Coaching- Saucy1 D5 EUW Kha'Zix Main Game 1

Kha vs Lee 5/5/11 EUW D5

Description-

I am starting to coach Saucy and I am using my skills from being a Debate coach to look at new aspects of the game and new ways of developing. I will update this blog later with a youtube video for the people that don't like to read, but until then check this out and let me know if you have any other ideas or comments!

Saucy1's 1st Outing

Strengths-

Let's look at the clear first of all. Here Saucy went for a double buff + wolf clear. These are usually done to allow for a level 3 gank or to duel in the river vs the other jungler. Here we can see that Lee is doing the same start, Mid has priority and top is a little bit pushed. So the chances of getting off a clean gank and not getting counter ganked top is really low. Also a duel between lee and kha'zix would go in lee's favor in the river if he lands his Q. So Saucy choose to do the safe play and clear his raptors instead of heading into the river. This way if Lee ganks mid he can respond.

Suggested improvement for Kha'Zix early game-

• A better approach, if you know that the other jungler will beat you in the river and you wont be able to get a clean gank off at level 3, you should clear your whole blue side, then raptors, then red and last you will want to clear river and try to gank or back. You will be level 4 and your camps will be respawning faster than the other jungler. Also the benefit of this is that while you are clearing, if you keep your HP up you can respond to the enemy's gank, but you will be at a level advantage and able to come out ahead. Additionally, you can be close to the river, ready to respond to any ganks by the other jungler.
• Or as Kha'Zix if you start with red buff you can just go right to mid after red buff and try to force a flash or better yet get a kill. This will lead into you getting Scuttle early and then clearing your blue side, or after the mid gank go to wolves and clear blue side to Scuttle and finish off the first outing with a gank top. That would be a decent clear plus 2 ganks! But only possible if mid is super pushed up and you can just walk up and get your passive off. It doesn't work too well on Kha'Zix compared to other champions.

Summary of the first outing- 

I believe that after blue, killing Gromp is wise on Kha'Zix because he is isolated and if you smite right away, your smite will be up in time for red buff if you kill wolves then raptors. If this was added Saucy's whole jungle would be on a re-spawn timer while he backed. Also an attempt to gank at level 3 or 4 is a must in my book, at least get a laners flash or use your flash to start an early advantage. Since Kha'Zix has E an early game flash to land his passive and red buff can be devastating. But overall since lee's gank failed and Saucy cleared more of his jungle, he is not at a CS advantage and should look to press his advantage after backing.

Saucy1's 2nd Outing

Smite tension-

I think red smite is the preferred smite right now, blue is nice for the early game, but when your going against someone like Lee who is going to constantly be in your face. Red should be the priority. However, if you know that the other jungler is going to be focused more on farming or objectives than ganks in the early game, blue can be great. But a snowball must be created with blue smite early game, or it loses it power later. Final thing on the build, since Saucy has water walking and improved movement speed from his runes, boots should be delayed until jungler item is completed. Boots are need with the gain of level 6, before that E is enough of a gap closer and R without boots will be just fine, jungler item completed first, boots later, and then duskblade, the core.

Advanced planning (This is like playing chess, be 5 steps ahead)- 

All factors need to be looked in the higher the elo matches. Blue smite was used on wolves and the Saucy proceeded to gank bot from a lane gank pathing. Since he had 2 charges he was able to pick up the kill on Thresh. But we can't just play habitually, we must always be thinking of every single step and action. If he would not of had his blue smite up because of using it on the wolves for additional health, then maybe this gank would have failed. But he knew he had 2 charges! We can see this playing a small factor later after the fight in mid, his blue smite was on cooldown and Gragas got away, he probably would have gotten away regardless, but it goes to show that a decision to smite wolves could result in you not having the ability to secure a kill later.

Capitalizing to increase lead-

Decisions after killing their jungler, right after Gragas got away and Lee died, Saucy went for a dragon kill. But his bot was in base and unable to help. Understanding who will help and who wont is really important, dragon almost solos him, but luckily mid responded to his pings. Too often this can result in misplays. Make sure to only make plays where you are sure you can do it alone and the addition of team members is not "NEEDED" but wanted, this will decrease your risk and tilt.

