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As in my previous strategy post, this piece is reformatted for this forum from an offsite original.
Masters Class 1 - Running in Heels: Evelynn's Unique Dynamics
Welcome to Masters Class!
Masters Class is an editorial series dedicated to examining topics of interest in competitive play using games from OGN Masters as case studies. This first Masters Class discusses the unique impact Evelynn has on a game and how specific strategies have been constructed around her.
Introducing Evelynn, The Widowmaker
No champion has seen such extraordinary highs and lows as Evelynn, who has spent time as both the most and least picked/banned champion. Her current place in competitive play in Season 4 can reasonably be considered a triumph for Riot’s balance team - she is often picked in Korea but only occasionally banned, and certain players in some regions have been maining her with success while others largely ignore her to no real detriment to their champion pool. Making her balance state all the more impressive is the unique stealth passive that is the core of her design. Many had predicted Evelynn to become hopelessly overpowered as a result of the Vision Ward change, but such a scenario never materialized as Evelynn was widely experimented with at the start of the season before quickly settling into her current place.
There are several key drivers for why Evelynn turned out as she did, by far the most important of which is that skilled teams quickly learned to adapt warding and laning patterns to her. Combined with her dueling weakness compared to other meta junglers, being able to track Evelynn in the early game empowered organized and aggressive teams to neutralize her rather than permitting her to control the tempo of the game. The loss of the key ‘submarine’ synergy with Shen as the Kinkou fell out of favor in the new season also hurt her, forcing teams to find less reliable methods of taking advantage of her unique flanking ability. However, it is precisely this vaunted flanking ability that is why Evelynn players have made such an effort to revise their play to suit any counters that arise; although Evelynn’s success in the early game is dependent on the enemy team’s failure to ward and otherwise respond properly, Evelynn players have adjusted by building her as a tanky teamfight initiator rather than the AP semicarry she was in Season 3. Evelynn is one of the most exciting champions of this season as a standout example of how a champion can wax and wane as strategies are alternatingly innovated and countered.
Shadow Game, Part 1 - Lane Swaps
One of the most important differences between high level solo queue and true organized play is lane arrangement flexibility, and nowhere is this trait more important than in games involving Evelynn. While any jungler is useful enough to make early 3v1 dives feasible in lane swap situations, Evelynn lacks the execute damage and mobility of Lee Sin and Elise. Furthermore, although she has good waveclear in Hate Spike, a tower push race between junglers is to her clear disadvantage, as her invisibility is being wasted. Thus, though tower armor changes have made this strategy much less appealing, it is still worth considering a lane swap against Evelynn to force a decision between exerting her presence early and falling behind in early towers. A textbook example of this play occurred in Ozone’s Week 4 game against Sword, where they sent Fiddlesticks and Sivir top to quickly push down the tower with Kha’Zix. Sword had no choice but to respond in kind, and the result of knowing exactly where Evelynn was in the early game was, for Ozone, well worth the marginal time deficit incurred by rushing down the tankier top turret.
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/FNE0lNk.jpg)
In a close rush scenario such as this, the teams engage in a game of chicken after the first tower in which both will usually attempt to continue to the second. The mid laners of each team will rotate to a side lane, usually to defend, and each team will attempt to outplay the 3v2 in order to force a recall by the other side and seize the tempo advantage. In this particular case, both inner turrets were downed within seconds of each other - again an advantage for Sword, who managed to further delay Evelynn’s roam.
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/Ghrq3EH.jpg)
While the early creation of a long lane (in this game, inner turrets were down roughly 6 minutes in!) offers Evelynn a clear gank opportunity on targets farming those lanes, Ozone continued to display an excellent grasp of how to play against her by immediately pinking both dragon-side river entrances and not pushing past the river.
