The North American Challenger Series finals are getting ever closer, and the stakes have never been higher this week! Vying for a shot at the 2015 LCS season, Challenger teams will be competing for those much desired circuit points to claim their spot in the 2015 Season Promotion Tournament. In case you missed all the great games this weekend, here’s what you missed.
Games of the Week
Team Coast vs. Denial Esports - Game 2
Team Coast took a page out of LMQ’s version of “The Art of War” this split and look to be completely unstoppable. Mash’s impeccable ADC mechanics combined with Goldenglue’s lane dominance is an absolutely brutal combination that no one can hold up against. Though their early game still has a few weaknesses specifically with communication, their late game counter play of Denial’s Rengar and Orianna ball delivery system was on point. They didn’t fall for the trap once throughout the entire game, even with Rengar’s invisibility, which made Denial’s entire win condition fall on its face.
With Denial’s entire strategy successfully countered, Denial couldn’t stop Coast from coming back in the late game. Thanks to Rhux on Shyvana and Santorin on Evelynn, no one on Denial could get to the backline of Coast. Anytime they tried, they were immediately tossed back or slowed to the point where they got whittled down to nothing by Coast’s onslaught. Coast proved this week that nothing about them has changed from last split, and nothing will stop them from claiming the crown again.
Team 8 vs. Zenith Esports - Game 2
After a brutal first game in which Zenith got stomped, they bounced back in the second game unlike so many other challenger teams proving they have the resilience to be a great team. Instead of going on tilt, their top laner Akaadian went berserk mode on Rengar and destroyed CaliTrlolz, Porpoisepops, and Slooshi with clever ganks and ridiculous burst damage. It wasn’t until 20 minutes into the game that Team 8 could even grab a handle on the game and make some plays around objectives and catching Akaadian split pushing.
Unwilling to let the curse foil another attempt at getting into the LCS, Team 8 slowed the pace of the game down and fought fight after fight until finally Team 8 out-scaled Zenith. Though Team 8 was down for a majority of the game, their experience and ability to control the flow of the game set them up with a win after an entire game of being beaten and pushed around. Team 8 is an incredible team, but they still have a ton of work to do to get into perfect form that they’ll need to take out Coast.
Top Performers of the Week
Team Coast’s Mash
It’s hard to say more than has already been said about Mash. Impeccable mechanics, deep champion pools, and aggressive plays always seem to net him a huge advantage over any other ADC in the challenger series. Even when his games go “poorly” (Read: Still better than the average NA CS ADC) he does incredibly well, as seen in his 4/1/7 first game against Denial. Though Coast stomped the game hard, Mash couldn’t find all the plays bottom lane that he wanted to which resulted in a less than average score but he still had a huge impact on the game. Mash is easily one of the best players in the challenger scene at the moment, and he’s finally getting the recognition he deserves.
Team 8’s Slooshi8
Living up to the hype is the name of Slooshi’s game. Called one of the best mid laners in Challenger by Dignitas coach Scarra, he has performed amazingly throughout his career and shined brightly this weekend. Killer mechanics, great team synergy, and the ability to work around being behind led Team8 to victory with Slooshi leading the charge - especially now that CaliTrlolz is picking fewer carry top laners and focusing more on the mega tanks. Though Team 8’s overall meta has shifted, Slooshi is still the rock that holds the team together and carries them to victory.
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