for the second gank is good. Having above 50% chance to secure a kill with a 0% to do nothing means TBQ is pathing better and finding more openings based on the knowledge his team has. The higher success can also be because TBQ is isn’t tunneling on a certain team member. He is mixing up his options which create a more unpredictable pathing for less readable counter ganks.

3rd Gank: Mid > ADC = Jungle > Top

Average Gank Timing: 11:08

TBQ prioritizes GODV at 54.55%, Imp and jungle at 18.18%, and finally Acorn at 9.09%. The GODV prioritization is massive in this gank. This gank is around both the averages for when LGD take their first tower. If TBQ can cause pressure in mid lane and possibly even kill the enemy mid laner this allows for more freedom in pushing down a turret. Acorn prioritization being lowest can be the result of LGD wanting to push down the turret in the lane Imp is in.

The success rate for the 3^rd gank is 18.18% to secure a kill, 63.64% to just blow an enemy summoner, 9.09% to just apply pressure, 9.09% to achieve nothing, and the chance an ally dies is 36.36%. The kill success is extremely low, but the summoner blown is rather high. Include the high ally death chance and this is most likely indicating that TBQ is setting up ganks that result in very close fights. The enemy may be blowing their summoner to escape or possibly turn the fight around. It also may be indicative that LGD is losing map presence which in return means less ward coverage. Lower coverage means plays become riskier due to lack of knowledge of the whereabouts of roaming enemy players and jungler.  

4th Gank: Top > Jungle = Mid > ADC

Average Gank Timing: 13:01

TBQ prioritizes Acorn at 37.50%, GODV and jungle at 25% each, and Imp at 12.50%. This is the first time Acorn is solely on top of prioritization. As we get closer to mid game teleports become more and more important. It allows the top laner to split push while still being able to teleport to an objective such as dragon or for a flank. If your top laner can get ahead then their teleports become more impactful along with their split pushing prowess. TBQ also has already dedicated more priority to Imp and GODV for most of the early game which means they should be more equipped to survive in lane and ready for mid game versus Acorn.

The success rate for the 4^th gank is 75% to secure a kill, 12.50% to just blow an enemy summoner, 0% to just apply pressure, 12.50% to achieve nothing, and the chance an ally dies is 0%. This is the highest the kill success has been. Acorn receives higher prioritization and suddenly the kill success has greatly increased. However, if we look back at TBQ’s overall gank success with Acorn he has less than 50% success in securing kills. Perhaps ganking for Acorn in the later parts of the early game creates more success versus ganking for Acorn in the early portions of the early game. With this being in the later portions of the early game also means Acorn may have picked up some items or reached a certain level that influences the match up more towards his way.

General Stats

Average Ganks

TBQ averaged 3.5 ganks per a game over the LPL playoffs. This is a reasonable amount of ganks to get off every game. Three to four ganks means you aren’t sitting back in the jungle and farming the whole time along with showing that you aren’t afraid of the opposition’s jungler. Yes, TBQ is a weaker jungler than some of the opposition they faced, but with the support of his team they can help increase his pressure with roams. If I look at the 3 other junglers I have examined both Santorin and Swift’s average amount of ganks per a game were under 3. However, Bengi’s ganks per a game was 3.5625. This is very close to what TBQ emulated. Both players are also similar in the sense that they aren’t the most mechanically intensive players, but with the help of their teammates and overall team strategy it can help protect those weaknesses. Note, I don’t say hide because LGD doesn’t hide TBQ’s weakness. They embrace this weakness and work around it. I would say though that Bengi has better jungle pathing compared to TBQ.

Also, this high volume of ganks means that if you sit back against LGD in the early game then LGD will out pressure with their side lanes through roams from Pyl and GODV. Counter ganks need to set up to help slow LGD down or out pressure very early on where TBQ might slack off a bit.