This highly technical, objective-based game let Ozone play safely into the mid game, with 0 kills on either side 20 minutes in. From that point, they were able to force ideal teamfights against a Sword with no real tank (Shyvana had built BotRK first, and as a jungler Evelynn’s build was naturally delayed) in order to ramp up to an insurmountable lead going into the late game. Evelynn has no reliable response to being forced into a fast pushing, tower-centric early game. It is important to note, however, that this strategy is one that aims to keep both teams even in the early game and thus counter lane-phase advantages such as certain bully laners and Evelynn’s invisibile ganks. Thus, it does nothing to negate Evelynn’s post-lane usefulness and needs to be used in conjunction with a mid game strategy in order to be effective.
Shadow Game, Part 2 - Warding and Invading
Compared to 2v1 fast pushing, Evelynn far prefers a standard lane setup where she can look to gank overextended lanes, particularly the 2v2 long lane. This is best responded to by having the jungler invade and place wards with vision of the ‘W’ (wraiths, wolves, wight) camps in order to track Evelynn when she becomes visible to farm. Jin Air employed this warding style against CJ Entus in their Week 1 Masters Match, having Nunu invade wolves early and drop off a ward in the process.
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/D7Qd47i.jpg)
Although this method allows for direct plays against Evelynn by taking advantage of her weak 1v1 to invade her, it is heavily dependent on keeping a constant net of ward coverage and can result in even a momentary lapse of vision being fatal. Precisely that happened to Captain Jack when the wolves ward expired moments before Evelynn came to clear the camp, leaving a fatally overextended Jin Air bot lane with no evidence that they were about to be ganked and chased down the entire lane.
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/XGmkVtk.jpg)
Despite the heavy demands of aggressively warding and invading Evelynn, teams often opt to attempt this rather than default to a safer 2v1 fast push partly because of the potential to straight up win the game during the lane phase by setting her sufficiently far behind. Evelynn will often be low on mana when clearing camps, relying on her passive mana regen to restore just enough while traversing the map to be useful. Jin Air was able to abuse this to score a kill on DayDream by timing a two-man invade at his second red buff spawn, demonstrating how effective a straightforward invade can be against Evelynn.
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/kLfwE9q.jpg)
KT also found success with timed invades in their Week 2 Masters game against NaJin, when LeBlanc and Vi caught Evelynn after taking red.
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/ZO3rNOW.jpg)
All in all, although the ward+invade style still leaves room for a skilled or lucky Evelynn player to execute successful ganks, the ability to shut her down during her vulnerable moments in the jungle is a tempting prize that many teams prefer to pursue over the more mundane 2v1 fast push. In treating her as a strong ganker who is vulnerable in the jungle, teams apply the approach previously used against slow starting champions such as Amumu to exploit her shared weaknesses of low mana, weak 1v1, and difficulty in fleeing ganks while countering her unique stealth.
All Too Easy - A New Standard of Play
Regardless of whether lane swaps or warding+invading is used against her, Evelynn’s early game strength is limited compared to the high mobility, high damage Lee Sin and Elise or even Vi,Kha’Zix, and Wukong. She can completely take over a game if allowed early kills, but this is hardly unique to her and any professional team should, at least in theory, be able to prevent this from happening. Given that her counters are both effective and common knowledge, it might be expected that Evelynn fall out of popularity entirely, but this has not been the case for one major reason - her stealth begins to show its true strength after the laning phase, when there is no reliable way to track her with Stealth wards. It is at this point that she settles into her niche of being the best flanker in game with Agony’s Embrace, and a good example of this can be seen in the Week 3 epic between Blaze and T1 S. H0R0 would consistently try to position himself to a right angle of approach to the rest of his team, opening up potential for teamfight initiates, counterinitiaties, and even picks should somebody straggle on a rotation. In the situation below, H0R0 is mindful of the potential for a fight while Easyhoon is taking blue, and his standard right angle positioning allows him to cut off any engage by Blaze with a mass Agony’s Embrace and run straight to Lucian or Orianna while Zyra further stalls with her root and ultimate. This threat of a surprise attack is a huge deterrent to compositions that might try to close big gaps to engage. Evelynn’s flank disruption is good at isolating carries and forcing defensive action, making her the bane of dive comps that count on their overwhelming engage to give their carries room to do damage unimpeded.
