Worlds 2017: The Top 10 Games

Doublelift’s Flash. Fervor Leona. Five-minute Paranoia. Ruler’s chains. Faker’s tears. 

These are the indelible moments of Worlds 2017, the images we’ll remember as the tournament fades further in the rear-view mirror. The momentary misposition that torpedoes a lead. The gamble that pays off. The joy of well-earned success, and the pain of ruing what could have been.

This was the first Worlds I covered as a writer. It won’t be my last. I’m a relative newcomer to the professional scene, with initial doubts as to whether a game as esoteric as League of Legends could deliver the thrills of traditional sports. Would watching Team SoloMid make it out of groups feel the same as Landon Donovan catapulting the US Men’s National Team into the knockout stage of World Cup 2010? Would an Ace feel like a touchdown? Would a Triple Kill have the same impact as a slam dunk?

I shouldn’t have worried. Watching Gigabyte Marines nearly upset Longzhu Gaming in Week 2 of groups, living and dying with every late game team fight, praying that the underdog Vietnamese side could do the unthinkable, barely able to follow the action through my shaking fingers, I had my answer. Only sport can make you feel this way.

Before we fully turn our attention to Runes Reforged and Season 8—not to mention Free Agency and NA LCS franchising—let’s take a moment to reflect on the culmination of Season 7 with the ten best games at Worlds 2017.

Play-In Honorable Mentions

Young Generation vs Fnatic – Game 2

Cloud9 vs. Lyon Gaming – Game 2

For many, Riot’s experiment with the Worlds Play-In Stage—a change from the separate Wildcard tournament—was a waste of time. The games were low quality and noncompetitive, they said. And who knew any of the players, or the regions they came from?

I wasn’t one of these people. True, there were at times significant gaps in power level (still looking at you, Rampage). Concepts like wave control or clean objective secures often felt unrefined. The major region seeds faced little adversity, with three out of four easily qualifying for the main event. Luck seemed to play an outsized role, with 1907 Fenerbahçe’s run more a function of their draw and less as a result of being the best emerging region team.

But if Riot’s goal is to grow the minor regions through fan attention, branding the Wildcard tournament with the Worlds moniker was the correct choice. Audiences that rarely get to see these leagues received a brief glimpse of their stars and meta. The GPL, CBLOL, LAN and TCL (to name a few) got to show their quality against the best, maybe attracting a few new eyeballs to their domestic play in 2018. And everyone who participated got to say they played at Worlds, which helps better differentiate teams and players for exposure/salary considerations going forward.

These honorable mention games best embody the spirit of the play-ins, with two underdog teams from emerging regions giving everything they had against superior competition. Two thrilling clashes demonstrated that, while the gap between Korea and the Rest of the World might not be closing as fast as we’d like, certain minor regions aren’t far from major status.

Cloud9 waltzed through the play-ins undefeated, but got much more than they bargained for against a Lyon Gaming side anyone would have enjoyed watching at the main event. Young Generation’s upset of future quarterfinalists Fnatic was a sign to any and all that Vietnam is prepared to make international noise for years to come. It wouldn’t be the last time Fnatic lost to a VCSA team at Worlds 2017.

The Real List

10. 1907 Fenerbahçe Espor vs. Samsung Galaxy – Game 1

Maybe the gap between the Rest of the World and Korea is closing…

1907 Fenerbahçe didn’t win a game at the main event. They looked helpless against Royal Never Give Up, and couldn’t beat G2 Esports in a meaningless game with Perkz on Yasuo. But Samsung Galaxy, the eventual champions, were caught underestimating their wildcard opponents in Week 1 of group play. A loss here could have ended their title run before it began.

SSG farmed a solid three thousand gold lead off the back of Haru’s early game aggression on Ezreal. But Frozen, who had spent all of Season 6 as a Longzhu player, wasn’t going to let his former organization off easy. Buoyed by a late game composition headlined by Crash’s Sejuani, Frozen unleashed the only Ekko of Worlds 2017, hoping to recapture the magic conjured against Hong Kong Attitude in the play-ins.

1907 Fenerbahçe found themselves up over six thousand gold after 45 minutes, but never could break the SSG base when they had complete map control. It came down to a 5v5 around the Baron pit, and I’ll just leave this here:

Trigger Warning for Cloud9 fans who still suffer Zhoyna’s PTSD after Spring Finals: Be advised that the end of this match contains upsetting content.

9. Immortals vs Fnatic – Game 1

Rest in Peace, Immortals. That phrase will never make sense, or feel right.

Immortals’ first and last run at Worlds 2017 will be remembered by most for Cody Sun’s betrayal of Xmithie in Week 2 against Fnatic. Not me. Like a mourner at a wake, I choose to celebrate the good times, not pile on the bad.

Immortals 2-1 Week 1 was highlighted by their marathon win over Fnatic, a game both teams threw at least once. North America’s second seed had clearly watched a lot of Longzhu games while bootcamping in Korea, relying on Flame’s are-you-Khan-in-disguise Jayce top to carry via split push. With Xmithie devoted to solo lane vertical jungling, Cody Sun and Olleh were left to fend for themselves, never a good option against Rekkles and Jesiz.

Barons were traded, including the best Realm Warp Baron secure of the tournament. Team fights were won, then lost, then won again. But if you show me a Twitch in Act I, he’d better go off by Act III. Rekkles knew the script, but Pobelter’s crucial Zhonya’s down the stretch was a twist he didn’t expect. Fnatic would have better days in China, but this is as good as it got for Immortals.

8. Royal Never Give Up vs Samsung Galaxy – Game 1

Ever since Season 3, Korean teams have been a monolith in competitive League of Legends. Their coordination, discipline, control, and synergy have so often prevailed that betting against them is usually a fool’s errand.

But no one told Royal Never Give Up that they were supposed to lose. The only all-Chinese team at China’s world championship, Royal went 2-for-2 against Samsung Galaxy in Group C play, the only team to defeat Samsung more than once. They dazzled the home fans with high-tempo team fighting comps designed to exploit the super-human talents of Uzi, one of the best AD carries in the world.

The composition RNG drafted this game (Galio/Jarvan IV/Syndra/Tristana/Janna) should've never happened on 7.18. There’s just too much engage, tankiness, sustain, and burst damage for SSG to have any chance. RNG’s global presence and crucial game-long defense of their mid outer turret kept Samsung from gaining a vision foothold on the map, and once the Galio/J4/Syndra wombo found Ruler’s Twitch late, it was all over. An incredibly well played game by the class of China.

