Tales of the LCS, Issue #8
The League of Spectacle
In the wake of a riveting Intel Extreme Masters 9, the teams of the West were looking forward to a quiet last two weeks of competition as the standings looked to be fixed and ready for playoffs.
Nobody could have predicted some of the monumental upsets that viewers were bombarded with last week. Here are some of the biggest shockers from Week 8 of the LCS, though I highly suggest you go back to watch all of the games. It was quite the blockbuster week.
The Road to Playoffs Begins…
The Streak is Denied (Again)
H2k-Gaming looked to be cruising to the top of the European LCS. They were on an 8-game win streak and on the cusp of shattering Fnatic’s record of 9. In the past, teams such as Gambit Gaming and Elements were similarly at 8 wins but Fnatic themselves denied those teams the chance to match their 2013 run of greatness.
Since H2k was not even facing Fnatic this week, they had a clear path to an unprecedented 10-win run, and all they had to do to tie was beat Elements, a team struggling to even make it to a playoff berth. Sounds like smooth sailing, right?
What followed was a questionable pick and ban phase. Selecting Gnar for Andrei “Odoamne” Pascu, though he was undefeated on the champion, wasn’t the easiest thing to run in a protect a Kog’Maw composition. Combined with a Rek’Sai in the jungle and the peel for H2k was lackluster.
Raymond “kaSing” Tsang hadn’t lost a game since joining H2k… until this match.
On the other side, Elements drafted a late game peel composition that had Maokai and Nunu as a solid frontline, allowing Martin “Rekkles” Larsson to relive his 2014 greatness on Jinx. Combined with Karthus as a throwback pick for Henrik “Froggen” Hansen, and Elements all had champions that catered to their style.
Though H2k tried to push for advantages, Elements held fast and eventually outscaled and outfought H2k for the victory. With that, Elements dashed another team’s dreams of breaking the Fnatic record, as well as kept themselves in the running for a playoff spot.
Elements finally break their loss streak, along with H2k’s win streak.
Since Elements lost to Gambit Gaming the following day, they need to maneuver into the type of win conditions they set up for themselves in this match, or they run the risk of having to defend their LCS spot in relegation.
Fnatic’s Nexus Nightmares
With H2k’s momentum derailed, Fnatic cruised past Meet Your Makers and only needed to get revenge on the Unicorns of Love for a loss in Week 3 to firmly secure second seed in Europe.
When last these two teams met, Fnatic held the lead in kills and map pressure until the Unicorns decided to group and force a mid push that took out an inhibitor. What followed was a map-wide runaround that saw Fnatic’s entire base split open.
This time, Fnatic decided to control Unicorns’ aggression by playing the map more decisively. The Yorick and Cassiopeia combo from UoL was successfully contained by avoiding large engagements until the right moment. This time, Fnatic looked to have no openings as they crushed UoL in a teamfight and headed for the nexus. They were but one hit away from victory—and then they got wiped.
At the cusp of victory, with flashbacks of their failed nexus attempts at Worlds 2014 against OMG, Fnatic decided to rush the nexus in force a second time and again they were denied. Despite being able to burn down Tristan “PowerOfEvil” Schrage throughout the game, Yorick allowed the Unicorns mid star to rise again and be a constant thorn in Fnatic’s side.
The Fnatic team, utterly devastated after they narrowly failed to close out the game.
The Unicorns used the desperate late game battles they swung to regain control of the map and just barely take down Fnatic’s nexus, making them the only team in Europe to hold a 2-0 record on Fnatic this split.
They forced Fnatic to contend with a tie against H2k, while the Unicorns themselves are in a tie scenario with Gambit Gaming.
A Wild Urgot Appears
All eyes were on the champions of IEM as Team Solo Mid, for now touted as the ‘best team in the world’, returned to North America to reign over their kingdom. With the hype of another grudge match against Counter Logic Gaming on the horizon, TSM overlooked an inconsistent Gravity Gaming to prepare for the showdown with their rivals.
That would be their downfall.
Jang “Keane” Lae-Young showed no fear when matched against the king of the mid lane in North America. His answer to Søren “Bjergsen” Bjerg’s infamous Zed? The never-before-seen mid Urgot.
It seems like Keane’s sole mission in life is to make Zed mids cry, as he once before countered CLG’s Zed with a mid lane Hecarim. This time, Bjergsen was given no room to work his shadow magic as the instant he would activate his Death Mark, Keane was there to Hyper-Kinetic Position Reverser Bjergsen into ineffectiveness.
