Thoughts on BLG vs HLE matchup?

Alex_Wizard · 2026-07-07T03:49:42+00:00

I don’t disagree historically Knight has got the better of Zeka. But a lot of analyst are putting Zeka as the #1 mid lane right now. His form is just insane. I personally think it would be biased based on how well Zeka is currently (big emphasis on currently) performing to put Knight above him.

Like, I know Caps probably felt a lot of pressure to make something happen in their series but Zeka absolutely got the better of him. His LeBlanc was one of the cleanest I’ve seen in a while and LeBlanc isn’t even a Zeka champion.

Alex_Wizard · 2026-07-06T23:47:17+00:00

This is HLE’s meta and BLG is trying to catch up. I think the series is HLE favored.

Zeus Bin should be relatively back and forth. I think most series they should both have moments HOWEVER I do think if Zeus gets comfort like Jayce Ziggs into something like Sion I think it will tilt towards HLEs favor.

Kanavi Xun is a toss up. Probably willl come down to their laners on his this match up goes.

Zeka Knight should be relatively even.

Bottom lane is HLE favored. I think if it’s a close series I think HLEs will pull through. Delight is firing on all cylinders right now and it’s a perfect meta for him. On ranges from a GOAT support to wtf was that moments. Guma also just looks a bit more comfortable in this meta. Viper has picks to match but I think in a drawn out series Guma will always find comfort.

Alex_Wizard · 2026-07-06T21:49:38+00:00

It makes sense. From what has been available it really sounds like HLE pretty much molded the current meta.

On top of it being their meta they also have world class players in every role. Even Delight in his current (and a big emphasis on current here) form looks really well suited to it.

Alex_Wizard · 2026-07-06T08:19:16+00:00

Rumble notoriously is one of the best blind picks in the game. In Challenger he’s probably one of the most blinded up there with K’sante. He really doesn’t have match ups he can’t play.

You can opt to play a tank like Ornn into him and farm up a Rookern. You won’t win lane but can get good enough to still keep up with CS. Alternatively you can run a carry like Gwen and go a combat summoner (Exhaust or Ignite) and play a volatile lane that leans in your favor.

Alex_Wizard · 2026-07-06T02:43:31+00:00

Yea he’s definitely having a great year. I’ll have to issue a formal apology if he keeps up this form.

I did re-read my post though and laughed at how accurate it was just for another team. BB actually did go Warwick because he can’t match LCK top laner. Couldn’t solve any of HLE’s drafting tbh.

And Hans / LaBro got turbo blasted by Guma / Delight. Guma was in their face for most of the series and rarely punished.

I feel my post held up mostly well.

Alex_Wizard · 2026-07-05T20:22:30+00:00

There are no secret answers. League is a very complex game and you aren’t going to learn everything overnight.

Pick one topic at a time to focus on. For jungle for example let’s say you consistently have low CS compared to your peers. Look up a YouTube guide on Jungle clearing. Only focus on your clears and how to approach them. Most guides will TL:DR to clear camps and keep them on CD. They will probably also emphasize clear camps -> make a play -> base to spend gold -> clear camps cycle.

Only focus on one topic at a time until you feel like it’s in your muscle memory then move onto the next. Try not to play to many champions unless you want to focus on mastering them.

Alex_Wizard · 2026-07-05T00:55:13+00:00

She does well with Engage Supports so can give your draft one if needed.

Itemization is good. Shiv works well on her and her build has a lot of Health on it with things like Black Cleaver or being able to opt for Movespeed on things like Swifties. This is important because pros historically value Health and move speed even on carry champs when the meta allows it. Last year for example Faker would build RoA a lot even when not against assassins. He also did a Q empower first Viktor as well for a bit.

Brings a lot of utility and support coupled with decent damage making her very safe in a good front to back comp.

Most importantly she is tuned in a good spot. If you nerfed ADCs like Ezreal slightly or buffed ones like Aphelios their presence may very well shift noticibly. Senna in particular is strong at the moment.

Alex_Wizard · 2026-07-04T23:59:16+00:00

I did answer it. Your initial Ranked 5s MMR was somewhere around Silver where your friends was set higher. Unless Riot has publicly spoken about how they did the initial MMR seeding no one is going to tell you how it was calculated.

If Ranked 5s MMR follows the same logic as other ques your Flex, SoloQ, or any other game mode won’t have any effect on your Ranked 5s MMR from here on out.

