EU LCS Week 7 Preview
Riot·7/1/2014, 9:58:56 PM·0 votes·1,261 views
There’s only five weeks left in the LCS, but for many teams, the regular season is almost behind them. Some, like Alliance, are fully gearing up for playoffs—nothing can stop them from making the cut. But others, like the Copenhagen Wolves, need a miracle if they want to avoid relegation. It’s times like these that the good teams step up, and for teams on the bubble (Fnatic, Supa Hot Crew, Gambit, ROCCAT), that time has come. However, one thing should be on all of their minds: This time in the spring, SK Gaming, who went on to take first place in the regular season, was 7-7.
Millenium vs. Fnatic
When: Tuesday, July 1, 8pm CEST / 11am PDT
Fnatic have been playing it safe for a while now. In fact, their win rate this season, 50%, has remained steady across all six weeks. They have never done better, nor worse. Taking a look at their matchups this week, and it’s easy to see a way for them to consider the trend. Alliance, Millenium, Gambit, and ROCCAT. Given their track record, they should finish 2-2. If they want to pick up a third win, Millenium are the obvious targets. Expect Fnatic to either make a statement this week, or they could just be letting this season fall through their fingers.
Millenium, on the other hand, have been all about taking advantage wherever they can. A strong opening with Kerp has now been solidified on the backs of Creaton and Kev1n. Last week, all three of them teamed up to smash SK Gaming. If they keep playing this way, Millenium will find themselves doing very well in the Summer Playoffs. All these guys is a little more fine tuning.
Alliance vs. SK Gaming
When: Wednesday, July 2, 5pm CEST / 8am PDT
At this point, Alliance seem unstoppable. They’re currently on a 4-game winning streak, and that streak includes the second place SK Gaming and third place Millenium. This week, they face off against SK again, but can SK truly come out on top? To do so, they’ll have to find ways to shut down Tabzz and Shook, who have definitely been over-performing lately. Of course, if Alliance keeps up the pace, perhaps I’ll have to change that word to simply “performing.” Simply put, if the rest of EU doesn’t find a solution soon, Alliance will be the ones representing the country at Worlds.
SK Gaming might be the only team right now of felling these giants. SK has been putting in some solid games, though admittedly have a worse record due to a pair of losses at the hands of Alliance. In those games, SK simply failed to get into a set pace. Veteran CandyPanda didn’t even have that bad of KDAs in either game, but it clearly wasn’t enough to pull out a win. SK need to find a way to take back the momentum, and make Alliance be the ones playing catch up. Until they can do that, the best they can hope for will be second place.
Copenhagen Wolves vs. Supa Hot Crew
When: Wednesday, July 2, 9pm CEST / 12pm PDT
Both teams are still relatively new to the LCS, but they’ve had their moments in the sun. Supa Hot Crew, who promised early on to grow into a real threat, have slowly been working their way there. MrRalleZ is still as deadly as ever, but other members of the team, like SELFIE, have steadily been adding their own talents to the team as well, making for a pretty decent squad whose 7-7 record is nothing to sniff at. Now, they need to keep on putting in decent games to avoid relegation, and possible secure a high playoff finish.
The Copenhagen Wolves, in comparison, have failed to really shine. Consistency is the real problem here—for every good game the Wolves play, they have an equally bad one. Combined with problems adapting to stronger teams, and they have a recipe for disaster. This team is not without talent—CowTard, Woolite, and Youngbuck have all had their moments—but it isn’t coming together in a cohesive way. Unless something drastic happens, I fear this team may be facing relegations, and enterprising challenger teams won’t hesitate to jump at the wounded Wolves.
Gambit vs. ROCCAT
When: Thursday, July 3, 9pm CEST / 12am PDT
What a difference a split makes. This time last year, these teams were alone at the top of the bracket. Now, ROCCAT and Gambit have 5 and 4 less wins, respectively. With only 14 games played, they are now tied in 6th place. They have little to gain but dignity, and everything to lose. ROCCAT, on one hand, seemed to have mild resurgence in the last few weeks, and to be fair, their losses last week were at the hands of Alliance and SK Gaming. But they need to keep pushing—they’re far from out of the woods yet.
Gambit, on the other hand, have not suffered well the loss of Alex Ich. Travel issues aside, this team needs to get their act together. A win against the Supa Hot Crew last week, highlighted by NiQ going off on Karthus, was summarily quashed with a loss to the Wolves, with NiQ held to a single kill. Every win at this point is going to be a struggle, and with relegation looming on the horizon, this team is going to have to find a way to survive.
Alliance vs. SK Gaming
When: Wednesday, July 2, 5pm CEST / 8am PDT
At this point, Alliance seem unstoppable. They’re currently on a 4-game winning streak, and that streak includes the second place SK Gaming and third place Millenium. This week, they face off against SK again, but can SK truly come out on top? To do so, they’ll have to find ways to shut down Tabzz and Shook, who have definitely been over-performing lately. Of course, if Alliance keeps up the pace, perhaps I’ll have to change that word to simply “performing.” Simply put, if the rest of EU doesn’t find a solution soon, Alliance will be the ones representing the country at Worlds.
SK Gaming might be the only team right now of felling these giants. SK has been putting in some solid games, though admittedly have a worse record due to a pair of losses at the hands of Alliance. In those games, SK simply failed to get into a set pace. Veteran CandyPanda didn’t even have that bad of KDAs in either game, but it clearly wasn’t enough to pull out a win. SK need to find a way to take back the momentum, and make Alliance be the ones playing catch up. Until they can do that, the best they can hope for will be second place.
Copenhagen Wolves vs. Supa Hot Crew
When: Wednesday, July 2, 9pm CEST / 12pm PDT
Both teams are still relatively new to the LCS, but they’ve had their moments in the sun. Supa Hot Crew, who promised early on to grow into a real threat, have slowly been working their way there. MrRalleZ is still as deadly as ever, but other members of the team, like SELFIE, have steadily been adding their own talents to the team as well, making for a pretty decent squad whose 7-7 record is nothing to sniff at. Now, they need to keep on putting in decent games to avoid relegation, and possible secure a high playoff finish.
The Copenhagen Wolves, in comparison, have failed to really shine. Consistency is the real problem here—for every good game the Wolves play, they have an equally bad one. Combined with problems adapting to stronger teams, and they have a recipe for disaster. This team is not without talent—CowTard, Woolite, and Youngbuck have all had their moments—but it isn’t coming together in a cohesive way. Unless something drastic happens, I fear this team may be facing relegations, and enterprising challenger teams won’t hesitate to jump at the wounded Wolves.
Gambit vs. ROCCAT
When: Thursday, July 3, 9pm CEST / 12am PDT
What a difference a split makes. This time last year, these teams were alone at the top of the bracket. Now, ROCCAT and Gambit have 5 and 4 less wins, respectively. With only 14 games played, they are now tied in 6th place. They have little to gain but dignity, and everything to lose. ROCCAT, on one hand, seemed to have mild resurgence in the last few weeks, and to be fair, their losses last week were at the hands of Alliance and SK Gaming. But they need to keep pushing—they’re far from out of the woods yet.
Gambit, on the other hand, have not suffered well the loss of Alex Ich. Travel issues aside, this team needs to get their act together. A win against the Supa Hot Crew last week, highlighted by NiQ going off on Karthus, was summarily quashed with a loss to the Wolves, with NiQ held to a single kill. Every win at this point is going to be a struggle, and with relegation looming on the horizon, this team is going to have to find a way to survive.
