With LMQ and Cloud 9 Tempest securing first round byes for 1st and 2nd place, it’s time for the remaining four Challenger teams to compete for their shot at LCS! The bottom four teams consist of compLexity.Black, compLexity.Red, Curse Academy, and vVv Gaming. They’ll all be competing in best-of-three matches to move on to the Playoffs semifinals. Be sure to stay tuned this weekend to see which teams will advance into the Summer Promotion Tournament.
As an extra note, vVv Gaming and coL.Red tied in Series Points and played a best-of-one to determine Playoffs seeding. vVv Gaming secured the win and the #5 seed in the NA CS Playoffs.
Clashing Complexity
compLexity.Red vs. compLexity.Black
Both of the compLexity squads are strong, no doubt about it. Both have stellar players with a huge amount of experience. However, the difference between the two teams is how they win games. While Black focuses on Jungle synergy between the lanes to snowball them out of control early, Red focuses more on stellar laning (and assassin based compositions) to get towards a late game dominant position.
With Goldenglue’s recent move to Team Dignitas, it’s still up in the air which player will replace him on Red. If they have enough time to synergize, then they’ll bring a strong fight to Black. However, synergy takes a long time to build and it’s likely that this will be a pretty rough set for Red. The key to their victory will be subverting Brokenshard’s dominating jungle performance and forcing him into a more passive role.
Complexity.Black has been strong throughout the NA CS, coming in second place in the first NA CS but stumbling a bit and falling short in the second Series. They’re even stronger now that the meta has started shifting more towards assassins (which Westrice is known for) and away from the mega tank trifecta of Shyvana, Mundo, and Renekton. Though they’re a strong team, they have a chance to be blindsided by Red’s diverse strategy and champion pool.
The Rematch
vVv Gaming vs. Curse Academy
vVv Gaming and Curse Academy are constantly throwing down in both NA CS and the NACL. Both teams are good in their own right, with Curse Academy having a broader spectrum of champions and strategies available to them, while vVv Gaming relies more on individual talent over team synergy.
Curse Academy is heavily reliant on their recent synergy breakthrough with Rhux and Pat. The two were inseparable in the last round of NA CS and it’s a major breakthrough since their previous games had lackluster tower dives and teamwork top lane. With this newfound power they can topple nearly everyone in the Challenger scene, with the exception of LMQ.
vVv gaming has had a rough time in the Challenger scene this Season. They don’t lack talent, strategy, or champion pools – what they lack is steady communication. They seem to always be on different pages in regards to dives or objectives, and it hurts them immensely. It’s been steadily improving over time, but they’ll need to really step it up to knock Curse Academy out of the park.
Be sure to tune in to the Playoffs starting with the Quarterfinals this weekend. For information about the bracket and specific broadcast schedule, check out the NA Challenger Series hub on lolesports.
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