LES GOOOOO! Piglet and Reignover bout to take over the rift. Will always love TSM the most in NA, but I really like Liquid. I'm stinkin Liquid places top 3 spring split and at least makes it to summer split finals. If only they replaced their mediocre top laner Lourlul. Can't win em all though, I stink dey gonna be a force to be reckoned with tehe xD Dardoch BabyRage was terrible pick up by immortals I think. He will forever be toxic and undeserving of praise.
Miror B1 votesYeah, I'm actually looking forward to them for an entirely different reason. Goldenglue seems like a changed player, going from someone who lacked focus/skill to being a solo-queue monster who can destroy teams. Combined with the fact that he has an actual lcs team around him (one which you could stick literally any other LCS mid-laner on and have a decent go at it), and I'm sorta under the impression that TL is the current favorite to win spring, much like how IMT was last year. Top lane will still be their weakest link (much like many of the other teams who either have bad ones or are starting new imports), but the core of reignover/piglet/matt is looking like something to be "reckoned with".
III BAKURYU III 1 votesIDK so far it seems like the same Goldenglue for the past X years! Solo Q is ok to determine a player's skill but it's solo Q where people are either trolling,drunk,losing on purpose,duo,etc. IEM so far is really showing Goldenglue and how good he is. I will still give him the benefit of the doubt but from his past history of being a "ok" player he will most likely get benched in the Spring split. First impressions are important and he and TL are showing another 4th-6th spot in both Split and Playoffs(if they even make it) BO3 vs Dark Passage is up next on IEM so lets see if Goldenglue can actually do something.
III BAKURYU III 1 votesKinda wished Fenix could have stayed with TL but I think the C9 Challenger team will pick Fenix up now that Hai will be stepping down for the 100th time until he decides to play again if the C9C team plays poorly. Dardoch leaving a decent roster TL for a roster IMT that is 75% former members gone(Turtle-Huni-Reignover-Adrian) with decent pick ups from IMT but 33-2 can't be outdone nor do I think the new IMT roster will be that great not at least in the Spring split.
Lourlo is decent he reminds me of how Darshan use to play when he was on CST, just split push and TP bot for CS; not a great teamfighter or a play maker but when your on a team with Fenix/Piglet who speaks Korean and ok English but both seemed like the didn't really give a shit, Dardoch who honestly I don't think he has changed he will always rage and rinse repeat with him and what had to have been 1 of the worst bot lanes I have ever seen Fabbyy/Matt you have to think it's not on Lourlo but how the team really played with each other.
I think Reignover will help Top more so than the other lanes now that Piglet( if he rejoins the main roster) will have help and knows he has a real carry player so he doesn't have to carry the team himself. I don't like Goldenglue I'v never liked he he plays so a huge down grade from Fenix. I don't know maybe Goldenglue can surprise me but I don't think he will.
I'm thinking TL will be higher than IMT will in the standings but I need to see the rest of the rosters/changes before I start a standings predictions but I will say the TL roster looks much stronger from just the JNG/TOP/ADC positions.
Miror B1 votes[{quoted}](name=III BAKURYU III ,realm=NA,application-id=9hBQwnEU,discussion-id=MR6XBMvu,comment-id=0001,timestamp=2016-12-13T23:30:46.687+0000)
Yeah, I disagree on the notion will be "horrible". If we're looking at the NALCS, I can only really see 3 potentially good/higher than the pack teams: C9 (maintaining 4/5ths of their roster and replacing the liability in meteos with potential new jg god contractz), TL (for the reasons I mentioned in my other post), and P1 (as the core of inori/ryu/arrow is a fantasy-lcs player's "wet dream"). Aside from that top-3, the rest of the LCS seems ridiculously open and thus a team like IMT (who let's not forget has a pretty solid mid-laner, a solo-queue monster, and a jg with a massive chip on his shoulder) could challenge for that.
Fenix leaving TL is both a blessing and a curse for them. While it does mean that they'll probably go against him a bunch of times if he joins C9C (the spot plus the contracts of balls/hai/altec/lemon being sold already), I'm under the impression that he's peaked skill-wise and is bordering on Froggen territory in the sense that he'll make "cool plays" but won't really win/do anything. It's also doubtful hai will replace him, as Hai is more likely to coach the team, hence why they bought his contract as well despite the fact that he said numerous times he'd retire.
Ultimately, this split as a whole will be determined by three major factors: whether TL can work well together now that dardoch is gone (as they no longer have that "Excuse" for playing poorly), which of the "bottom-6 teams" can separate themselves from the pack (I still have echo fox finishing 10th due to the scrim related stuff and who they're fielding), and which of CLG/TSM implodes (this feels a lot like one of those "trap splits" where a big team bottoms out).
III BAKURYU III 1 votesTeam Envyus- I don't like Seraph he's been around for 2-3 years and he still hasn't changed; he gets 1v1 too often and really puts Envy in deep holes at which there really an underdog team before each game to begin with. Ok players in every position but mediocre at best.
Immortals- On paper this team looks good maybe even great but I personally just don't see it. I'v said this either on this post or another(can't remember) but I think Pobelter is very impressionable and how Dardoch and Poe play react and talk if they lose a game or two will really determine how far this team can go.
