There s still over two weeks to go until Dota 2 s flagship tournament The International 2016, but its prize pot has now surpassed last year s record-breaking total a whopping $18,580,479, at the time of writing making it the most lucrative esports competition in history.

Since the tournament s inception in 2011, Valve has provided $1.6 million of its own cash to the prize fund, however recent years have seen this augmented by a range of crowdfunded proceeds. A quarter of Battle Pass sales (passes that grant owners access to an exclusive haul of features and rewards throughout the Dota summer season) go into the pot, for example, while previous years saw the same share being shaved from sales of the ever-popular Dota 2 Electronic Annual The Compendium.

As a reward for beating last year s $18,429,613 record, Battle Pass owners will receive three treasure chests which include a range of in-game items.

According to dota2.prizetrac.kr, funding ran for 101 days in 2015. With just 70 days of Battle Pass sales gone this year, expect the grand total to rise further still. Here s a graph that compares the last few tournaments:

The International 2016 kicks off on August 13 in Seattle s Key Arena.

Nexon's Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex First Assault Online, which for the sake of my fingers and sanity I will henceforth refer to as simply First Assault, is about to enter open beta. Beginning July 28, all players will be able to access the game at no charge as it heads into the final stretch before full launch.

First Assault a multiplayer FPS that sets players up as operatives of Section 9, an elite force of cybernetically enhanced combat operatives tasked with protecting society and fighting terrorists on the bleak streets of a futuristic Japan. It currently offers eight unique classes, three modes of play, and several different maps, but the move into open beta will also include an update adding a new operative, new systems and optimizations, and an an innovative mode inspired by the classic The Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex series that brings a new hacking element into the game.

The game is free-to-play, but players have the option of purchasing different tiers of crates, which come with various sorts of character and weapon skins, unlocks, and other handy bits of stuff. First Assault is available from Steam, or through the Nexon Global Platform. More info is up at firstassault.nexon.net.

With the regional playoffs fast approaching Riot is looking to get the League of Legends metagame as close to Worlds-ready as they can, and patch 6.15 aims to lay these foundations early. The focus of this patch is to delve into the early game, specifically looking at the professional scene's laneswap meta. Riot is hoping that the changes will reduce the symmetry between structural defenses so that top and bot aren t identical to one another.

Patch 6.15 is also reining in a few of the more potent champions who have been wreaking more havoc than they should, like Hecarim, and shedding some much needed light onto some old friends who've been collecting dust in Riot s basement (Kassadin). Let s dive into the latest changes.

A new early game

The most influential change is to turrets and minion waves. Turrets will now grant first blood bonuses to the team who destroys the first turret of the game, awarding them with 400 total bonus gold, 275 local gold, and 25 global gold. On top of this the fortification buff to turrets has been lowered to five minutes from seven minutes, with the damage reduction being increased to 50% from 35%. The biggest change though is to the bot lane turret, which no longer receives the damage reduction from fortification. So if you re an AD carry or support main be prepared for a few unwanted guests trying to push your lane in order to snag an easy turret first blood.

Cannon minions now spawn differently, with each team receiving one cannon minion per wave, rotating lanes. Specifically, bot lane gets a cannon minion on wave 3, mid gets one at wave 4, and top at wave 5, this will repeat for 20 minutes. After 20 minutes, mid gets a cannon minion on wave 40 then both bot and top lane get a cannon minion on wave 41 - this then repeats for 35 minutes. After 35 minutes, all lanes will have cannon minions in each wave. All in all these updates present a massive change to the overall laning phase and creates a considerable amount of pressure for bot lane players.

 Changes to champions

Hecarim has been horsing around in the Rift for a long time. He's greatly benefited from the Trinity Force changes and has been able to farm up and scale very quickly, allowing him to burst targets without having to build much damage. Riot is now reining in his base attack damage, which has been lowered from 61.37 to 58 and the damage on Rampage (Q) has been lowered by ten at every single rank. It certainly doesn t look like one of the biggest nerfs ever, but the base damage on his auto attacks has been lowered which means Trinity Force will be less effective, and his clear speed in the jungle will most definitely be hit by these changes. How much these changes will affect the spectral horse is hard to tell, but we shall find out in the weeks to come.

