Cloud9 has gotten off to a good start in the LCS Spring 2022 season after they went 2-0 in the opening weekend, defeating both Golden Guardians and Evil Geniuses with unconventional drafts from head coach Nick “LS” De Cesare.
One of the picks he heavily promotes is Soraka in a solo lane, and fans got to see his theories and ideas about the game come to life after he drafted it for mid laner Ibrahim “Fudge” Allami, who went up against Evil Geniuses mid laner Joseph Joon “jojopyun” Pyun on Viktor.
Surprisingly, the head coach had only mentioned this specific matchup right before the game, and quickly gave Fudge a crash course on how to play the 1v1 lane.
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LS coaches C9 Fudge on Soraka mid versus Viktor
Following C9’s victory, the mid laner tweeted about how his head coach had “randomly” brought up the Soraka versus Viktor match up to him right before the game.
Although LS thinks of the Starchild as an overpowered pick, she’s almost never seen in pro play. However, adherents of the Church will know that the head coach picks her a lot in his high ranking solo queue games.
And so there’s probably no better person to teach the mid laner about the matchup than the head coach himself, where he demonstrated the 1v1 matchup against academy mid laner Jouhan “Copy” Pathmanathan for Fudge to observe.
The head coach’s decision would prove prescient as he drafted this exact matchup in C9’s game against Evil Geniuses over the weekend. Although Fudge was down in CS early, he showcased the Starchild’s true potential with her numerous heals later, which helped Robert “Blaber” Huang’s Olaf stay alive in fights.
Why enchanter in solo lanes may be the future
The head coach has said in the past that there are many champions that are overpowered, but teams aren’t picking them in pro play. He’s also talked about the following champions that have potential in the mid lane:
- Cho’Gath
- Malzahar
- Illaoi
- Graves
- Kayle
- Ivern
Specifically for Soraka mid, the solo lane gives her more experience, so the team can benefit from her ultimate earlier. As she’s able to get solo lane farm too, her support items will also come online quicker, and she can then keep everyone alive in team fights.
We’ve already seen Ivern mid in the LCS after C9’s game against Golden Guardians, where the concept works pretty much much the same way.
Can we expect to see even more unconventional drafts like Ivern and Soraka mid in the future?
READ MORE: LCS Spring 2022: Schedule, results, format, where to watch
