Kings of Europe Finals: m5 vs. CLG.eu

The final two remaining teams in the Kings of Europe LoL tournament face off today, for what is sure to be a close and exciting match.

CLG.eu, the much-hyped counterpart to the prominent North American team, would be the first team to take out m5 in a large tournament if they were to win. m5 will look to retain their recent dominance, brought about by their aggressive counter-jungling strategy.

We will be live blogging the entire match, so click "read more" for live updates!

Gameplay changes in Ziggs patch

Riot revealed today some of the major changes on the way in the upcoming Ziggs patch. Below is the patch preview.

In summary, there are a few big tweaks to a few champions, including a significant nerf to one of the most used junglers, Lee Sin. Lee Sin is now getting less of an AS bonus from his passive and resonating strike does less execution damage.

Jax is receiving what I think is a significant buff, which frankly he's needed after his rework. He can now activate the stun on counterstrike early, rather than waiting for the dodge effect to wear off before stunning.

My thoughts: Both changes were needed at least somewhat, although frankly it's too early to say whether the Lee Sin changes were appropriate before seeing him in action with the nerfs. He should be slower at clearing jungle now and an all-around less effective ganker. I personally prefer GP anyway, so luckily I won't have to rage this patch. The Jax buff is a great change, as it will give Jax players more utility and decisionmaking integrated into their gameplay. He also effectively has an immediate AoE stun, which should make him more useful in late-game teamfights.

Kings of Europe coverage - Day 2

We're down to two teams heading into the elimination stage of the tournament today. Those teams are mTL, m5, CLG.eu, and Sypher.

We'll be covering all the games today live, so be sure to stay tuned for updates!

Game 1 Picks: CLG.eu vs. mTL

CLG.eu               mTL
Sivir                    Kog'Maw
Riven                  Lee Sin
Maokai               Sona
Soraka                Ahri
Cassiopeia          Morgana

Click "read more" for live updates

Riot reveals new champion: Ziggs

Riot just released more detail on the champion they had been hinting at earlier this week. As expected, he seems to be a new AP carry focused especially on skillshot techniques.

Abilities

Passive: Every 12 seconds, Ziggs' next attack deals bonus magic damage. This cooldown is shortened by each use of an ability.

Bouncing Bomb (Q): Skillshot that bounces and does magic damage

Satchel Charge (W): Throws a bomb that detonates after 4 seconds, or by activating the ability again. 

Explosion deals damage and knocks enemies away. Ziggs is also knocked away if near the explosion, but does not take damage.

Hexplosive Minefield (E): Scatters multiple mines that explode upon enemy impact, dealing damage and slowing.

Mega Inferno Bomb (R): Long range AoE nuke. Enemies closer to the center of the blast take increased damage.

Riot's entire write-up on Ziggs can be read here.

Kings of Europe Tournament Coverage

Today marks the beginning of a 4-day online tournament in which we will see the best European teams compete for a prize of 2,500 euros. We will be covering every match as they play out, and live blogging the last rounds of the tournament.

After the break, we'll start our coverage beginning with SK vs. exGBT

So stay tuned for a full weekend of top-level LoL tournament play!

You can watch the live stream here.

CLG.eu scrimming M5 now on Saintvicious stream

It'll be interesting to see how CLG.eu, who wasn't present at IEM Kiev, fares against M5. We won't be live blogging this one, but I encourage everyone to watch as it should be a close match.

CLG.eu has Taric, Sivir, Trynd, Alistar, and Morgana; M5 has Yi, Brand, Sona, Miss Fortune, and Vlad

Head over to Saintvicious' stream to watch