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?ALTERNATE is a team that had a rough start with few sponsors leading into Season 3. The team is a bit unique in the sense that their players have always been immensily skilled, yet weren't able to make it into the first split of the LCS. Once dubbed a team of five solo queue superstars (especially the 3000 Elo midlaner, ForellenLord), the team worked hard on improving cohesion and working as a unit.
Within the first few weeks of the summer split, ALTERNATE took the world by storm by utterly dominating the competition and going undefeated. This would shock everyone, considering predefined "staples" for the best teams in Europe had already been established. When Creaton got injured, a slippery slope downwards arrived for Team ALTERNATE, dropping them from the established top spots to almost needing to play in relegation for next split. A win over SK Gaming in super-week determined their eligibility to play in Gamescom.
What needs to be done:
It is very likely that the majority of issues ALTERNATE are having as of late are psychological. When ALTERNATE were fighting to hold the rank 1 spot for the EU LCS, there was an immense amount of pressure added on from Creaton's injury. After the team feeling themselves slip following the return of Creaton, it wouldn't be surprising if anxiety and nerves struck the team. The team could really use some stress-relieving bonding time to alleviate the stress of going in the most important matches of their careers.
With that said, there's always gameplay changes that a team can take. With ALTERNATE, it was apparent that last week, innovation wasn't working all too well for the team. In several games during super-week, the team were trying to force Vi and Karma in their compositions. While they may have done well in scrims with it, it was proving disasterous for their performance in the LCS.
However, their game that got them into Gamescom against SK Gaming showed them wielding a more standard composition and taking a pretty decisive victory. Team ALTERNATE needs to explore their roots of what made them a strong team and look into utilizing their Chinese-centric shoving-and-roaming compositions. Aside from a few smite fails, ALTERNATE has always had strength when it comes to jungle fights and has found success picking champions that specialize in just that.
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?Evil Geniuses celebrates being a successful static team of 5 for possibly the longest time in LoL history. With the recent acquisition of subs, the team can keep their primary members while utilizing others if necessary or for various occasions. Last Summer, Evil Geniuses (as Counter Logic Gaming EU) nearly made history by almost 3-0ing Azubu Frost for the OGN Summer Championships before slipping up the final 3 games.
Still, Evil Geniuses and Gambit Gaming were the unprecedented contenders for top teams outside of Korea for all of Season 2. However, a metagame shift would stop EG's infamous turtling strategy from working, and Snoopeh would find trouble adjusting to the ideal playstyle of Season 3 jungling. Evil Geniuses slipped hard during the middle of the summer split of the LCS, but steadily found themselves climbing back up once acquiring substitutes as well as nRated as an analyst. Evil Geniuses had a fantastic super week and now will fight for a spot at the World Championships.
What needs to be done:
Like ALTERNATE, Evil Geniuses' succes will be found through comfort and specialization. While the team may once have relied on Froggen's Legendary farming and stalling skills to carry the team on his back, their success has largely shifted away from that. While Yellowpete and Krepo have improved substantially as a bottom lane, the focus isn't there either -- it's in top lane and Snoopeh's interraction with top lane.
When Wickd gets ahead, things get scary for the other team. However, he also acts as a huge deficit if he gets camped or dove, which leaves Yellowpete in a situation where he usually has to be very self sufficient with a very poor tank and peeler. Wickd has recently found success in Aatrox in super week. This could very possibly root from his love and comfort of carrying on a melee bruiser.
Irelia may have been nerfed rather hard, but Riot has been tweaking other melee carries in their potency. Before Irelia, Wickd was a very popular, avid Master Yi player, a character where being revitalized may be an understatement. Snoopeh really needs to focus on camping top lane with hard-CC champions to get Wickd ahead on his comfort bruiser picks. If anyone knows the limitations of melee damage dealers outside of Korea, it's Wickd and his confidence to carry and utilize his lead on a very damage-centric fighter.
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Fnatic is a team that needs little introduction to eSports as a whole, but definitely is no stranger in League of Legends. Fnatic was the team that won the very first season of Competitive League of Legends, becoming the first global champions of the game. Though Fnatic didn't perform so hot in the midst of Season 2, they've become revitalized in Season 3, now playing for a chance to play in the World Championships once again.
Fnatic has made a name for themselves by not only having incredible skill, but having an extraordinary entertainment value. Spanning from the glorious "xPeke" backdoor at IEM Katowice to the constant strange and unexpected champion pool that sOAZ is capable of pulling out, the team is full of personality, putting it to good use to close out important games.
What needs to be done:
?Fnatic is a team that actually thrives from being different from the pack. Not only is it more entertaining for the audience, but Fnatic seems very comfortable with a playstyle and roster of strange champion choices. xPeke is responsibile for keeping burst AP champions alive, utilizing it better than almost any other AP mid within his region. Picking high CC, bursty champions like Kassadin have been the sole reason for winning many games in Fnatic's successful Season 3.
Aside from boasting one of the strongest mid-laners in the world, sOAZ also champions an excellent repertoire of top lane champions, even greater than those of others. sOAZ needs to embrace his strength on picks that his foes will not expect, such as Blitzcrank top or his successful top Nasus pick against Evil Geniuses last weekend. Allowing sOAZ to do his own thing is going to be a major key to success.
