Top 5 Stories Going into LCS Playoffs

Riot·Apr 9, 2014·0 votes·2,167 views

The hard-fought clashes of the last four months have all been leading up to this: an epic 6-day playoff series to decide the best teams in NA and EU. The playoffs kick off next Tuesday, April 15, with the EU quarterfinals. Three days later, EU will crown its champion and NA will kick off their own playoffs tournament, culminating in a final series on Sunday, April 20.

There's a lot of momentum and history being carried into this tournament. Let's take a look at five of the biggest stories leading into the playoffs.

1. The Fnatic Roller Coaster

Fnatic fans don't know what to believe anymore. XPeke and crew started the season perfectly, winning 7 of their first 8 games before finally succumbing to Gambit in Week 3. That single loss sent them spiraling down the chart with 8 defeats in a row as opponents abused Fnatic's lack of objective control.

Fnatic managed to steady themselves in Weeks 7 and 8, going 3-3 before inexplicably reemerging at their former demigod status. They then won 5 games in a row and closed out the regular season with a 7-1 streak.

Fnatic has been called "infallible", "messy", and "risky" this split -- and all of it has been well-deserved. Fnatic is on another hot streak right now, but can they keep this one from fizzling out too soon?

2. The Rise of CLG

CLG fans, however, know exactly what to believe in. Their team has finally found a way to be consistent. CLG has sat in third or fourth place every week of the Spring Split, except for one (They temporarily dipped into fifth during Week 3).

That consistent standings placement is misleading, however, because of just how sharp the divide between teams is in NA. CLG has been improving rapidly and winning matches with authority. They now sit comfortably behind TSM and Cloud 9--two teams that no one in the LCS should be ashamed to look up to in standings--with a six-win lead on their next closest challenger, a 12-16 Dignitas.

Dexter's authoritative jungle play has consistently helped keep Link and Nien fed, while Aphromoo's sudden resurgence has helped Doublelift transition bot-lane domination into team fight mass-murder. CLG has taken wins off of every team in the NA LCS, and the time is now for them to finally prove their potential.

3. Surprise Usurpers in EU

Once again, EU was a tight race for first place in Week 11 with potential tie-breaker scenarios that'd give mathematicians headaches. But two unlikely names climbed the chart in the final weeks: ROCCAT and SK Gaming.

SK started the season going 2-4, but have done nothing but improve since Week 1. They've fixed their problems and adapted to patches quickly, finding ways to punish opponents and climb the charts. An impressive 4-0 close to their regular season let them force their way past Fnatic to take the top spot.

Meanwhile, ROCCAT has fallen a bit of late. For the first half of the split, this brand new team looked like the one team that could overthrow Fnatic's reign. They even held the first-place spot for three weeks in the middle of the split.

While still looking solid, they have recently failed to amass a win streak like Fnatic, SK, and Alliance did in the final third of the split. Their break-even win ratio simply couldn't keep up. They've shown all split that their coordination and individual play can beat the best teams out there, but they'll need to be more consistent if they want to usurp the EU throne this split.

4. The TSM vs. Cloud 9 Rivalry

For the several years of professional LoL, TSM dominated the NA scene. They were the undisputed champions with full claim to the spotlight that earned them the massive fan base they still have today.

Then suddenly, out of nowhere, Cloud 9 burst onto the professional circuit last year and made TSM--and the rest of the NA scene--look completely helpless by comparison. It was a shock for TSM, and they made several big changes to successfully strike back at Cloud 9 with Bjergsen at the helm this year.

After another initial embarrassment by a Teemo-led Cloud 9 team at the start of this split, TSM held tightly onto their first-place position in NA for 8 weeks in a row. Then Cloud 9 stole it back in Week 10, holding TSM off with a two-win advantage at the close of the regular season.

TSM and Cloud 9 have the exact same combined record against other NA teams (21-3, an absurd 88% win ratio), but Cloud 9 seems to always find a way to beat TSM when they face head to head. As the two top teams in NA, they won't face each other in the playoffs unless they both make it to the finals on Sunday. And if they do, it's going to be a crazy series that should see both sides pull out big surprises to keep their rivals off-balance.

5. Alliance's Turnaround

It took Alliance a while to find their footing. In hindsight, maybe it's not surprising--they were a newly formed team, with only Froggen and Wickd remaining from last year's EG roster. Communication issues, among others, kept them in the bottom half of the rankings for the first seven weeks, even occupying last place on three occasions.

But the gamble of forming a new team around Froggen and Wickd seems to have finally paid off. Froggen and Tabzz led the way with terrific Week 8 performances, and Wickd and Shook have both taken turns stepping up to crush lanes and launch unstoppable split-pushes.

Alliance climbed from last place in Week 1 to first place in Week 10, before falling to third place during Super Week. It took the team most of the split to sort out their synergy and coordination, but they're peaking at the right time. They're poised to make a very serious push for the crown next week.

See How the Stories End

Be sure to tune in for the playoffs starting next week, Tuesday, April15, on lolesports.com.

Josh Augustine's favorite champion is Thresh, he's never enjoyed a Darius, and he will always go for the kill, even when he knows he shouldn't. He currently works as a game designer on EverQuest Next at Sony Online Entertainment. He’d love to talk with you on Twitter.