(courtesy of lolesports.com)
EDIT: Thanks to Brad "Blizz" Dallaire for helping out with these rankings. I forgot to include his shout out for the valuable consultation.
Where do your favorite NALCS teams stand in the pro landscape? We take an in depth look into the first week of LCS play.
Week one of the North American League Championship Series brought many of the fireworks we expected to see, along with a few surprises along the way. We take a closer look at how the NA landscape stands after one weekend of play.
S Tier
Immortals (2-0)
(courtesy of dailydot.com)
There’s no two ways about it. There’s a new bully on the block.
Immortals embarrassed what was essentially Team Impulse’s JV squad on Sunday. The shortest game in the history of the North American LCS was also one of its most dominating performances ever. More compelling, however, was their day one dismantling of Cloud 9, and the resurgence of North American mainstay Jason “WildTurtle” Tran. Posting a 21.0 KDA on the weekend, the IMT gunner ran C9 out of the gym with a noticeably more controlled aggression, posting a 11/0/4 statline in the Saturday victory. Tran and each of his teammates carried their own weight this week. Adrian “Adrian” Ma was truly immortal, suffering no deaths. Heo “Huni” Seung-hoon showed stellar flexibility with a game-changing Cho’Gath last pick against C9. Kim “Reignover” Yeu-jin found a kill in every lane and the jungle against Impulse. Eugene “Pobelter” Park applied global pressure on C9 with Twisted Fate, and direct lane pressure on TIP with Lulu.
Though it’s nearly impossible to pigeonhole a team this early into the split, Immortals is as close to a sure thing as we can find in a split marked by its unwavering parity.
A Tier
Cloud 9 (1-1)
(courtesy of esports.enquirer.net)
There is little shame in losing to a worlds-caliber roster in a season-opening game. Building camaraderie and working out kinks is no quick process. Perennial NA powerhouse Cloud 9, however, looked particularly fallible against Immortals, falling back on old habits that have been their bane in the past three splits. Huni’s left-field Cho’Gath pick exposed C9’s inability to adapt, and IMT’s global pressure exposed poor shotcalling ability without Hai “Hai” Lam.
With Hai on the rift, however, this squad is different. They’re special. His Alistar gave Echo Fox fits and silenced every single talking head that questioned his mechanical ability. Hai’s relationship with Michael “Bunny FuFuu” Kurylo is budding as mentioned in an interview after the matchup against Echo Fox. In order for Cloud 9 to succeed, Bunny FuFuu must continue to learn from Hai, and do it quickly. The trend, however, is less worrying for Cloud 9 this time around. They will succeed this split.
NRG (2-0)
(courtesy of powdar_garu, flicker.com)
Welcome to the North American LCS, GBM.
Lee “GBM” Chang-suk didn’t post gawdy statlines in his NA debut. Instead, he demonstrated a macro game that was truly stunning. NRG eSports was the direct beneficiary of his clutch Viktor play, using his Death Ray to steal two barons away from Team Dignitas en route to a tense victory, earning a week one MVP honor from LCS analysts. NRG struggled against NA’s upstart sweetheart Renegades until the 20 minute mark, after which they methodically outrotated the winners of last summer’s auto-promotion slot in the LCS. Starting support Kevin “KonKwon” Kwon posted a 10.0 KDA against REN, and a 22.0 KDA on the weekend.
Neither games were particularly pretty, but NRG showed perseverance even in the absence of starting top laner Jung “Impact” Eon-yeong and jungler Galen “Moon” Holgate. Cristian “Cris” Rosales and Lee “Shrimp” Byeong-hoon performed admirably in NRG’s first ever LCS appearance. Dignitas couldn’t find an answer for Cris, whose split pushing became a nuisance in the late game, and Shrimp was able to create pressure after an abysmal start to the match. NRG’s depth is a rare commodity, and will serve them well.
B Tier
Counter Logic Gaming (1-1)
(courtesy of thescoreesports.com)
Counter Logic Gaming may perhaps be week one’s greatest enigma.
After outperforming Team SoloMid’s stacked roster, the 2015 summer champions looked beyond lost against a streaky Dignitas lineup that is still grasping for an identity. Darshan “Darshan” Upadhyaha (formerly ZionSpartan) could not initiate an effective split push on Jax, posting the game’s lowest farm total by a solo laner. Trevor “Stixxay” Hayes was repeatedly caught out of position. CLG held a gold lead only once during the contest, up 300 briefly at the ten minute mark.
CLG is an A tier roster, but you cannot show the vulnerabilities they did against a relatively low tier team without raising questions about the capabilities of the new players on their roster, both of whom are notable downgrades from the previous split’s team.
Team Solomid (1-1)
(courtesy of dailydot.com)
Just give this team some time.