Gold Earned From Jungle

On average TBQ did 6.125 camps and 0.8125 scuttle crabs before his first back which nets him 477.75 gold and 52.8125 gold respectively. After he upgrades his machete he on average does 9.625 camps and 1.6875 scuttle crabs. This nets him 895.125 gold and 135 gold respectively. Finally, TBQ on average gifts 1.357143 buffs which nets him 54.28751 gold. The sum of all the gold values is 1614.973. So TBQ on average will earn 1614 gold at the 15 minute mark. If I compare these numbers to Swift TBQ will earn more gold from jungling compared to Swift. The amount of camps he takes prior to first back is 6 which is essentially a full clear of the jungle. Since he is taking extra time to farm with just a machete this can mean he is either a bit more hesitant to attempt a gank before his first back or just found no lanes gank worthy. This small assumption can be supported by the average back timings and average gank timer. TBQ will on average back at 5:18 while his 1^st gank on average is at 5:34. Having chilling smite can increase the gank success by several junglers. If you know TBQ is a bit more hesitant early then a more aggressive jungler can force his hand.

Champion Pool

TBQ has a reasonably large champion pool. Over the playoffs he played Rek’sai 56.25% of the time, Gragas 18.75%, Lee Sin 12.50%, and Elise and Vi at 6.25% each. Over the regular season he played Ekko a bit and Sejuani. However, the champions he truly performs on well is Rek’sai and Lee Sin. His Gragas is by no means awful and the same with his Elise, but for instance on Lee Sin he can affect the lanes more on his own without the help of Pyl. Rek’sai is rather simple champion overall who can stay safe from dying due to tremor vision. Both these champions should be paid attention to when facing LGD.

One Team Lane Swaps Scenarios

Average Back Timings

There isn’t much difference in the back timings in one team lane swap games compared to overall. The only slight difference is the 2^nd and 3^rd back timers are a bit sooner. Quick rotations are required at times in lane swap scenarios so this could be a reason on why TBQ is backing sooner.

1^st Back: 5:10

2^nd Back: 9:05

3^rd Back: 11:35

4^th Back: 13:22

 

Specific Gank Priorities, Success, and Timings

 

1^st Gank: Mid > ADC > Top = Jungle

Average Gank Timing: 5:11

TBQ prioritizes GODV at 54.55%, Imp at 27.27%, and Acorn and jungle at 9.09% each. This is not a surprising result. I won’t include the specific stats from Pyl in this article, but his main roaming target is GODV. In lane swap scenarios he has more freedom to leave lane and the first lane he approaches is mid lane. TBQ just has to join with Pyl to form a two pronged attack on mid lane. Imp is the second highest mainly due to higher focus on getting farm on Imp versus Acorn. Acorn is on average down in creeps compared to the enemy top laner at 10 minutes. Based on the data TBQ will usually gank mid first around the 5 minute mark.

The success rate for the 1^st gank is 18.18% to secure a kill, 36.36% to just blow an enemy summoner, 36.36% to just apply pressure, 9.09% to achieve nothing, and the chance any ally will die is 0%. The kill secure is extremely low for this gank. Similar to for LGD’s overall 3^rd gank success, but instead of having a high summoner blown chance it splits more with just applying pressure. This isn’t the best results for a 1^st gank. As I mentioned before mid lane is prone to multiple occurrences of counter ganks which can affect the success. Also, Pyl’s roaming choice is heavily favored to mid so it forces the enemy mid laner to play safer early on or try to bait in a gank by TBQ. This causes ganks to just apply pressure versus a kill or forcing a summoner.

2^nd Gank: Mid = ADC > Top = Jungle

Average Gank Timing: 8:20

TBQ prioritizes GODV and Imp at 40% each and Acorn and jungle at 10% each. Around this time is when teams swap their top and duo lanes. GODV is still main focus with Imp grabbing more attention now that he is most likely in a 2v2 situation. Acorn is left to just farm against the opposing top laner. When examining the second gank by LGD TBQ will most likely go to GODV and Imp between 8:00 to 8:30.