7. SK Telecom T1 v Royal Never Give Up – Game 5

Most neutrals (and tournament organizers) were crossing their fingers for a Korea/China final at the Bird’s Nest. Instead, they had to settle for two semifinals…and that wasn’t so bad.

The five-game heavyweight bout between SK Telecom T1 and Royal Never Give Up had the feel of a final (Caster Jun helps), with two storied organizations jockeying for a flight to Bejing. Propelled by an ecstatic Shanghai crowd, RNG seemed to have SKT’s number, going up 2-1 after three games.

But the three-time defending champions would not be denied, culminating in Faker’s fifth straight carry-Galio game. MLXG needed to be far more aggressive on Lee Sin to justify the pick; the blind bruiser doesn’t scale well from behind, and he was behind all game. When SKT banned Leona and Nocturne in phase two, you knew they had RNG out-drafted. It’s a shame Silver Scrapes didn't herald a more energetic game, but finale of a series this competitive deserved a spot here. Flawed as SKT were at Worlds 2017, it was still a feat to beat RNG in a Game 5 on the road.

6. Gigabyte Marines vs Longzhu Gaming – Game 2

In any contest, regardless of sport or competition, fans tend to root for the underdog. They’re eager to be surprised, to be inspired by an unlikely result that proves anything is possible, odds be damned. An underdog's victory is a vicarious win for everyone who ever hoped for something better.

But part of the reason underdogs resonate so deeply is because they’re exceptional in the etymological sense; they’re exceptions to the rule. Usually, the favored side wins as expected. Sometimes David beats Goliath and everyone celebrates, but more often than not, Goliath kills David after David after David. 

I have never, in years of watching professional esports, wanted an underdog to win as badly as I wanted Gigabyte Marines to beat Longzhu Gaming. It was already an enticing matchup; the best minor region team pitted against the best major region team. Then, in a roll of all the dice, GAM picked Rengar and Ziliean! Are you kidding me? As Dash rightly said, “How can you not fall in love with this team?”

At one point, Marines were up over ten thousand gold and two inhibitors to the good. They were in the Longzhu base. Levi and Noway had ascended to godhood. They’d basically won…and then one lost team fight changed everything. Pray, in his best game of the tournament, brought Longzhu back from the brink in fight after careful fight. Slowly, the dream bled out. I’ll never forget this game.

5. Samsung Galaxy vs Longzhu Gaming – Game 1

Samsung Galaxy’s inability to defeat Royal Never Give Up in group play earned them the second seed in Group C and a date with LCK Summer Split champions Longzhu Gaming. It was supposed to be a one-sided affair, with Longzhu quickly showing an overly-patient SSG the door.

Instead, Samsung swept Longzhu out of Worlds, setting the tone in Game 1 with a masterclass from Ambition. The veteran jungler looked nothing like the passive non-factor from group play, attacking lanes early and often as Sejuani, making the Longzhu solo-laners very uncomfortable. CuVee stifled Khan topside, countering his trademark Jax with a pocket Kennen pick, and Crown overcame BDD after a rocky start in lane, exposing the LCK Summer Split MVP for the youngster he was. Once Crown’s Malzahar escaped the early game, his roaming Nether Grasp threat prevented Khan from splitting, effectively pinning the 1v1 impresario to his team.

Longzhu never righted the ship, finally finding a stage too big for their rising stars, and Samsung emerged as new favorites for the title.

 4. Team SoloMid v Flash Wolves – Game 1

If the play-ins weren’t proof enough that great games can come from mediocre teams, I give you Team SoloMid versus Flash Wolves. It was an instant classic that ultimately had no impact on the rest of the tournament, a battle of two statistically awful sides that dramatically underachieved on the world stage.

Resuming their feud from MSI 2017, TSM and Flash Wolves each came to Worlds baring their respective region’s top seed, then proceeded to shame their fans. TSM would fail to advance from the easiest Worlds group draw they’d ever received, and Flash Wolves ended their tournament 1-5 (beating only TSM, of course).

This game was lone consolation their fanbases got: A 50-minute street fight that left Doublelift shaking once the nexus had fallen. Brother Svenskeren returned to TSM at the worst possible time, yet even with a feeding jungler and two inhibitors down, Flash Wolves couldn’t close the deal.

For all the accolades Maple and Karsa have garnered over the years, to let this game (and four others) slip away was unconscionable. This loss marked a tournament low point for the LMS, and, when combined with the region’s overall subpar performance, made me question their major region status. I’m sure I’m not alone.

3. Misfits Gaming v SK Telecom T1 – Game 3

Misfits Gaming took SK Telecom T1 the distance in a five-game series that will go down as the best of Worlds 2017, and maybe one of the best series ever.

Unheralded and overlooked for most of the tournament, Misfits emerged from Group D after eliminating Team SoloMid in a tiebreaker for second place. They were then immediately predicted to be swept in the quarterfinals once SKT were drawn as their opponent.

That…didn’t happen, to say the least.

Utilizing creative drafting strategies that SKT would later shamelessly emulate (Yasuo top, Karma mid, Blitzcrank, Fervor Leona), Misfits surprised the Korean giants and took Guangzhou by storm. IgNar’s Level 1 Leona play in this game is the stuff of legends; I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s in SKT colors come Spring Split. Hans sama took advantage of his support’s aggression, steamrolling SKT’s turrets at a clip the defending champs couldn’t match. Oh, and keep an eye on Maxlore, because Blank didn’t.

Game 3 was a performance for the ages, earning Misfits a 2-1 series lead and two shots at match point. But Faker wouldn’t let his team fail, carrying SKT into the semifinals and breaking neutral hearts. Still, Misfits’ unprecedented success remains the clearest sign that the gap might be closing. Please let it be closing.

2. SK Telecom T1 vs Samsung Galaxy – Game 3

The game that brought down a dynasty and crowned a new ruler through collective ambition. Samsung Galaxy completed their second sweep of a Korean team in a heart-pounding Game 3, avenging their loss to SK Telecom T1 in the Worlds 2016 finals.

I’ve already written about this series, the mistakes made by SKT and the heroics from Ruler and Ambition that catapulted Samsung across the finish line. Zirene has an excellent Breakdown that brilliantly encapsulates how close the final fight was. Everyone, go watch it. You won’t believe how likely a Game 4 was, and maybe the beginning of a reverse sweep.

