10 Thoughts after week 1 - NA

III BAKURYU III ·Jun 5, 2017·3 votes·696 views

I. Huhi - Counter Logic Gaming 2-0 Is a huge reason as to why CLG are 2-0 as of right now. He was a 1 trick pony early on in his career but has been increasing his champion pool as the splits continue.

2016 Spring 8 unique champions in 18 games 3.9 2.0 4.7 KDA 2016 Summer 13 unique champions in 46 games 3.1 2.5 4.8 KDA 2017 Spring 16 unique champions in 44 games 4.2 3.4 5.4 KDA 2017 Summer 5 unique champions in 5 games 4.8 2.2 6.2 KDA

CLG already beating C9 who was considered a top tier team before the split will help this team within the standings, the fall of P1 0-2 and TSM 1-1 doesn't hurt either.

II. Goldenglue - Team Liquid 0-2 This team brought him back, they lose 1 game series and they sub him out. lol, if that doesn't say " We don't have confidence in you" I don't know what does. 0-8-8 = Korean training

III. Team Liquid - ....... Team Liquid 0-2 This team reminds me of Jin Air Green Wings sometimes, how the slowly just fade away in games without doing much of anything, at least JAG can stall out games around 43 min average game time while TL loses around the 31-32 min average game time.
Looks exactly the same as last split 0 map focus, last in dragons, last in kills, last in barons, last in towers.
The meme of 4th for TL/Crs is now a fantasy for this team/Org they DREAM, they CRAVE to be 4th now! The reality is now 10th for this team.

IV. Echo Fox 2-0 Honestly the bright spot among teams would have to be Echo Fox. Placed them 10th in my predictions and while I may very well be wrong, I'm actually happy this team isn't bad anymore, instead the whole scrimming only EFC seemed to work so far.

V. Cloud 9 0-2 The total opposite of Echo Fox is C9. Impact will find himself having to carry a 0-2 team and in which C9 will most likely not sub in Ray for the rest of the split or until C9 have won a playoff birth to give Impact a much needed rest to do so. Got beat by TSM and CLG in pretty competitive games isn't as bad as what some are saying; TSM and CLG are top tier teams it seems or for the moment.

VI. Doublelift - Team Solomid 1-1 Looks a bit shaky as I imagined he would be coming back from his break. He he was on TL D-Lift wasn't this carry god like previous seen from say his CLG days of playing with 2-3 lower tier names on a team. However maybe TSM only needs some time to really gel but don't take too long when the lower tier teams from last split are on the rise and the previous top tier teams are falling down in the standings. TSM should be worried if you ask me.

VII. Lourlo - Team Liquid 0-2 He may be a decent player and when fans often have said " He should be replaced" he would often counter and say " with who" at this point TL could sub in a cardboard cut-out of Lourlo and it would do just as much in game.
He never seems to actually tank no, instead it's Piglet who's having to be on the front line for this team because Lourlo doesn't seem to know what he's doing half the time.

VIII. Reignover - Team Liquid 0-2 Team Liquid again..... Look, I know his team is garbage and all but, what is going on with Reignover ? Did the League Monstars take his League ability or something ? Gets caught out constantly, has 0 map focus objective calling, heck D-Lift had to come in and shotcall because it seems Reignover can't do so.

IX. Piglet - Team L....... What meta favors this guy in having games where he can actually carry or win ? 2015, 2016 and now 2017 it seems those metas just aren't for him. Expecting him to be subbed out soon and given the GG treatment to train in Korea but in doing so I think Piglet would be like " Thanks for the free plane ticket " and just leave TL/NA.

X. Counter Logic Gaming I'm SO excited for this team and what the could accomplish. We've seen what CLG can do in both NA and on the International stage. YES, they don't win but hell at least they put up a fight and before when the team had Aphromoo, Darshan and Xmithie and 2 rookies Stixxay and Huhi they did better than expected by EVERY caster at MSI placing them 5th with the exception of Kobbe who's " I'v never doubted them". Gotta love this team, they built young stars the RIGHT WAY instead of just throwing money at players, they invested time in their Challenger CLG Black Stixxay and now with Dardoch this team should be one of the 3 NA teams for Rift Rivals and I'm so happy.

