The Transformation of Counter Logic Gaming; An In-Depth Look at CLG's Statistics Before and After Starting Dexter

This article was originally published on GameSpot's sister site onGamers.com, which was dedicated to esports coverage.

After a disappointing fifth place finish last season, CLG acquired ex-Lemondogs jungler Marcel “Dexter” Feldkamp during the offseason. Many people considered the well-regarded jungler, who played in the Season 3 World Championship, to be a solid upgrade to CLG’s roster. Going into the season, many people expected to see an improved CLG start out slowly but eventually contend for a top-2 finish in the spring split. Given that CLG finished the regular season in third place and will contend for a top finish at playoffs, CLG’s season seems to have gone as expected.

However, CLG took quite an unexpected path to get to this point. Due to his visa issues, Dexter did not play on the team for the first three weeks of the season. CLG used midlaner Austin “Link” Shin in the jungle and used substitutes George “HotshotGG” Georgallidis and Steve “Chauster” Chau in the mid lane in separate weeks. Playing with a makeshift roster for the first three weeks of the season, CLG earned a record of (4-5) which placed the team in the middle of the standings. Not only did CLG’s season get off to a slower-than-expected start, but CLG’s new roster (with Dexter) lost valuable time to synergize and to work through some of the early problems that many new rosters face – not to mention time to apply principles from Coach Christopher “Montecristo” Mykles.

Dexter resolved his visa issues and joined the team in Week 4. In the weeks since Dexter’s return to the jungle (and Link’s return to mid lane), CLG won 14 out of 19 games and steadily improved in a variety of areas. There are stark differences in CLG’s stats in the games with and without Dexter. This article analyzes some of the differences between the stats and highlights team and player improvements. This article focuses on the differences in:

• Basic Team Statistics, such as KDA and GPM
• Average Gold Leads/Deficits at 10, 20, and 30 Minutes
  • Dexter’s Early-Game (Pre-15 Minute) Jungle Pressure
• Kills/Deaths at 10, 20, and 30 Minutes
• Objective Control
• Team Gold Proportions per Role
  • Link’s Mid-Lane Proficiency

Basic Team Statistics

The table below shows the differences in a few of the basic team statistics. As you can see, CLG improved in each aspect, most notably in KDA and KAPM. Since Dexter joined in week 4, CLG earned an impressive (14-5) record in the last nineteen games, second only to C9 who earned a record of (17-2) and tied with TSM (14-5). Interestingly, CLG earned first blood in all but three games since Dexter’s return.

Average Gold Leads/Deficits

This section focuses on CLG’s average gold amounts relative to the opponent amounts at 10, 20, and 30 minutes. The graph shows CLG’s averages for before and after starting Dexter.

10 Minutes

Before starting Dexter, CLG averaged a 5.57% gold deficit (relative to the opponent) at 10 minutes. After starting Dexter, CLG averages a 4.83% gold lead at 10 minutes. CLG now averages one of the largest gold leads at 10 minutes among the NA LCS teams. Dexter’s early game shot calling and jungle pressure contributed to this large improvement.

Quantifying Dexter’s Early-Game Jungle Presence

The following table shows the jungle statistics in the nine games with Link and in the nineteen games with Dexter. The results in the table show that Dexter is a large reason why CLG now earns a large gold lead at 10 minutes. The statistics in the table below reflect results from the first 15 minutes of each game.

The results show that Dexter not only ganks more evenly across the map but also ganks more effectively. While Link and Dexter earned a kill or tower roughly the same percentage of time, Dexter forced more flashes/ultimates and failed less often. Dexter and Link averaged the same number of ganks in the first 15 minutes, but Dexter participated in a much larger percentage of first bloods. CLG secured more towers on average in the first 15 minutes as well. CLG became a much more proficient and objective-focused team in the early game due in large part to Dexter’s early jungle pressure.

20 Minutes

The graph shows that CLG now averages an 8.59% gold lead at 20 minutes, compared with averaging a 6.74% gold deficit in the first nine games. A team that consistently earns a large gold lead at 20 minutes does many things well, some of which are laning well, making good early game decisions, rotating well, and securing objectives. CLG obviously improved quite a bit in a few of these areas.

The 10 to 20 minute time span is a critical phase in many games. Teams that out-earn their opponents during this time usually make better rotations and objective calls and perform better in team fights. Opponents out-earned CLG by 7.73% during the 10-20 minute phase in the first nine games. Since starting Dexter, CLG now earns 11.77% more gold than its opponents earn during this phase. CLG now earns roughly 17,690 total gold during this phase compared with its opponents who average only 15,830. CLG’s statistics in this area show that the team improved in early-to-mid-game decision making and execution.