Suggested improvements-

• I prefer to take the option that I have full influence over. For example, knowing that Lee died and that Gragas blast coned over the wall, I would have warded Krugs, took them if Gragas backed or left them, then I would have taken Lee's red. After that the bot would have arrived down by dragon and a 2nd gank could have happened on bot then a dragon kill. This would have put Lee further behind, also bot, and the dragon would have been secured. So my priorities always after killing a jungler is to take his camps and get vision in his jungle so I can track him and abuse him more later, but I will only do this if I see the other enemies on the mini map, we dont want to give up our leads, ever. I like to secure objectives when I know my laners can leave their lanes without losing CS or falling behind. Or if I know I can solo it without their help, forcing them to leave their lanes to come help could result in them falling behind or getting killed. This would undo all the advantages created previously.

Summary of the second outing- 

This was a strong round for sure! Saucy was able to get a lead for his bot lane, he was able to turn the tides in mid, and he was able to secure a dragon for his team. Also on his way out he was able to keep Morg in her lane by donating the blue to her. Changes that need to be considered would be the methodical planning of smite use and the priorities of capitalizing on a kill, take a second to think of the best way to punish the enemies mistake, do give them a chance to come back, take the safest punishment. I believe taking the red and Krugs while spreading deep vision would have been better than a mountain dragon. However if it was an infernal... this all changes :)

Saucy1's 3rd Outing

Predictions-

Every action or choice has a consequence and you have to predict those consequences and see if you can live with them. Since Lee knew that Saucy backed because of taking dragon, this prompted Lee to invade and steal Saucy's red. This should have been predicted and factored into the dragon decision. So the more we try to predict what the other players will do we can then develop our strategies more and create stronger decisions. Try to learn the other player's play style and set up ambushes for them.

Suggested improvement-

Level 6 Kha'Zix, Q is not needed because of duskblade, but as Saucy justified, it is good for controlling objectives in low elo games, similar to how Nunu has control with his Q. Also it allows for faster camp clears, leading to a stronger/more efficient mid game. But Khazix has enough burst damage to do his job without evolving Q. R is the coveted evolve in the current meta. R allows for more movement speed throughout the jungle, which helps efficiency, amazing mid game ganks/lane pressure, and tons of counter jungling/outplay potential. Q simply adds a bit more damage. R and Mobi boots is what makes Kha'Zix op right now.

Decision analysis-

The skirmish in the river vs lee, this was due to Saucy being spotted on a ward in mid. This was played really well, but it brings up my point again about having red smite vs aggressive junglers, if red smite were to have been added into the mix and the jungler item finished before boots, what would the outcome have been? What if instead of taking dragon lee lost his red and krugs? What if it was predicted that Lee would invade to counter act Saucy taking the dragon? We can see different decisions happening here and different outcomes. Saucy got lucky here that his bot came in, but having luck in games is not the way you want to win. You want to win because of your logical decisions and methodical play. A suggestion at this point would be to understand that Lee is level 6 and outplaying him 1v1 could be super risky, so the better option would be to ping for bot to come and bait Lee into a collapsible position and jump him 3v1, if you can jump someone, no need to go toe to toe, save that for normal games to impress friends!

Summary of the third outing- 

This round was fast due to the skirmish in river. But things could have played out differently if other factors were considered before hand. When it comes to playing against Lee, it is wise to set him behind early and keep him behind. He will then become useless for mid game and you can walk all over him in his own jungle. Also since Q was evolved first a lot of potential has been lost for the mid game, but objective control has been gained. Also if you have the option of fighting 3v1 take it, if it is 1v1 and you know you will lose, just burst and get out. Dont all in.

Saucy1's 4th Outing

Item build-

The item buys need to be more methodical. Here we see an additional long sword being bought. This will slow down the completion of his jungler item. Also whenever you back in the early game you should be leaving with a control ward. These are devastating in the early game and for objective control. So we must always keep our buys in mind and make sure that we are considering all factors when buying.