Comment, hate, like, do what you want I don't care.

10 Comments

hotarseJun 5, 20172 votes

You don't care? You won't delete this if it gets 10+ downvotes? Shall I get my minions to test your resolve? jk Good read as usual Baku San. I also am enjoying TL's demise. What is up with Reignover. Was Huni really the meat patty and Reignover the lettuce in the Immortal's Hamburger? Is he having a hard time adapting to this season's jungle (I really don't like this season's jungle much either). Or maybe it's the secret sauce: Piglet. He just somehow makes everything taste bad! How's that for an analogy? I am also excited for CLG. I'd like to see them manage to make it to worlds this season. They have a strong core of players that I think Dardoch can add to. I just hope he manages to stay positive even if they hit a few speed bumps. Nice pointing out Huhi's progress. I also used to think he was a pretty weak midlaner whose main strength was timely roaming and friendship. But he's been getting stronger in lane, and is the only NA midlaner who can pull out Ao Shin and make it work. At this point, there's no one not to like on CLG so count me a fan. Finally TSM. I don't think Doublelift is that huge of an upgrade from WT, but the player who seems to be struggling most on this team, and for a while now, is svenskarn. What's up with his mojo? Got any theories? Is it new jungle woes?

III BAKURYU III Jun 5, 20171 votes

" You don't care? You won't delete this if it gets 10+ downvotes? Shall I get my minions to test your resolve? "

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fBGWtVOKTkM

" Good read as usual Baku San" 0.14 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5569O3NZkVU

I have no idea what's going on with Reignover honestly, either he stays too long when teammates are caught out and he's trying to " walk them out" safely and he too stays for far too long or he's taking the Piglet mentality of picking up a free check and just play games. IDK Was Huni the better player between he and Reignover my answer YES, however with TL the players are 100% different between SKT and TL and I'm sure you will agree. In EU it was so obvious on how much he would just camp Huni and EU couldn't really do all that much about it because both Huni and Reignover were so new in the scene, similar to Stixxay when he replaced D-Lift everyone/fans were like " Who is this noob lol, he thinks he can do something" type of feel.

" Is he having a hard time adapting to this season's jungle " Can't be honestly, that's like saying a teacher having to adapt to a new room to teach and just can't or something. It goes Huni > Lourlo. Febiven,Pobelter > GG. Rekkles/Turtle/Adrian/Y.S > Piglet and Matt. He's pretty much just on a shit team to be frank here.

Just look at his teammates, he's the best player on TL no question but HOLY F is this team just horrible in making plays. Look at how many times Lourlo actually pulls off a good TPs, roams, ganks, look at 90% of the fights and tell me he doesn't leave/end the fight with full HP and the TL carries are dead with him being the last one alive there are none, Lourlo, Matt, GG, all have 1 thing in common - Not able to make plays. Either A this team will be relegated or eliminated from the LCS or every single member's contracts will be terminated because this team just can't do anything right and it's going on 3 years(Piglet)

" How's that for an analogy"?

Gotta say I'v had better burgers in the past, Spongebob. lol

Huhi is literally a Diamond in the rough in the way he was presented early on in his career honestly. He's so underestimated and he's a guy that has had games against some of the best(Faker) mids in the World.
He's been in the League for so long but just under everyone's eyes. Stixxay - Even I was like " who" when he replaced D-lift. But above all the mood, the air for CLG is so much better than when D-Lift was there with the whole " I'm best, everyone else is trash" and then you see him get dumpstered for like 5 years on CLG. " Respect all - Fear none" Love that, not a fanboy of CLG or any team but I love teams that have respect it makes them feel KOREAN like.
CLG is a team that isn't 100% solo Q focused but works on team synergy, friendship and hardwork with talent that isn't Bjegsen or D-Lift or 5-6 Korean imports.