The success rate for the 2^nd gank is 50% to secure a kill, 40% to just blow an enemy summoner, 10% to just apply pressure, 0% to achieve nothing, and the chance an ally dies is 20%. The success rates from the second gank are good, even if I factor in the death chance. A 50% kill success and 40% summoner blown means TBQ has a 90% chance to have a strong impact on lanes. A kill creates an advantage in that lane via gold and a summoner blown forces the opposing laner to play more passively. This kid of advantage leads towards quicker dragons and towers. LGD has been running more scaling ADC’s so this success will benefit them greatly.

3^rd Gank: Mid > Jungle > ADC > Top

Average Gank Timing: 11:32

TBQ prioritizes GODV at 57.14%, jungle at 28.57%, Imp at 14.29%, and Acorn at 0%. GODV is at the top once again. Mid lane is unchanged during lane swaps and is the closest lane for side lanes. This makes it a constant choice to gank for. The jungle ganks increased for the third gank. As I mention every time around the third gank the dragon becomes a higher priority. Setting up ganks in the jungle can catch other teams by surprise and can be harder to ward for if most of your wards are dedicated towards lane entrances. Acorn receives no support in the third ganks. One reason can be that he is looking for a teleport. Acorn will typically use his first teleport around the 6 to 7 minute mark. This means the cooldown if used on a turret will be back up around the same average 3^rd gank timing. Acorn may also be doing his best to just grab as much farm as he can if the side lane he is in has no tier 1 turret. The enemy top laner may also have his tier 1 turret so it becomes harder to gank this lane.

The success rate for the 3^rd gank is 14.29% to secure a kill, 71.43% to just blow an enemy summoner, 14.29% to just apply pressure, 0% to achieve nothing, and the chance an ally dies is 57.14%. This is the second time the 3^rd gank kill success is low in kills, but vastly high in summoners blown. The other difference compared to the overall 3^rd gank success is the death chance is higher. Having a death rate above 50% means you are consistently trading kills and the ganks become less consistent. Why would LGD be having such difficulty in their ganks though around the 11 minute mark? LGD for one is usually only a couple hundred gold ahead of their opposition. They don’t build a massive lead so the difference is close. LGD also has a problem with over aggressing at times like several Chinese teams and this can cause quick lead changes to the enemy team. Another reason is 2 out of the 7 games that had single lane swaps and contained a 3^rd gank were against EDG. EDG consistently performed well early against LGD in games 1 and 2.

4^th Gank: Top > Mid = ADC = Jungle

Average Gank Timing: 14:11

TBQ prioritizes Acorn at 40% and GODV each and Imp and jungle at 20% each. Final gank in the single team scenario brings Acorn back into the fold. Mid game is approaching which means Acorn will be either grouping more with the team or split pushing while teleport is up. He needs to have some strength going into these fights and can’t be ignored the entire game. Because of this TBQ switches his priority from Imp to Acorn while maintaining GODV throughout the game as usual.

The success rate for the 4^th gank is 100% to secure a kill, 0% for blowing summoners, applying pressure, and doing nothing and the chance an ally dies is 0%. This is a bit hard to gauge due to there only being 5 ganks, but TBQ seems to have had a huge success in each of these ganks.

Gold Earned From Jungle

TBQ on average did 6.27273 jungle camps and 0.72727 scuttle crabs before his first back netting him 489.273 gold and 47.2727 gold respectively. When he returns with his upgraded jungle item he will do 9.72727 jungle camps and 1.72727 scuttle crabs to earn 904.636 gold and 138.182 gold respectively. On average he will gift 1.44444 buffs to earn 57.7778 gold. The sum of all these gold values is 1637.14. TBQ is earning 1637 by 15 minutes from just the jungle. This is slightly higher than what he earns overall. A simple reason is during lane swaps the jungler can farm the jungle while his team 3-0 pushes. His scuttle crab average also goes up slightly. Scuttle crabs allow for quicker roams from Pyl and GODV. In standard lanes it can be easier at times to gauge when a support player is roaming because they just aren’t in lane. In a lane swap the support may be roaming, assisting in the jungle, or rotating to help the top laner get farm.