After this game, players will forever be associating Urgot with Gravity’s mid laner, Keane.
At first it was one botched teamfight for TSM, and still the fans believed the heroes of NA could pull back. But after so much armor being stacked on Gravity, and a point-and-click ultimate specifically tailored to shut Bjergsen down, all TSM could do was stand and get poked down by the bombardment that Urgot and Corki rained on them.
Though TSM vanquished their rivals the day after, (in rather convincing fashion, too) their records are now stained by the game they dropped to an Urgot. That’s something no team will easily forget.
Breaking Math in NA
Cloud 9 is a team known for fantastic late split runs. Though they’ve faltered at times in the past, the underpinnings of their long run of success in North America can be attributed to their uncanny ability to steel themselves during the closing weeks of competition and not drop a game. Statistics showed them to be infallible, and that they should end with a 4-0 run.
But math wasn’t on their side last week. Last week, 8 > 9 as Team 8 swept the rug out from under Cloud 9’s feet. TSM’s double AD carry composition lacked the damage to burn through Steven “CaliTrlolz” Kim on a rare Vladimir pick. Meanwhile, TSM’s triple tank line of Maokai, Nunu and Nautilus while effective at first, eventually couldn’t handle Ainslie “maplestreet” Wyllie on Graves as he blasted his way to a 9/1/6 scoreline. Andrew “Slooshi” Pham was so ecstatic after the win, he even threw one of maplestreet’s shoes into the crowd!
Cloud 9 come off a very disappointing IEM showing, winning no games at the event, and though they thoroughly trounced Team Liquid during their return match, this loss to Team 8 highlights a surprising difference in the current squad. Contrary to their long history of clean rotations and decision making, C9 looks sloppy at times.
C9’s support, Daerek “LemonNation” Hart, has attributed C9’s slump to coaches playing a much larger role in picks and bans, allowing the competition to match them in strategy, which is something C9 was always known for.
That doesn’t excuse them from the plays they make in game though, and with a match against Team Solo Mid in the cards, Cloud 9’s stranglehold at the top of NA may officially be rained out.
The Stakes for Week 9
This is it! The last week of the Spring Split is upon us. This is the final opportunity for teams to jockey for playoff positions or avoid the relegation tournament, so let’s highlight the matches that have a lot riding on them when it comes to determining the playoff seeds and so on. And after these matches conclude, stick around for our FINAL REGULAR ISSUE.
Fnatic vs H2k-Gaming 
Because these two surging teams suffered upset losses last week, they are now tied for second place. This match will decide who truly stands right behind SK Gaming in Europe’s power rankings.
Will H2k learn to adapt to patch 5.5 and springboard off their win against MYM, or can Fnatic shake off their heartbreaker loss to the Unicorns and earn that bye?
Copenhagen Wolves vs Team ROCCAT 
At one point in the split, the Wolves were squarely third in the standings, but have since dipped down to hover at 6th place. Should they fall to ROCCAT here, they may have to fight in tie breakers to keep their playoff dreams alive.
ROCCAT, on the other hand, still looks rather inconsistent, but do at least have a “free” win against MYM in week 9. Picking up a victory here is crucial for them to avoid missing playoffs or entering relegation.
Bonus: If Elements can also manage victories, we may be seeing a 3-way tie for the last playoff spot, and a bitter battle to stave off relegation.
Gravity Gaming vs Cloud 9 
The top of the North American standings are frighteningly close at the moment. With Cloud 9 squaring off against TSM in the week, this match is a must-win for the former NA champions if they want to reach that second place bye.
For Gravity who is tied with Team 8 and one game under both Cloud 9 and Team Impulse, a win here could mean they could clinch a top 4 spot and carry on the Curse tradition of being 4th place. They’ve already felled the reigning champions with an Urgot. What surprises do they have waiting for Cloud 9?
Counter Logic Gaming vs Team Impulse 
After a bitter loss to their eternal rivals, Team Solo Mid, CLG’s hold on second place is in jeopardy. They only stand one game above Cloud 9 and Team Impulse, and can’t afford to drop any more games if they want to avoid any deadly tiebreaker scenarios.
Impulse, on the other hand, has been on a tear lately and is currently riding a 5-win streak. With victories over TSM and Cloud 9 under their belt, all Impulse needs now is to knock out CLG to complete their hit list of top teams felled. That and winning here could force multiple tiebreakers depending on how other games unfold.
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