SofM is currently on an impressive streak on the Korean server, and at one point, he even made it into the top 20 Challenger after a series of consecutive wins. However, there is one detail that very few people have noticed, but it has become the biggest concern of the Chinese gaming community right now: the way SofM secures his victories.
In recent matches, SofM frequently uses the champion Graves, but not in the conventional way. He has played Graves in the jungle without Flash in 4 out of his last 5 games, instead utilizing the Keystone Rune Phase Rush.
Comparing the differences between the cases of Wei and SofM, it is simple: SofM still takes the summoner spell Smite – which meets the minimum requirements of a jungler. In return, he opts to skip Flash in favor of another tool.
Specifically, in the 4 matches where he experimented with Graves without Flash, SofM used Ignite 3 times and Teleport once. In all 4 of these games, SofM emerged victorious, with 2 of the matches earning him the MVP title.
In fact, Wei has demonstrated the effectiveness of using Ignite with Graves in the jungle in some aspects. In the match against BLG, despite losing because he didn’t take Smite, Wei’s Graves consistently showcased superiority in trading damage during skirmishes or when facing the enemy jungle.
Perhaps after witnessing the potential of Graves with Ignite demonstrated by Wei, SofM immediately sought to test it in ranked games in Korea. However, the biggest highlight came from the match where SofM’s Graves utilized the summoner spell duo of Teleport – Smite.
In this match, taking Teleport instead of Flash allowed SofM to maximize the area control capabilities provided by this summoner spell. By the 16th minute of the match, SofM had an overwhelming advantage with double the gold of the opposing jungler.
The fact that Graves does not take Flash can also be seen as a true “SofM – Style of Me” innovation. With Graves having two tools available to create distance from opponents, namely E and R, the use of Flash becomes non-essential.
Additionally, we must mention the support from the Keystone Rune Phase Rush, which is also a “super unusual” choice for regular Graves players. With Phase Rush, when Graves unleashes a rapid combo with his abilities, it grants him a massive amount of movement speed, completely compensating for the mobility disadvantage of not having Flash.
Currently, the Chinese gaming community is nearly going crazy over the new playstyle that SofM has created. On social media, many players have even dubbed SofM the “Creator” as the no-Flash Graves playstyle has been tested and proved quite effective in solo queue:
– SofM has never disappointed me; he keeps coming up with super cool new ideas.
– Learning from the mistakes of peers to innovate new playstyles, oh I bow to him.
– Who remembers the Olaf Redemption Chain?
– Clearly, Graves can take Ignite instead of Flash, but why did I only think of this now?
– SofM’s performance in tournaments might be a bit rocky, but it seems he never limits himself in ranked games.
– Not taking Flash in the jungle has been around for a while, but using the Ignite – Smite – Phase Rush combo is something only SofM could think of.
– M* ki*p! Look at that match with Teleport, out-jungling the opponent by 4k gold at 16 minutes, what else is there to say?