NA LCS Super Week Preview
Riot·5/19/2014, 8:26:08 PM·0 votes·1,718 views
After a month-long hiatus, NA LCS commences once more with several new faces since spring. In addition to two new teams in LMQ and the return of compLexity Gaming, four other LCS teams have under gone significant roster changes, all in hopes of becoming more competitive and ultimately strengthening their chances at qualifying for the World Championships later this year.
It's a fresh start and worth all the marbles for this season. Which of these eight teams will rise to the top? We're about to find out!
The summer split starts off with a rematch of the spring split playoff finals between C9 and TSM. Cloud 9 remains one of two teams in NA that didn't make any adjustments to their roster - and for good reason. Finishing a second consecutive split in the top spot, C9 knows their goal is not just to be the best in NA, but to make an even bigger splash at Worlds this year. Although Hai was absent at All-Star, the rest of his team have learned plenty after competing with the best teams of the other four regions, including the reigning World champions, SKT T1 K.
For TSM, it's a beginning of a new era. With Xpecial’s departure for Team Curse and TheOddOne's retirement, Dyrus is now the most veteran member in TSM's lineup. Once again, they've turned to EU in search of fresh talent and landed former Copenhagen Wolves jungler Amazing after his impressive rookie season last split. With talented newcomer Gleebglarbu playing support, TSM hope this new iteration of the team will be enough to break onto the Worlds stage this year. For them, however, everything starts at home.
As the two newest teams of the NA LCS, compLexity and LMQ have a lot to prove. While this has become a dream come true for Westrice, RobertxLee, and Bubbadub, it has been an opportunity Pr0lly and BrokenShard have been waiting a long time for: a return to the LCS stage. By knocking out Team Coast - a team that had been in the LCS for three splits - in the summer promotion with a convincing 3-1, coL wants nothing more than to topple even bigger names this split.
LMQ had been terrorizing the Challenger Scene for much of the previous split and now that they've made it into the LCS, just how far can the Chinese team go? LMQ has demonstrated an eagerness to go hard against opposing teams in the opening minutes on the Rift. It will be interesting to see how their level of aggression plays out at the LCS level.
Long time names in the NA LCS, Curse and Dignitas both tweaked their lineup this split in hopes of finishing higher than they did in spring. When Curse heard that Xpecial was benched at the end of the spring split playoffs, they jumped at the opportunity to sign one of the premiere support talents in the world. Although this becomes seventh support Cop has been partnered with since Curse first started, Xpecial will be bringing a veteran experience to Curse’s bottom lane.
Dignitas also saw a major opportunity at the end of spring. When Coast failed to requalify for summer, Dignitas brought ZionSpartan and Shiphtur on board in hopes that they use them to make a deeper run this upcoming split. As heavy hitting solo laners, Shiphtur and ZionSpartan are ready to bring their explosive late game combo to Dignitas and make a push for the top of the rankings.
In the last match of Super Week, CLG have a chance to test the full extent of their new top lane, Seraph, against the very best of NA. With a steady finish at number three last split, CLG is primed and ready to break into the top two - a feat that has long evaded the team.
Seraph brings a new repertoire of champions for the team including his own personal touch of AD Nidalee. Formidable at split pushing and at team fights, Seraph will complement well with Link in mid lane and Doublelift in bot lane. It remains to be seen, however, how he will fare against Balls, who has long been touted as the best top lane in the NA LCS.
Be sure to tune into the first Super Week of the 2014 Summer Split on May 23rd at 12:00PM PST. You do not want to miss all the action here at lolesports.com!
Cloud 9 vs Team SoloMid
When: Friday, 5/23, 12:00 p.m. PST / 21:00 CET
The summer split starts off with a rematch of the spring split playoff finals between C9 and TSM. Cloud 9 remains one of two teams in NA that didn't make any adjustments to their roster - and for good reason. Finishing a second consecutive split in the top spot, C9 knows their goal is not just to be the best in NA, but to make an even bigger splash at Worlds this year. Although Hai was absent at All-Star, the rest of his team have learned plenty after competing with the best teams of the other four regions, including the reigning World champions, SKT T1 K.
For TSM, it's a beginning of a new era. With Xpecial’s departure for Team Curse and TheOddOne's retirement, Dyrus is now the most veteran member in TSM's lineup. Once again, they've turned to EU in search of fresh talent and landed former Copenhagen Wolves jungler Amazing after his impressive rookie season last split. With talented newcomer Gleebglarbu playing support, TSM hope this new iteration of the team will be enough to break onto the Worlds stage this year. For them, however, everything starts at home.
compLexity vs LMQ
When: Saturday, 5/24, 1:00 p.m. PST / 22:00 CET
As the two newest teams of the NA LCS, compLexity and LMQ have a lot to prove. While this has become a dream come true for Westrice, RobertxLee, and Bubbadub, it has been an opportunity Pr0lly and BrokenShard have been waiting a long time for: a return to the LCS stage. By knocking out Team Coast - a team that had been in the LCS for three splits - in the summer promotion with a convincing 3-1, coL wants nothing more than to topple even bigger names this split.
LMQ had been terrorizing the Challenger Scene for much of the previous split and now that they've made it into the LCS, just how far can the Chinese team go? LMQ has demonstrated an eagerness to go hard against opposing teams in the opening minutes on the Rift. It will be interesting to see how their level of aggression plays out at the LCS level.
Curse vs Team Dignitas
When: Sunday, 5/25, 3:00 p.m. PST / 00:00 CET
Long time names in the NA LCS, Curse and Dignitas both tweaked their lineup this split in hopes of finishing higher than they did in spring. When Curse heard that Xpecial was benched at the end of the spring split playoffs, they jumped at the opportunity to sign one of the premiere support talents in the world. Although this becomes seventh support Cop has been partnered with since Curse first started, Xpecial will be bringing a veteran experience to Curse’s bottom lane.
Dignitas also saw a major opportunity at the end of spring. When Coast failed to requalify for summer, Dignitas brought ZionSpartan and Shiphtur on board in hopes that they use them to make a deeper run this upcoming split. As heavy hitting solo laners, Shiphtur and ZionSpartan are ready to bring their explosive late game combo to Dignitas and make a push for the top of the rankings.
Counter Logic Gaming vs Cloud 9
When: Sunday, 5/25, 4:00 p.m. PST / 01:00 CET
In the last match of Super Week, CLG have a chance to test the full extent of their new top lane, Seraph, against the very best of NA. With a steady finish at number three last split, CLG is primed and ready to break into the top two - a feat that has long evaded the team.
Seraph brings a new repertoire of champions for the team including his own personal touch of AD Nidalee. Formidable at split pushing and at team fights, Seraph will complement well with Link in mid lane and Doublelift in bot lane. It remains to be seen, however, how he will fare against Balls, who has long been touted as the best top lane in the NA LCS.
Be sure to tune into the first Super Week of the 2014 Summer Split on May 23rd at 12:00PM PST. You do not want to miss all the action here at lolesports.com!