Decision making-

 The decision to take Herald without knowing where Lee was on the map was risky. Saucy made this decision based off the fact that his top pushed in the lane and that mid presumably backed. He did scan with a plant before taking the herald, but if Lee and top would have shown up it could have gotten messy. But in the end the play went well and enough information was gathered to have the odds in his favor.

Lacking information-

But right after a polar opposite decision is made, with 0 information to support his decision he runs into a dark enemy jungle. Top is missing and bot support is missing as well. There has been no sign of Lee since this round started and this was a 100% blind decision.

Suggestions for improvement, Standards/Benefit risk analysis-

• Rules must be set before making potentially risky plays. First you must always check your mini map to see who could be waiting for you in there. Also you must check your Tab screen as well to see how strong those people who could be waiting in there will be. With this information you have to quickly calculate if you will be able to be victorious with this decision. 
• Finally for each decision you must weigh the risk vs benefits. The risk of going in blind is death and giving up the lead that has been gathered in the early game. The reward in this case would be possibly stealing a camp or two and getting deep vision. These two benefits are not worth the risk of losing the lead that has been worked for. If this risk was elementated via acquired data, then the benefits would be worth.
• Going in blind should be for plays like Baron steals or assassinations. Game changers, where you die but it will bring a massive advantages swing to your team.
•  Remember after a mistake just reset your mentality. I suggest learning how to meditate via https://www.headspace.com. Just take 3 minutes a day out of your life to improve the stability of your mind.

Suggestion to change decision making-

Understand how your mind operates. The mind avoids pain as much as possible, naturally. Just think about touching a hot stove... I brain will stop us from doing it because we know how painful it will be. This is what we want to artificially create when we make bad plays. We should make bad play reels and watch them while applying lots of pain and emotion to watching this videos...a behind doors activity if you ask me haha! But the main thing here is that if you can condition your mind to feel so much pain for making tunnel plays that just results in death...your brain will automatically redirect you to a better and safer play.

Summary of fourth outing- 

Mistake on item build, partly risky Herald play, and then an irrational/ill informed(choice from emotion not logic/information) choice that led to death. A better benefit/risk analysis needs to be done before making plays with strict standards and framework to ensure it is a choice that can be made. So we first check to see if it meets our standards and framework (See if it can be done) then we do a benefit/risk analysis to see if we want to do it. Finally more thought needs to go into the builds.

Saucy1's 5th Outing

Tracking pings-

When you see the other jungler is involved in a fight, after the fight is finished you should track to see where the jungler reenters their jungle. Pinging this on the map will help keep the CS occupied laners aware. Death prevention of laners is very important!

Risky decisions and risk reduction to improve-

Saucy's tracking of dragon and his control over the dragon is great this game. He is right there the moment it spawns and his bot laners are with him, due to his first gank to help them get ahead. However just like the herald play the decision was made with only a certain amount of information which increased the risk. Varus almost most sniped the dragon due to no wards on the other side, which could have netted an additional kill after the dragon. He was wanting Lulu to ward up before, but remember the more you limit the plays to I dont need my teams help, it would be nice to have it, the better things will go for your attitude throughout the game. He should have his own control ward here.

After that Saucy decides to counter jungle, once again another decision made with a lack of information, the only reason he decided to do it was that his mid lane was pushing and since he had lane priority he thought he was fine. But as I learned from the top players, you want to constantly reduce the risk of your decision, the other jungler should have been spotted first before counter jungling or a ward should have been dropped before starting raptors, he would have seen gragas and been okay. When you think everything is fine and nothing could go wrong...usually something does. Believe in Murphy's law and ward up before a play.

Summary of fifth outing-

While he was able to get some farm and secure a wonderful infernal, the same mistakes that were previously made in his last death were done again. This is what makes for longer games. When you have a lead and then you make decision without enough information or caution and you get caught slipping. You give back the lead that you have created, prolonging the game. Don't make the same mistake twice, always avoid a decision that is too risky, and if you have to make that play reduce the risk by prediction or assuming someone will be there and ward up before starting anything.