xJLx MCHammerJun 5, 20171 votes

So far, first week, Hauntzer showed the %%%%% in his armor. This guy doesn't seem to be able to play anything other than Camille and Naut. Every game since TSM entered MSI, he keeps doing poorly in lane

DL still trying to act as if he is this god player. TSM pretty much a gives all the resources he needs. Cait, lulu, early jungler like Lee, Gallo...etc and he still can't perform on a level you'd assume player would

C9, I'm surprised there is no Impact. I think it's time Impact shows he can play non tanks. Sneaky and Smoothie need to refocus

CLG looking good but DD is not fit just yet

III BAKURYU III Jun 5, 20171 votes

Yeah, D-Lift pretty much requires so much resources and does like 50% of what other ADCs can do around the World. I mean does anyone remember the player graph of D-Lift and Uzi at Worlds when it was showing gold, dmg etc? D-Lift require like 10% more gold than Uzi but did like 10-15% less damage per minute, per game.
CLG for years based their entire offense around D-Lift and.......... I'm talking about those 2013-14 years, 2015 Aphromoo found his brain and was like " I'm going to work around Darshan and Xmithie instead of D-Lift" won NA went to Worlds and ..

I knew Sneaky/Smoothie were going to have a hard time in lane/game because of the whole carry meta as they always do whenever this meta comes up 2014 Summer C9 were mediocre and lost Finals, 2015 Summer 7th place, 2016 Spring relied on Impact to carry but still lost Finals, but man he's not like super bad in lane it's outside of lane with his " in mid forgetting that people were on the map" Phreak summed it up perfectly that's really the problem. Overall C9 are dying every which way and horrible communication, now add in Impact and C9 will need some time to gel and be the ol' C9 again they could very easily go 0-3 against P1.

I wouldn't be surprised if Impact looks at what Ssumday plays and copies him and tries to carry C9 for another split.

xJLx MCHammerJun 6, 20171 votes

[{quoted}](name=III BAKURYU III ,realm=NA,application-id=9hBQwnEU,discussion-id=Br7z8jLT,comment-id=00010000,timestamp=2017-06-05T19:35:42.375+0000)

Yeah, D-Lift pretty much requires so much resources and does like 50% of what other ADCs can do around the World. I mean does anyone remember the player graph of D-Lift and Uzi at Worlds when it was showing gold, dmg etc? D-Lift require like 10% more gold than Uzi but did like 10-15% less damage per minute, per game.
CLG for years based their entire offense around D-Lift and.......... I'm talking about those 2013-14 years, 2015 Aphromoo found his brain and was like " I'm going to work around Darshan and Xmithie instead of D-Lift" won NA went to Worlds and ..

I knew Sneaky/Smoothie were going to have a hard time in lane/game because of the whole carry meta as they always do whenever this meta comes up 2014 Summer C9 were mediocre and lost Finals, 2015 Summer 7th place, 2016 Spring relied on Impact to carry but still lost Finals, but man he's not like super bad in lane it's outside of lane with his " in mid forgetting that people were on the map" Phreak summed it up perfectly that's really the problem. Overall C9 are dying every which way and horrible communication, now add in Impact and C9 will need some time to gel and be the ol' C9 again they could very easily go 0-3 against P1.

I wouldn't be surprised if Impact looks at what Ssumday plays and copies him and tries to carry C9 for another split.