Next up we have some Karma nerfs. The Enlightened One has been performing a little too well in both mid lane and when supporting in bot lane. Her shield value on Inspire (E) has been lowered by 10 at each rank and she can no longer shield friendly minions. If she were to use her E alongside Mantra for the Empowered shield it will now offer the exact same movement speed as her regular shield which will go from 40% to 60% rather than 60% at all ranks. This has nerfed Karma s utility a bit and has stopped her from shielding minions, an ability which was always very annoying for those trying to CS. The nerf is not massive but we may see a drop in her play rate.

This champion has seemingly been lost and forgotten by both Riot and the community. Finally, however, Kassadin is receiving some love. The Void Walker is getting buffs to both Null Sphere (Q) and Force Pulse (E). The damage changes to his Q are a little strange at a first glance as his damage at rank one has been lowered by five, but at rank two it remains unchanged and at rank three it starts to slowly increase, giving him an additional 15 bonus damage at rank five. His E mana cost has been lowered starting at 60 at rank one and going all the way up to 80 at rank five as opposed to being 80 mana at all ranks. These aren t the biggest buffs, but the fact that our lost and forgotten friend is receiving some attention is a small miracle in itself. Hopefully, this will lead to further changes to Kassadin in the future.

Malzahar is one of the strongest champions in the current meta. He s been decimating his opponents on the Fields of Justice, and has enjoyed a very high win ratio and play rate. It certainly isn t hard to see why Riot wanted to tone down the Prophet of the Void. The nerfs are mainly focused to his passive. The damage reduction of Void Shift only lasts 0.25 seconds rather than one full second, while the cooldown of his passive has been increased. It s a nice nerf to his passive, but it s still going to block and save him from being caught off-guard, working very similarly to the spell shield from Banshee s Veil. However, the cooldown to his passive should now allow his opponents more opportunities capitalise on his immobility after they poke his shield down.

The Bestial Huntress has been one of the higher skill cap junglers for a long time, but she has been out of action for quite a few patches. Riot has seemingly answered Nidalee s prayers and buffed both her human and cougar form in the early to mid-stages of the game, helping with her jungle clear. In human form her Javelin Toss (Q) has had its maximum and minimum damage increased at the earlier ranks, but by rank five it will be the same. However, the maximum and minimum damage on her Q in cougar form has also been increased at the lower ranks, but decreased at the higher ranks. To compensate for this Riot has increased the AP ratio on her Q, which has gone from 36% to 40%, while damage to hunted targets has been increased from 33% to 40%. Nidalee s Aspect of the Cougar (R) ability no longer resets her basic attack, which could be a slight issue for higher level players. These buffs will hopefully put Nidalee back on the map as a dominant jungler.

Renekton is a bit of an anomaly in the fact that he has the ability to be very dominant in top lane and also very weak as well. Our reptilian friend is receiving a new effect to Dominus (R) where upon casting he will gain 20 Fury, while his AoE magic damage per second has been increased from 30/60/120 to 40/80/120. The instant Fury you get whenever you cast Dominus can really help Renekton set up plays and help with his overall kill pressure in lane, once again restoring everybody s healthy fear of the croc in top.

There s been an important change to Vayne s Tumble (Q) as it now has a new effect that allows her to deal bonus damage to structures, allowing her to push towers a little bit faster and more reliably. The Night Hunter has more critical consistency as Tumble's bonus damage and basic attacks no longer crit independently of one another. If one crits, so does the other. The really interesting part of this buff is that Vayne can now proc her Q ability on enemy turrets, giving her more options at her disposal. All in all it s a small but significant buff that puts Vayne in a better place.