Rek’sai Performance

Average Back Timings

Average back timings seem to be roughly the same as the overall average except for the 4^th back timing which is over a 1 minute later. It could be because Rek’sai can stay farming and quickly return back to objectives or the jungle due to her ultimate.

1^st Back: 5:18

2^nd Back: 9:21

3^rd Back: 12:30

4^th Back: 14:55

 

Specific Gank Priorities, Success, and Timings

 

1^st Gank: ADC > Mid > Top = Jungle

Average Gank Timing: 6:22

TBQ prioritizes Imp at 44.44%, GODV at 33.33%, and Acorn and jungle at 11.11% each. This is the first time Imp has sole possession of first priority in a gank. When looking at Rek’sai she can approach a lane in several different ways. One key thing you can do with Rek’sai is tunnel from the tri-bush by the tier 1 turrets in side lanes without taking a turret shot. Since TBQ doesn’t like ganking for Acorn early on this leaves the other side lane open, Imp’s lane. GODV is the other choice, but GODV is consistently going to get ganks throughout the game so whether TBQ is on Rek’sai, Gragas, or Lee Sin he will gank for GODV.

The success rate of the 1^st gank is 33.33% to secure a kill, 33.33% to just blow an enemy summoner, 22.22% to just apply pressure, 22.22% to achieve nothing, and the chance an ally dies is 11.11%. The success rates closely resemble the overall success rates. This isn’t surprising since the highest played jungler for TBQ is Rek’sai. The interesting thing to point out though is how late the average gank timing is for TBQ on Rek’sai. It seems that he either takes more time to farm or feels as though he needs chilling smite to get a successful gank off. His average first back timing is 5:18 so he will have the machete upgraded. He may be missing opportunities early on and then forcing some ganks that result in nothing.

2^nd Gank: Mid > Top = Jungle > ADC

Average Gank Timing: 8:03

TBQ prioritizes GODV at 42.86%, Acorn and jungle at 28.57%, and Imp at 0%. This is the first time Imp’s priority is 0%. By 8 minutes TBQ will have his ultimate which allows for more global pressure. Since lanes switch back to 2v2 and 1v1 usually by this time TBQ can focus more on Acorn while still having his ultimate to respond to Imp’s lane or incase LGD want to contest dragon still.

The success rate of the 2^nd gank is 57.14% to secure a kill, 28.57% to just blow an enemy summoner, 14.298% to just apply pressure, 14.29% to achieve nothing, and the chance an ally dies is 28.57%. The success rates improved in the second gank with the only exception being chance of death. The more time Rek’sai gets to build a tunnel network the faster he can rotate for a higher chance of a successful gank. TBQ takes advantage of this fact and increases his usefulness. Teams also don’t’ typically have tons of wards to keep track of where he is. Finally, there is a growing trend of when TBQ increases Acorn’s priority their kill success increases. Originally I thought it was just a coincidence, but now multiple ganks where Acorn had a higher priority the success rates were better. We’ll see if this trend continues in the next two ganks.

3^rd Gank: Mid > ADC > Top > Jungle

Average Gank Timing: 11:01

TBQ prioritizes GODV at 50%, Imp at 33.33%, Acorn at 16.67%, and jungle at 0%.  I won’t repeat myself much here beside the point that killing or even chunking out the enemy mid laner can make taking dragon or a turret much easier. Acorn is setting himself up to get farm while TBQ focuses on the other two more kill oriented lanes.

The success rate of the 3^rd gank is 33.33% to secure a kill, 33.33% to just blow an enemy summoner, 16.67% to just apply pressure, 16.67% to achieve nothing, and the chance an ally dies is 33.33%. This is the time of the game where the teams start doing heavier warding in both their own jungle and enemy jungle. Rek’sai can’t move around the jungle as freely without being seen and her tunnel network is usually diminished as well. The opportunities shrink, but if the Rek’sai player can utilize their tremor sense with raptor smite buff they can path safely to find successful ganks. TBQ isn’t at this level yet though. Bengi, who is similar mechanically to SKT, is a very successful player when it comes to using champions who can path uniquely like Rek’sai and Evelynn.

