An Analysis of the Double AD Strategy

If you've been following Korea's OGN league recently, you might have seen the rise to fame of the Double AD Strategy. This will be the first of a two part article with this first part explaining everything you need to know about the Double AD Strategy and the second part examining a specific game where this strategy is used.

Image credited to kaiser-jim on Deviantart

A Little Background on the Double AD Strategy

The Double AD Composition is built to push down and destory towers. This composition is very early and mid game focused so champions that reach their power spikes early are ideal when running it.  Below are some of the most picked champions when running this strategy.

Top Lane:

- Shen is a great addition to a double AD comp because of his split pushing and peeling capabilities. Double AD comps are very good at seiging turrets and split pushing is an extremely effective way of allowing a team to siege. This is because split pushing draws a member of the enemy team away which makes the siege a 4v4 instead of a 5v5. These smaller sieges are easier for the double AD team to handle due to the reduced amount of dive or damage threats. Shen also provides enormous peel potential with his Shadow Dash and Stand United. Double AD comps are very weak to getting their AD carries flanked and dived, so having a shield and taunt to protect your AD carries makes Shen a perfect pick in this strategy.

Jungle:

- Nunu in this composition is like a steriod, while he is not necessary to win, he does make it easier. If you run this composition and decide to 2v1 lane swap, Nunu's Blood Boil almost guarantees that you will take the first turret before the enemy team does. If you do not decide to 2v1, Nunu can then go to any of the lanes and help to push them down. On top of giving them free stats, Nunu is also very good at peeling for his AD carries. Absolute Zero creates a huge zone that slows any and all that try to dive onto your ADs. Should anyone manage to get over or though the zone, Nunu can fall back on his Ice Blast to peel.

Mid Lane:

- Ezreal is the reason this composition even exists. It was built around him specifically. His long range on Mystic Shot makes him a safe pick in the mid lane. His Essence Flux amplifies the pushing power of his whole team by increasing their attack speed by 40%. He is also able to kite and peel on his own with the popular Blue Build. The best part about the Ezreal pick is his Trueshot Barrage. Since Trueshot Barrage is a global ability, your team can do a 4-1 splitpush (where 4 people push one lane and 1 person pushes another) and have Ezreal use his ultimate on the lane with nobody in it. Doing this gives you pushing pressure in three lanes without having to split your champions in three lanes. You cannot run this composition without him.

AD Carry:
 

- Caitlyn is the most optimal choice in this composition. Her 650 attack range and Piltover Peacemaker make it easy for her to quickly push out lanes with minimal risk and mana usage. Her high auto attack range in combination with the zone control that Yordle Snap Traps offer make her a top tier AD carry to siege turrets as well. Even her ultimate is effective in this composition. While Ace in the Hole may not seem like much, it is a good poke tool due to its high base damage, high AD scaling, and low cooldown.

- The second best choice in the double AD comp would be Varus. Like Caitlyn, he has a higher than average attack range at 575 and is adept at pushing. His Piercing Arrow ability is very similar to Caitlyn's Piltover Peacemaker with their low base damage, high total AD scaling and relatively low mana costs. This, combined with Hail of Arrows, puts his pushing power on par with, it not better than, Caitlyn's. Varus can also deal with tanks with the percent of maximum health damage that Blighted Quiver grants him.  His ultimate, Chain of Corruption, is an excellent tool to disengage against dive threats and can double as an initiate tool.

Support:

- Nami is a great addition to a double AD composition. She has strong catch potential and zone control with her Aqua Prison and good sustain with Ebb and Flow. Her Tidecaller's Blessing abiltiy serves two very important purposes: first, it gives bonus magic damage on auto attacks. This is useful to win early trades and push your lane opponents out of lane. With the enemies gone, it is much easier to push down their tower. Secondly, Tidecaller's Blessing slows targets affected by it. This makes it a helpful tool when one of your AD carries needs to kite someone around. Her ultimate, Tidal Wave, is an excellent counter dive tool. The knock up will allow you to interrupt some abilities such as Jarvan IV's E-Q combo, or Lee Sin's Resonating strike and gives your team enough time to reposition. The slow after the wave prevents the enemy team from chasing and helps your team catch theirs.

- Fiddlesticks is exceptional at early pushing and disrupting enemies. Dark Wind can hit up to four minions and the ability does a bonus 50% damage to minioins. This damage is amplified even further with the magic resist shred from his passive, Dread, since it affects minions. Outside of his pushing capabilities, Fiddlesticks is great at catching and preventing dives with his Terrify ability. Since the fear is so powerful, it may force enemies to buy a Quicksilver Sash, which only gives magic resist and does not help against the damage of two AD carries. Fiddlesticks can also be a source of damage with his Crowstrom. Crowstorm also doubles as a catch tool because of the blink attached to it. This opens up the possibilty of casting Crowstorm, then following that up with a Flash Fear.

- Sona has a lot of siege and counter initiate or initiate potential. Her Hymm of Valor gives a damage amplification that helps with pushing and trading. The bonus attack damage also helps your team kill turrets faster and do more damage in teamfights. Aria of Perseverance provides excellent sustain when sieging turrets. It has a moderate cooldown and mana cost, so it can be spammed to out-heal enemy poke. It also has an aura that gives 10 free armor and magic resist. Crescendo is a superb counter initate tool for anyone looking to dive your AD carries. It can also be an an initiate tool when used in conjunction with Flash.

 

The Downfalls of the Double AD Composition

Since this strategy has two AD carries, a strong frontline of tanks is needed to protect them. That tank line is acquired in the top lane and jungle picks. This means that a double AD team lacks a sufficent source of magic damage. With little to no magic damage, an enemy team has no reason to itemize for magic resist and can instead stack armor on their own tank line. This ties into the time limit that is in place when running a double AD composition. If a team is not far enough ahead before the thirty minute mark, the main tanks on the enemy team will have their core armor items (Sunfire, Randuins, Thornmail, and/or Frozen Heart) and the double AD team can't kill them.

The double AD comp is also very weak to flanks. When running this composition you must be on the lookout for picks such as Zac or Evelynn because of their amazing flanking potential. To deal with this, consider banning Zac and Evelynn in champion select or be very liberal with your ward placement to prevent either of these champions from getting behind your team.

In the second part of this series, I will analyze game 3 of SK Telecom T1 vs MVP Ozone to figure out how SK Telecom was able to successfully run a double AD comp vs the champions of the spring season of OGN.

Thanks for reading this article and if you have any comments or questions please leave them in the comments box below.