Finally, Vladimir has been very potent in the last couple of patches and he s finally receiving some much needed nerfs. Traditionally the Crimson Reaper has relied on his Sanguine Pool to escape ganks and avoid incoming damage. The midseason update added a bunch of extra escape tools for him to utilise which made him even more slippery. Riot has now decreased his base movement speed from 335 to 330 and the cooldown on his Sanguine Pool (W) has been increased by a total of two seconds at every rank. Considering how strong Vladimir is at the moment any nerfs are appreciated at this point, but we shall have to see how he deals with these changes.

As We Happy Few opens, it reminds me of The Stanley Parable or Californium the latter a game loosely based on Philip K. Dick s supernatural visions in that I m a regular, confused person in and out of the game, doing what I think I m supposed to. I m happily redacting news at a news redaction machine, playing along with whatever oppressive force I m working for. But then I begin to remember my past, and I can make a choice: plunge back into a gleeful stupor, or throw away my mind-controlling Joy pills and lift the curtain on reality.

The dystopia of We Happy Few is well tread. Its retrofuturistic 1960s recalls The Prisoner, Dishonored, and BioShock while its drugged society brings up the 1990 s distrust and stigma around antidepressants. Not that We Happy Few is necessarily a criticism of Prozac its happy pills are just a useful vehicle for contemplating perception and truth, as in the movie Equilibrium.

After the brief prologue, in which I discover that the functioning society I thought I was a part of is a drug-induced hallucination, We Happy Few turns into a procedurally-generated stealth and survival game. Done with the news deletion business and outed as a downer someone who s gone off their pills I m tossed into a ghetto where I m ostensibly meant to explore, survive, and infiltrate the Joy zombies to search for an escape. But We Happy Few is still in development, and it s still rough. This isn t the sort of Early Access phase where it s a beta that needs a bit of polishing, or a completed first half with the second still to come it s a trek through some bad systems and procedurally-generated confusion.

I m given an underground safehouse which only serves as an annoyance, because I have to return to it to sleep and reset my exhaustion meter, just because that s a meter I have I can t see how it serves the fun at all. Likewise, I have to drink and eat, but with water and food fairly plentiful I m just being forced into my inventory to reset meters. It s not a desperate struggle to survive, it s me coddling the protagonist and slowing everything down so I don t map the island too quickly.

Outside, the populace is a confused bunch. I don t quite blend in, so they mostly tell me to fuck off as I walk past again and again which is dull. If I try to talk to them, I say one of a few nonsensical lines, talking over whatever they re saying. And their sense of property is unhinged. I break into many houses and steal all sorts of supplies, and no one gives a damn, but sleeping in someone else s bed turns out to be a capital offense. When I wake up I m assaulted by four villagers and have to stab them to death with a pointy stick. (It was nice of them to let me finish sleeping before trying to beat me to death, at least.)

My first task is to gain re-entry to the district full of Joy heads, and the only way over is across one of two bridges (unless I'm missing something obvious!). The first is guarded, and the second has a broken door that s stuck shut. It s very clear what repair tools I need to fix the broken bridge so I can cross, but I die trying to find them well, what really happens is that I get impatient and start throwing bodies on tripwires in an attempt to detonate mines, and blow myself up. I have permadeath on, and don't have the supplies I need to save myself with a healing balm, so that's that.

I assume what I needed was somewhere on the island, though I couldn t find any clues, and I walked around the whole thing. I started a new game this morning, after We Happy Few released in Early Access (I had been playing a preview build sent to press), and everything makes a little more sense this time. The citizens are more likely to defend their homes which is also sort of annoying, because there s no clear way to sneak around them as they wander aimlessly through cramped rooms and I think I ve started making progress on the main quest, which this time requires me to find a power cell and keycard. My sense is that a lot depends on the procedural generation: it can give you a very confused town, or a way forward.

The other quests I ve encountered are disjointed, seemingly meaningless. Spy on a couple and steal some mushrooms. Give a guy an anti-nausea pill. Open a chest. It s disappointing, because right now We Happy Few isn t the insidious, Bioshock-like mind control story I expected from the trailers it s an Early Access survival game like others I ve played, such as Sir, You Are Being Hunted. But there will be a story (three of them, actually) when it s complete. They just aren t in the alpha, and Compulsion Games is clear about the state We Happy Few is in: it s mostly feature complete, at an alpha level and it s possible to escape and beat the game, but chunks are missing and everything is in need of work.

