Why are the LCK and LPL obsessing over this one champion?

League of Legends

6 Sep

Martin Arévalo-Östberg

There is one champion that has been tearing up the rift across several major regions before Worlds, and it's none other than The Hexplosives Expert himself: Ziggs.

Ziggs has been popping up all over the LCK and LPL. (Credit: Riot Games)

After dominating the league and breaking several individual records, Gen.G Peyz went 4-0 on the pick during the LCK Summer Season, back when Ziggs was still being discovered as a situational pick in pro play. Now, after his sporadic appearances throughout the regular season, the pick has all of a sudden become a force to be reckoned with in the LCK Summer Playoffs.

Mainly off the back of some of the best bot lane players in the world in Peyz, Gumayusi and Viper, Ziggs has risen to a ludicrous pick-or-ban percentage of 86.4% in the LCK Summer Playoffs. Incredibly, while being a draft-phase menace across the playoffs, the champion has also managed to maintain whopping 83.3% win rate throughout the tournament.

So, without further ado, join us as we take a look at what it is that has some of the best League of Legends teams in the world drooling over Ziggs recently.

Unmatched pushing power

While teams over in the LCK and LPL have a plethora of players with superlative mechanical skill, there is one thing at which their top teams have always excelled: macro.

Macro in a match of League of Legends means anything from objective control to simply knowing where to move on the map next. Pro teams with a good macro game will have a superior understanding of how many resources they can afford to allocate towards claiming one specific objective, and when exactly to make their move for it.

As for Ziggs, the champion is the ultimate macro accelerator. His passive, Short Fuse [P], makes Ziggs' next auto attack deal increased magic damage. Against structures such as enemy towers, the champion's passive will deal 150% increased damage, with that amount expected to be reduced to 75% with the upcoming patch (14.18).

As if that was not enough, the explosion from Ziggs' Satchel Charge [W] executes towers below 25% health, with that amount incrementing all the way up to 35% as you level up the skill.

Ziggs is currently unmatched in his ability to quickly take down turrets. (Credit: Riot Games)

Between his passive and his [W] execute, Ziggs simply demolishes turrets. This is a particularly desirable trait for teams with a good understanding of the macro game for two reasons:

Voidgrubs become a problem

Teams with superior macro will usually leverage that superiority into claiming a high number of voidgrubs for themselves in the early game.

Coupled with the voidgrubs buff, which allows you to do increased damage to towers over time, Ziggs will simply devour towers if left alone in a lane for even a minute.

Exploding a lead

Ziggs' ability to take towers down quickly can accelerate a team's lead beyond control. If a team facing the champion finds itself at a slight deficit against a team with a great macro game, the trailing team will be forced to warp the way they want to play the game around this one champion or risk losing half their structures around the map in a matter of minutes.

The perfect Ziggs meta

The meta surrounding professional play in League of Legends has never been quite as perfectly suited for Ziggs as it is at the moment. Once more, this holds true for two specific reasons:

Invaluable support setup

With the current rise of engage supports in pro play, Ziggs has got himself the perfect setups.

As a champion, The Hexplosives Expert can dish out ridiculous amounts of damage. That is, on one condition; landing his abilities. Given Ziggs' own lack of crowd control (CC), this is a particularly difficult task without the proper setup.

Now, however, it has never been easier for Ziggs to constantly land his Bouncing Bomb [Q] in team fights or, more importantly, to find a devastating Mega Inferno Bomb [R] on high value targets from a safe distance. The current high priority status of champions like Leona, Rell or Rakan in the support role means that Ziggs has found the perfect partners to lock champions down in order for the mad bomber to wreak havoc on opposing teams' back-lines while remaining relatively safe himself.

Leona has been a top support pick all season long, providing Ziggs with the perfect partner in crime. (Credit: Riot Games)

ADCs making way for an AP carry

Even though the current support meta may fit the champion perfectly, it's the mid lane meta that has cleared the path for Ziggs to rise up.

With ADCs running amok in the mid lane all year long, Ziggs has found the perfect opening to take over in the bot lane on team compositions needing a reliable source of magic damage.

With the rise of ADCs such as Zeri in the mid lane, a door has opened for Ziggs down bot. (Credit: Riot Games)

Ziggs - A fantastic staller

Surprisingly, while Ziggs is a great accelerator for any team looking to explode their lead, the champion is also fantastic at stalling out the game.

The pick's amazing wave clear with his Hexplosive Minefield [E], aided by his Bouncing Bomb [Q], means that it becomes incredibly difficult for a team with a lead to freely push into Ziggs' base.

That means that, even if the pick's main strength may lie in accelerating leads, Ziggs is just as good at making sure to keep the opposing team from ending the game. That is, of course, as long as he positions himself correctly.

With that in mind, the pick becomes the perfect facilitator for two absolute late-game menaces. Ranking incredibly high in the mid lane pecking order, Corki and Smolder can rely on Ziggs to provide them with the time and space they need to reach their desired game-states unimpeded.

Of the 12 times that Ziggs has been picked in the LCK Summer Playoffs, 4 have been accompanied by Corki in the midlane, and 3 by Smolder. (Credit: Riot Games)

Moreover, with the high value found in collecting objective bounties, Ziggs on a losing team has the ability to even up the gold fairly quickly. As mentioned before, the pick's tower-taking capabilities are currently unrivaled. As such, even the most minor of missteps on the side of a winning team can lead to Ziggs taking down several of said teams' towers, claiming their respective objective bounties for his team in the process.

High value for the highly skilled

Ultimately, Ziggs serves too many purposes in the current pro play meta. For teams with a superior understanding of the macro game, more specifically, as is the general case for teams in the LCK or LPL in relation to other regions, having Ziggs on your team can make it all the easier to punish small wins all over the map.

Be sure, however, that in order to pilot the pick, the entire team needs to have a good understanding of all that which Ziggs requires to successfully operate.

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Image source: rizegeeko // Strafe Esports

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