If C9 goes 0-2 again, i will be worried. However, at the moment, i feel like their loses were very close

III BAKURYU III Jun 6, 20171 votes

Close maybe but could have been avoided nonetheless, I'm no travel agent but what exactly was Impact doing in Korea if that's where he was in the first place once the LCS started?
C9 have came back from 0-2 before, but already 0-1 vs TSM and CLG; they will NEED to beat some of these lower teams to gain ground, besides Team Liquid the other teams have actually looked decent and gotten stronger since Spring - (NV-EF-IMT)

Furthermore C9 will be facing P1 0-2 and EF 2-0; if say C9 do go 0-4 once week 2 is up, then I'm banking they will be eliminated unofficially from Playoffs, maybe they can come back from say 0-4 but it would be a hell of a journey if so.
C9 has a tough schedule to begin but a soft spot in week 4-5 to nab some wins if they can, but after week 5 it's back to the ol' grinder it seems.
Overall Cloud 9 has some of the most talented and brightest players in the World but they just can't ever seem to play as a cohesive unit.

Instead, stone silent from this team it seems, Sneaky gets caught out and dies; 0 movement from his lips, Jensen dies and same thing. No communication or right mind in playing as a team but instead as 5 talented players.

xJLx MCHammerJun 6, 20171 votes

[{quoted}](name=III BAKURYU III ,realm=NA,application-id=9hBQwnEU,discussion-id=Br7z8jLT,comment-id=0001000000000000,timestamp=2017-06-06T01:01:38.760+0000)

Close maybe but could have been avoided nonetheless, I'm no travel agent but what exactly was Impact doing in Korea if that's where he was in the first place once the LCS started?
C9 have came back from 0-2 before, but already 0-1 vs TSM and CLG; they will NEED to beat some of these lower teams to gain ground, besides Team Liquid the other teams have actually looked decent and gotten stronger since Spring - (NV-EF-IMT)

Furthermore C9 will be facing P1 0-2 and EF 2-0; if say C9 do go 0-4 once week 2 is up, then I'm banking they will be eliminated unofficially from Playoffs, maybe they can come back from say 0-4 but it would be a hell of a journey if so.
C9 has a tough schedule to begin but a soft spot in week 4-5 to nab some wins if they can, but after week 5 it's back to the ol' grinder it seems.
Overall Cloud 9 has some of the most talented and brightest players in the World but they just can't ever seem to play as a cohesive unit.

Instead, stone silent from this team it seems, Sneaky gets caught out and dies; 0 movement from his lips, Jensen dies and same thing. No communication or right mind in playing as a team but instead as 5 talented players.

Yeah, it will be hard to get into the playoffs if they go 0-4. Then again, we have seen them go from relegation to worlds... Also, I hope Impact is not looking for a new team in Korea. I wouldn't be surprised.

I do think they play as a one unit. I just think every split there is always one person that tends to "under perform"

III BAKURYU III Jun 6, 20171 votes

True, crazier things have happened before but that doesn't mean they can happen again; again, I'm not a knowledgeable man and I do have my own ups and downs, but if Cloud 9 finished anything but 7th place this split I believe in doing so, they would lose all of the points that they earned in the Spring and be instantly eliminated from Worlds( I THINK, don't quote me)

Impact could be looking at a new team not sure honestly, I do hope he stays as he's been in NA for 2 years now, and in doing so - has actually helped NA top laners in making them even better. Greatness feeds off Greatness and with him gone, 1 less talented player would be leaving NA, and in doing so will only limit the scale of making NA.....great....

woodvsmurphJun 7, 20171 votes

I think reignover is kinda like xmithie. He is more of a supportive jungler - although there are some differences. Reignover played best when he was supporting the overly insane aggression by huni. He doesn't have anyone like that right now to support. Give him a playmaker to enable, a lane to focus on snowballing early, someone else to start the aggression and be like: "we are tower-diving this guy level 3 and I don't care if the enemy jungler comes or not; it is happening" and reignover will probably look a lot better. Similar to xmithie in week 1 summer split or dardoch having a mid who shoves and looks to help his teammates - which enables more of dardoch's early aggression to pay off because he has backup rather than being left to get collapsed on by enemy laners with no help.

