Esports data company DOJO Madness has today announced the launch of Shadow.LoL, a new software platform designed to provide cutting-edge analytics & data visualizations for professional teams of the game League of Legends.
Led by Tim “Magic” Sevenhuysen, the man behind League of Legends statistics site Oracle’s Elixir, the project was developed alongside north American esports organisation Team Liquid for pro teams’ use.
Shadow will help users to find tendencies in their own play where the execution can be improved on, or to identify patterns in their opponents’ gameplay that they can exploit. It achieves this through a 2D replay tool that the platform provides, which enables users to quickly and efficiently review matches at higher speeds. The ability to jump to certain key events (such as kills or the securing of objectives) will be of particular use to coaches, along with having the option to move seamlessly between the 2D viewer and in-game video.
The system also includes the best bits from Oracle’s Elixir, featuring advanced team, player, and champion statistics “at the user’s fingertips”. Key trends and patterns can be uncovered here, too, through the use of a number of in-depth filters. Tracking teams’ performances both on stage and in scrims, through Shadow, teams and broadcasters will be able to simultaneously monitor players’ champion pools, scout playing tendencies, and explore detailed statistical analysis.
Tim, “the world’s foremost League of Legends statistician”, told us in January that although he started delving into statistics simply to satisfy his own curiosity, it “became clear pretty quickly” that broadcasters, analysts and die-hard fans were all enthralled by his work. Now he’s built a tool specifically to help take teams to the next level.
“DOJO Madness has an unmatched foundation in both League of Legends statistics experience and data science,” he said. “Every feature in Shadow LOL is designed and refined to add real value for coaches and analysts.”
One CEO who will be making the most of Shadow’s features is Steve Arhancet, of Team Liquid. “League of Legends is a highly complex game, and the fact that most teams are basing their analysis on simple spreadsheets and gut feelings is insane,” he said.
“We worked closely with Shadow during their beta to make sure their tools and data will enhance the work of our coaches, analysts, and players. We see Shadow as essential to our long-term success.”
DOJO Madness was founded in 2014 by Jens Hilgers (Founder of ESL), Markus Fuhrmann, and Christian Gruber. They’ve previously released a line of SUMO apps, which offer virtual coaching platforms for League of Legends, Dota 2, and Overwatch. The company has raised a total of $12.75m (£9.87m) in funding.
Esports insider says: As sports analytics commands a higher and higher emphasis at the highest level, esports is playing an accelerated game of catch-up. Shadow.LoL looks like a brilliant platform to help drive broadcasters’ narratives and top-tier teams’ strategy to the next level.