NA LCS Week 7 Power Rankings

Patch 7.14 hit the North American LCS like a large tree erupting from the ground and smashing into a line of stampeding long cats...if you know what I mean. Mass hysteria! 

A new patch brings with it a new meta, raising questions in search of answers. Maokai is great, but is he a perma-ban or first pick? Is Cho’Gath best used in the top lane or jungle? Can we flex Kennen as a support? Is Ancient Coin broken enough to draft supports like Sona or Soraka, or purchase on champions that usually build Relic Shield? Are Twisted Fate and Poppy back in the meta? Are we ready for the return of Sivir deathball comps? Can anything beat a Taric/Tank initiation? And what the hell are we to make of Kayn?

Week 7 produced no conclusive answers, but it did solidify the playoff picture. With four games to go, Immortals, TSM, CLG, C9, Team Dignitas and Team EnVyUs seem locks for postseason play, but in what order? A spoiler among the bottom four teams seems unlikely, especially with the implosion of Phoenix 1, the apathy of Echo Fox and the reconstitution of Team Liquid. For these bottom-tier teams, it’s time to deepen that roster and pray for inclusion in 2018.

Strap on your Bramble Vest and zip up that feline onesie, it’s time for the NA LCS Week 7 Power Rankings.

Immortals' stellar regular season performance shouldn’t be a surprise. Their 33-3 record across 2016 has yet to be matched since the league expanded to 10 teams in 2015, but a miserable Spring Split this year placed the new-look Noah Whinstons firmly in the background. No longer.

With first place again on the line, Immortals got the better of Counter Logic Gaming to stand alone atop NA LCS. Xmithie bested both Dardoch and OmarGod over three games, finally settling the question of who won that trade. His initiations with Jarvan IV and Rek’Sai consistently put Stixxay and Huhi in peril, while simultaneously creating space for Cody Sun to fire away as Jhin. Cody was outstanding on the Virtuoso, accounting for 33.6% of his side’s damage and 81% kill participation for the series. The back-and-forth bloodbath of Game 3 hinged on Cody’s ability to out-duel Stixxay’s Caitlyn, and Jhin, with the aid of a 7.14 Duskblade, broke the CLG nexus with a scoreline of 10-2-10.

Although Immortals swept the week, their struggles against FlyQuest during a 2-1 series win did not go unnoticed. Games 1 was a slow-moving train wreck for Immortals as they threw away an 8.8k gold advantage as FlyQuest, led by Hai’s unusual Twisted Fate selection, began winning late game fights. Game 3 required frequent pickoffs of Balls as he split pushed to overcome a 5.5k deficit in the mid game.

With CLG and TSM still breathing down Immortals’ backs, Week 8 wins over Teams Liquid and Dignitas will go a long way to securing a bye into the Semifinals.

A unexpectedly subpar week from the reigning NA LCS champions drops them from a first place perch they had seemed settled in. Team Dignitas punished Team SoloMid’s lack of Maokai priority and Echo Fox did not go away quietly. I expect more from TSM, and this week they failed to deliver. 

Credit Dignitas for a well-deserved sweep, but TSM did themselves no favors in the draft. Giving away Maokai for a first-pick Thresh in Game 2 was bad enough, but then we learn TSM’s pocket counter was Jax? A Xerath mid for Bjergsen in Game 1? Parth had the threads of an idea, and TSM have some leeway when it comes to playoff position, but to come on stage with an insufficient grasp of the meta is beneath the stature and experience of the team. 

An inconsistent bot lane failed TSM against Dignitas and struggled to impact the Echo Fox series until Game 3. Doublelift and Biofrost have now lost to two different Dignitas bot duos this year, with the losses to Altec and Adrian coming at the expense of Doublelift’s perfect record on Tristana this summer. Against Echo Fox he switched to the more meta Jhin, a move that keyed wins in Games 1 and 3.

TSM will rebound and adjust, a week wiser in the mechanics of Draven Baron steals and 7.14 in general. New acquisition MrRalleZ deepens TSM's bench, but with the emphasis they put on Doublelift’s carry prowess in games, I doubt the newcomer will see much on-stage playing time (if any).

Week 8 seems straightforward for TSM with FlyQuest and Team EnVyUs marking up the schedule. If TSM had a good week of practice and a better grip on the meta, we shouldn’t be in for any surprises.

Counter Logic Gaming ended Week 7 losing to Immortals and will begin Week 8 having lost a jungler. Dardoch has left the team, and all indications point to unresolved character issues that did not mesh with the CLG culture. This shift had been long brewing, beginning as whisper among insiders, the promotion of OmarGod and finally to Dardoch’s dismissal this week. Ultimately, CLG’s culture was not strong enough to reform the famed tilter despite their best efforts.

Dardoch’s replacement is home-grown OmarGod, who looked decent on Gragas in CLG’s Game 2 win over Immortals. Still, there was hesitancy born of inexperience in Omar’s Game 3 early game, deaths on dives that allowed Immortals to manufacture a slim lead that, in a such a close game, proved to be decisive. While he lacks Dardoch’s edge, Omar has shown a willingness to champion tanks and sacrifice for the team, crucial in today’s tank-heavy metagame.

Sure, CLG could have turned Game 3 around if it executed its Shen/Olaf dive comp better, but the distance between Immortals and CLG is minuscule enough that come a five-game series, I don’t know which team is favored. Like Immortals and TSM, CLG have their sights set on a first-round bye, but won’t have tiebreakers with either squad. Week 8 games against Phoenix 1 and EnVyUs will be a great chance to further incorporate OmarGod into the starting five and pick up wins against overmatched opposition

Never underestimate the restorative powers of rest and relaxation. Cloud 9 finally looked themselves again after some much-needed recovery time and a new patch that threw convention out the door (at least for now). Wins again Phoenix 1 and a red-hot Team Dignitas solidified C9’s playoff status, and while they’re unlikely to earn a top 2 seed, this is a team no one will want to face in the quarterfinals.