30 Minutes

This section focuses on CLG’s performance up to 30 minutes and on the team’s performance during the 20-30 minute phase. Like the conclusions in the other sections, CLG improved in this area. The graph shows that CLG now averages a large gold lead at 30 minutes with Dexter ( 9.36%) compared with averaging a large gold deficit in the first nine games (-8.64%).

CLG out-earns its opponents during the 20-30 minute phase by a substantial margin. CLG now out-earns its opponents by 10.73% in this phase, which is a large improvement from being out-earned by 12.08% in the first nine games during this phase. CLG now earns 18,290 gold during this time on average. For reference, CLG earns the second-most gold in this phase among the NA LCS teams (TSM is first with an average of 18,840, and C9 is third with an average of 18,200).

Average Kills and Deaths

With the LCS season now transitioning into the playoffs, CLG has become one of the highest killing teams in the NA LCS. CLG leads the league in average kills at 10 minutes with 2.11. EG is second in this category with 1.79, and C9 is third with 1.71. CLG now averages the second-most kills at 20 minutes with 6.21 (C9 is first with 6.29) and the most kills at 30 minutes with an average of 12.09.

The two graphs below show that CLG increased kills and decreased deaths since starting Dexter. Better team play and better player performance most likely contributed to the improved statistics.

Overall Objective Control

Descriptions such as objective-focused and rotation-focused best characterize CLG’s new and improved play style. Since the arrival of Dexter, CLG secures more towers per minute (TPM) and dragons per minute (DRPM). CLG averages 0.24 TPM with Dexter, compared with averaging 0.18 TPM previously. For reference, TSM averages 0.25 TPM, and C9 averages 0.23 TPM. CLG now averages 0.06 DRPM with Dexter, which is almost twice as high as CLG’s rate of 0.04 DRPM in the first nine games. After being in the middle of the pack for this statistic after the first nine games, CLG is now third in DRPM, behind only C9 (0.09) and TSM (0.07). Improved team fighting, team rotations, and jungle presence contributed to the increased objective rates.

The graphs below show the objective proportions for CLG and opponents before and after starting Dexter. CLG secured only 18 out of 49 objectives (dragons and barons) in the first nine games. CLG secured 55 out of 96 objectives in the last nineteen games. As you can see, CLG now obtains a larger proportion of the global objectives.

Team Gold Proportions per Role

The following section shows CLG’s gold proportions for each role relative to the role averages. For example, top laners in the NA LCS contribute roughly 21.03% to a team’s total gold amount on average. If a certain top laner contributes 22.03% to his team, then his gold proportion is relatively 4.76% higher than the average top laner’s contribution to his team. Keep in mind that total team gold affects this stat. As a team earns more global objective gold (which CLG in the first nine games did less frequently), each role’s actual average moves closer to 20%. For jungle and support, moving from the role averages to 20% causes them to appear “above average,” because those two roles typically average below 20%. Whereas the opposite is true for the other three roles, as they typically average more than a 20% proportion.

The first graph shows that, during the first nine games without Dexter, CLG’s mid laners contributed well below the role average. During this time, CLG depended on increased proportions from Support and ADC. The second graph shows that CLG not only earned more global objective gold but also became a more balanced team. The table below shows the data used to make the two graphs.

Upgrading the Mid Lane

Link’s performance since returning to the mid lane greatly contributed to CLG’s improved record over the last nineteen games. The table below shows Link’s mid lane statistics in key areas compared with the statistics for HotshotGG and Chauster. While the statistics do not illustrate the entire story, they offer a small glimpse as to the extent that CLG improved in the mid lane. While Link’s shot calling and decision making improved, Link’s performance solidified his status as a top-tier mid laner this season.

Upcoming Playoffs

CLG faced unexpected adversity early in the spring split due to Dexter’s visa issues. After “keeping it together” for the first three weeks with a temporary roster, CLG started playing with Dexter in Week 4. CLG performed below-average in the first nine games, yet CLG markedly improved in basically every aspect of the game over the last two months. CLG now averages a slight gold lead at 10 minutes and continues to outperform opponents in the critical 10-20 minute and 20-30 minute phases. CLG secures a larger percentage of global objectives and closes out games faster.

After incorporating the European jungler into their roster, CLG earned the second-best record in the league and won games against powerhouses TSM and C9. Continued solid play from CLG’s three stable roles and improved play from the jungle and mid lane are large reasons why CLG became a top-3 team in NA. Given the steady improvement and recent track record, CLG is a strong contender to represent North America at the All-Star Event.

Data collected with help by the onGamers Stats team: Derek 'Kathix' Adams, Steven 'whedgehead' Falgout, Kent 'Traepoint' Frasure, Jake Morales, and James 'PelkaSupaFresh' Pelkey. Design by Ben 'Sarcasmappreciated' Li.