4^th Gank: Top = ADC = Jungle > Mid

Average Gank Timing: 12:24

TBQ prioritizes Acorn, Imp, and jungle at 33.33% each and GODV at 0%. Now we have the first time where GODV received no gank priority. This may seem strange to not be targeting GODV, but based on our trend it seems that ganking for Acorn leads to better overall success. GODV is so widely known to be a priority for LGD with Acorn being ignored more often that teams may not see it coming.

The success rate of the 4^th gank is 66.67% to secure a kill, 33.33% to just blow an enemy summoner, 0% for both just applying pressure and achieving nothing, and the chance an ally dies is 0%. The trend continues it seems. Above 50% kill secure with a 100% chance to have a greater impact in the lane through a kill or summoner blown. Each 4^th gank had similar success as well with Acorn being top priority.

Gold Earned From Jungle                        

TBQ on average did 6.11111 jungle camps and 0.88889 scuttle crabs before his first back earning him 476.667 gold and 57.7778 gold respectively. When he returns with his upgraded jungle item he will do 9.88889 jungle camps and 1.4444 scuttle crabs to earn him 919.667 and 115.556 gold. Finally, on average he will gift 1.55556 buffs to earn 62.2222 gold. This totals his gold intake to 1631.89 gold or 1631 gold by 15 minutes. Again, TBQ earns a bit more than his overall average gold intake at 15 minutes. Rek’sai is good at clearing the jungle quickly and can move around the map faster if the tunnel network is in place. The only real thing to note is his scuttle crab kills are slightly lower. He isn’t taking the same priority in targeting the additional vision and speed boost since he has the tunnel to quickly move around.

Ganking Choices

TBQ double jungled with Acorn for 75% of the time and 25% of the time Acorn helps leash, does his own camp, or goes straight to lane. There was only one game where TBQ double jungled with Acorn that didn’t involve a lane swap so it isn’t a regular occurrence for LGD to clear their jungle faster before sending Acorn off to lane. This isn’t surprising since you typically want to either have your top laner leash or take his own jungle camp in non-lane swap scenarios.

In terms of what side Acorn starts he will start on his team’s strong side 43.75% of the time and weak side 56.25% of the time. In one team lane swap scenarios he will start on weak side 63.64% and strong side 36.36%. The one team lane swap scenario numbers aren’t surprising since typically you want your team to start on weak side so you open up several options. The first one is being able to rotate from weak side to strong side and 3-0 push the tower while your jungler takes farm. The second option is clearing your weak side jungle, rotate your top and jungle to the weak side turret, have your support recall, and 3 man defend your turret and top laner’s farm. The third option is to let your ADC freeze the top wave or push it in on his own, have your double jungle rotate mid, have your support rotate towards mid, and have 3 members gank mid lane. The first two scenarios are the most common. The third one is a bit rarer, but if pulled off it can snowball mid lane quickly.

I would like to add that all these options can be performed on strong side. However, the second option is harder to be successful on strong side since the enemy team will most likely have warded that jungle side so they know if your team is rotating down there. The third option can be performed as well, but when done on weak side you can approach the mid lane from two sides versus one side.

Priority, Timing, and Success in 1^st Gank starting on Weak Side

1^st Gank Priority: Mid > ADC > Top = Jungle

Average Gank Timing: 4:51

Average Back Timing: 5:25

TBQ will prioritize GODV first at 44.44%, Imp at 33.33%, and finally Acorn and jungle at 11.11% each.

These values are consistent to the side TBQ is starting. By starting weak side TBQ will be rotating towards his strong side jungle where Imp is. That reflects in the higher gank percentage for Imp. The mid priority is the main overall focus by LGD so this will stay constant throughout most of the data.