I’m not sure what’s in store for either of these teams come 2018. There’s wide speculation that SKT will drop everyone but Faker and rebuild around God (not the worst idea), freeing several world-class players to be overpaid in North America. Ambition has reached the mountaintop; now 25 and married, it might be time step away.

But one thing is certain: With performances like Game 3, Samsung left no doubt—the best team in the world won Worlds 2017.

1. Gigabyte Marines vs. Fnatic – Game 1

As a new writer for a game few people in my life understand, I’ve recently found myself explaining what’s so great about League of Legends. Why do I spend my time breaking down a computer game? Why do so many people around the world love it with a passion usually reserved for “real” sports teams? How is there a viable professional ecosystem around something so niche, so nerdy?

In response, I tell them about this game, a Group B match between Gigabyte Marines and Fnatic. I rhapsodize about the gutty Vietnamese team that doesn’t give a damn about a global meta or your expectations. A team that is so utterly themselves that even if other orgs tried to emulate them, they’d never get the balance right. A team that understands who they are, what they can do, and how best to achieve victory within those narrow parameters. It doesn’t matter if you’re the Kings of Europe or the LCK champions; Gigabyte Marines are coming for you.

I cover this sport because of games like this, the ones that transcend the medium and have you screaming like a small child. If you’ve never seen this game, I envy what you’re about to experience. No one, certainly not Fnatic, saw this particular gameplan coming. Just know that, despite the ensuing chaos which unfolds across Summoner's Rift, everything GAM does in this match is calculated and practiced. Such a strategy can only work once, but when it does, get the popcorn, sit back, and enjoy.

Final NA LCS Summer Split Power Rankings (Week 9)

The 2017 North American LCS Summer Split has come to a close. Did we all enjoy ourselves?

Team SoloMid earned the top playoff seed with a thrilling Classico sweep of Counter Logic Gaming, but their hegemony over NA LCS has never been more in doubt. Immortals and Cloud 9 looked to be in peak form entering postseason play, with Team Dignitas and CLG only a half-step behind. Book your flights to Boston soon, because whatever combination of four teams makes the trip, expect nothing short of fireworks.

The League of Legends meta is more diverse than any time in recent memory. Ardent Censer has brought shielding supports back from the dead to compete with their playmaking brethren. Perma-bans in the jungle and bot lane have opened power picks in the mid lane. Lethality is back, and Jhin came with it. Jarvan IV, Maokai, Cho’Gath and Gragas can flexed top or jungle with equal effectiveness. It’s a boom time for pocket strategies and matchup-specific drafts. Playoffs can’t come soon enough.

Week 9 was mostly chalk, but a little mystery remained with two teams battling for Regionals or relegation. FlyQuest and Phoenix 1 both nursed Worlds ambitions, but only one team will have a chance to make good on them. It has to be the club with Spring’s MVP, right?  

Read on and find out…but if you don’t like waiting, may I suggest speeding up with a Righteous Glory? Charge in and enjoy my final NA LCS Power Rankings of 2017.

Sweeps of Phoenix 1 and Counter Logic Gaming confirmed what we already knew: Team SoloMid remains the class of NA LCS and the elite of a now-crowded upper crust. A perfect weekend that ended with a Classico statement secured TSM a playoff bye and semifinal match against the lowest remaining seed. Nothing less was deserved.

Amid the many accurate superlatives you could use to describe TSM, “consistent” stands out. Of their 14 Summer Split wins, 11 of them (79%) were 2-0 sweeps. TSM complied a 16-1 game record against, and never lost a match to, non-playoff teams. Only Team Dignitas had a winning game record over TSM this split (4-1), and both times Dig caught them experimenting with a new patch. TSM swept every other playoff team at least once.

Perhaps no TSM player embodies consistency better than Bjergsen, a rock in mid lane that has girded the team for years. If Doublelift is the pointy end of the TSM stick, Bjergsen is the hand that holds the spear. He rarely gets outplayed in the laning stage, and is the only NA mid laner to not feed First Blood all Split (excluding Mickey, who’s been here a week). With OP champions in the jungle and bot lane soaking up bans, it’s rarely been easier for mid laners to select a comfort champion, and Bjergsen has taken full advantage. Syndra, Talyiah and Cassiopeia make up 59% of his games this Split, 24 total in which he’s 21-3. Giving the best player in the league his preferred champions proved to be a winning strategy. Who knew?

The best team in NA now has two weeks to prepare for their semifinal match against Dignitas, Cloud 9, or—in the unlikely event CLG loses in the Quarterfinals—Team EnVyUs. Hopefully the new patch jitters can be worked out off-stage this time.

Team SoloMid may have secured the top playoff seed, but no team in North America entered the postseason hotter than Immortals. Noah’s Boys are cooking with gas, incinerating Team EnVyUs and Echo Fox in matches that were never competitive. At the 20-minute mark, Immortals enjoyed leads of 4.6k, 4.7k, 9.1k, and in Game 1 against Envy, 12.2k. Their playoff bye was well earned, ensuring—at minimum—40 Championship Points, enough to qualify for Regionals.

Of course, if Immortals keep playing at this level, they might win the whole thing in Boston and forgo Regionals entirely. Fast or slow, bloody or conservative, Immortals win using any style. Flame’s individual outplay of Seraph will top the highlight reels, but his team has become more than the sum of its excellent parts.

At the center of this rebound from Spring Split’s disappointing mid-table finish is Xmithie, whose reunion with Pobelter has dramatically improved the fortunes of both. His powers were never more on display than in Game 1 versus Envy, where he correctly predicted Lira’s blue steal, triggering a team fight that would essentially decide the game. Olleh is making an MVP case from the support position, Flame is dynamite top and Cody Sun has proved the difference in fights time and again, but it's Xmithie’s cool-headed shotcalling and leadership that has Immortals on the front foot.

A CLG win in the quarterfinals would set up an IMT/CLG semi, resuming a heated season series Immortals lead 2-0, 4-1. They've given no indication that the result will change in the slightest. 

27-2-22.

That was Jensen’s stat line over the weekend. Call him a KDA player if you must, but before you do, please watch the actual games. Observe his laning dominance, his understanding of what position best avoids the enemy jungler. Marvel at the farm leads, the careful roaming, the application of damage at the right time, enough to get the job done but never quite top the chart. It isn’t KDA padding if you’re better than everyone else.