Contractz seemed to have spent the past week spamming Kayn in soloqueue, and against an unprepared P1 the cheese worked. Watching him gank top at 2:30 while he was Level 3 and Zig just hit Level 2 was absolutely disgusting, displaying both the power of the blue side super-leash and Kayn’s unique pathing in one deadly rotation. P1 had not prepared to face Kayn so early in the patch, and his unpredictability played a large role in their 1-2 defeat.  

The weekend got harder for C9 with Dignitas stopping by the Rift, and after Game 1 all signs pointed to a quick 2-0 Dignitas stomp. Shrimp’s Nunu stymied the pressure created by Kayn with his own invades and objective control, Dignitas won bot lane and snowballed through Baron from there. Instead of folding, C9 adapted, taking advantage of Zac’s availability in Game 2 and slowly closed the game with a terrifying Zac/Taric/Shen initiation. Taric featured heavily in Game 3, with C9 contesting every Nunu invade or objective take with pressure from Contractz’s Elise and a Jarvan IV/ Taric combination that quickly took out squishy back liners.

Job well done by Cloud 9, earning a boost of confidence and two much needed wins. unfortunately, everyone knows the Taric combo now, and he isn’t getting nerfed anytime soon. We’ll see how often C9 goes back to Johnny Bravado against Week 9 cupcakes Team Liquid and FlyQuest.  

Team Dignitas completed their season sweep of Team SoloMid and was within a game of beating both Spring Split 2017 finalists in one week. While C9 did eventually come back for a reverse-sweep, Dignitas made their playoff case in technicolor and cemented Altec and Adrian as the best bot lane in NA LCS.

TSM didn’t fully understand how devastatingly good Maokai is right now, but after Ssumday took them to school with one of his favorite champions, you better believe TSM got the message. Ssumday was incredible on Maokai, less because of the scoreline and more the way he set up picks and turned team fights, angling his ultimate just so or picking exactly the right target to initiate on. Altec and Adrian outplayed the usually favored Doublelift/Biofrost duo, with Altec putting up absolutely obscene numbers on Sivir in Game 2. 31k damage to champions and 424 CS in a 35-minute game (12 CSM) isn’t something you normally see, and Sivir just keeps getting buffed.

(Sidebar: Shouts to Ssumday for being one of the few—if not only—players to forgo the nightmarish Meowkai skin in favor of the tamer Festive Maokai. Thanks for protecting my mental health.)

A small thing, but I liked Keane’s choice to build Abyssal Mask out of his Catalyst first on Cassiopeia to mitigate the massive damage from Bjergsen’s Xerath. With the new build path, expect to see more Abyssal Masks on mages who usually build Catalyst into the traditional Rod of Ages. AM has much more team utility and immediate impact than RoA, which takes time for charges to build up.

Dignitas ran into trouble with their respect for Maokai against C9, choosing to ban the Twisted Treant over Zac, a trade-off made in the hope that Zac had been nerfed back to earth. Spoiler: He hasn’t (well, maybe in 7.15), and Contractz showed off every reason why. The high tempo Nunu strategy didn’t work twice for Dig, which isn’t surprising when you consider C9’s experience with Nunu. Don’t bullshit a bullshitter.

Overall, Dig acquitted themselves well this week despite the loss to C9. They’re in form and should be a real playoff threat, but I’m not sure they have a shot at a bye. Week 8 includes dates with Immortals and Echo Fox.

A very lackluster week from Team EnVyUs, gifted a comparatively easy schedule and yet they drop a series to Team Liquid—who were last place at the time—and struggled to close out FlyQuest twice.

Against Team Liquid, Envy failed to secure Baron with Cho’Gath and Kalista, watching in horror as Reignover simply walked into the pit and stole it with Smite. The reason you draft those two champions is to completely control objectives like drake and Baron; the HP threshold for Rend into Smite/Feast is far too great for a steal to be contemplated, let alone successfully executed. Envy simply got greedy, burning a Smite early for damage and attempted to get a Feast stack on Lira’s Cho’Gath.  Losing that Baron cost Envy a game they controlled from the first minute; they would eventually lose the series and in a larger sense their momentum from Week 6.

The loss of momentum was evident in their contest with FlyQuest, which wasn’t decided until Balls got caught out late in Game 3, starting a fight that would end an excruciating game. Lira did his best to create space for Apollo to operate all game long, but it was barely enough to avoid watching a 15k lead slip entirely away.

I want to see more decisive shot calling from Envy, as they often run into a trap of playing too carefully before realizing their early game advantage has been farmed away by the opposition. Envy have trouble isolating ADCs, allowing Piglet and Turtle free fire behind the front line. They need to set up fights better and learn to play with advantage. 7.14 is a patch where teams can win games pre-20 minutes, and for a side with Envy’s light’s out early game, they shouldn’t see this many 40-minute nail biters.

Having lost a step with an easy schedule, how will Envy respond to a difficult one? Week 8 sends TSM and CLG their way, two teams closely jockeying for a playoff bye. 

The shakeup generated by 7.14 benefited no team more than Team Liquid, who earned their first 2-0 week since Week 5 of 2016 Summer Split. Back then, they beat Cloud 9 and Team EnVyUS with a lineup of Lourlo/Dardoch/FeniX/Fabbbyyy/Matt. Back in the present, Liquid displayed a steadiness and excellent team fighting cohesion that had been absent in previous weeks, clutching out a 2-1 win over Envy and sweeping Phoenix 1. Liquid showed faith in their original lineup of Lourlo/Reignover/Goldenglue/Piglet/Matt, and the team showed real signs of coming together.

So of course, Steve had to blow it all up.