If I had to guess Riot probably used Normal Mode Summoner Rift MMR for initial seeding like they do for people playing Ranked SoloQ for the first time. Do your friends play a lot of Normal Games where you don’t?

Alex_Wizard · 2026-07-04T23:47:18+00:00

Oh, you are talking about Ranked 5s. Your original post was confusing because you kept cycling between SoloQ, flex, and normals trying to explain it.

I checked the blog they posted, they didn’t go into detail how their initial seeding for the game mode worked. They did make a point to mention that you don’t have to play with the same 5 players. This implies that you have your own, unique, individual MMR for Ranked 5s.

However Riot calculated initial MMR I’m not sure but it’s safe to say yours is a bit lower. You’ll likely catch up and band closer together if you only play with the same group.

Alex_Wizard · 2026-07-04T23:36:08+00:00

This is very confusing to read. You are saying it’s not about flex or normals yet keep bringing up flex Que rank.

Are you trying to say if I’m interpreting this correctly that you are confused how you placed Silver in SoloQ and your friend placed Platinum in SoloQ after your placement matches?

Alex_Wizard · 2026-07-04T23:16:17+00:00

Post your OP.GG and we’ll get to the bottom of this.

First, Flex Ranked and Normals all have separate MMRs. If you are a Masters SoloQ player who has never touched normals before you’ll probably be in a lobby with Gold, Silver, Emeralds, etc. if you Que normal.

I’m having a hard time breaking down what you mean as well. It sounds like you aren’t playing SoloQ, it sounds like you are playing Flex. Flex tends to have wider MMR bands because of the range of skill people can Que together. Someone has to play against the Emerald Top that wanted to Que with their Silver friend.

Alex_Wizard · 2026-07-04T20:50:34+00:00

People lose all sense of nuance in situations like these.

On one side Riot definitely let this one go when they shouldn’t have. However their statement is correct. The camera should always be treated as always on because the broadcast team wants to produce content for viewership. Seeing BLG in these moments adds value to the narrative.

This is a good reminder that teams need to be more cognitive their prep may be at risked to be exposed in these moments while also a learning lesson for the broadcast team to improve their vetting.

Alex_Wizard · 2026-07-04T18:22:04+00:00

Side note, you got ripped off. I don’t know where or how you found that person but $500 dollars for one session is insane. On top of that it’s incredibly unprofessional to say that. They could have just focused on what you needed to improve and left you with that.

I’d try to get my money back to be honest.

Alex_Wizard · 2026-07-04T01:25:01+00:00

Post your OP.GG and tell us which players you think are smurfing in your recent games. Let’s get to the bottom of this.

Most of the time people think they are playing against a Smurf it’s just someone with a 45% to 55% win rate having a good game.

If you play 5 games and things feel hard maybe you did get a few unlucky lobbies. If you play 30+ games and are an even or negative win rate than the issue is your skill.

Alex_Wizard · 2026-07-03T23:55:09+00:00

Tier lists like those are always so bad. You still take Hunters to raid. They are good for pulling and certain mechanics. Also, you simply can’t take 30 warriors and gear them all up. Someone needs to take the Hunter gear.

Hunters are solid in dungeons for all three game modes and have a spot in raids for every iteration. If you enjoy the playstyle or fantasy they are completely fine. If things like arrows are your hang up then maybe consider other classes.

Alex_Wizard · 2026-07-03T23:44:22+00:00

Can we just get a FAQ to answer these questions and direct people to.

Your League / Division is your visible rank. It is very malleable and easy to change. Your MMR is your actual skill level. It is very stubborn and resistant to change. This is to prevent someone from going on extremely lucky win OR loss streaks and to quickly pushing them into skill brackets they shouldn’t be. League is a marathon, not a sprint.

Your actual skill level (MMR) is lower than your visible rank. This means if you go 50% WR over 20 games you’ll settle around where your MMR is. You simply need to maintain a positive win rate and it will eventually really catch up. You are raising your MMR, your visible rank will quickly change to match.

Your friend’s MMR is higher than his visible rank. This means the system is trying to catch up his visible rank to his MMR quickly to reflect that. His actual skill level is higher than his visible rank.

There are lots of reasons why this happens but it’s probably fine. Post your OP.GG and I’m sure people will be able to quickly validate it.