Cloud 9 steamrolled their way into playoffs against Team EnVyUs and Echo Fox, deciding the latter series in record time (49:36). Game 2 saw Echo Fox lost their top inhibitor in 17 minutes. At 21:32 the game was over, the quickest defeat of 2017 (in North America) and a fitting end to a six-game stretch by Cloud 9 that featured one-sided wins against each of the bottom five teams. Whatever sickness befell C9 around Rift Rivals has passed; this team is exacting, decisive, and lethal.

Lost in Jensen’s brilliance and Olleh’s excellence in the support role is Smoothie. After a mostly anonymous first half of the Split, Smoothie’s found new life on dynamic engage supports like Taric, Alistar and Blitzcrank. He’s undefeated on Taric, a champion we should be seeing much more of across the world due to a kit that combines tankiness, playmaking, Ardent Censer heals, and Righteous Glory charges like none other. No more Braum or Thresh, give the guy Fabio and watch him clean up. If anything, Smoothie needs the practice after a few mistimed Cosmic Radiances against Envy.

Cloud 9 face Team Dignitas in the Quarterfinals. More stellar play will earn them a Semifinal date with TSM (assuming, as we all do, that CLG will beat Envy).

Losing the Classico is a rotten way to enter playoffs, but Counter Logic Gaming shouldn’t let that subpar showing muddy what was a solid Summer Split. CLG were close, but a sloppy Game 2 was decided by TSM clutching out a hectic 5v5 during an Elder push. A win over Team Dignitas was more than I expected of CLG, earning them a favorable matchup with Team EnVyUs in the Quarterfinals. Perhaps just as importantly, CLG will now avoid TSM until a potential Finals match. 

All eyes were on OmarGod over the weekend, wondering how the rookie would fare during a pair of high-pressure matches. Apart from a few missed casks, Omar acquitted himself well, standing tall in team fights and ganking effectively. The Sejuani draft in Game 1 against TSM was questionable, but the fault in Omar’s lackluster performances lies more with CLG than the player. Debuting his Sejuani with Gragas available probably wasn’t the way to calm Omar’s nerves. While the champion has made noticeable waves in soloqueue, Sejuani hasn’t had the same impact in NA LCS, posting a poor 1-6 record when picked to jungle.

Alistar has brought his cowbell to NA LCS, and no other support has looked better on the champion that Aphromoo. He’s only logged a pair of Alistar games this Split (both Week 9 appearances), but the cow fits Aphro’s aggressive style perfectly. The contrast between his Karma and Alistar games against Dignitas was night and day. Losing Game 2 against TSM after landing several multi-player knockups was borderline criminal. Expect to see more 'Moo play against Envy next weekend.

For the second week in a row, Team Dignitas decided to throw a game with blatant on-stage experimentation. Last week it was Karthus mid; this week we saw Ssumday lock in the recently-buffed Nasus against CLG in a series that could have earned Dig third place. Instead, Dignitas were punished in three games and now face red-hot Cloud 9 in the Quarterfinals.

Dignitas have built their late-season revival on aggressive objective takes, winning through bot lane and using drakes plus an early Baron to decide games in one power play. So it was odd to see them return to the steady late game split push that proved ineffective for most of the season. Ssumday failed to influence any meaningful fight across the CLG series, relying on Altec to carry them forward. A masterful Tristana showing forced Game 3, but placing Adrian on the unfamiliar Taric instead of Thresh was a mistake despite an unfavorable Alistar matchup.

The Liquid series was never close despite some exciting picks. Dignitas were heavily counter picked in Game 2 after drafting Blitzcrank and Elise. In response, Piglet brought the mobile Vayne—his favorite champion—onstage, and Dardoch grabbed Lee Sin, escaping the tank meta for one game. Credit Keane for his predictive roaming and damage output on Taliyah—a  champion that has rocketed up the pick/ban list across the league in recent weeks—for holding off a spicy Liquid squad eager to give their fans something to cheer for.

If the Dignitas that gave TSM the business twice this Split shows up against Cloud 9, then we have a series. Otherwise, C9 will take full advantage of Dig’s propensity to throw games during the draft and advance out of the Quarterfinals.

Take a moment and consider where Team EnVyUs were this time last Split. 3-15, 14-31 and facing a promotion tournament they would barely escape, Envy didn’t appear to belong in North America’s top flight. The mid lane was a mess, bot lane couldn’t transition early advantages into mid game objectives, and Lira lacked the omnipresence to put out every fire (yet still made 1st NA LCS All-Pro Team). Now look at Envy; +5 match wins, +7 game wins, and qualified for playoffs. What a difference a split can make. Just ask Immortals (or Phoenix 1).

It’s easy to criticize Envy’s horrid last two weeks, but don’t forget how far this team has come. Making playoffs is a commendable accomplishment, and everyone in the organization should be proud of what they've achieved. Apollo and Hakuho have flourished, Nisqy has held his own against some of the best mids in the world, and Lira continues to impress.

However, if the last two weeks are any indication, Envy’s playoff run will end in the Quarterfinals. Weeks 8 and 9 have shown that, while capable of handling inferior opposition, Envy are outclassed by the upper echelon of NA LCS. CLG will enter the postseason knowing exactly how to destabilize them: Early emphasis on harassing Lira and a superior top lane matchup Envy can’t do much to rectify.

Speaking of top lane, if Envy have any chance against CLG, Seraph will need to regain some semblance of competence in the top lane. He was a wretched 2-25-10 across Week 9 (0.48 KDA), failing to effectively frontline and was repeatedly solo killed by Impact. In the mid lane, Nisqy came down with “Froggen-itis” by posting excellent numbers yet failing to turn them into objectives or meaningful kills.

It’s true: Envy backed into playoffs, but making playoffs at all was the goal. They’ve got the talent to make CLG sweat, but lack the cohesion to give a synergistic group of veterans much trouble.

FlyQuest kept their dreams of Worlds alive with a 2-0 weekend over Phoenix 1 and Team Liquid, relegating both in the process. A 7th-place finish allows FlyQuest to keep their 30 Championship Points, likely enough to secure a spot a Regionals.