The mid-week acquisition of Mickey, a volatile Korean import mid laner who until this week was starting for a slumping ROX Tigers in LCK, will force Liquid to bench either Reignover or Piglet as per NA LCS rules. With no substitute ADC, Reignover will get the boot in favor Inori…except not really. Dardoch, recently kicked to the curb by CLG due to attitude issues, rejoined his old team in a last-ditch attempt to stay in LCS. It appears he will now start in jungle, and Reignover will look for another team at split’s end. All this to say nothing of Goldenglue, who had a stellar week taking Pirean to school, only to find himself back on the bench once Mickey arrives stateside. Rest in Peace, Vault Boy.

No one knows how this new team will perform. Were these moves in any way an upgrade, or was Steve just throwing that Disney money around for fun? We’ll certainly find out when Liquid face Immortals and Cloud 9 in Week 8.

FlyQuest neither gained nor lost ground in my rankings after a week that was decidedly even. They showed real strength against Immortals with a Cho’Gath/Twisted Fate draft, coming all the way back from nearly 9k down to win Game 1, and were up nearly 6k in Game 3 before it all fell apart. Against Team EnVyUs, FlyQuest again earned a Game 1 victory only to suffer a second straight reverse sweep, nearly turning it around with a climactic fight around blue buff down 7k.

Winning and losing are team efforts, so its disingenuous to blame one player for the team’s successes or failures. That being said, it’s hard to ignore that in both Game 3s this week, Balls repeatedly found himself in the wrong place at the wrong time. It was his deaths while splitting bot that gave Immortals enough gold to get back into the game, and his death late against Envy forced a fight FlyQuest didn’t want to take, and it cost them the series. Balls has had and will have better days, but the team needs to adjust their shot calling to keep him out of trouble.

FlyQuest is a team standing on the doorstep of contention, but stubs their toe on the threshold every time they try to pass through. After seven weeks of play it’s too late for improvement to make a difference in their playoff chances. What matters now is the future of this Hai/Balls/LemonNation core that has been present throughout much of NA LCS history. They have what it takes to compete, but for how much longer? Will the Edens family commit to franchising costs? Here’s hoping we see them all again after season’s end.

Week 8 will be a chance to go out in a blaze of glory, first against TSM, and then against Cloud 9 in a resumption of NA's Civil War.

Before Liquid’s spending spree and Dardoch’s ouster from CLG, Phoenix 1 made waves early last Friday by announcing that Ryu was temporarily leaving the team due to burnout. Pirean hastily rejoined his old team, but after one week of matches, it’s clear that whatever fire lit P1’s resurgence at Rift Rivals died with Ryu's departure. Apart from re-introducing the Sivir/Taric Deathball draft in a Game 2 win over Cloud 9, P1 haven’t offered much to get excited about.

MikeYeung has the goods to be a standout jungler in NA LCS, but he needs help. One lane can lose, maybe two, but all three? There’s only so much pressure a jungler can add, only so many deficiencies he can help alleviate. Arrow and Xpecial were already struggling, Zig looks poor if he can’t get ahead, and now without Ryu mid lane looks shaky at best. Pirean isn’t the carry Ryu is; part of the reason Team EnVyUs preferred Nisqy over Pirean is that Nisqy’s aggression in lane can win 1v1s and carry games, while Pirean has looked best on supportive champions like Taliyah. With Arrow struggling since the beginning on the split, P1 needed to replace a mid carry with a mid carry, and didn’t do so.

The loss of Ryu’s experience has visibly hurt P1’s macro game as well. Search no further than Game 3 of the C9 series, where Sneaky and Smoothie swapped across the map, taking turrets with zero defense from P1 until they had lost every external tower by 17 minutes. An improved performance from Pirean on Jayce in Game 2 versus Team Liquid was wasted by a mishandled Baron attempt. We saw P1 make that aggressive call throughout Rift Rivals and succeed. Now, the same calls result in throws.

Phoenix 1 are mathematically eliminated from playoff contention, but can still play spoiler for teams jockeying for seeding. Their job now is to avoid a relegation finish, allowing them to keep their Championship Points from Spring and retain a shot at making Regional Qualifiers. Week 8 matches with Echo Fox and Counter Logic Gaming will help determine the odds, with any losses likely proving fatal.

Froggen’s back! And…it didn’t help. Echo Fox continue to search for a successful starting lineup other than the one they spent half the split winning with, losing to Counter Logic Gaming and Team SoloMid. Performances ranged from “Thanks for showing up,” to “Hey, this team could be half-decent!”

Mash’s Baron snipe with Draven’s ultimate during Game 2 was cute, and it did turn the series in Fox’s favor enough to test TSM, but ultimately it wasn’t nearly enough. TSM were their own worst enemy more than Echo Fox presented a real threat. CLG barely noticed Echo Fox had entered the Rift, ending both games at a canter before 30 minutes had elapsed.

Since ending Week 4 3-5, Echo Fox have experimented with subs in nearly every series, going 1-5 since and playing themselves out of playoff contention. Instead of working on their communication and macro, Rick Fox and Co. decided to throw compositions at the wall and see which could win. None have. Frontline/Backline is a sentimental idea, but what has it actually accomplished? I will never understand why it’s wise to throw away a legitimate shot at playoffs in favor of a deep team. Someone explain it to me.

Echo Fox play a slumping Phoenix 1 and a still hot-to-the-touch Team Dignitas in Week 8. Does it matter if they win or lose?

NA LCS Week 6 Power Rankings

North American LCS earned bragging rights and a bit of confidence with their dominant showing over EU LCS at Rift Rivals, but little changed once play resumed back in the States. Phoenix 1 couldn’t keep the momentum going, Immortals rebounded, Team Liquid showed Echo Fox what throwing really means, and Counter Logic Gaming were their usual enigmatic selves. Another day at the office.

