Damwon Gaming solo laners Jang “Nuguri” Ha-gwon and Heo “ShowMaker” Su brought a couple of surprising builds and runes to the 2019 League of Legends World Championship.
Damwon finished day two of Worlds undefeated after taking down Flamengo eSports and Royal Youth. On the first game of the day versus the Turkish team, Nuguri and ShowMaker went for an unexpected set of runes.
In the top lane, Nuguri locked in Vladimir, while ShowMaker took Leblanc to the mid lane. Both solo laners decided to use Kleptomancy as their main rune, a bold decision considering that a place in Worlds’ main event is a stake.
Â
Klepto is Nuguri’s favorite rune. The top laner takes it every time he can and exploits its benefits as much as possible. Klepto grants gold and consumable items to the champion through the entire game. Nuguri picks Klepto so he can stay even in gold with his lane opponent and even push ahead if the conditions are right.
Nuguri added an extra source of gold in the form of a Nomad’s Medallion, an item normally used by supports. When a minion dies by the hand of an ally, it drops gold or mana coins that can only be claimed by the champion holding the item. On top of it, it grants 10% cooldown reduction, 50% base health regeneration, and 10 movement speed.
By picking the Klepto plus the Medallion, Nuguri was able to heal and move faster. The unorthodox build and rune combination proved to be effective as Damwon rolled over Royal Youth.
ShowMaker opted for a more standard build, but he enjoyed the benefits of the Klepto rune. At 15 minutes, ShowMaker had a gold advantage of 1,921 over his lane opponent. In the top lane, the difference was 699.
Nuguri was the player with the most gold by the end of the game, and he also finished the game with a perfect KDA.
Klepto is extremely beneficial for champions like Ezreal and Sona that send their skill shots followed immediately by an auto-attack. Melee champions wouldn’t benefit as much from Klepto. In the solo lanes, it’s not that useful considering that having extra damage or life steal might be an advantage.
It’s possible that Nuguri will keep using Klepto throughout the remainder of the tournament.
Damwon Gaming returns to the stage on Saturday for the second half of the League of Legends World Championship play-in.
Players must be 21 years of age or older or reach the minimum age for gambling in their respective state and located in jurisdictions where online gambling is legal. Please play responsibly. Bet with your head, not over it. If you or someone you know has a gambling problem, and wants help, call or visit: (a) the Council on Compulsive Gambling of New Jersey at 1-800-Gambler or www.800gambler.org; or (b) Gamblers Anonymous at 855-2-CALL-GA or www.gamblersanonymous.org.