If they can mesh interesting storytelling with better procedural worlds a tricky task, I have to imagine We Happy Few could be exciting. I haven t made it out of the starting area yet, and I don t want to, because I can see that potential. I want to play We Happy Few when the story is in and the NPCs behave a bit better and the quests are more interesting and less obtuse, not spoil it for myself now with this buggy, hazy vision of what it could be. It s an alpha for backers who really want to help with development, but the casually interested will be better served by waiting to see how We Happy Few turns out in half-a-year or a year.

Header image courtesy of Faith&Fear on Steam.

In order to be successful in Counter-Strike: Global Offensive you need to be able to take control over the map and deal damage. High explosive grenades (HE) and the two firebombs (incendiary grenade and Molotovs) serve both purposes. A well timed HE can slow your enemy s movement enough for you to pick up an easy kill. They can also be used in combination with either a Molotov or another HE to do even more damage and potentially kill an opponent without ever putting yourself at risk.

The difference between a good grenade user and a really good one is how well you coordinate with your teammates. Therefore it s important to know how, why and when to use grenades if you want to improve your game.

Updates to incendiary grenades and Molotovs

In recent (and not so recent) updates Valve have gradually tuned the two firebombs to the point where they re almost the same. That said, they differ in price. The Molotov costs the terrorists $400 whereas the incendiary grenade costs the counter-terrorists $600. Another difference is that when you hold down either primary fire, secondary fire or both with the Molotov it makes noise that the other team can hear if they re close enough. Moral of the story: you might catch a bullet to your head if you run around ready to throw your Molotov if you opponent hears that it s safe to come around the corner. They do however both deal the same amount of damage and don t damage armor anymore.

 NIP’s creative firebomb round

Richard xizt Landstr m, Jacob pyth Mouruj rvi and Christopher GeT_RiGhT Alesund predicted that the former Luminosity (now SK-Gaming) players would push B-long once again, so they decided to do something creative with their incendiary grenades. They flashed, smoked, lined the grenades up and threw them at the same time.

Unfortunately for them the flashbang kept the Luminosity players from pushing further. Imagine what could have happened without that flashbang. At the same time they kind of had to use the flashbang in case their opponents decided to rush. But you get the point: if you find the right spots and the right timing you can do some really cool things with firebombs in Counter-Strike: Global Offensive. Spend some time on empty servers and experiment with approaches. Not only is it fun when you actually come across a useful place to lock down with firebombs, you ll also figure out what doesn t work.

 Combining Molotovs and HE grenades

Here s another example of a NiP play, this time against the French team G2 eSports:

It s always risky to move out in the open when you throw a grenade. Unless it s at the beginning of a round or you ve received information telling you that it s safe, you should avoid doing so. Most of the time it s better to bounce grenades off walls from a safe spot.

Apart from the fact that Richard xizt Landstr m died, then, this was a really good play. First the Molotov comes in and covers the chokepoint at double doors, forcing the G2 players to move in one of two directions. After that HE grenade explodes: you can see how it slows the terrorists down so that they take even more damage from the fire. Firebomb damage increases over time, so if you can make your enemy stay in it for a longer duration they re going to take massive damage. As you can see, C dric RpK Guipoy and Edouard SmithZz Dubourdeaux are left with 13 and 21 hp respectively.

 Grenades and vision

You can use both firebombs and HE grenades to briefly hide. If you stand really close to a molotov in a tight space you can see your enemy without a problem. Here s how it looks:

Note how it s almost impossible to see your opponent from the other side. This is something you can and should use to your advantage if your opponent tries to fry you. Punish them for every mistake they make. That s how you win games in CS:GO.

The thick smoke from the HE grenade provides a perfect screen for you to run behind to cross various parts of maps. This example from double doors at Dust2 is probably the most common example:

This allows you to save your precious smoke grenades they can come in handy later in the round.