It was fortuitous that FlyQuest faced, in their year-defining weekend, two out of the four teams they had previously beaten. The Liquid series saw LemonNation unveil a clever pocket strat: Stoneborn Pact on Morgana support. It was a stroke of genius, allowing FlyQuest to proc Ardent Censer heals from hitting enemies bound by Morgana’s Dark Binding. Morgana has no healing in her kit, only a Black Shield to take advantage of Ardent Censer’s bonus shielding. With a single keystone mastery change (Thunderlord’s Decree or Windspeaker’s Blessing are the usual suspects), Lemon increased the efficiency of his build and gave his team extra sustain in fights. Bravo.

FlyQuest drafted the same composition in their two wins, both designed to jump on Piglet before Liquid had a chance to protect him. Lourlo countered with a Nautilus top that, in combination with Matt’s Blitzcrank/Thresh, aimed to lock down WildTurtle. The series boiled down to which team could kill the other’s ADC first in a late team fight, and once Hai caught out Piglet alone with a heroic Package Valkyrie deep into Game 3, FlyQuest sent Liquid down.

Hai and Moon were magnificent in tandem during the P1 series, owning Game 1 with an early snowball that never stopped rolling, and stalling out Game 2 long enough for Turtle to carry them forward. Balls finished with a game-high six kills on his Gnar, helping FlyQuest secure a crucial Baron to complete the comeback and end P1’s postseason hopes.

No playoffs for FlyQuest this split, but I’ll bet we haven’t seen the last of them or their unique ideas in 2017. Keep updating that notebook, Lemon.

It wouldn’t be a Disney property without Mickey. Team Liquid’s latest Korean import made his NA LCS debut to little fanfare, apart from Steve himself appearing on Riot’s air to justify his personnel moves.

Mickey posted decent numbers in the mid lane (4.0 KDA, 9.8 CSM, +2.8 CSD@15) and looked useful on Orianna, but the Ekko against Team Dignitas was a bit optimistic. Still, Mickey’s appearance did little to prevent Liquid’s inevitable relegation. It was a signing best viewed with an eye towards the future. Steve continues to throw gobs of money at foreign talent in an attempt to buy Liquid back into prominence, but this is now the second split in a row Liquid have finished bottom two. Is money the savior they need?

Liquid, as it's currently formed, actually does a few things well. Piglet has been as solid and ADC as you can expect, especially when he gets to bring out old favorites like Vayne. Matt’s hooks and roams during the FlyQuest series woke up echoes of Olleh’s best, a testament to his continued improvement. Lourlo has his moments in the top lane, game to adopt whatever strategy the team draws up (he’s played 16 different champions this Split).

But in a league that emphasizes mid-jungle synergy, it’s Liquid’s misfortune that those two positions have seen the most turnover week to week. Mickey’s addition forced both Goldenglue and Reignover to the bench, by far the best-looking combination of the many Liquid tried. Inori and Slooshi had their shots and were found wanting. Dardoch returned to his old team willing to champion tanks if necessary, but watching him dash around on Lee Sin makes you wonder if Liquid should eschew meta entirely and get him back on carries. He looked like a completely different player, and what do Liquid have to lose?

I’m positive we’ll see Liquid back in the LCS come 2018, regardless of their finish in the Promotion Tournament. A 3-0 win over E-United on Friday gives them two bites at the apple, but even if they crash out, Liquid’s financing and history create a franchising application Riot won’t be able to refuse. We’ll see Liquid again soon, in one form or another. 

To paraphrase Dumas…Esports is a storm, my friends. You will bask in third place one moment, be condemned to relegation the next. What makes you a team is what you do when that storm comes.

The corpse of Phoenix 1 lies somewhere aground on a nearby shoal. Given the opportunity to compete at Regionals with a match win over FlyQuest, P1 failed to stand tall in a storm. I yearned for the courage they showed during the TSM series—drafting Draven and Shyvana in Game 2—to carry over against FlyQuest, but it never did.

When the chips were down, P1 continued to put MikeYeung on tanks he cannot competitively play, and attempted an Kog’Maw comp they hadn’t won with in seven previous tries. When that failed, P1 returned to a deathball draft (Kled/Maokai/Corki/Sivir/Taric) that worked against Cloud 9 a few weeks earlier, but it now lacked the crucial element of surprise. FlyQuest smartly waited out the lineup’s mid game power spike and shut the door late. The look of exhausted defeat mixed with disbelief was written over the faces of every P1 player as FlyQuest came by for the customary post-game handshake. Arrow was so stunned he momentarily forgot to stand up.

With the talent Phoenix 1 possesses, they should successfully navigate Promotion. After that, the fate of this roster is anyone’s guess. Ryu, Arrow, and Xpecial are veterans nearing the tail-end of their careers. How will P1 replace them? On the business side, do P1 have the investment to qualify for franchising? Here’s hoping they’ll once again rise from the ashes in 2018.

That smoking ruin you see in 8th Place is what remains of Echo Fox after Immortals and Cloud 9 were through with them. No team had a shorter weekend or looked more disinterested in being there, as Echo Fox had neither playoffs to fight for nor relegation to escape. It showed.

Froggen continues to be an outstanding mid laner surrounded by players that cannot rise to his level. Playing Jensen and Cloud 9 was akin to watching Superman fight Bizzaro; two exceptional Danish mids surrounded by vastly different supporting casts, mirror images slightly off. Froggen’s Talon pick against Immortals and subsequent kills to nowhere underscored a long-simmering frustration with his team’s inconsistency and lackluster year. Echo Fox could learn a lot from the way C9 utilizes Jensen’s magnetism to gain map control, but that’s a discussion for another time. 

Rick Fox seems heavily invested in League of Legends, so expect Echo Fox to return in 2018. Hopefully their Frontline/Backline system—aka stealth tryouts for Spring—paid off, because it cost them Summer Playoffs.

NA LCS Week 8 Power Rankings

Week 8 of NA LCS filled all six postseason positions, with only the order left to determine. Team SoloMid, Immortals, Counter Logic Gaming, Cloud 9, Team Dignitas and Team EnVyUs will see playoff action. Phoenix 1, Echo Fox, Team Liquid and FlyQuest will not.

It’s worth pointing out that of the six teams that qualified for playoffs, only Dignitas replaced more than one player from the lineup it started the split with. Before they settled on Ssumday/Shrimp/Keane/Altec/Adrian in Week 6, Dignitas were 5-5, 15-14 and had lost four straight series, jeopardizing their playoff chances. Since then, Dignitas are 5-1, 11-5 and have an outside shot at a playoff bye.