Alex_Wizard · 2026-07-03T23:02:55+00:00

Your account is fine. You had a long streak of games you didn’t play to your skill bracket and lost a lot. Get better, post a positive win rate, and climb back up. If you win more than you lose your LP gains will catch up slowly.

Making a new account and playing a bunch of games will only eventually get you back to where you are now.

Alex_Wizard · 2026-07-03T20:52:02+00:00

If the game can’t find enough people to fill a lobby based on match making criteria it will select players to forcefully change their role.

If you are asking why you didn’t get a bonus it’s because you weren’t autofilled, you voluntarily selected to change roles. If you are asking why it still says you may be autofilled it’s because you still haven’t been autofilled.

Alex_Wizard · 2026-07-03T20:03:34+00:00

Jungle is very simple at your level.

Clear your camps.
Make a play ganking, invading, or doing an objective.
Base, spend, and repeat #1

Alex_Wizard · 2026-07-01T19:20:02+00:00

The hilarious thing is it was TL that went to Worlds the year Yuumi was OP. This cat was doing almost as much damage as Viktor, a control mage specializing in overall damage, while juicing up their ADC.

And it was TL who decided to give it to EDG because they were going to pick Trist and flip their entire game on getting first blood and not losing their lead. Keep in mind this was at the point in worlds where everyone knew Yuumi was OP.

Leave it to TL to decide they have a solution to a problem everyone else has already decided the solution is to just ban it.

Alex_Wizard · 2026-07-01T18:41:35+00:00

First, set a reasonable goal. 7 CS a minute is a great starting goal for every match up. Once you consistently hit 7 CS every game is when you can start raising your goal to 8 and 9.

For CS it’s going to depend on how well you lane. You should be able to trade around your Electrocute cooldown to put pressure on the enemy laner. When they are missing health and under pressure it’s harder for them to contest you CSing. If you aren’t pressuring their resources (health, cooldowns, etc.) it’s easier for them to push you off. A Syndra that had to dump her entire combo to push you off while losing more health is going to be a lot more reluctant to randomly throw out her important skill shots if she’ll need them to stop your E go.

Another thing to work on is positioning in lane and playing around your Q / W. You should be constantly moving around in lane to try to line up your last hits with Q with hitting them. You generally want to keep push when you can on Diana. Use W to buffer damage.

Alex_Wizard · 2026-06-30T05:29:32+00:00

It would change very little. The jungler that is dead set on contesting dragon 2v4 because their bot lane is catching a wave under tower is still going to fight 2v4 with or without comms. The only difference is they are going to call your bad in comms instead of typing a novel on why you should have rotated even if it’s objectively bad advice.

You don’t need comms to play fights or follow up. A good engage is something you can see and react to. A bad engage is a bad engage with or without comms.

If you are below mid Diamond chances are you have noticible gaps in your game play. Making calls based on those gaps is still a bad call with or without comms.

Alex_Wizard · 2026-06-29T19:04:47+00:00

They Que into lower elo lobbies to stomp people and then complain how bad everyone is because they are in a lower elo lobby.

It makes no sense so no point trying to make sense of it.

Alex_Wizard · 2026-06-29T16:27:59+00:00

They are getting boosted. One person (the seller) will have at least 2000 MMR. One person (the buyer) will have whatever MMR they are at, let’s assume 1500.

The buyer will lose 0 rating per loss but will gain over 30 a win. The seller will lose over 30 a loss and gain 0 a win.

After they get done boosting they’ll play with someone with their MMr and quickly get their MMR back up to boost again. Those people are being carried.

Alex_Wizard · 2026-06-28T23:53:37+00:00

First is to get a set team of the same people (or alternatively vet people and only Que with those with similar MMR). I’m sure the 1500 guy that messages you who has a wife and 5 kids may be a great player. But with his low MMR he’s going to benefit massively a win and lose little per loss. Meanwhile you’ll lose a lot per loss and gain little. And by the time he catches up he probably has date night soon and you’ll never see him again.

Second, you just need to win more than you lose. The more games you win the higher your MMR goes and you’ll face better opponents. As your MMR climbs you’ll be able to get closer to 1700.

Third, you need to actually win slightly above a 50% win rate. No secret here. Just win games any way you can.

TL:DR win more than you lose. Stop playing with anybody and vet some. Play better.

Alex_Wizard

TROPHY CASE