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/3QkbWjk.jpg)
Whereas Season 3 Evelynns invested heavily in AP damage and relied on Zhonya’s Hourglass for survivability, the modern Widowmaker sets up fights for her team while dealing just enough damage to be unignorable. Spirit of the Elder Lizard is rushed as the sole damage item and gives her the early game power to gank and kill neutrals effectively. The remainder of the build is defensive, featuring a situational mix of Banshee’s Veil, Randuin’s Omen, Sunfire Cape, Spirit Visage, and either defensive boots. Thus armed, Evelynn has the bulk to run disruption and stick to priority targets after opening with Agony’s Embrace to set up follow ups by the dive comps that define the current meta. She whittles down carries in battles of attrition using her attack speed bonus from Ravage and can outmanoeuvre the opposition thanks to successive Dark Frenzies, giving her the ability to stay relevant even in drawn out teamfights that see targets spread over a large area.
Additional flexibility in her build due to being able to make good use of BotRK and Maw of Malmortius gives Evelynn the option of investing in more damage to fill gaps in her composition, and the AP items that were once so popular on her stand to make a return to popularity should the meta change such that she is more valuable when built for magic damage. With an exclusive strength in her stealth and fantastic build versatility, it’s no surprise that Evelynn remains a preferred and increasingly must-ban pick for such notable junglers as Watch and Bengi, but her vulnerable early game means that those who are more comfortable on more pedestrian champions such as Elise and Lee Sin can be confident of their chances going against her. That said, Evelynn is coming under increased attention in Korea - she was banned or picked in every one of the dozen Masters games of the past two weeks, and it will be interesting to see her story continue to develop as the meta diversifies away from tanky top laners.
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I think I can maybe make some additions here.
The reason why she is primarily built tanky AD these days is honestly quite obviously the E change from magical to physical damage. Before that change she was played as an AP assassin, but with the change your E doesn't benefit of magic pen or DFG anymore, which were the two primary stats on Eve.
Second of all, meta changes kind of don't affect Eve. As I see her she is kind of a niche pick that is picked so much we can't call her niche anymore, but that niche will still be there regardless of the meta. That's also why I think that AP builds won't come back into favor because the AD builds are not just stronger now, but they will be stronger in the future as well.
Thirdly I have to disagree with some stuff you say. As soon as you have your Spirit Stone you won't really get low on mana if you just clear camps. Ofcourse ganking and pushing lanes will still eat your mana quite fast, but just clearing camps won't do that that fast.
I also don't think her early 1v1 is that bad. At level 3 already you have fantastic outplay potential with your W. The amount of Vault breakers and Sonic waves I've dodged with that is in the hundreds. As soon as you dodge one of those it's also pretty easy to just stay out of their range and hit them with Q's. You do need low ping for this though.
Also if you get some AD in her runes/masteries, which isn't that bad now, you can push turrets pretty fast with your E. IIRC that Sword game they already knew they were gonna trade turrets so they didn't rush it, but Eve isn't as bad as you make her sound in that area imo.
Besides that I think you made a really good and informational post!
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Czech Republic11293 Posts
On March 18 2014 15:57 Fildun wrote:
I think I can maybe make some additions here.
The reason why she is primarily built tanky AD these days is honestly quite obviously the E change from magical to physical damage. Before that change she was played as an AP assassin, but with the change your E doesn't benefit of magic pen or DFG anymore, which were the two primary stats on Eve.
Second of all, meta changes kind of don't affect Eve. As I see her she is kind of a niche pick that is picked so much we can't call her niche anymore, but that niche will still be there regardless of the meta. That's also why I think that AP builds won't come back into favor because the AD builds are not just stronger now, but they will be stronger in the future as well.
Thirdly I have to disagree with some stuff you say. As soon as you have your Spirit Stone you won't really get low on mana if you just clear camps. Ofcourse ganking and pushing lanes will still eat your mana quite fast, but just clearing camps won't do that that fast.