Bonus clip

Here, Robin flusha R nnquist from fnatic shows us how to use the HE grenade creatively and in the process he picks up an ace against Team Dignitas.

First he hides behind the smoke and tries to spot enemy players on the A site. After a while he throws a grenade towards them. If a HE grenade explodes close enough you can t hear anything for a brief moment. Flusha uses that fact to drop down to CT spawn without the Danish players hearing him land. From then on he uses his incredible gamesense and nerve to take them down one by one.

Find all of our other Counter-Strike: Global Offensive guides here:

Inferno Counter-Terrorist guideInferno Terrorist guideCache Counter-Terrorist guideCache Terrorist guideOverpass Counter-Terrorist guideOverpass Terrorist guideCobblestone Counter-Terrorist guideCobblestone Terrorist guideTrain Counter-Terrorist guideTrain Terrorist guideMirage Counter-Terrorist guideMirage Terrorist guideDust2 Counter-Terrorist guideDust2 Terrorist guideSupport role guideEntry fragger role guideLurker role guideAWPer role guideTeam leader guideSMGs guideSniper rifles guideAssault rifles guidePistols guideWorst weapons guide

Two years later, I'm still playing Alien: Isolation. The Creative Assembly's homage to Ridley Scott's 1979 classic is a great horror game, but it's the urge to revisit Sevastopol and the Nostromo, and soak up that chunky retro-futuristic aesthetic, that always lures me back.

For someone as obsessed with the production design of the movie as I am, the opportunity to explore a painstakingly authentic recreation of that world is hard to resist. And today I decided to head back to take some 4K screenshots of what is, for me, one of the most beautiful games on PC.

Thanks to Cinematic Tools for the camera mod.

EVA suits in storage.

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Ellen Ripley on the bridge of the Nostromo.

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Marlow's salvage crew explores the derelict.

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The Nostromo's computer, MOTHER.

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The alien.

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Hypersleep chambers on the Nostromo.

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KG-348, the gas giant Sevastopol orbits.

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Marlow discovers the derelict's pilot.

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The alien.

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A Working Joe android on fire.

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The alien.

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A victim of a rogue Working Joe.

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Computers on Sevastopol.

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The alien.

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Lambert in the Nostromo's dining room.

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The alien.

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Close up of a Working Joe.

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The alien.

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One of Marlow's crew and the pilot.

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Exploring the surface of LV-426.

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Battlezone 98 Redux is a new version of, you guessed it, Battlezone, the RTS-FPS mash-up that posited galactic warfare between the USA and its arch-nemesis, itself - sorry, its arch-nemesis, Russia. Now, the remake of that old game has been joined by a remake of its old expansion, The Red Odyssey. This adds two new campaigns set in the Jupiter region, along with a couple of new playable factions: the NSDF Black Dogs and the Chinese Red Army. Here's the trailer:

What's that, trailer? You say the expansion you're trailing has a 15% Steam discount, for the next few days? And you go on to say that the base game is currently 40% off, over the same period? Thanks, trailer.

A reminder that Rebellion - who now owns the rights to Battlezone, and who got Big Boat Interactive to develop this - is currently working on a reboot of the original, 1980 Battlezone. Although we haven't heard squat about that one for a while.

Riot still hasn't released evidence to support its recent and unprecedented banning of pro League of Legends team Renegades, and while at this stage it's unlikely the company ever will, a new ESPN report provides some background and context from the banned team's point of view. It's a lengthy report, but here are some of the key points.

In its statement in May, Riot cited three main reasons for the banning, including not properly disclosing team ownership, misleading player trades, and player mistreatment. Following the imposition of a 12 month ban on Chris Badawi for alleged tampering, ownership of Renegades was transferred to a new company, Mykles Gaming LLC. Riot claimed that Christopher Mykles had an agreement with Badawi to transfer 50% ownership of this company following the latter's ban period (it's against Riot's rules for ownership of a team to be acquired during a ban).

Both Badawi and Mykles along with their attorney Bryce Blum claim that despite Riot's accusations, no such agreement existed. Riot refuted that claim to ESPN though, saying it was not a "long-form legal agreement" but that it was an agreement nonetheless.