Team SoloMid, Immortals and Cloud 9 have not changed their starting five all year. Counter Logic Gaming recently released Dardoch in favor of OmarGod, and Envy started Pirean out of necessity until Nisqy’s visa issues cleared up, but otherwise these teams are essentially unchanged since Week 1.

The same cannot be said of the four eliminated squads. Team Liquid, Phoenix 1 and—most notably—Echo Fox have all spent most of the split swapping out players like puzzle pieces, never forming a clear picture. It was as if these teams chose to host tryouts and/or brand-building acquisitions to better their 2018 franchising chances under the guise of “deepening the bench” in lieu of competing in 2017. The exception is FlyQuest, a team that refused to change their personnel (more on that later) but ultimately weren’t good enough to advance.

Which came first, the losing or the changes? Did organizations tinker with their rosters because the losses piled up, or did haphazard lineup changes precipitate losses? It’s a discussion best held in a space larger than the introduction to a Power Rankings list, but this at least is true: The lineups of most playoff teams went virtually unchanged since Week 1, while the lineups of most eliminated teams changed series to series. Take from that what you will.

Time to first back for these Week 8 NA LCS Power Rankings. Don’t forget to upgrade Ancient Coin before leaving spawn…and could you snag a Control Ward too? Thanks!

I’ve been struggling to write about Team SoloMid recently because there isn’t much to say. Are they the best team in North America? Probably. Have they played like it since 7.14? No. Did they still manage to squeak out a 2-0 week despite some dodgy drafts? Yep. Will they pull it together come playoffs? Look at the banners hanging at LCS and tell me they won’t. I’ll wait.

Since Immortals and Counter Logic Gaming both dropped series they shouldn’t have, TSM inch into first place despite an unimpressive weekend. FlyQuest essentially conceded the series once they gave TSM Zac/Caitlyn/Syndra in Game 2, and Team EnVyUs couldn’t snowball hard enough in the mid game to overcome Doublelift’s Tristana. TSM won the way they’ve won all split: Wait until Doublelift comes online, have Hauntzer split push bot lane, win a team fight, take Baron and pressure the base. Rinse and repeat until the enemy nexus falls. It’s like clockwork; steady, inevitable, clinical clockwork.

Critics have taken issue with Parth’s drafting lately (surprise!), noting his lack of Maokai/Cho’Gath priority while bizarrely selecting Varus and Nami. But while Maokai and Cho’Gath might be strong, do either of them suit TSM’s 4-1 playstyle? Hauntzer wants to draw pressure with champions like Shen, Renekton, Jarvan IV or even Camille, excellent split-pushing picks that need to be handled by two or more players, thus opening the map for TSM to take objectives at advantage. Can he do that on Maokai or Cho’Gath? Can Svenskeren, a jungler who’s at his most influential on bruisers like Lee Sin or Kha’Zix, still be successful on those tanks? Does TSM need him to be?

If TSM can manufacture early leads for Doublelift—or at the very least stall out games until he gets his items—within a scaling composition, they’ll continue to find success in a league they’ve dominated since its inception. TSM will close out the regular season against Phoenix 1 and CLG, with the winner of the latter series all but guaranteed a first-round bye. As if the rivalry needed more spice.

Immortals lose sole possession of first place with a loss to Team Dignitas almost entirely of their own making. Credit Dignitas for a well-played series, but with the kind of compositions Immortals handed them, it was hard not to win.

There was no reason for Immortals to ban out Nunu in the first phase of all three games. None. Yes, Shrimp is unusually good on the champion, but was I the only one who watched Cloud 9 crap all over his Nunu in Week 7? Aggressively bully Nunu in the early game and contest his objective takes with vision. It’s not rocket science.

Plus, once a team drafts Nunu, they’re committed to a strategy centered around his unique abilities. Immortals' first phase Nunu bans signaled a belief that Dignitas would draft him inside the first three picks. If that was true, Immortals could have drafted to counter the early Nunu pick instead of burning an OP ban. If Dignitas didn’t draft Nunu before the second round of bans, Immortals could have banned him out then if needed.

The Nunu bans allowed Dignitas to draft an early Maokai in each of the three games, one of the strongest draft strategies on 7.14 due to Maokai’s excellence as a flex jungle or top. The uncertainty created by Maokai’s flex hindered the Immortals draft, as they were unable to confidently throw phase two bans at Shrimp or Ssumday. Dignitas never drafted Maokai with their first pick, preferring to lock in their ADC before anything else, resulting in Immortals’ Game 1 Nunu ban surrendering both Maokai and Caitlyn.

All this reflects an overall lack of Maokai priority from Immortals, a team confident in their comfort but unable to read the writing on the wall. Maokai’s back, and he isn’t going anywhere. Flame hasn’t played the champion since March (a 65-minute loss to Dignitas) and Xmithie has only one game of Maokai on stage. If Immortals can’t (or won’t) play Maokai, it’s time to add him to the perma-ban list.

Immortals will likely need at least one win over Team EnVyUs or Echo Fox this weekend to secure an all-important first-round playoff bye. Envy swept Immortals in Week 2, but luckily for Immortals, they don’t play Maokai either.

Counter Logic Gaming imperiled their chances at a playoff bye with a 1-1 week, easily dismantling Team EnVyUs before losing focus against Phoenix 1. Bad luck that P1 re-discovered their Rift Rivals form just in time for a reverse-sweep, but that was a series CLG had to have and didn’t get.

Central to the new-look CLG is OmarGod, taking on the mantle of starting jungler for the first time this weekend. OmarGod's workmanlike shift against Envy helped CLG stifle Lira all series long, disrupting his early game pathing and preventing the influential jungler from exerting any lane pressure, while simultaneously providing their rookie room to breathe. I liked Omar’s patient cask usage during ganks, waiting until the target had burned their dashes before unleashing his ultimate rather than leading with it. I would have liked to see Omar continue to build confidence on Gragas during the P1 series instead of flailing around on the unfamiliar Maokai, but the kid has to learn sometime I suppose. 

CLG turned in one of their best performances of the split against Envy, heavily punishing any mistake with quick rotations and clean macro. A Seraph pick in the river turned into three turrets; a Nisqy death on a roam triggered a successful Baron take within seconds. This ability to convert kills not just into experience and gold but objectives makes CLG one of the best teams in the world, which is why it was so confusing to see them struggle to reproduce that mentality against Phoenix 1.