I also don't think her early 1v1 is that bad. At level 3 already you have fantastic outplay potential with your W. The amount of Vault breakers and Sonic waves I've dodged with that is in the hundreds. As soon as you dodge one of those it's also pretty easy to just stay out of their range and hit them with Q's. You do need low ping for this though.
Also if you get some AD in her runes/masteries, which isn't that bad now, you can push turrets pretty fast with your E. IIRC that Sword game they already knew they were gonna trade turrets so they didn't rush it, but Eve isn't as bad as you make her sound in that area imo.
Besides that I think you made a really good and informational post!
Yes, you can kinda run out of mana just killing jungle creeps. You'll have enough to keep junging, but after a while you won't have enough mana to fight (dat Q cost is deceptively high)
Her 1v1 is that bad compared to all the other jungler that are being played. You could make an argument that she is stronger than Vi early game, but Vi isn't played that much anymore, so meh.
Again, Eve is that bad at pushing turrets and laneswap situations in general compared to the AD casters that are usually played nowadays. She's better than stuff like Amumu/Skarner/Seju but those champs don't matter anymore.
A fantastic article, you get a Scip Approved stamp if it means anything.
Only one thing, the difference between building AP or AD on Evelynn doesn't come down to whether you want physical or magical dmg, but whether you want Zhonyas or tankiness imo. Generally tankiness is as you say better.
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On March 18 2014 19:27 Scip wrote:Show nested quote +On March 18 2014 15:57 Fildun wrote:
I think I can maybe make some additions here.
The reason why she is primarily built tanky AD these days is honestly quite obviously the E change from magical to physical damage. Before that change she was played as an AP assassin, but with the change your E doesn't benefit of magic pen or DFG anymore, which were the two primary stats on Eve.
Second of all, meta changes kind of don't affect Eve. As I see her she is kind of a niche pick that is picked so much we can't call her niche anymore, but that niche will still be there regardless of the meta. That's also why I think that AP builds won't come back into favor because the AD builds are not just stronger now, but they will be stronger in the future as well.
Thirdly I have to disagree with some stuff you say. As soon as you have your Spirit Stone you won't really get low on mana if you just clear camps. Ofcourse ganking and pushing lanes will still eat your mana quite fast, but just clearing camps won't do that that fast.
I also don't think her early 1v1 is that bad. At level 3 already you have fantastic outplay potential with your W. The amount of Vault breakers and Sonic waves I've dodged with that is in the hundreds. As soon as you dodge one of those it's also pretty easy to just stay out of their range and hit them with Q's. You do need low ping for this though.
Also if you get some AD in her runes/masteries, which isn't that bad now, you can push turrets pretty fast with your E. IIRC that Sword game they already knew they were gonna trade turrets so they didn't rush it, but Eve isn't as bad as you make her sound in that area imo.
Besides that I think you made a really good and informational post! Yes, you can kinda run out of mana just killing jungle creeps. You'll have enough to keep junging, but after a while you won't have enough mana to fight (dat Q cost is deceptively high) Her 1v1 is that bad compared to all the other jungler that are being played. You could make an argument that she is stronger than Vi early game, but Vi isn't played that much anymore, so meh. Again, Eve is that bad at pushing turrets and laneswap situations in general compared to the AD casters that are usually played nowadays. She's better than stuff like Amumu/Skarner/Seju but those champs don't matter anymore. A fantastic article, you get a Scip Approved stamp if it means anything. Only one thing, the difference between building AP or AD on Evelynn doesn't come down to whether you want physical or magical dmg, but whether you want Zhonyas or tankiness imo. Generally tankiness is as you say better.
Eh, must be my slow jungling then. Spirit stone + passive inbetween camps gives me enough mana to keep jungling forever.
About the 1v1's, you win vs vi, lee, panth and sometimes elise (depends on the elise and who gets the jump).
Also, Eve kinda is an AD caster now. You have better towerpushing than both Vi and Panth imo, assuming you run some AD or ArmPen.