Saucy1's 6th Outing

Advanced planning-

There needs to be better planning with the use of the herald. At the time the buff was about to expire so a hasty drop was made top, while this netted a tower and hurt the other one quite a bit. If better planning would have happened it could have been used to support the siege in mid that his team was having, possibly leading to an inhibitor. So all options need to be brought up and evaluated and the one netting the biggest lead should be prioritized. After chatting with Saucy him not going to help his team mid was because of a past formed biased that it would be a waste of time or they were staying too long and it would result in death. Make sure to make your judgement from the aggregated data and see what that data tells you.

Suggested improvement-

In this case he could have gone down mid and dropped the herald and then kept his distance and counter jungled and then rotate up to top to take the tower with minions. This way he does contribute to his team without having to fully commit. And in the end a better result would have flourished. Don't stay in a set mind state, constantly allow information to guide your decision. 

Map/champion awareness- 

Saucy's escape was greatly played, he side stepped the first Camille E(Brilliant reaction) and then made wise use of his R and timed the use of flash perfectly. The next thing to watch here is Saucy's map awareness, as he is running away he sees his teaming coming to take down the chasing Camille, he turns and his team coordinates to take down the tunneling Camille. 

Summary of the sixth outing- 

A missed opportunity due to not advanced planning, but a decent lead gained. It would have gone a lot better if he would have rushed down to his team and dropped herald to help take the inhibitor, which would have set them up for a low risk baron kill. But in the end he secured a tower and a kill and got out alive.

Saucy1's 7th outing

This was a very fast outing for he cleared some camps and then went to cover mid tower, but Lee was waiting on the other side ready to make a play. He was able to get out and Lulu saved his life with her R. They turned and got the kill on Lee, but a mistake was made here, that was underestimating what Thresh would do. He gets a little too close and Thresh flashes and flays for the kill. If you are assuming they wont do something or you are safe...you are probably wrong.

Saucy1's 8th outing

Strong Pathing-

He knows that dragon is about to spawn and there is nothing better to do while he waits so he clears his blue side and takes dragon when it comes up. This is efficient pathing, but at this point in the game his team was really pushing hard to finish the game and his presence would have been a lot better than that dragon.

I questioned his W evolve, but his rational behind it is that he is behind and the slow and poke is the best he can offer to his team since he is not strong. I can agree with this, but I still believe that R would allow him to at least get into the fight and burst a carry, will still allowing him to get out clean.

While the two teams are dance around the tower he is just watching the dance, you can watch the dance will killing Krugs, try to always be accomplishing something. Down time in itself is a form of CC.

Utilization of TAB-

He loses the 1v1 here, just by a little bit, but this death could have been avoided with the use of information to check the probability of coming out on top. Camille had her power spike item and Kha'Zix did not. While he had the element of surprise, he made the wrong choice. He should have known that he couldn't kill her. But he should have been happy with the 2nd option, burst her and force her to back to allow your team to have the number advantage.

Summary of the eight outing

There were some contributions and the secure on the dragon. But overall this outing could have gone a lot better with assisting his team more and understanding to take the 2nd option in a losing 1v1, sometimes even mechanics and skills can't save you in a all in.

Saucy1's 9th outing

He now has his duskblade and after finding a pick on a Varus they go to Baron. This was fine but they still were not very safe at all doing this Baron. The other team was rushing the pit. Draven was positioned poorly and died pretty much instantly, but Saucy got in there to clean it up and chase down some other members. This Baron skirmish brought Saucy back into the game.

Not much more to say this round

Saucy1's 10th/Final outing

Pretty much after catching Lee out they take Baron. But the one thing is that he starts to clear his side of the jungle. At this point my only suggestion is press the attack when you have the Baron buff up and come back to your camps with there is nothing else to do. Or go take the other junglers camps, yours should be last.

Make sure to start devaluing certain things as the game progresses, getting all the buffs is not as important as it was in the early game, etc.

Game Summary

I had a great coaching session with Saucy and even though I am still developing as a coach he was able to give me some good pointers and I believe I was able to help him with some new tactics that I dont believe he has tried before. As a player he needs to work on his focus and decision making. That takes training of the mind. So we are going to focus more on the mind for the first week and then onto a whole new aspect later!