Still, there were some surprises. Team Dignitas rose from the dead, Team EnVyUs continued their inexplicable run into playoff contention, and Echo Fox sat Froggen because they didn’t like winning, or whatever. I guess he had non-refundable plane tickets to EVO?

Patch 7.14 will make its debut at NA LCS this weekend, tossing the meta into a blender yet again. Lethality, once nerfed nearly out of existence, is back with the vengeance. Expect Duskblades to be brandished, Cinderhulks to tick, and perhaps a Cho’Gath sighting (or two). If there was something League was truly lacking, it was more unavoidable burst damage. I can’t wait.  

Oh, and Kayn might make an appearance. You never know. With Week 7 upon us, let’s check in on the Power Rankings through Week 6.

Doublelift’s return has changed the complexion of Team SoloMid, allowing Bjergsen and Hauntzer more flexibility in draft while he carries. Ban Caitlyn and Doublelift will happily champion Tristana, boasting an unmatched 7-0 record on the Yordle Gunner this split. When TSM can trust their ADC to farm well, position correctly and consistently out-DPS the opposition, Hauntzer and Bjergsen can play more supportive, tanky champions that dictate engagements, something they couldn’t do successfully with WildTurtle.

Week 6 sweeps over Phoenix 1 and Team Liquid were prime examples of Doublelift’s ability to turn games by himself, highlighted by his spectacular 11-4-3 Game 2 against Liquid. Come for the 1v2 outplay against Goldenglue and Matt, stay for the delayed Quadra that enabled a free Baron, sealing the comeback victory. Pretty good for a B-tier ADC.

It won’t be long before TSM claim sole possession of first place in NA LCS, but a rematch with Team Dignitas this weekend could be tricky. Dignitas took the series 2-1 when they met in Week 2, and both teams have improved since then. Echo Fox balances out the weekend in a lopsided matchup no matter who they choose to start.

Immortals didn’t attend Rift Rivals, instead using the break to regroup after a pair of difficult loses to TSM and Phoenix 1. The extra rest paid off with a 2-0 week, highlighted by a 2-1 victory over a disjointed and jet-lagged Cloud 9. Credit Pobelter with handling Jensen in the mid lane, and acting as a de facto carry when it became clear C9 were committed to killing Cody Sun first in fights. Pobelter’s Corki survived laning stage and hid behind the beefy Xmithie/Flame frontline to finish 18-4-14 through their two wins. When Pobelter can play at this level, Immortals are hard to scheme against.

Xmithie seems to have found his grove again. The veteran jungler took a leaf out of young MikeYeung’s book and tried his hand at Nidalee, finishing 4-2-13 in a closeout game against Echo Fox. It was the first time Xmithie played the champion since Season 6, but with Cinderhulk now dominating the meta, I doubt he’ll make a habit of it.

Week 7 features an exciting rivalry reprise: Immortals vs Counter Logic Gaming. Xmithie and IMT swept CLG last time, but you’d better believe the mercurial Dardoch has been itching for Round 2. A favorable matchup with FlyQuest rounds out the week.

With Aurelion Sol constantly banned against him, Huhi needed a new wonky control mage to pilot. Enter Vel’Koz, the Eye of the Void, a champion so off-meta that no one in the world had played it this split until Huhi’s selection against FlyQuest. You can see the parallels; spammable magic damage from range, significant wave clear, choke point control. Vel’Koz is Aurelion Sol lite, with an ultimate that can’t be blocked by tanks. In two Vek’Koz games against FlyQuest, Huhi finished 11-0-19 and Counter Logic Gaming swept the series.

Vel’Koz was the 13th different champion Huhi has played this Summer, most of any mid laner. The same can be said of his teammate Darshan in the top lane. This versatility is a drafting asset for CLG, making them difficult to predict and demanding bans other teams do not draw. Dignitas banned out Aurelion Sol and Vel’Koz twice in their sweep of CLG; where else does that happen?

A deep champion pool is nice, but amidst that variety there’s been a noticeable downside: mediocre early games and erratic play. Per Oracle’s Elixir, CLG ranks next to last in the league in GD@15 (-567) and has the worst Early-Game rating (43.0) of all ten teams. Of their nine series wins, only three of them were sweeps, and of those three, two came at Team Liquid’s expense (for comparison, TSM has eight sweeps). You never know which CLG will take the Rift, and it will cost them against strong teams.

CLG face Echo Fox and Immortals this weekend. OmarGod will find his reps against Echo Fox; I doubt Dardoch will want to be subbed at any point during the Immortals series.

Team EnVyUs continue to surprise, completing their rise from relegation fodder to serious playoff contenders. Envy took advantage of a fatigued Cloud 9 2-0 and then held on to beat a Froggen-less Echo Fox 2-1, securing the kind of wins they were incapable of just a split ago.

Gone are the days of throwing games after the clock struck 20 minutes. Envy can win with leads now thanks to a dramatically improved mid lane that has allowed the side lanes to flourish. Sure, Seraph has a dodgy game every so often, but Apollo and Hakuho have become a bot lane to be reckoned with. Lira remains a world-class jungler whose influence on the team extends beyond the rift.

Against Jensen Cloud 9, Nisqy’s aggressive laning was preferred over Pirean’s more supportive play and the selection paid off. The import held Jensen to a 0-0-0 Game 1 line in a matchup that slightly favored Jensen’s Corki over Nisqy’s Syndra. His comfort Cassiopeia didn’t bottle up Jensen’s Taliyah the same way (4-2-9 to 5-1-3), but when Lira decides to hard carry as Nidalee, the best a mid laner can do is not feed.

Nisqy and Pirean have helped guide Envy to the best early game in NA LCS with an average GD@15 of 1,024, a staggering number when you consider the next team on the list has a GD@15 of 344 (Immortals). Even more incredible is usually that gold comes purely from CS. Envy has only secured First Blood or First Turret 50% of the time, but Apollo, Pirean, and Nisqy all average higher than 9 CSM. Lira is first among junglers with 5.1 CSM; Seraph is third among top laners at 8.7 CSM (the highest is 8.8).