Fnatic should avoid teamfights early and work on achieving favorable skirmishes with matchups that allow xPeke to roam from the midlane and assist bottom or top lane. Yellowstar has been improving quickly in his ability to support, giving him a great opportunity to follow up on xPeke's ganks. Yellowstar needs to step up his warding and vision control of the map so that xPeke and sOAZ are able to utilize their strong surprise attacks against the winner of ALTERNATE vs. Evil Geniuses.
Gambit Gaming has always been one of the powerhouses of the European scene. From their spectacular run during Season Two as Moscow Five, they have consistently been at the top of the standings. With constant innovation and absolute aggression, the (now mostly) Russian squad never fails to surprise and impress audiences across the globe.
That is, of course, until the Season Three Summer Split came along. While there were some games that look like their usual selves, rooting for Gambit Gaming has become something akin to their namesake: A Gambit. There are games where they would just crush opponents, and then there are some where they would just get crushed. This is apparent when faced against some of the newer teams, like Lemondogs and Ninjas in Pyjamas, the former more so when they wrecked the Spring Runner-ups in a game that lasted just around 20 minutes, with GMB using their famous picks to add insult to injury.
What needs to be done:
Most of Gambit Gaming's success has been through teamfights. Not just any teamfights though, they strive on chaotic, extended engages. It has been said about Gambit that "give them a finger, and they'll take the whole arm," and that still remains true. The question now is whether or not they get the chance to pull a limb off. While they keep on introducing new and interesting champion picks, two members need to remain consistently strong if they want to win: Darien and Alex Ich.
Darien has always been considered the wild card of Gambit Gaming. Sometimes he dominates, sometimes he feeds, but whatever the situation may be, he almost always manages to become this frontline monster. With 2v1 lane swaps and more aggressive top laner this season, he seems to have struggled harder in keeping up in levels and items. Diamondprox needs to help him a little bit more than usual, just until he could get going and become that supertank that they love, allowing the rest to build raw power.
Alex Ich is famous for his deep champion pool, particularly his assassins, with his strong mechanics backing it up. Now more than ever, he needs to carry harder, as Genja is starting to become more aggressive and closer to the team, leaving the free farm to Alex Ich. Unfortunately, this sometimes leads to him being caught out, and a lot of defeats from Gambit come from this key weakness. So vision and better rotation are a must from them.
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Ninjas in Pyjamas is one of the most interesting teams to watch in the EU LCS. With so many roster changes, it is a miracle they managed to keep on winning games. The old Copenhagen Wolves lineup from last split is nearly gone, with Deficio and Bjergsen remaining. Though the big roster change early on this split has been controversial, they have silenced the critics by getting a playoff spot.
The beginning of this split looked like history was repeating itself of the Ninjas in Pyjamas, experiencing one loss after another in the first few weeks. After the 3-man roster change, they started winning once more, and it looked like they are on a steady course to victory. Another change in the top lane halted their momentum somewhat, but those clutch victories during superweek gave them a bit of reprieve.
What needs to be done:
Ninjas in Pyjamas loves to move around the whole map. In fact, it could be seen as something of a combination between Fnatic and Gambit, in terms of messy teamfights with a dash of splitpushing on the side. They need to work on this more, as straight-up teamfighting does not seem to be their strong point. Improving vision control would help a lot for their playstyle.
It is without a doubt that Bjergsen has been the one who has been carrying the team on his back, especially with his Zed and Fizz. His Karthus and Orianna however, are something left to be desired. It is certain that his comfort assassins would be banned or counterpicked, so he better has something up his sleeve.
That said, Bjergsen's teammates really need to step it up, particularly Mimer. Extinkt's champion variety and aggressiveness allowed Bjergsen to have an easier job carrying the game. Mimer, while having a strong Shen, needs to do that little extra push to the next level, as Ninjas in Pyjamas does not want to put all its eggs in one basket.
?Lemondogs is definitely the breakout team of the split, maybe even the season. They had a rather so-so qualifier matchup against aAa, so it was quite understandable that no one would see them as a big threat. Add to that an unfavorable standing during the first weeks of the split, a lot of people seem to have counted them out.
Then Mithy arrived. This support upstart was all the change Lemondogs needed, as he also took up the role of shotcaller and started rolling over everybody, even the big guns of the European scene. With a more aggressive and coordinated playstyle, as well as a much-improved drafting phase, they have already secured themselves a slot for Season Four, and now with a huge opportunity to go to Worlds.
What needs to be done:
With so much success, it is easy for a team to get complacent. This is especially true for the Lemondogs, as its rise to the top was sudden and overwhelming. Confidence is always good... up to a certain point. As long as they keep a level head and stay consistent with their plays, the guys from this rookies need not to worry a thing.
Another thing out of game that might be worrying for the Lemondogs is nerves. As the stakes get higher and higher, the pressure gets heavier and heavier. The playoffs in particular multiply this fact, as it is being held in Gamescom, in front of a huge crowd. It may not look like it, but being able to block out any external distractions is vital for success in major tournaments.
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-Written by Drexxin and moveslikejuaber