I also think that Eve's invades are pretty underrated. You can't get spotted at red by the small lizard attacking you, and a lot of the currently popular junglers get pretty low at their second buff. (Especially Wu)
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Czech Republic11293 Posts
No, Eve doesn't come even close to winning vs any of the champions you mentioned with the exception of Vi. You win equal lvls vs. Vi if you dodge her Q.
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On March 18 2014 21:37 Scip wrote:
No, Eve doesn't come even close to winning vs any of the champions you mentioned with the exception of Vi. You win equal lvls vs. Vi if you dodge her Q.
Well then why am I winning those 1v1's?
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Czech Republic11293 Posts
probably because your enemies are missing skillshots they shouldn't or because you have an unreasonable level advantage
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On March 18 2014 22:15 Scip wrote:
probably because your enemies are missing skillshots they shouldn't or because you have an unreasonable level advantage
Ok then level 4 Lee vs level 4 Eve, both with just machete. If Lee and me fight to the death I win.
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On March 18 2014 22:20 Fildun wrote:Show nested quote +On March 18 2014 22:15 Scip wrote:
probably because your enemies are missing skillshots they shouldn't or because you have an unreasonable level advantage Ok then level 4 Lee vs level 4 Eve, both with just machete. If Lee and me fight to the death I win.
kinda iffy about that honestly
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Czech Republic11293 Posts
what's your ID on LoL? we can test that if you want
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WheelKing.
Also yes, it's probably cuz my opponents are just bad and I often catch them with a skill on cd, but if I dodge all of lee's Q's I do indeed think I win.
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Ok I retract my statements, although I do often win in soloq.
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On March 18 2014 19:27 Scip wrote:
A fantastic article, you get a Scip Approved stamp if it means anything.
Only one thing, the difference between building AP or AD on Evelynn doesn't come down to whether you want physical or magical dmg, but whether you want Zhonyas or tankiness imo. Generally tankiness is as you say better.
i appreciate your vote of confidence, especially on this particular topic
i agree that the ap/ad build path distinction is as you explain; my intent was to describe the playstyle dfference between physical and magic damage builds and it seems that i poorly worded that section
On March 18 2014 15:57 Fildun wrote:
I think I can maybe make some additions here.
The reason why she is primarily built tanky AD these days is honestly quite obviously the E change from magical to physical damage. Before that change she was played as an AP assassin, but with the change your E doesn't benefit of magic pen or DFG anymore, which were the two primary stats on Eve.
Second of all, meta changes kind of don't affect Eve. As I see her she is kind of a niche pick that is picked so much we can't call her niche anymore, but that niche will still be there regardless of the meta. That's also why I think that AP builds won't come back into favor because the AD builds are not just stronger now, but they will be stronger in the future as well.
Besides that I think you made a really good and informational post!
i've excised what's already been addressed, and thank you for the feedback
the e change to physical damage did make ad evelynn more compelling, but i would hesitate to ascribe much responsibility to it. though i haven't researched it, my initial thought is that her build evolution was well on the way to its present state before patch 4.1. further, as mentioned above, the tankiness of the ad build is more important than the damage being done - note that armor pen is rarely if ever bought. even when considering damage alone, making use of ravage's attack speed steroid is a bigger reason to build ad
i agree with the basic sentiment of eve having an always relevant niche (witness pray still playing twitch), though i would not word the claim as strongly and certainly wouldn't exclude the return of ap eve. there are a number of champions who occupy unique niches (shen and orianna, to name two), and while the values of those niches change with metas, they usually do not fall completely out of viability in the same way more cookie-cutter champions do
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On March 18 2014 22:39 Fildun wrote:
Ok I retract my statements, although I do often win in soloq.
I could have figured that, besides like Udyr and to an extent Nunu i don't think anyone can take lee sin 1v1 at lvl 4
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I think the reason why ArmPen and MagicPen isn't bought anymore on her is that it either affects only Q and R or E and your autos, so it's just quite ineffective for the cost.
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this was a really good read, thanks for the knowledge bomb
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EPT