TBQ’s 1^st gank success starting on weak side is 22.22% to secure a kill, 28.57% to just blow an enemy summoner, 33.33% to just cause pressure, 11.11% to do nothing, and the chance an ally died is 0%. TBQ has very low success rates on weak side for his 1^st gank. He is under 50% for combined impactful success. If we look at the 1^st gank values for one team lane swap scenarios this weak side success is very similar. That is mainly because in 63.64% of single team lane swaps TBQ starts on weak side. These values will be close just off that. Another partial reason can be from teams anticipating where TBQ will be ganking. If he is starting on weak side then he is roaming towards the two main priority members, Imp and GODV. Eliminating the choices from 3 locations to 2 can increase the enemy’s chances of setting up a successful counter gank.

Priority, Timing, and Success in 1^st Gank starting on Strong Side

1^st Gank Priority: Mid = ADC > Jungle > Top

Average Gank Timing: 6:29

Average Back Timing: 5:09

TBQ will prioritize GODV and Imp first at 42.86%, jungle at 14.29%, and finally Acorn at 0%. The first thing to look at is how Acorn received 0 1^st ganks by TBQ on strong side. By starting on strong side this would usually mean TBQ is pathing to the opposite side which would be where Acorn is. One reason can be out of all the strong side starts 57.14% of them involved single team lane swaps. If LGD is sticking to his strong side typically they would invade the opposite side so if LGD’s strong side was blue jungle then they would invade the enemy red jungle. Factor in it being LGD’s strong side this means TBQ will most likely be playing to that side lane and mid. It is important to note though that 42.86% of the games don’t’ involve lane swaps and yet TBQ still opts to gank for the other lanes first. I would want to have some more games to observe if this constant would stay true, but for now if you know TBQ is starting on strong side then it is very unlikely he will be using his 1^st gank for Acorn.

Looking at the average timing when TBQ starts on strong side his 1^st gank takes 16.47% longer. One reason from this is because if he is clearing jungle from strong side to weak side and sees no opportunity with Acorn then he will back. This is supported by his average back timing which is well over a minute before his first gank.

TBQ’s 1^st gank success is 42.86% to secure a kill, 28.57% to just blow an enemy summoner, 28.57% to just cause pressure, 0% to achieve nothing, and the chance any ally died is 14.29%. It seems that TBQ has more success when starting on strong side versus weak side. He could be finding more success because he is sticking towards his two carries usually the entire time. Another reason could be that he is engaging in ganks when his laner have their ultimate. Roughly around the 6:30 minute mark is when solo laners reach level 6. Some top champions with ultimate can make a much bigger impact like Sivir, Kog’maw, Corki, and most mid laners.  

Conclusion

TBQ has propelled LGD to work around his weaknesses and improve their team’s strategy. Many teams try to just create a crutch to keep this weakness at by, but LGD embrace it and make it work. LGD still has some early game woes at times due to making mistakes or failing to recognize when to back off from kills which causes them to die for their over aggression. TBQ’s lack of Acorn focus early on can also give the enemy team the idea to target Acorn and cause a significant problem in that match up. Acorn isn’t as dominant of a laner as Flame, but Acorn can utilize is teleport more efficiently. Force an advantage in your top lane and suddenly Acorn will have less impact both in lane and from his teleports.

Another conclusion to reach is LGD seem to have better overall success with Acorn in the later parts of the early game. I am curious to see what would happen if LGD took away some of GODV or Imp’s priority and shifted towards Acorn. With his dependable teleports this can shape up the game better for them. GODV will consistently go even or ahead in lane based on CSD@10 thanks to his mechanical skills and TBQ giving up some camps for GODV so he doesn’t always need to be the general focus for ganks.

Finally, I am interested to see how LGD will adapt their priority. Will they continue the early focus on Imp and GODV or will they switch up their play style early on to become less predictable?

 

Credits towards lol.esportspedia for large amounts of data that could be easily accessed like picks, lolesports for the pictures and VODS which I took essentially created all my stats from, and anyone that I talked to or read about on LGD to give me a better sense on them.

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