With that kind of strong, consistent farm, Envy puts themselves in position to beat anyone, but it comes down to their late game execution as to whether they’re successful or not. An easy Week 7 against FlyQuest and Team Liquid should strengthen their case for playoffs.

It’s easy to forget that before their two-week slump, Team Dignitas might have been the best team in NA LCS, sprinting out to a 5-1 record that included wins over TSM and Team EnVyUs. Ssumday looked unstoppable on Fiora, Shrimp’s aggressive carry jungling caught most teams flat-footed, and the other two lanes were serviceable enough.

Then, teams adapted. Fiora and Kennen dropped out of the meta, forcing Ssumday on to tanks that had difficulty laning, and that was before opposing junglers began repeatedly pathing top to hinder him. The rest of NA LCS challenged Dignitas to win through other lanes, and for two weeks they had no answer.

Enter Altec and Adrian. Dignitas were in desperate need a bot lane that could take advantage of space and carry games, and so far this new duo has done just that, providing the edge LOD and BIG lacked. Together, Altec and Adrian won their lanes handily against CLG and P1. Altec finished a full CSM over Arrow and Stixxay, while Adrian’s 5-2-13 performance on in Game 2 against CLG help close out the series. The Kalista/Thresh bot lane has proved particularly potent in NA LCS; add Altec and Adrian’s undefeated record with that combination as evidence why.

Dignitas will be put to the test this weekend with TSM and Cloud 9. I doubt they’ll be able to pull off another 2-0 week, but if they do, expect to see Dignitas in Boston.

When Jensen finishes a game 0-0-0—as he did against a substitute mid during the Team EnVyUs series—something is terribly wrong. Cloud 9 can’t consistently win games when Jensen pops off; how are they supposed to win when he doesn’t show up?

C9 returned from a mediocre Rift Rivals fatigued, sick, and off their game, getting swept by Team EnVyUs and barely putting up a fight against Immortals. There’s only so much Jensen can do when his side lanes consistently lose their lanes. To be fair, Sneaky was under the weather for most of the week, but even so his combination with Smoothie was poor at best. Neither Ray nor Impact can find success in the top lane, and C9’s insistence on switching between the two must be straining their confidence, to say nothing of establishing a rhythm.

History tells us that C9 will be there at the end; after all, they’re one of only three teams that have ever lifted the NA LCS trophy. But at 6-6 with 6 games left, a bye into the semifinals is all but out of reach. C9 were excellent in their 2-1 over TSM, but have looked average against everyone else recently. Time is running out. 

Hopefully rest will help Cloud 9 regain their form, but with Phoenix 1 and Team Dignitas this weekend, they had better find that form soon.

After such a strong showing at Rift Rivals, it was disappointing to see Phoenix 1 unable to take a series upon their triumphant return to domestic play. Second best in the West to 9th place in NA LCS is a long way to fall.

Still, consider the opposition. TSM were eager to make a statement and had the players to do so, and Dignitas surprised everyone with how well their bot lane played. The P1/Dig series was probably the most exciting series of the weekend; both teams trading stomps as games were decided by incredibly narrow margins. P1 didn’t embarrass themselves, but they simply didn’t execute well enough to win.

MikeYeung continues to show skill beyond his years, but the meta might be shifting against him. Much like Shrimp, who burst on the NA LCS stage rocking carry junglers, MikeYeung made his name with crowd favorites like Nidalee and Lee Sin. Unfortunately, carry junglers can’t take advantage of Cinderhulk, the jungler enchantment de jour, and with the meta favoring tanky junglers because of this, Magic Mike will need to learn new tricks fast. On bursty, carry-oriented junglers (Elise, Lee Sin, Nidalee), Mike is 8-9 (5.8 KDA). On Cinderhulk tanks, he’s 1-4 (2.9 KDA). Can the kid adjust, or is P1’s fate already sealed?

At Rift Rivals, P1 proved they can beat and compete with the best, but at this point it might be too late to affect their NA LCS chances. Winning out can only get them to .500, and with C9, CLG and TSM still left to play, I doubt they’ll achieve even that. Week 7 brings series against C9 and Team Liquid, and while P1 can sweep the week, I predict a 1-1 split.

There isn’t much more room to rise or fall for FlyQuest, who settled into their middle class spot after beating a woeful Team Liquid yet suffering a sweep at the hands of CLG. Floor, meet ceiling.

Hai favors his assassins mid, Balls occasionally plays as strong as his biceps suggest, and WildTurtle does his best to farm well and position accordingly. With the changes to Lethality sure to bring Jhin firmly back into the meta, Turtle will have comfort to choose from, but will it make a difference? Tied for 7th place, FlyQuest have a puncher’s chance at making playoffs, yet have shown little sign that they’ll do anything once there.

Shot calling has improved since Hai returned to a more vocal role, but it hasn't been enough. FlyQuest find themselves near the bottom of the league in GDM (-117) and K:D (.75), and it’s difficult to win games when you’re unable to farm efficiently or win fights. It’s no longer a question of macro or shot calling; at this point the skill gap is too large.

Immortals and Team EnVyUs are on the schedule this weekend, and unless I’m very much mistaken, FlyQuest will end the weekend 0-2.  

In basketball, the frequent use of substitutions is part of the game. Shooters go cold, guys need a blow, bench players play hard in practice and earn themselves more playing time. Lineups are fluid, and the starting five know their status isn’t guaranteed if they play poorly over a long period. Teams regularly boast of being eight or ten guys deep, with different weapons to beat different teams in different ways.