Goldenglue? Yeah, you said it exactly. Surprised they even kept him on the roster and didn't get a good backup or starting mid to replace him before the split began. Maybe he is actually good and not everything is his fault, but he has some kind of mental trauma when he's playing as a starter for a team instead of a sub it seems. Should be bye bye for good. Piglet, kinda similar situation but for different reasons. From the way people are talking, he has no faith in his team or his ability to carry because adc in 2k17 is still a thing in his mind apparently. Better to get someone new who at least has a better attitude, is hopeful, and can improve - like stixxay. I'm not a stixxay fan, but at least the guy is positive and has room to grow.

Doublelift and tsm will get better. But honestly tsm and NA fans don't care at this point. Nothing short of getting beyond group stages and winning at least a few knock-out games at worlds will be a success.

I'm very happy for clg and immortals; however I do caution people on their early success. Only time will tell if they are another gravity (no longer in lcs) or if they are the next c9. Strats can look good for a week, a month, a split, and then fail because people figure you out. If you don't have a multitude of strats and constantly improve them while adding more to your playbook, you will get figured out and exploited by the best teams locally and internationally. If you can keep refining strats and adding new plays, you might just make a name for yourself.

III BAKURYU III Jun 7, 20171 votes

Reignover

Exactly, Lourlo isn't aggressive and whenever he is he's not even that great at doing anything that doesn't involve dying, or making plays. The mid players Slooshi/GG aren't going to make plays because Slooshie is trying to get the starting job so he's more of playing for the team, supportive, non being aggressive kinda Pobelter ish, GG can't afford to mess up and try to make a play because it's his last shot at being on a team since he's been in the league for around 4-5 years now and has jumped to more teams than Dardoch.
If TL can actually try to be more aggressive from the solo laners good things can happen for this team but it's not going to happen.

GG- Roster I just don't get TL - They get Link for some reason but don't play him? Maybe they felt sorry for him, he needed the money similar to Remillia or something IDK, GG wasn't good at all in the spring/ previous splits with teams and they kept him and after 1 game series benched him? Having a s$it plan/style is better than not having one to begin with. It's like better to be wrong in a decision than not doing anything and TL are at that point.

TSM I'm honestly so tired of TSM, each split they seem to have the best roster, the most $, the better coaching staff that money can buy and they just DIE on the International stage EVERYTIME. It sucks that they've been in every NA Final and won 5 out of 9 so far and it's like " ok. cool you won NA for the "1 hundred time" sarcastically, can you actually do something outside of NA.
Ranting { It's sad to say but each Worlds there are two teams that are so identical, get so much hype, praise etc and completely fail that's TSM and the TSM of the LPL - EDG by LPL standards are the "second" best region and Edward Gaming seems to get the most praise of being in the Finals 3 years in a row and they barely make it out of Groups(ok, great) but get smashed in QT- 3 years in a row. } D-Lift and TSM can improve but like you said tho " The fans don't care at this point" TSM had it's best shot last year, a full year -Yellowstar together, were so dominate in the Summer, 31 mins per game and were #1 in every objective/towers, barons, kills, least deaths etc, and they still lost( looked better than in previous splits even 2014) but the result was the same.
Now add in a split that means the most(summer) and TSM needs to refocus with D-Lift who won't ever be better than the other ADCs in the World/with his attitude so even if TSM does well with D-Lift his personality will be a distraction to them when the time comes, there's a reason why CLG kicked 1. Link and CLG won NA for the first time and then 2. Kicked D-Lift and was actually decent Internationally.

I like CLG and IMT chances at staying humble and actually trying to improve unlike some teams that rely on certain players to carry them in games or they just look bad, and some teams that are so smug because they feel that they're the best and they believe their own hype even when they get smashed on the International stage every time, no matter what team they're on. Zikz - the CLG coach/pick ban Just has that Erik Spolstra type of feel to him, he's worked his way up with CLG team for 1-2 years as a video/ play by play or something - similar to Erik and became the coach later on. Very underestimated. As well as the way that CLG does things is remarkable, they don't just play solo Q for 20 hrs, instead they bond as a team outside of the game first, prepare mental training so the body and mind can handle the grind in the future. I like that from a team.