Tales of the LCS, Issue #6
The Battling Bourgeois
Though it is often easy to cast the spotlight on the top teams in a region, or see that the bottom teams have been left in darkness, this week was all about the middle class.
There were teams that made serious efforts to break out of the middle of the pack, creating a fevered race for the third and fourth spots in both Europe and North America. How did this affect the balance of power in the West?
The Story So Far…
The Invisible Hype of H2k
The H2k organization has had a tough time trying to break into the LCS. On the cusp of a successful seeding in 2013, their team was quickly snatched up by ROCCAT, and those players remain in the LCS today. After spending the better part of 2014 dominating the challenger scene, H2k finally entered the LCS again, but this time with little hype.
Many of the 2014 mainstays were replaced for the LCS squad, most notably their star mid laner, Fabian “Febiven” Diepstraten, who found success in Fnatic’s lineup instead. With new faces coming into this year’s Spring Split, including Ryu “Ryu” Sang-ook of Korean OGN fame, nobody knew what to expect from them.
One person who did know, however, was Neil “PR0LLY” Hammad. PR0LLY made the jump from floundering NA mid laner to European coach and has quietly helmed the H2k squad to victory. Their early 0-2 weeks put them under the radar, but after PR0LLY brought in Raymond “kaSing” Tsang of the old SUPA HOT CREW to fill in the support role, things just clicked.
Now, H2k is riding on the back of a 6-win streak that nobody seems to have paid attention to. What with other underdogs drawing attention and a head-to-head showdown between SK Gaming and Fnatic, H2k’s quiet brilliance was overlooked.
H2k-Gaming has silently crept up to 3rd place in the standings.
Their shot calling has tightened considerably, their pick and ban phase is focused, and their players are slowly gaining steam. The outcry at Ryu’s lack of star power can now be silenced thanks to devastating performances on Orianna and Ahri (though he has still yet to win on Zed).
Finally, Andrei “Odoamne” Pascu has proved a rock in the top lane. In a region seemingly dominated by Lissandra and Rumble picks, Odoamne has established himself as the best pure tank top laner in Europe at the moment. He is undefeated on Gnar and Maokai, at a combined 7-0. Oftentimes, he simply just gets too big for the enemy team to maneuver around, as he teleports in for a swift engage.
With H2k slowly being recognized as a potential contender for the top of the standings, how will the rest of the league deal with their well-rounded style and solid laners?
Moscow 5 2.0
If H2k’s win streak was impressive, then Gambit Gaming’s 7-win streak is even more so, especially since it comes right after their abysmal 5-loss start. Many things are going right for the team of not-all-Russians, and one can’t help but be reminded of the glory days of Moscow 5 because of how well the team has been performing as of late.
As we’ve touched on in previous issues, Danil “Diamondprox” Reshetnikov continues to draw Nidalee bans because of how devastating he is on the champion. His old signature style of heavy invading makes the pick a perfect fit for him, and if he can’t have that then he will invade just as well with Rek’Sai. He’s even brought a bit of his old innovative flair back by picking a champion nobody else seems to value in Sejuani — and winning with her.
Felix “Betsy” Edling is Gambit’s new ace in the mid lane.
Other than that, it would seem that Felix “Betsy” Edling manning the mid lane was not a fluke. His style has instantly gelled with the rest of the squad, and he’s been promoted to the starting mid lane position after powerful performances on assassin champions. It should come as no surprise that Betsy’s style is a good fit for Gambit. The team’s former mid laner and captain, Aleksei “Alex Ich” Ichetovkin, was very fond of playing the cleanup monster on such champions as Kha’Zix.
This week will be the Gambit organization’s second try at matching Fnatic’s 9-win streak. The only difference is that they’ve already played Fnatic twice this split, so the defending team can no longer impede Gambit’s attempts. Could this truly be the return of the fabled Moscow 5 glory in Europe?
The Power of Keith (and communication)
Who says substitutes are of a lesser breed? We just saw the positive impact Betsy has had on Gambit, but across the Atlantic lies an even greater force for his team in Liquid’s substitute AD Carry, Yuri “KEITH” Jew.
