(courtesy of lolesports.com)
The last week of the North American LCS did not disappoint. For the most part, everything fell into place. Only one tiebreaker was needed for seeding in the promotion tournament. Now that all is in order, we decided to take a look back on the season and highlight some particularly important pieces on each team.
All photos courtesy of Riot eSports on Flickr.
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S Tier
Immortals (17-1)
Sure, it got a little sloppy near the end of the split, but the fact that they won each of these contested games is a testament to the greatness of Immortals.
Through each patch and each slight shift in the meta, Immortals persevered through it all. It’s nearly impossible to sustain the level of end-to-end dominance that IMT had during the first half of the split, but the record books do not care how squeaky clean any wins were. All that matters is the big number in the left column.
Each member of this team is a legitimate MVP candidate, and a top ten statistical contributor in some category or another. The top four KDA totals among players active in all 18 games are all in the hands of Immortals. All five members are in the top 10.
Their individual skill is unquestionable, and their cohesion as a unit is even more notable. There is no particular notable victory to editorialize on because with the exception of Counter Logic Gaming, they beat everyone twice.
TEAM MVP: Jason “Wildturtle” Tran
Runner up: Adrian “Adrian” Ma
A Tier
Counter Logic Gaming (13-5)
All Counter Logic Gaming had to do on Sunday was beat a vastly inferior opponent and watch Cloud 9 self destruct. Done and done.
Counter Logic Gaming rode their momentum to a first round bye, postponing a potential date with Immortals until perhaps the NALCS finals.
Marred by inconsistency throughout the first half of the split, CLG has come together in a big bad way. Trevor “Stixxay” Hayes has come into his own as a competitive ADC in the LCS, Darshan “Darshan” Upadhyaha lived up to his expectations as a split-pushing monster. Most unexpected, however, is the resurgence of jungler Jake “Xmithie” Puchero, who, until this split, was considered nothing more than a tanky support jungler with a shallow champion pool. After finding his groove on champions like Nidalee, Udyr, and Elise this season, however, Xmithie has put his carry pants on and been a primary playmaker for the team.
TEAM MVP: Darshan “Darshan” Upadhyaha
Runner up: Jake “Xmithie” Puchero
Cloud 9 (12-6)
Not the ending Cloud 9 was looking for. Team Liquid are no pushovers however, and they proved it by blowing out C9 when they needed a win.
Cloud 9 will be reprising their oldest and most fervent rivalry against slumping bottom seed Team SoloMid come the first round of the playoffs. On paper, this should be an easy contest for Cloud 9, but if there is anything we have learned about the dynamics of today’s NALCS, it’s that nothing is given whatsoever.
Nothing.
On the whole, the ups outweigh the downs for Cloud 9. Lee “Rush” Yoon-jae performs spectacularly on Lee Sin, and slightly above average on everything else. When he is on, though, it is a thing of beauty. Nicolaj “Jensen” Jensen has also been a standout performer. His KDA numbers are deflated due to the fact that he has the 3rd most deaths among mid laners in the LCS, but his deaths often come with multiple kills, or an excellent play set up for his team. Jensen and Zachary “Sneaky” Scuderi both sit in the top five in kills in the LCS. There are plenty of difference makers on this squad. It often comes down to An “Balls” Le and which Balls turns up on stage in any given day. Some days look like D2 Balls, some look like worlds pentakill Balls. He’s just gotta show up.
TEAM MVP: Nicolaj “Jensen” Jensen
Runner up: Lee “Rush” Yoon-jae
Team Liquid (10-8)
What a way to end the regular season.
Team Liquid has always been an emotional team. It’s different now, though. The TL that boasted names like Christian “IWDominate” Rivera and Alex “Xpecial” Chu was a more tiltable, fiery team. They were far more likely to let their frustrations creep into their gameplay. They couldn’t harness their fire and make it work for them.