Meanwhile, details have emerged regarding the alleged player mistreatment within the Renegades' housing. According to the report, Badawi argued with team member Maria "Remilia" Creveling after she announced she'd leave the team on the week of January 31. Badawi allegedly threatened to reduce Remilia's salary to compensate money he spent on her medical bills.

"I spoke with Chris Badawi that evening and we agreed that he had acted impulsively and emotionally in this situation," Mykles said to ESPN. "We also agreed that his previous financial support of Maria Creveling was borne solely out of his generosity and had no bearing on her player contract with Mykles Gaming, LLC, therefore all associated payments should be made to her, and they subsequently and immediately were. I was also informed that Christopher Badawi had apologized to Maria Creveling that same day."

It's a tangled web, and it's well worth reading over the original report for all the finer details. It'll be interesting to see whether the report will coax Riot to say any more on the matter.

Oddworld: Munch s Oddysee first received a PC port way back in 2010, and has since troubled sorry purchasers with a variety of game-breaking bugs some can t even get it to start. Fixes were promised right after release, and nearly six years later, they re finally here. The developers built an entirely new port that's been on the Steam beta branch since February, and after five months it's finally taken over the main branch.

An update was pushed to Munch s Oddysee on July 24th, the specific details of which are vague, but according to a post on the Oddysee Steam news page, include multiple fixes and some 'HD' assets including higher resolution character models. The update also includes Steam trading cards if they're your thing. Personally, I'd just sell a few collecting dust in your inventory to scrounge up some change, because to encourage players to give Munch s Oddysee a shot, it s on sale for a measly $1.24. Better late than never, eh?I booted up the new build to see if the changes made a difference, and the game started without issue, running at 2560x1440 and a steady framerate. It s still one to play with a controller if you can, but finally, it seems the suite of Oddworld games are getting the PC treatment they deserve. Of course, I m a small sample size, so if there are any new problems, we ll find out soon enough.

The Rotating Game Mode queue has always allowed players to get away from the stresses of regular games. Summoners can leave their ranked woes and jump into modes that offer a more relaxed approach to League. From the original clone mayhem of One For All to the frantic keyboard-mashing of Ultra Rapid Fire, featured game modes provide an added spin to the classic League formula. The latest entry is the highly anticipated Nexus Siege, arguably the most intricate to date in terms of new features.

 The lowdown

Nexus Siege is a round-based attack and defence game mode where teams take turns at sieging the enemy's Nexus using an arsenal of deadly siege weapons. Each match consists of two rounds. After the first round, the teams switch sides. If you re attacking, you will need to shove waves and deploy siege weapons in order to charge up your minions and destroy towers. The defending team will try and withstand the blitz for as long as they can by upgrading towers and deploying AoE bonuses in order to kill their unwanted guests. Once the attacking side destroys the Nexus, the teams switch sides. Overall victory is awarded to whichever team flattens the base fastest.

The strangest thing about Nexus Siege is the sudden shock of not having any summoner spells. Instead they have been replaced by mode-specific attack or defense items that you can purchase with a unique currency called crystal shards. These accumulate over time and can be earned by killing enemy champions, with attackers earning them quicker than defenders. Defenders, however, start the round with enough Crystal Shards to buy a siege weapon and are also granted a bonus when the first tower in each lane is destroyed. Each minion that is shoved into the attacker s teleporters will also grant precious shards to the defending team.

Both teams have access to trinkets that warp them close to the front lines so they can quickly get back to the action, and you don t have to worry about farming as your riches are accumulated passively. In Nexus Siege it s more important that you simply push lanes as quickly as possible.

The importance of pushing is demonstrated by the Obliterator. This terrifying beam of power is unleashed by the defending team when a total of 15 minions have been shoved into the attacker s teleport pads. Once that quota has been met, a powerful laser will fire down all three lanes. Everything except siege weapons will be instantly obliterated.