Much like their failure against Team Dignitas in Week 6, CLG faltered when Phoenix 1 applied high pressure in the early game and fought relentlessly onward. Darshan was invisible in Games 2 and 3, Aphromoo was put on the passive Janna instead of his preferred playmaking supports, and Stixxay couldn’t keep pace with Arrow’s outstanding Kalista.

Now CLG faces an uphill battle for a playoff bye. A game behind Immortals and TSM, CLG will need to beat both Team Dignitas and TSM themselves this weekend to have a shot.

Team Dignitas continue to burnish their contender credentials, avenging an earlier loss to Immortals with a 2-1 win and holding off a feisty Echo Fox to close out the weekend. While a playoff bye remains a long shot, Dignitas has been playing like they’re worthy of one with wins over Immortals, TSM, and CLG in the past few weeks.

Much of Dignitas’ resurgence has been credited (rightfully) to Altec and Adrian, but lost in the shuffle has been the stellar play of mid laner Keane. Sure, the Karthus pick in Game 2 versus Immortals was a heat check, but otherwise Keane has turned in impressive performances against some of the best mids in the West, notching recent victories over Bjergsen, Pobleter, Froggen, Huhi, and Jensen (even though Cloud 9 won that Week 7 series).  

Keane’s found a home on Cassiopeia and Syndra, two control mages with incredible burst, and enough early lane control to keep other explosive mid laners in check. Syndra is Bjergsen territory, but so far no one has equaled Keane’s outings on Cassiopeia, boasting a league-best 7-3 record. Against Echo Fox, Keane finished 8-0-10 with 95% kill participation while championing Cassiopeia. In a meta where so many of the OP bans are used on jungle, support and ADC roles, mids have their pick of the litter, a trend that has benefited players like Keane with smaller champion pools.

With all five players peaking and playoffs around the corner, Dignitas have emerged as a true postseason threat. A pair of wins over CLG and Team Liquid this weekend could potentially lock in the third seed and a favorable quarterfinal matchup against Team EnVyUs.

Look, I’m a fan of close games. Nail-biters that are decided by a single late team fight mistake, throws around Baron, epic comebacks and unheard-of upsets; I’m here for that. Sometimes only the adrenaline rush of a contest decided by razor-thin margins will satisfy.

But you know what? Sometimes I just want to watch one guy cut loose and dunk all over the other team.

Watching Jensen single-handedly terrorize FlyQuest and Team Liquid this weekend was an absolute treat, a guilty pleasure that, with the parity of NA LCS, I don’t get to indulge in often. After trolling Liquid with a Game 1 Twisted Fate selection that was partly responsible for his team’s loss, Jensen quit screwing around. He died only twice more over the remaining four games of Week 8, including two deathless games to complete the reverse sweep of Liquid. The numbers are gaudy, as you’d expect: 17-0-6 in Games 2 and 3 of the Liquid series (88% KP), 25-2-10 in the sweep of FlyQuest (78% KP). I’m sure Jensen took no pleasure in absolutely burying his old C9 teammates with LeBlanc, dancing under turrets and disintegrating Hai before he could even react.

Jensen gets the accolades, but credit Smoothie and Contractz for helping snowball mid. Smoothie’s roams have drawn favorable comparison to Olleh’s work on Immortals, but not even NA’s #1 Challenger can play Taric this well. Contractz hasn’t fully adjusted to the tank meta, still favoring aggressive bruisers like Elise, Kha’Zix, or even Kayn, but his willingness to pilot the flex Jarvan IV in order for Impact to get a better matchup has helped resuscitate the C9 top lane.

Cloud 9 lose a spot in these rankings not because they played poorly, but because they faced weaker competition than Team Dignitas. Series against Team EnVyUs and Echo Fox will provide a stiffer challenge, but not by much. I expect the Jensen show to continue, culminating in a shootout with Danish compatriot Froggen to end the regular season.

Team EnVyUs backed into playoffs once every team below them lost a Week 8 series. Faced with a murder’s row of TSM, CLG, Immortals and Cloud 9 to end the regular season, I’m sure Envy will take all the help they can get. 

While CLG systematically took them apart by disrupting Lira’s early game, Envy got more traction against the much less aggressive TSM, taking the defending champs to three games in a series that lasted the better part of three hours. A side that plays the laning stage better than anyone in NA LCS, Envy prefer teams like TSM who aim to win late with scaling comps. The trick is to end the game before the clock strikes midnight and your early game advantage turns into a pumpkin. Unfortunately for Envy—who held significant gold leads through the mid games of Games 1 and 3—once 35 minutes ticked by, they could no longer outfight a fed Doublelift. Defeat followed soon after. 

Still, there were plenty of positives to be had in a series they were unlikely to win from the start. Lira continues to show his quality when he isn’t being ganked Level 1 by the entire enemy team, but it’s Nisqy who impressed, especially in Envy’s Game 2 win over TSM. His Lucian flourished against Bjergsen’s legendary Syndra, finishing 11-2-6 with 77% KP and a late Quadra that sealed the victory. He died only three times over the entire series and matched Bjergsen’s CSM at 9.1. Envy need another carry to create space for Apollo and compensate for Seraph’s head-scratching play. Two weeks into his tenure as a permanent starting mid, Nisqy has done the job.

Still, writing about Envy’s postseason chances seems fruitless. They face Immortals and Cloud 9 this weekend, two series they will probably lose and therefore lock in the sixth seed, ensuring a rematch against a team they won’t be favored to beat (likely CLG). With no Championship Points from Spring, Envy have almost no shot to qualify for Regionals even with an unlikely semifinals birth. Enjoy Envy’s resurgence this split, and hope to see them in 2018.

Few things gave me more joy last weekend than listening to the Phoenix 1 comms audio during their unlikely reverse sweep of Counter Logic Gaming. P1 were eliminated from playoffs in Week 7, yet here were Arrow and Ryu going nuts selecting targets, screaming out expended summoners and generally playing like there’s no tomorrow, all while MikeYeung’s 17-year-old monotone acted as a steadying presence. Go listen to it and try not to smile.

For a team that dazzled with decisive macro play a day prior, CLG looked lost once Phoenix 1 offered a modicum of early game resistance. Rotations that looked routine as recent as Game 1 failed to deter a P1 side out for blood, and with MikeYeung on Nidalee in Game 2, they were poised to draw some. Arrow shut down Stixxay and a passive Aphromoo, finishing 16-1-9 in the final two games, neither of which lasted longer than 28 minutes. Once the snowball started for P1 in Game 3, Zig made sure it never stopped with a 0-0-10 Kled who led the charge at every possible moment. Somehow, Xpecial got the better of CLG again.

