The League of Legends EMEA Championship will start this Saturday, Jan. 13, and teams will meet in a new Arena, on a new Summoner’s Rift map, with new, game-changing jungle camps.
In a series of interviews with LEC players and coaches, Dot Esports asked for strategies and opinions regarding the Voidgrubs and first drake dilemma. And while the general consensus leans towards a careful approach that takes into consideration the teams’ compositions, champion strengths (like their power spike tempo), and the game state five minutes into a match, there was something everyone could agree on:
Do not let the other team get six Voidgrubs.
The introduction of Voidgrubs added a layer of strategic complexity to the early game as they make their appearance at the five-minute mark together with the first drake of the game, introducing a shift in the early game dynamics of LoL.
Voidgrubs come in sets of three, each with their own unique respawn timer, offering teams the chance to secure a maximum of six during a game. But, differently from drakes, taking down Voidgrubs isn’t merely about securing an objective; it comes with tangible benefits.
Players who eliminate these creatures receive a buff providing them with extra damage against structures—and the strength of this buff increases based on the number of Voidgrubs defeated. Slaying five or six of them, in particular, results in a periodic summon of one or two Voidmites which will further help players take down structures.
The contest between opting for Voidgrubs or prioritizing the first drake becomes a delicate decision, where teams must balance risk and reward.
“What teams really want to prevent right now is giving away six Voidgrubs,” Rogue jungler Mark “Markoon” Van Woensel to Dot Esports. “[Six Voidgrubs] give the team a really big boost to split pushing and makes the game a lot harder to play,” concluded the player before predicting many fights sparking from contesting the camp. The sentiment was echoed by SK Gaming top laner Joel “Irrelevant” Miro Scharoll, who said that while it’s “always safer” to play for the first drake, if the enemy team has one Voidgrub, players should prevent them from taking the other five.
G2 Esports’ mid laner and current LEC title holder Rasmus “Caps” Borregaard Winther said his teams will also make the choice depending on the game’s draft. However, he mentioned how Voidgrubs are a “definitely quite cool objective to go for,” especially if a team can get ahold of many because, according to the mid laner, “there are some quite creative use [G2] found to utilize them.”
But there is one player who is going against the tide and whose team is focusing on what strategy to implement in case they cannot collect Voigrubs. “Despite the changes, it’s still essentially a cross map situation where if someone goes for Voidgrubs, then you have the opportunity to dive bots,” said GIANTX’s top laner Andrei “Odoamne” Pascu.
For the top laner and his team, it was crucial to have “a lot more data” and correct information on the new neutral objective before taking a final stance on which camp to prioritize. “I still don’t think they have a huge impact,” continued Odoamne before explaining that Voidgrubs become more crucial to obtain if the opposing team has an “annoying” champion that can split push, like a LeBlanc or a Gwen, as he pointed out. “It really depends on the comp you have,” highlighted MAD Lions’ jungler Javier “Elyoya” Prades Batalla, echoing both Odoamne and Caps’ sentiment.
Despite the various opinions on whether Voidgrubs should be prioritized over the first drake or not, players seem to agree that if a team decides to focus on collecting the Void spawn, they should commit till obtaining all six. “Whatever you can take without losing too much is definitely the best option,” added Team Heretic’s coach Thomas “Kirei” Yuen, giving fans something else to look out for.
While the meta will shift and change following patch notes and adjustments from Riot Games, fans can expect teams to show their cards starting this Saturday, Jan. 17, when the 2024 LEC Winter Split kicks off at 10am CT.