 Picking your champion

The most useful champions in this mode will ideally have a combination of good wave clear and tower-sieging potential. AD Carry champions like Sivir do very well since they can push lanes quickly, easily securing objectives and creating map pressure when sieging the enemy base. Sivir has insane wave clear potential when she utilises her Q and her W and is great at taking turrets thanks to her attack speed steroid, and can even initiate fights with her ultimate. AD Carry champions are also strong when defending as they can completely stop a push by laying down a constant barrage of harass to their opponents which either kills them or forces them out of lane, giving them a brief window to destroy siege weapons and stop the enemy advance.

Long range AP wave clear champions like Lux, Vel'Koz and Xerath also offer impeccable waveclear, good all round damage and crowd control abilities that either stun, suppress or knock-up enemies. This is even more potent if you manage to catch someone while the Obliterator is charging up.

However, having a team filled with only AD Carry or wave clear champions can make it all too easy for the opposing attackers to siege your turret and pick up some easy kills due to your lacklustre health and defense. This makes your ability to defend and attack extremely difficult. Instead try and build a well-balanced team made up of AP and AD wave clear champs, as well as a tank (Singed) or a support (Sona) and the addition of skirmishers who can quickly jump into the action. This team comp will allow you to maximize your strengths in the defense department and offer chances of breaking the siege against your base. By utilising the unlimited flash from Flash Zone you can easily punish popular squishy champions and destroy their stacked siege turrets, making their push that much harder and more time consuming.

 Top tips

Recalling and teleporting is super quick so don t be afraid to go back to base after you have cleared a minion wave. This will allow you to stock up on items and valuable siege equipment that will aid you on the battlefield.

The gold accumulation is so fast in Nexus Siege that you can grab a better starting weapon (Needlessly Large Rod or B. F. Sword) before the minions even meet each other in lane. This will make your clear quicker and your damage even more potent early on.

Flash Zones can allow champions to go in for an insta-kill or make their attacks difficult to dodge. Take extra care when playing against the likes of Zed, Shaco and Darius who will be looking to use Flash Zones to pick up some early and late game kills.

When on the offense it s a good idea to nest multiple Siege Ballista and Shield Totems together for fast tower destruction. The grouped weapons can help bait the defenders into a deadly ambush, giving your team opportunities to kill the disorganised foes. Make sure you place the Ballista behind terrain and in areas where you can easily defend them. Placing two Siege Ballista is optimal. If the opposing team manage to destroy them it won t set you back as much as having placed all your siege weapons in one area. If you follow this advice you will hopefully diminish your chances of wasting your Crystals Shards and boost your overall survivability in lane.

Remember that Port Pads can win games. A well placed Port Pad behind enemy lines can help snowball your team really quickly. Conceal it in bushes or behind the walls to make it difficult for the enemy to find.

If you purchase the Beam of Ruination remember to use the summoner spell to fire it. I have seen many players simply place it on a turret only to forget about it. Just remember it is fairly slow and can easily be countered by champions with high mobility, so take note before you commit to purchasing this item.

When on the offence try and build some sustain. This will allow you to stay in lane longer and you won t have to recall as often, allowing you to get a nice push going. If you re playing on the defense opt for heavy damage items, CC and Siege Weapons. It s important that you stall your opponents blitz on your base for as long as possible. The adage the best defense is a good offense rings true in Nexus Siege.

Nexus Siege brings a lot of new ideas to the table. Once you learn how to utilise the items, coordinate attacks and set up strong defensive boundaries it can be a very rewarding game mode that shouldn t last more than 20 minutes each side. However, Nexus Siege is not without its problems. If you re unfortunate enough to have an AFK player on your team then you re in for a long game with no way of surrendering, which makes defeat sting more. A meta has also formed very quickly within the new mode, with low-mana cost and high wave clear champs becoming the favourite picks. Unfortunately this does mean that some champions will rarely be played through the fear of getting forced under tower while defending or being unable to reach enemy towers while attacking.

Time will only tell if Nexus Siege has the potential to become a classic game type that people will flock to like U.R.F. or One For All. It s a welcome addition to the rotation, however, and demonstrates that Riot is willing to add new concepts to the classic League formula.