TSM was inches away from leaving week one winless. A loss to a CLG roster that has far more chemistry is inconsequential. A loss to a team like Team Liquid would have been far more concerning considering the turmoil present in the TL house. However, true champions adapt. They bend without breaking. TSM demonstrated that ability clearly on Sunday. Despite playing on the back foot against TL for the majority of the contest, TSM held farm leads across the board. Their mental fortitude was stronger than that of their opponent. That’s the stuff winners are made of.
Given a few more weeks to synergize, this TSM roster will easily jump into the “NA’s best” conversation. As it stands, however, this team has some work to do.
C Tier
Dignitas (1-1)
(courtesy of intelextrememasters.com)
History tells me not to trust Dignitas. Week one tells me not to trust Dignitas. The all-too-familiar baron curse tells me not to trust Dignitas.
A dominating performance against NA’s defending champions tells me otherwise.
Dignitas has had ample time to build chemistry. They showed promise at IEM Cologne with an encouraging performance against China’s Qiao Gu Reapers. They are severely limited by their inability to control objectives. Against NRG, Dignitas posted an equal kill total, but were only able to topple four towers to the newcomers’ eleven. Two thrown barons spelled doom for Dignitas. This team has a very low floor, and it will take a few more weeks to discover what their ceiling is. Unfortunately. this split looks as though it will bring more of the same for Dignitas.
Renegades (1-1)
(courtesy of dailydot.com)
Renegades has already built a rabid cult following in the LCS, but they certainly must show a better game sense if they want to continue to please their fans.
A victory over Team Liquid is a commodity of very ambiguous value. The banditos showed staying power and composure in an hour long marathon against TL, but were outcomped by an unquestionably more talented NRG team. They held their own until the 28 minute mark, but ultimately couldn’t sustain their pressure.
This squad needs a little more wear and tear on their armor before we can know their true potential. They have shown a high ceiling, but it’s impossible to tell where their floor is yet. Maria “Remi” Creveling proved to the world that she is anything but a one trick pony by adapting to targeted Thresh bans and showing solid intangible skill. Given time, the Renegades bot lane duo could prove to be one of the best in North America.
D Tier
Team Liquid (0-2)
(courtesy of dailydot.com)
A concerningly volatile Team Liquid needed to show up this week. They didn’t.
TL is unquestionably the most emotional team in the LCS. After dominating the regular season landscape in the summer of 2015, they suffered a crushing loss to 7th place Cloud 9 in the North American Regional Qualifier. That loss ensured yet another fourth place finish, barring them from the world tournament yet again. Tears were shed on stage and a franchise was left in a state of disarray.
Chae “Piglet” Gwang-jin was once again left in tears this weekend after posting two stellar performances that just weren’t enough to bring his team to victory. Christian “IWDominate” Rivera and Andy “Smoothie” Ta were benched in favor of two Challenger subs who, while pulling their own weight, failed to make the plays necessary to secure victory. Crushing losses against Renegades and Team SoloMid have surely left the morale of an already tiltable team at a distinctly low point. This team needs to find an identity and creating a ten-player roster may have done vastly more harm than good.
Echo Fox (1-1)
(courtesy of gaming.com.tw)
A win against this Team Impulse roster is almost like no win at all.
TIP managed to stall out Echo Fox for 36 minutes with a smart Viktor pick, but a team with high potential should have walked all over such a decimated roster. I’m not so convinced this team has that potential. Henrik “Froggen” Hansen and Yuri “Keith” Jew had solid performances in game one, but were utterly outmatched in their Sunday tilt with Cloud 9. Their objective control was non-existent, they were outfarmed in every lane, and played from a gold deficit from the third minute until their nexus fell.
Park “kfo” Jeong-hun put together two concerning performances this weekend, showing that for every highlight on the roster, there are still concerns. Echo Fox must elevate their play, or they will fall into the realm of relegation.
F Tier
Team Impulse (0-2)
(courtesy of thescoreesports.com)
Yikes.
Across the board, TIP’s players made fundamental mistakes no pro player should make. Against Immortals, Wang “Feng” Xiao Feng suffered a death between his top towers, immediately teleported back into lane, and was immediately dove and killed again. Only 36 seconds passed between the deaths. This is inexcusable.
Upon closer inspection of a lost 4v2 fight in the top lane against IMT, Kenneth “Ken” Tang’s Alistar failed to create any kind of peel for his damage dealers, landed almost no auto attacks, and moved with no purpose. The tower dive play seems to be a microcosm of what everyone expected to see from this Impulse roster: low communication, low skill, and almost certainly a relegation bid.
Even with the return of missing starters, it’s going to be an ugly split for Team Impulse.
Please comment and tell me if you agree or disagree!