But League of Legends isn’t basketball, as much as Rick Fox and Jared Jeffries would like it to be. Success in League comes not from a deep bench but a starting five that synergizes so well it borders on symbiosis. Knowing tendencies, strategy, strengths and weaknesses at an instinctual level is a must when a split-second choice can decide an entire game. Chemistry matters, and constantly rotating through lineups or resting players during crucial series diminishes their ability to succeed together, ultimately costing wins.

Echo Fox have taken substitutions to another level this split, subbing every role except Support (they do not have an official Support substitute). Brandini, Damonte, Grig and Mash all saw time in Week 6 against Immortals and Team EnVyUs, while Froggen—arguably one of the best mid laners in the West—did not play at all. No other team has been so loose with their lineups, but then again, no other team claims to go 10 players deep or refuses to scrim outside their own players.

Speaking of scrims: if these subs are getting playing time because they need experience against NA LCS completion, you know a great way to build experience? Scrimming other NA LCS teams! Maybe a winning lineup would emerge, but instead Echo Fox perform trial and error on stage where losing matters. In a league where teams miss playoffs by one or two losses, throwing away series like they did in Week 6 is going to cost Echo Fox a shot at playoffs.

TSM and CLG will not show any mercy to this team in Week 7, no matter who logs in for Echo Fox.

If the injury of being worst in the league wasn’t severe enough, TSM added insult to Team Liquid’s horrid Summer Split, erasing a 6k gold lead and completing a sweep during a Game 2 they almost assuredly trolled for 25 minutes. Sven on Sejuani jungle? A cheesy Level 1 invade after completely reading the Liquid draft? Come on.

You can draw a straight line from that embarrassment to Liquid’s opening game of the season against CLG, where Liquid were handed a handful of pre-5 minute kills and couldn’t snowball. Liquid simply do not know how to win, putting resources into Piglet only to watch him get consistently caught out and killed at the start of team fights again and again. The talent difference is just too steep, and no amount of subbing is going to change this.

Liquid face Team EnVyUs and Phoenix 1 in Week 7, and I’d be genuinely surprised if they take a game off either of them, or anyone else from here on out.

NA LCS Week 5 Power Rankings

I’m not going to talk about Rift Rivals in this edition of the Completely Subjective and Only Occasionally Named This Way Power Rankings, mostly because these are NA LCS Power Rankings and while it’s fun to see North America test itself against quality international competition, their play abroad doesn’t affect the domestic league that much.

Still…is NA up? Sweet!

Week 5 of the NA LCS threw a wrench into my beautiful predictions, with upsets from FlyQuest and Phoenix 1 breathing new life into what looked to be a predictable, stagnant league going into July. FlyQuest benefited from improved shot calling and playing two of the most throw-prone teams—Team Dignitas and Echo Fox, though did I really need to clarify this—in North America. Mikeyeung’s legend continues to grow, as the youngster’s electric play shocked P1’s dead carcass back to life. Phoenix 1 are 3-1 since Mike took the stage, and have yet to embarrass themselves at Rift Rivals (fingers crossed).

I still fail to understand why people think Rek’Sai is good. Last week, she went 5-9 in NA LCS, 2-4 in LPL, 4-5 in LPL, 2-2 in LMS, and 8-7 in LCK. The jury is still out, but pros do seem to like that unstoppable ultimate and creative gank paths. Whatever.

Anyway, put on your yellow-tinted computer glasses and let’s get into the rankings. New graphics!

Team SoloMid is the best team in NA LCS, and none of us should be surprised. They are who we thought they were, a team of enormous pedigree and skill that, after weeks of beating up cupcakes, finally ate the whole meal. A close loss to rival Cloud 9 was a wake-up call, with Hauntzer losing top lane to Ray’s Fervor Rumble and Contractz’s unkillable Nunu wreaking havoc during a deciding Game 3. It was TSM’s first non-2-0 series—and first loss—since Week 2, but don’t hold it against them. These two squads always seem to go back and forth. It’s true, Cloud 9 evened the season series with TSM, but where’s your money going when they square off come playoffs?

Fresh off a defeat to a rival and angry after a Week 1 loss, TSM approached the Immortals series focused and ready to make a statement, and, well, message received. Bjergsen drafted Syndra in Game 1 and promptly went 11-2-3 against Pobelter’s Orianna, proving yet again that this Dane/dame combo should always be banned. Game 2 was all Doublelift, popping off on Tristana with the help of some excellent Thresh hooks from Biofrost. Every time Immortals would take an objective or find a pick, TSM would answer, stonewalling any comeback as their efficient macro took its toll.

It’s clear that TSM will go as far as Bjergsen and Doublelift carry them, and if that’s the case, strap in for a long ride. After they return from Berlin, TSM will face Team Liquid and their Rift Rival Compatriots Phoenix 1. What looks like a 2-0 week on paper means little when Mikeyeung continues to re-write what’s possible for a rookie. Watching NA’s strongest side try to contain NA’s hottest jungler is absolutely appointment viewing. 

Aurelion Sol is an incredibly difficult champion to play, let alone play well. The dragon and his stars form a wonky kit with a finesse disable, a seemingly underwhelming ultimate and flying speed that easily places the novice out of position. But put Aurelion Sol in the hands of a master like Huhi, and he quickly becomes the most oppressive champion in League of Legends.

Cloud 9 decided to do just that in Game 1 against Counter Logic Gaming, and Huhi showed them—again—exactly why this champion had been banned against CLG in 20 out 27 Summer Split games. Of the seven games Aurelion Sol has been left open, Huhi’s drafted the dragon three times, winning all three games with a combined score of 19-2-27. That Cloud 9 had already watched Huhi decide their previous series with a 7-0-10 performance on Aurelion Sol made it even more maddening that they let him have it again, but here we are. Huhi finished Game 1 of the rematch 7-1-9 and CLG beat Cloud 9 2-1 in an otherwise closely contested series.

