It's only week 2, but the NA LCS hasn't calmed down just yet. New champion picks are still being revealed, and plenty of teams who were good last season haven't proven themselves to be quite as effective as they were. The biggest trends of this weekend are below - take a look!
Jungle assassins are big
The hunting duo of Kha’Zix and Rengar have been the biggest picks in the jungle this last week. Kha’Zix was picked in just about every game this last weekend, winning 54% of the time and pulling teamfight victories out of the jaws of defeat multiple times. Meanwhile, Rengar – when he got through – was able to provide strong early pressure for his teams and ended with a 100% win rate.
Meta refinement
Week 2 of the LCS has brought stability to the professional meta. Utility ADCs like Ashe and Varus are the highest priority for teams, and Nautilus and Maokai almost monolithically dominated the toplane. Mid’s seen quite a bit of variance, but Ryze, Syndra, and Cassiopeia are still the biggest picks.
Despite this, there's still been some experimentation - most notably by Echo Fox's Looper, who brought out Swain in the toplane twice this weekend and won both games. Morgana has also made a comeback, proving her effectiveness by shutting down Nether Grasps and Grasping Roots alike.
Echo Fox heats up
After a lackluster 0-2 start to their LCS season, Echo Fox has finally gotten to their feet with a pair of dramatic victories over FlyQuest and Team Dignitas. On top of having good mechanical skill, Echo Fox has demonstrated the depth of their champion pools, bringing out Camille support for Gate and Swain top for Looper while Froggen returned to his roots as an Anivia player. It’s still too early to tell, but if Echo Fox keeps shaping up like this it may very well be their season.
Cloud 9 looks unstoppable
The former NA champs have finally returned to their Season 3 form. They put Immortals away in two games, then took down CLG in a truly epic three-game set. Their shotcalling and rotations have been absolutely on point, and certainly makes them the team-to-beat in NA. Guess they're not missing Hai much after all.
Dardoch is settling in
Immortal’s jungler was perhaps their biggest question mark going into the season, but his week 2 performance has shown him evening out. Dardoch’s Kha’Zix was crucial to IMT’s success against Team EnVyUs, and he’s looked more level-headed than in week 1.