This iteration of Team Liquid, however, boasts all of the same confidence and swagger of the old roster, but is much more controlled and disciplined. Matt “Matt” Elento is a steadfast leader for the squad and embodies the self-ascribed cockiness that drives TL. Joshua “Dardoch” Hartnett has shown competency on multiple different styles of jungler, securing convincing victories on champions like Graves and Nidalee, but also tanky junglers such as Rek’sai. Samuel “Lourlo” Jackson has found his groove playing tanky top laners this split, earning a 100% win rate on Nautilus and Tahm Kench. This powerful supporting cast has allowed Chae “Piglet” Gwang-jin to absolutely explode statistically.
Earning fourth place in this LCS climate is no small feat. Immortals, CLG, and Cloud 9 are no pushovers. Having proved they are the best candidates to challenge the top three, TL earned themselves the fourth seed and face a favorable matchup against NRG eSports in the first round of the playoffs. Look for them to turn their momentum into a trip to the second round.
TEAM MVP: Chae “Piglet” Gwang-jin
Runner up: Joshua “Dardoch” Hartnett
B Tier
NRG eSports (9-9)
NRG eSports can best be summarized in two simple words:
Wildly inconsistent.
They have been routinely slaughtered by the top three teams in the standings, and have split the season series with middling teams such as Echo Fox and Team Impulse. Their only particularly impressive wins have come over Team Liquid and a Team SoloMid squad that can be described only as mediocre. Fortunately for NRG, their defeat of Team SoloMid in their Week 9 clash saved them from a date with Cloud 9 in the first round. Though Team Liquid is an easier first round matchup for them, they still face a superior opponent that is riding a wave of momentum. Galen “Moon” Holgate’s performances have been hot and cold, but mostly cold. Him and suddenly bottom-tier top laner Jung “Impact” Eon-yeong need to buck up and perform up to par if they wish to advance past the first round in the playoffs.
TEAM MVP: Lee “GBM” Chang-suk
Runner up: Johnny “Altec” Ru
C Tier
Team SoloMid (9-9)
If things continue as they have, this will be the first split in LCS history that Team SoloMid isn’t in the finals.
They have 2-0’d Echo Fox and Team Impulse, but have split or outright lost every other series en route to a 9-9 record at the end of the regular season.
Nothing has fallen quite into place as expected this spring. Bora “YellOwStaR” Kim has disappointed on multiple occasions. His pairing with Yiliang “Doublelift” Peng should have set the LCS on fire. Instead, they have become a hot-cold pairing with seemingly poor chemistry. Such is the story of TSM’s whole roster. Kevin “Hauntzer” Yarnell earned a pedestrian 3.0 KDA and a sub-60% kill participation. Dennis “Svenskeren” Johnsen has amassed the third most deaths in the LCS and has earned himself a 2.4 KDA along the way.
Their loss to struggling NRG eSports shunted TSM directly in front of the Cloud 9 train. Though they secured a victory against Cloud 9 earlier this season, their momentum has completely disappeared. Their only hope is to capitalize off of C9’s frustrations after losing their regular season finale. Knowing how C9 deals with adversity, however, their loss is already long forgotten.
TEAM MVP: Soren “Bjergsen” Bjerg
Runner up: Yiliang “Doublelift” Peng
Renegades (5-13)
If LA Renegades had assembled this roster at the beginning of the split, they would have made a very serious push for the playoffs.
Consider this: In the final three weeks not including the tiebreaker, Renegades went 4-2 including a victory over Team SoloMid, bringing their final record to 5-13. Given 12 more games with this roster, you cannot tell me that they wouldn’t have secured at least four more victories, enough to tie Team SoloMid’s playoff-bound record. Based off their performances in the final three weeks, they could have walked away with contests in the first six weeks against NRG eSports, Team Dignitas, Echo Fox, and Team Impulse, not to mention potential upsets against Team SoloMid and other contenders.
Shin “Seraph” Woo-yeong has been a massively valuable piece in each LCS roster he has been a part of. The Seraph buff has not only buffed Renegades as a whole, but has buffed the individual play of its members. Alberto “Crumbz” Rengifo has looked lost all season, but with Seraph on the rift, has looked far more confident, and has been able to make a much more significant impact, often assuming a carry role, such as his 5/4/14 performance on Elise against Team Impulse.