The Liquid series was much more one-sided. Dardoch looked awful while bullying Reignover on an arrogant invade that ended up feeding Liquid his First Blood, but luckily the rest of CLG played solidly enough to overcome their early disadvantage. Darshan improved his split-pushing this week, correctly breaking down turrets and patiently holding his Teleport instead of rushing toward every fight.

When CLG can successfully execute the 4-1, few teams in NA have the macro to punish them. They’ll have more chances to do so in Week 6 against Team Dignitas and FlyQuest, teams whose desperation will catch CLG off-guard if they’re not prepared.

Everyone was focused on the titanic Bjergsen-Jensen matchup in the mid lane when TSM met Cloud 9 for Round 2, but it was Contractz who secured top billing with his best series of the Summer.

Contractz was everywhere as Elise in Game 1, landing cocoons that would have snowballed C9 to victory against a lessor team. Jensen hard-carried C9 to a Game 2 win on his first-pick Orianna, but Contractz finished deathless with 12 assists, and it was his masterstroke on Nunu in Game 3 that keyed a C9 upset. The Stoneborn Pact keystone mastery plus Warmog’s Armor and Gargoyle Stoneplate meant major heals during team fights, and Nunu’s ability to consume objectives secured an early game advantage C9 never let falter. Hats off to the Spring Rookie of the Split, whose work often goes overlooked. Jensen’s massive CS leads in the mid lane come from somewhere, as does top lane stability amidst the swapping between Impact and Ray.

C9 dug their own grave in the CLG series, believing they had an answer to Huhi’s Aurelion Sol when they did not, conceding a game they otherwise could have won judging by how close Games 2 and 3 were. As good as Jensen played over the back-end of the TSM series, he was uneven on Syndra against CLG after Huhi pulverized him with stardust. That defeat kept C9 out of the #2 spot; despite looking stronger than CLG on the whole, they’ve now lost the season series 0-2, 2-4.

Returning to American shores in Week 6 means dates with Immortals and Team EnVyUs, which should provide plenty of opportunities for Contractz to prove his worth again. Faced with two excellent junglers looking to escape personal slumps, I don’t imagine it’ll be easy.

Week 5 was a steep fall for Immortals, losing their throne after an understandable beatdown by TSM and a less-forgivable reverse-sweep to Phoenix 1. Xmithie will be seeing highlights from Games 2 and 3 for years to come, and for all the wrong reasons.

Credit to TSM, they had a point to prove and did so by running over Immortals through the mid lane. Pobelter was little more than a mobile ward against Bjergsen’s Syndra and Cassiopeia, finishing 1-8-13 and dealing half the damage of his counterpart’s carry mids. Few teams can beat TSM when Bjergsen stomps mid lane, and Immortals are no exception.

I expect more out of the veteran Xmithie, who did well to pressure Hauntzer but otherwise couldn’t stop Bjergsen or Doublelift from getting anything they wanted. Against Phoenix 1, Xmithie’s combination of surprise and disrespect allowed Rookie of the Split Mikeyeung to out-jungle a player who should have known better. All this to say that Week 5 exposed Immortals as being incredibly reliant on Xmithie to set up winning lanes and influence the late game. When he does neither, Immortals lose the luster they’ve built in Summer and look more like the middling team of Spring. Case in point: Immortals are 4-9 when Xmithie dies 4 or more times.

Immortals face another tough test in Cloud 9 this coming weekend paired with an Echo Fox side searching for something positive. The meeting with C9 (and CLG later in the season) will determine if Immortals has a chance at a Top-2 seed in playoffs.

Team EnVyUs somehow moves up the rankings despite a god-awful series with Phoenix 1 last Friday and the patience to wait out Dignitas until they self-combusted.

Re-reading my P1-NV series notes, phrases jump out at me:

·       “We’ve been in the river for, like, 2 minutes”

·       “My guess: Lira’s tilited”

·       “Mid lane outer from P1 dies at @42:45, I wanna die”

·       “Equivalent of monkeys throwing feces at each other”

·        “…abominations of cowardice and tilt”

Long story short—and I mean long, Games 2 and 3 lasted 106:56—the series was so bad no one deserved to win, but Envy deserved it least. Zero decisive shots were called in the late game, with strategy devolving into farming until six-slotted and praying for a pick. In other words, they played like EU teams, and it hurt my head to watch. Barons were poorly contested or not contested at all. Players roamed over the map with the vague notion of pushing lanes, but inevitably found themselves outnumbered and killed. There was no confidence to anything Envy did, and so I hoped this space would be used to put them on blast for 500 words.

Alas, Envy denied me my rage and pulled together a half-decent series against Dignitas. Sure, Dignitas presented that series on a platter for Envy multiple times over multiple games, but it takes a certain quality to punish those mistakes and on that day, Envy had it. Pirean was reliable in the mid lane, looking especially effective when he gets Taliyah—his most-played champ that also has his highest win rate at 71.4%—as he did in Game 3. Nisqy will continue to warm the bench if Envy can get games like that out of Pirean.

But for Envy to contend for a playoff spot, they need to fix their late game deficiencies. Lira has the highest GD@15 (+415) and XPD@15 (+544) of all starting NA junglers, helping Envy achieve the highest GD@15 (+998) in NA LCS. Yet they do nothing with those advantages; Envy are tied for lowest First Dragon Rate (37%) and second-lowest Baron control rate (44%) in the league. At some point, any early advantage Envy gains will cease to matter; teams will stall out the game until gold equalizes and push fights and objectives Envy can’t win.

Cloud 9 and Echo Fox aim to punish Envy’s late game in Week 6. Well…maybe only C9.