KEITH has one of the best win rates in both North America and Europe, winning 5 games for his team while only losing 1. On each week, he has scored no less than 50 fantasy points and was an instrumental factor in Liquid’s upset victory over Team Solo Mid in week 5.
KEITH’s stints on LoLPro and Curse Academy may have prepared him in some way for the big leagues, but why has a challenger hopeful produced more results than Liquid’s high profile World Champion pickup in Chae “Piglet” Gwang-jin? The answers are undoubtedly communication and comfort.
Piglet’s need to adjust to his new life in North America, coupled with the big language barrier, proved to be too much to handle, especially because he is part of a duo with Alex “Xpecial” Chu. Needing split-second coordination at the drop of a hat isn’t exactly the easiest thing when you can only talk to each other using simple game terms.
Will switching out KEITH still yield victories such as this?
Team Liquid is quickly teaching its competition that teamwork will more often than not trump raw skill. The fact that KEITH can add his voice to the team in a quick and dynamic way, his presence is more than the sum of his mechanics and experience. However, Liquid seems to be doubling back on its own success.
As Liquid comes off a 2-0 week, something they haven’t had since week 1, and with the announcement that Piglet will be rejoining the roster, one has to wonder how much of an adjustment the Korean superstar has made in his two weeks off.
Team Solo Mid’s Troubles at the Top
While SK was proven to be mortal a tad earlier, TSM has also not been immune to how the rest of the league has developed around them. While their mid-focused strategy has been the only tool necessary to obliterate the competition thus far, owing to Søren “Bjergsen” Bjerg’s uncanny skill in the mid lane, it’s not all roses for the fan favorites of North America.
Week 5 saw an epic loss to Team Liquid complete with a valiant defense of their nexus by TSM, complete with three downed inhibitors. While Bjergsen did his job, it was most notably Marcus “Dyrus” Hill that was left ineffective for most of the match, allowing Diego “Quas” Ruiz to exert pressure on the map.
Week 6 introduced TSM’s first definitive loss since week 1, as Team Impulse rolled over TSM in shocking fashion, once again making Dyrus completely ineffective, and not allowing TSM’s would-be pick composition to gain a foothold.
Is shutting down WildTurtle over Bjergsen the key to defeating TSM?
What was most interesting about that loss is that Impulse did not focus their attention on Bjergsen as most teams are wont to do. They repeatedly killed Jason “WildTurtle” Tran, proving that TSM’s AD carry is just as pivotal to their success as their mid lane, as WildTurtle has been excellent at providing clean up in fights.
With more and more cracks in TSM’s previously invincible armor showing throughout the weeks, it will be harder than ever for Bjergsen and crew to keep their stranglehold at the top of the mountain. Can the reigning kings of NA switch up their game and regroup in time?
Week 7 Matches to Watch
As top dogs find their lofty positions in the standings in jeopardy, certain matches in these closing weeks will be crucial in determining who will go into the playoffs holding a higher seed. Here’s what you’ll need to get hyped for in this week’s LCS:
SK Gaming vs Fnatic 
It’s time for El Clásico 2015 part 2 as the top dogs of the European LCS square off one more time. Will SK get revenge for their week 5 loss or will Fnatic continue to grow in strategic diversity and trump SK’s lanes in the mid game once more?
H2k-Gaming vs Gambit Gaming 
With both SK Gaming and Fnatic thrown off their stranglehold of dominance over the rest of the European scene, it now falls to these two teams sporting the biggest running win streaks in the league at the moment. Who will lay claim to the 3rd spot in the region?
Team Solo Mid vs Team 8 
Team 8 was the first team to hand TSM a loss all the way back in week 1. Will history repeat itself, given that TSM has also been dropping more and more games as of late? Should Andrew “Slooshi” Pham find it in himself to outplay Bjergsen once more, then another upset could be well in the works.
Team Liquid vs Team Impulse 
As the two teams to most recently vanquish TSM, expect this match to be explosive, especially with the readdition of Piglet, as well as Xian “XiaoWeiXiao” Yu’s return to his 2014 form. Also look forward to a showdown between Quas and Jung “Impact” Eon-yeong in the top lane should no lane swaps take place.
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