This article was originally published on GameSpot's sister site onGamers.com, which was dedicated to esports coverage.

　　

Introduction

People have consistently said that the early game is extremely important in League of Legends due to the snowballing effect. This continues to ring true despite Riot's attempted changes to reduce the snowballing effect, with 71% of teams with a lead at 20 minutes going on to win (and 27 out of 29 times if the lead is over 3k). This article looks in depth at the 20 minute gold leads for each team to draw patterns about a team's strengths and weaknesses as well as highlight some interesting outliers so far in the NA LCS summer split.

　　

Cloud 9

There is somewhat of a silver lining to C9’s results thus far. When the team earns a gold lead at 20 minutes, it can/does close out the win, unlike many other teams in the league. Also, C9 earned three wins after trailing in gold at 20 minutes by a substantial margin (>1K). Those two facts support the notion that C9’s late game decision making and team fighting are among the best in the league. The results show that C9’s early to mid game strength is somewhat lacking however, as the team trailed in gold in over half of its games thus far (11 of 18 games).

　　

Complexity

COL has obviously improved over the course of the season. COL earned a gold lead or was even in gold in four of its seven most recent games, compared with trailing significantly in gold in most of its first 11 games. With two recent comeback wins during super week, COL is poised to contend for the final playoff spot. Yet, the results show that COL as a whole is a fairly weak 0-20 minute team. The team earned a substantial lead in only 5 games, and failed to close out two of those games. There is still a lot of room for improvement.

　　

Counter Logic Gaming

CLG is undoubtedly one of the strongest teams in the league in the first 20 minutes of games, as the team earned a gold lead in a majority of its games. CLG lost three games in which the team had a substantial (>1K) gold lead, yet recorded the largest comeback (>5k deficit) in the league thus far, truly counter-logic gaming.

　　

Curse

CRS is surprisingly one of the best 0-10 minute teams, earning a gold lead at 10 minutes in the most games this season (11 out of 18 games), yet earning a gold lead in the second fewest games at 20 minutes (7 of 18). CRS’s strength is getting out to early leads. The team has a lot of room to improve when it comes to maintaining those leads and closing out games. The results show that CRS performed well in super week and that CRS could be on the up-swing.

　　

Dignitas

The DIG graph looks like the tale of two halves. In the beginning of the season, DIG earned large gold leads in the first 20 minutes in most games, and DIG closed out all of those leads. However, in games 10-18 DIG earned only three substantial gold leads (>1K) and won only two of the games. DIG “throwing” its most recent substantial gold lead could be a cause for concern when looking to the future, yet that was the first occurrence this season. This graph also supports DIG’s reputation as an erratic team, as we see the ups and downs in literally back to back games clearly represented. However, DIG is a relatively strong early and mid game team overall.

　　

Evil Geniuses

EG earned gold leads in three of its four games in super week, yet lost all four games. Two of the team’s four wins came after earning a seemingly insurmountable (>7K) gold lead at 20 minutes. EG obviously has problems in the late game which could be due to individual mechanical errors, team decision making, and/or champion picks. Overall, the results show that EG is a weak team in the first 20 minutes, yet is improving.

　　

LMQ TC

The results show that LMQ is a strong team in the early and mid game, as the team earned a gold lead in most of its games (11 of 18 games). LMQ failed to close out three games in which the team had a large (>1K) gold lead at 20 minutes and has the most “throws" of the top 5 teams, supporting the notion that LMQ’s late game strength has room to improve.

　　

Team Solo Mid

TSM’s graph is somewhat the opposite of DIG’s graph. While two of its three most recent losses have come at the hands of DIG, TSM is obviously improving in the 0-20 minute phase of games. In recent weeks, TSM earned a substantial gold lead or was even in gold in all but one game. The recent addition of head coach Locodoco could be the reason that TSM improved in this phase. TSM lost only one of its large gold leads so far this season, supporting the belief that TSM’s late game team fighting and decision making is near the top in the league. Unlike CRS, CLG, or LMQ, when TSM gets an early lead they close out the win in most cases.

　　

Conclusion

Analyzing gold leads at the 20 minute mark helps to show the strengths of each team in the early and mid game. The results support commonly held notions about many of the teams, and the graphs show some of the trends across the league. CLG, DIG, and LMQ seem to be the strongest teams in the first 20 minutes overall, and EG, TSM, and CRS have improved greatly in this phase over the last couple weeks.

　　Data collected with help by the onGamers Stats team: Derek 'Kathix' Adams, Jesse 'JALbert' Albert, Steven 'whedgehead' Falgout, Kent 'Traepoint' Frasure, Christoph "geilerHarry" Lansmann, Jake Morales,James 'PelkaSupaFresh' Pelkey, and José "Vodkita" Ribeiro. Design by Ben 'Sarcasmappreciated' Li.