Magic Mikeyeung has lit the fire and Phoenix 1 are reborn, achieving their first 2-0 of Summer Split just in time to challenge the Kings of Europe. The rookie’s undressing of Immortals in Games 2-3 cemented his folk-hero status—I’ve personally watched his Game 3 1v5 Baron denial half a dozen times already—and his post-game interview with Phreak, paused initially due to the roar of the crowd, was genuinely moving.

Who would have thought such a talent could emerge from troll-filled cesspool that is NA solo queue? Mike’s confidence has been off the charts since being told by his teammates to stop respecting his opponents too much, and his ability to bury opposing solo laners (see: Flame in Game 2) is among the best in the league. Put him on a carry jungler and watch the sparks fly. It’s too bad he’ll never be allowed to play Nidalee again.

Phoenix 1 shouldn’t be as good as they are, and despite their recent form, playoffs remain a long shot. The signing and starting of Xspecial has stabilized bot lane, but Arrow continues to underperform, his Spring Split MVP award an increasingly distant memory. Ryu has found new life on Corki, and Zig’s Renekton looks strong, but outside those picks they cannot consistently get ahead even with Mikeyeung’s undivided early game attention.

Mike raised the bar for Phoenix 1, but will his teammates meet him up there? Week 6 showdowns with TSM and Team Dignitas will dictate how close to playoffs this team can get.

Now reeling from four straight 1-2 series defeats, Team Dignitas have lost much of the momentum gained by their strong 5-1 start to Summer Split.

I wrote last week that Dignitas need to find ways to win that don’t involve Ssumday carrying, and this week was more proof. LOD was pulled midway through the FlyQuest series for Altec and immediately the bot lane looked more dangerous. Is the former FlyQuest man the answer? He looked great on Tristana, even securing the second pentakill of the split in Game 2 vs. Team EnVyUs. Still, ADCs are only as good as their team allows them to be, reliant on strong macro to select advantageous fights.

This is a problem for Dignitas, as it’s hard to take advantageous fights when your best player is too easily tracked via his Teleport cooldown. The 4-1 split pushing strategy that Dignitas favor separates Ssumday from his team, and when the opposition is confident in 4v4s or commits heavily to gank Ssumday without fear, what does this strategy accomplish?

You need a legitimate threat in the group of four to make the 4-1 work. TSM have Bjergsen and Doublelift. CLG has Stixxay. Even Echo Fox have Froggen. Who do Dignitas have? Altec is an improvement, but Keane hasn’t been pulling his weight for weeks now, and Shrimp looks a step slower than the jungler who confidently replaced Chaser in Week 2.

Dignitas will need to find answers quickly or their slide will lengthen. Maybe they’ll learn a thing or two from CLG and Phoenix 1 in Week 6.

I left this team for dead last week, so of course they finished Week 5 2-0. Sure, the competition (Dignitas and Echo Fox) was on the weaker side, but wins are wins, especially when last in the standings. Still, it’s fair to say FlyQuest were the beneficiaries of several throws, and were soundly beaten once in each of the three-game series.

To trigger a turnaround, Hai needed to step up and did so, finally giving WildTurtle the help he’s needed all split. Hai’s performances in two closeout Game 3s were fantastic, finishing 8-1-10 on Lucian vs. Dignitas and 4-1-5 on Orianna vs. Echo Fox. FlyQuest looked decisive in their shot calls during wins, often out-maneuvering their opponents late after sloppy early games.

For his part, Turtle has been putting up solid ADC stats, averaging 9.1 CSM and 561 DPM, the latter a league best. With Tristana and Jhin back in the meta, Turtle has more comfort to work with, but at 1-7 his Jhin might not be the best for FlyQuest in the long run (he’s undefeated in three Trist games). When Moon and Balls can contribute this team looks primed to compete, but those instances are few and far between.

Still, an overall positive week from FlyQuest. CLG and Team Liquid are up next in Week 6; at minimum a split weekend would be enough to keep their momentum going.

It’s the same old story from Echo Fox this week, yet again throwing away a winnable series vs. FlyQuest due to poor Baron control and a general inability to snowball early game leads.

Froggen can put up all the gaudy laning stats he wants; what’s the point if they can’t translate into wins? Individual performances aren’t the problem, as Fox proved they can win games when their ADC goes 0-0-0 (Game 1 win vs. Liquid). What is problematic is the disconnect between gaining mid-priority and securing Baron, something Froggen needs to be more vocal about seeing as it’s his lane they need to control. Fox were up 3k gold over FlyQuest in Games 2 and 3, losing both to a combination of picks, sketchy macro and a week bot lane supplying Turtle all the farm he desired.

The Liquid series should have been a clean 2-0 considering the gulf in talent, but three early deaths during a greedy river fight cost Echo Fox Game 2. Credit to Fox for eventually closing out the series, but letting the worst team in the league take you to three games isn’t something to build on. Akaadian and Keith had three kills combined over three games vs. Liquid. How many teams will Fox beat with stats like that from two of their primary damage dealers?

Immortals and Team EnVyUs are next, with Envy suffering from their own late game issues. If Fox can keep their heads in the mid game, we could have a pair of decent series. I’m not holding my breath.

The search for a serviceable starting five continues for Team Liquid, who showed some fight during their third 0-2 week of Summer but little else. The early triple kill by Goldenglue in Game 2 vs. Echo Fox and the victory that followed was the lone highlight of the week. That, and Lourlo debuting Irelia as an old-school counter to Darshan’s Gnar, back in the meta after buffs in Patch 7.13.

I’m not sure what to say about Liquid that hasn’t already been said. Their team fighting is scattered, objectives are lost without contest, and no magical combination of players seems to dramatically change results. Slooshi and Goldenglue are on par with each other, KonKwon hasn’t synergized with Piglet noticeably better than Matt, and Inori isn’t an upgrade over Reignover. Folks, Doublelift isn’t walking through that door.

Liquid have TSM and Flyquest next, two series they shouldn’t be able to win no matter the lineup.