Phoenix 1 failed to live up to the Rift Rivals hype and were unable to right their roller-coaster of a season, mysteriously losing Ryu to burnout only to see him back on the Rift after one week away. MikeYeung is my Rookie of the Split, but he’s underperformed outside his game-breaking Nidalee. The same can be said for Arrow, who commands one of the best Kalistas in NA but cannot seem to carry on anything else. Zig has been playing so poorly that Allorim made his NA LCS debut in Game 1 against CLG.

Had these five players grown together from Week 1, we’d likely be seeing Phoenix 1 as a fifth or sixth seed. That P1 failed to make playoffs—and will likely face relegation—after finishing third in Spring with the MVP is an indictment of their organization only slightly lessened by the signing of MikeYeung. Avoiding relegation, and thus retaining their 50 CP from Spring, is the goal now for a chance at Regionals. Beating TSM and FLyQuest in Week 9 is all but necessary to achieve that goal.   

The ever-spinning wheel that is Echo Fox's starting lineup has begun to lose speed, but indecision has cost them playoffs. The 2-1 loss to Team Dignitas was the final stake in their postseason hopes, and Echo Fox are left to rue the many series they threw by randomly subbing Frontline for Backline (whatever the hell that means).

Brandini has emerged as the favored top laner over an inconsistent Looper. It was his stellar Shen play that helped overcome an 11k deficit against Phoenix 1, a win accomplished by taking the minimum number of turrets needed to break the nexus (5). Brandini's split pushing on Camille in Game 2 essentially negated Zig’s contribution to the game, pinning Cho’Gath against his bottom turrets and winning every trade. His Poppy play against Team Dignitas came out of left field, but it did contribute to one of the few victories over a Zac in Summer Split.

The problem for Echo Fox all along has been teamwork, exhibited best by this desperate shuffling of the deck week after week. Team synergy is built up over time; without sustained play together, a group of five cannot grow. It is not an accident that Froggen and Gate, the two constants in a summer of shifting lineups, rank dead last in average assists among players in their role. Instead of building chemistry with his bot lane partner or his jungler, Gate has been allowed to do neither. Froggen can put up all the impressive CS numbers he wants, but he has never reliably turned that individual lane advantage into a team advantage this split. Echo Fox have all the parts required for a good team, but never got around to building one.

The split comes to an end for Echo Fox with difficult Week 9 series against Immortals and Cloud 9.

The Team Liquid revival was short lived. Superior opposition in the forms of Immortals and Cloud 9 brought Liquid back to Earth, only winning a game because C9 trolled with Trundle and Twisted Fate.

After all the pre-season claims of improvement, followed by inevitable mid-split transfers that failed to move the needle, Liquid find themselves in yet another relegation battle. It doesn’t matter in the grand scheme of things; Steve’s got Disney money, a loyal fan base and a long enough endemic track record to all but ensure a franchise slot. All that’s left is to form a team to fill it, and Liquid haven’t done so. Yet. 

Dardoch returned to an organization he has little respect for and didn’t do much to justify his acquisition, failing to register a single kill in three starts. Immortals and Xmithie had his number for the third series this split, and he spent most of the Cloud 9 series benched in favor of Reignover. Mickey’s arrival in Week 9 will give Dardoch his starting job back due to NA LCS import rules, but I’m not entirely sure either of them are Liquid’s best option going forward.

Piglet continues to be the focal point of Liquid’s success, favoring hyper carries that can single-handedly win games late if able to stay alive in team fights. The problem is that teams know this and look to isolate and pressure Piglet at every possible opportunity. If Liquid can keep him alive, they have a decent shot at winning the late game. If they can’t—and they usually can’t—well, it’s relegation time.

Liquid face Flyquest and Team Dignitas to close out their year, with the series against FlyQuest holding critical relegation implications.

FlyQuest had the toughest schedule out of any NA LCS team in Week 8 and got predictably swept by Team SoloMid and Cloud 9. But it wasn’t the just the losses that dropped them two spots in these rankings, it was the way they lost, slitting their own throats in draft after draft.

I’m not sure what LemonNation has written inside his iconic draft notebook, but after this week it might need some revision. Letting TSM select Shen/Zac/Syndra/Caitlyn/Braum—probably the champions TSM would draft in every game if they could—was a massive failure. Under no circumstances should TSM be given any three of those five champions, but FlyQuest were convinced it would be fine into Cho’Gath/Rengar/Orianna/Jhin/Thresh. They were punished accordingly.

Against Cloud 9, FlyQuest banned Galio in the first phase of both games against a team that doesn’t place any emphasis on that champion, while failing to ban out any mid laners. In doing so, FlyQuest allowed C9 to pick Caitlyn twice—getting Maokai as well in Game 1—and supplying Jensen whatever mid he wanted. Sneaky’s Caitlyn finished a respectable 6-4-18 with 9.6 CSM, but it was Jensen’s Syndra and LeBlanc that truly killed FlyQuest. How do you not limit Jensen’s champion pool, or at the very least draft a favorable matchup into his pick?

All this draft mismanagement resulted in both series being more one-sided than they should have been, considering the smaller talent gap between FlyQuest and the top teams relative to the other bottom feeders. FlyQuest displayed good coordination in the early game against TSM with successful ganks by Moon, but chose the incorrect lane to pressure. Moon wanted to generate a lead for Balls’ Cho’Gath, but failed to realize that top lane doesn’t really matter to TSM; all Hauntzer does after laning is split push, making up whatever farm he lost in laning as he does so. The ganks needed to be mid or bot, extending the clock on Doublelift or getting Hai’s snowball started. The Cloud 9 series didn’t have much macro play to speak of, just an order to go out guns blazing.

If it wasn’t clear by now, FlyQuest are set in their ways, drafting and banning regardless of what conventional wisdom might suggest. The Balls/Hai/LemonNation core has been through the wars and has earned the right to make their own calls on drafts and personnel, maintaining the same starting five even as the split went sideways. Their path together traces the spine of the modern NA LCS, and far be it for me to question their choices. But for this split at least, it wasn’t nearly good enough.

FlyQuest end the year with relegation-impacting series against Team Liquid and Phoenix 1. A sweep of the week would avoid the relegation zone.