Does being in the LCS mean that you're inherently better than any other challenger player that is not in the LCS? Or does being good enough to achieve challenger (objectively) mean you're good enough to compete with other LCS players?
The difference is that a LCS team picked them up, it is not that they are better or worse :D
Speaking seriously, the skills you need in a team environment are partially different from the one you need to succeed in soloQ. In solo Q you should aim to have as much carry power as possible on yourself because that's the fastest and more reliable way for yourself to win game, in team play you got to do what is necessary for your team to win, which could mean filling a different purpose on your team
Basically achieve challenger can show that you have the mechanically skills, but from that point there is much more you got to do to succeed in a team, and that's why some player completely fail in LCS despite being soloQ gods (Woolite, Gillius, Mash and other exmples in NA) Paradoxically even some masters (or Diamond 2 lel) players would be better than some LCS players, cause they have those skills to make up the lack of mechanical skills (and often it isn't even a matter of mechancics, but a matter of having lower peaks on some super carry soloQ champions that can more easier led you to climb the ladder)
P.S. on a side note, that's why i was aaginst the magnitude of changes tone to challenger ladder in the CS qualifier process, play in an amateur/semi-pro team before getting to a CS/LCS team is an experience that can greatly improve players and can help to distinguish earlier in the development process the players capable to translate their soloQ play to team competitive environment
The difference between a regular challenger player and an LCS player is usually that the LCS player can play alot of champions in his role and work better as a team. For example there are guys who reached challenger by just spamming their main in Soloq, it is hard to imagine any team would pick those up because they are so easy to ban out. But the general skill level is pretty equal.
I would also add in the effects of a competitive and professional environment. When your livelihood is on the line it makes everything that much more pressure filled. Making good decisions in soloq is much different than in a pro circuit.
I think that's one of the things that is hard to answer. The game plays differently in competitive than it does in solo que. For competitive, the size of a player's champion pool is more important than it is in solo que because they can be target banned in a way that doesn't generally happen in solo que. Additionally team cohesion is more important in competitive than it is in solo que because your opponents can/will have it.
It's worth pointing out that while a challenger player or a player on a different team may be the "best player" they may not be the best player for a particular team. Hai is a great example, because he had a limited champion pool and his mechanics have somewhat deteriorated w/ his injury and inability to practice as much because of it, but he brings leadership to the team in a way that really helps more than many "better" players. The same function could be true of players getting along. They don't have to get along to be able to work together, but in extreme cases it can often matter a great deal.
mechanically? not always. But most LCS players have a way better understanding of the game itself and teamplay, so their decission-making is far better than that of any SoloQ-player. That´s pretty much why you can´t just put the best SoloQ-players together and find success, sometimes that may work out - but more often then not they´ll lack the more important skills for playing competitive LoL (China this season is actually a great example - best mechanical region but totally underperforming at worlds as they couldn´t find a good way to play as a team with 2different languages). So it´s kinda hard to scout for players in SOloQ I guess...more often you´re better off with someone like Balls that may not be able to achieve Challenger, but reliably does what´s best for his team.
basically its all about team play, you may be the best solo-player to ever grace a computer game but if its teambased and you can't play in a team then you will suddenly in that format be very, very bad.
its why you see some pro players in diamond etc, they go to try-outs and open-try-outs and competitions etc etc to get noticed, the ones plucked from soloq with no work are lucky now.
edit: no work in comparission to someone who has been to X amount of try outs and comps etc.
Typically yes I would say they do. It's not because they are necessarily better mechanically (a lot are better mechanically), but that they have a certain skill that makes them different and a better pick compared to other players in challenger.