The most tangible new addition, however, has been Noh “Ninja” Geon-woo. In his four LCS performances (not including the tiebreaker), Ninja has earned a 6.7 KDA, finally giving Renegades a presence outside of the bot lane capable of carrying a match.
If they escape the relegation tournament, watch out for Renegades in the summer of 2016.
TEAM MVP: Shin “Seraph” Woo-yeong
Runner up: Noh “Ninja” Geon-woo
Echo Fox (6-12)
At one point, Echo Fox was a trendy pick to sneak into a playoff spot. After beating approximately nobody, Echo Fox found themselves sitting at a comfortable 5-7 with three weeks to go.
Then they started playing real opponents.
After finishing the split 1-5 in the final three weeks, Echo Fox raised some real questions about their ability to slug it out with the big boys. The 1 in that left column, a victory over Team Dignitas, is not an impressive resumé piece.
Echo Fox’s midseason run was enough to guarantee them a spot in the Summer Split, but they will need to make some moves in free agency if they hope to keep up in the future. Henrik “Froggen” Hansen has secured a truly impressive kill participation figure at 89%, but when his team is averaging only 8 kills per game in the 12 games Froggen has played, that number begins to feel slightly inflated.
TEAM MVP: Henrik “Froggen” Hansen
Runner up: Anthony “Hard” Barkhovtsev
D Tier
Team Impulse (5-13)
From beginning to end, this squad just didn’t have the oomph they needed to break out in any role.
This team has found its greatest success with anyone other than Wang “Feng” Xiao Feng in the top lane. In 15 games, Feng has earned a 1.7 KDA (the lowest among players who have played a majority of games this season, 10+) and the lowest CS per minute of all top laners bar none.
Watching Team Impulse's games often leaves one feeling lost, scattered, and confused. In their victories, TIP can be decisive and dominant. In their losses, however, they look absolutely hapless. For example, jungler Kim “Proxcin” Se-young’s early game one-man Nidalee tower dive with no minions onto a Nautilus was, to say the least, a head scratcher.
TIP has one quality win under their belt – an early season domination of Cloud 9 fueled by the notorious Seraph buff. They have been swept on this season by five teams, however. Near the end of the season, this squad has looked more like we expected before the season. If they don’t step their game up, they could easily be relegated.
TEAM MVP: Brandon “Mash” Phan
Runner up: Kim “Proxcin” Se-young
F Tier
Team Dignitas (4-14)
On paper, I do not know how Team Dignitas is this bad.
Apollo “Apollo” Price and Danny “Shiphtur” Le are two middle-top tier players in their respective roles. Shiphtur, specifically, seems to perform extremely well in every game no matter how hard the rest of his team is clown fiesta-ing around him. Perhaps the best example of this is the fact that he has a 20% win rate in 5 games on Corki, but has amassed a 9.6 KDA in those five games. Even more stunning? In his last three games as Corki (all losses), Shiphtur earned a 4/0/1 line against Team Liquid, 10/2/4 against Immortals, and 4/2/8 against Echo Fox. In those games, he earned 11.1, 9.4, and 8.9 CS/minute respectively.
Shiphtur on the proper team could be a massive asset. Unfortunately, he is weighed down by Billy “Billyboss” Yu and Thomas “Kirei” Yuen, who boast 1.9 and 2.4 KDAs respectively. Billyboss seems to be unable to create any consistent map pressure, earning a 61.9% kill participation, third worst of all starting top laners.
Dignitas has shown everything we have come to know and “love” from them: poor objective control, Baron throws, an inability to translate leads to victories, and overall questionable macro play. I expect them to lose their series with Apex handily, and to be relegated. Shiphtur and Apollo would likely leave the team for smoother seas elsewhere. If this is the case, Dignitas could go the way of Winterfox and fade into obscurity.
TEAM MVP: Danny "Shiphtur" Le
Runner up: Apollo "Apollo" Price