Echo Fox- I really want to say Looper will carry this team and maybe for the most part he will for short terms maybe 1 or 2 games out of 8 games he can carry but this team isn't going anywhere unless Froggen can stop sitting mid and roam or do something other than staying mid and farming for 40 mins each game. Fans are quick to say " Froggen is underrated and he never has a team" and yet they never really see that he has been playing the same style for 6-7 years and it's a core reason why he doesn't win as much because of that style. Didn't work for TSM back in 2015 Summer and didn't work with CLG back in 13 summer with the ADC position instead of the mid and it won't work here.
Dignitas/Apex Gaming- Top and Jungle players are up in the air but as of right now it could just be the same story as last year. Xpecial is a great player and will always and should be talked about as a top 3 greats NA if not western support of all time but he's not the same 2013 Xpecial each year he gets worse and worse and so does the roster that's around him.
Team Liquid- reason stated before
Cloud 9 - If any top 3 NA teams fallout of top positions I think it will be C9. They have fallen before and I think they will this next split. Last year Impact really carried this team and it showed. C9 is missing a shotcaller as Meteos as good as he is he isn't a shotcaller by any means and neither is Sneaky for that matter nor do you want an ADC to be the first and only option to shotcall.
Team Solomid- This roster/this up coming split I think this TSM will resemble the 2014 Summer TSM. It will be camp mid with an aggressive jungler Svenskeren(Amazing) a tank top Hauntzer(Dyrus) and a stay even but don't die bot Wildturtle and Biofrost(WIldturtle-Lustboy). They won't be bad but not great either.
Cloud 9 Challenger- With mid open for a player to fill and a 50/50 ADC Altec this should be a good team. I love Lemon's notebook and how smart he is with in game knowledge that was something I loved from the older C9 team. This team might have Hai as a coach but IN GAME the shotcalling must be on Lemon with also Contractz as being the other and most likely the main shotcaller.
Phoenix One- Every position is STACKED! with talent with this team. It will be interesting to see if Ryu or Pirean starts for P1 or if they will do a Easyhoon and Faker switch every so often.
Counter Logic Gaming- Huhi needs to step up plain and simple will he... Yes and No. I think he will get a much larger champion pool but he won't be no Faker 2.0 that's for sure. Out of all of the NA teams CLG is really a top favorite of players who are more than just players but really a group of friends and we all have seen what friendship can lead on the rift in NA ( TSM in the early days, C9 in the early days).
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ the numbers are acting up for some reason, so from the worse to the best teams in my up coming split predictions!
Miror B1 votes[{quoted}](name=III BAKURYU III ,realm=NA,application-id=9hBQwnEU,discussion-id=MR6XBMvu,comment-id=000100000000,timestamp=2016-12-14T00:45:30.854+0000)
Yeah, you're kinda off on a bunch of things. Gonna make my own list, excluding TL/IMT/C9/P1 as I already kinda went over them:
EnVyUs: Not really much to say about them, as 4/5ths of their roster is returning (goodbye Procxin, your continuous stream of blooper-reel content will surely be missed by me). None of their players really "impress" me, and thus I expect them to fight for relegation spots with echo fox/new-dignitas (more on that later).
Echo Fox: Ah, this team. Before I go over them, I'd like to tell a little story. A few years ago, I did a weekly article for a local newspaper in which I'd make NFL picks and go over the teams I liked/hated the most. Jacksonville was usually a team I pegged in the latter category, as not only were they god-awful (usually finishing with a winning percentage around .300) but the decisions they made were usually pretty terrible (like overpaying for bad players, or using draft picks on guys nobody's ever heard of). In a way, Echo Fox is like the "heir to the throne" and thus I should have some fun writing about them. While they did make a few good decisions (trying to get dardoch, signing looper), they also made some incredibly bad ones (like keeping froggen/keith and signing gate, by god isn't he adorable!). Combined with the whole scrim thingy and the sheer competition, I entirely expect them to be in relegation and probably 10th. On the upside, they should give me a lot to write about.
New Dignitas: Again, not really much to say. If they intend on keeping the xpecial/keane/apollo core together, then they are at best an 8th place team. Will be interesting to see who they replace ray/shrimp with though, as the former seemed to be their one good player last split while the latter is and was probably the greatest NA challenger jg of all time.
C9C: Probably the most interesting team, until the final roster is revealed I won't make a "big prediction" but I will say that they are definitely a wild-card. Balls is entering an LCS that only features 2 "high-quality" top laners (impact/looper), and the team is probably the most strategically-prepared of any assuming Hai goes on as coach and they keep lemon. If they can get a decent mid-laner (please be selfie and not fenix) and nab someone like rush/shrimp/bengi, this team could definitely go places
TSM/CLG: And now I get to my bolder predictions. Unlike all of the other teams, these two are coming in with very similar/potentially stacked rosters (clg maintaining its core, and tsm replacing doublelift with someone from IMT who sadly wasn't huni). That being said, I only see one of them being in the playoffs and neither team finishing higher than 4th. CLG's problems lie in their solo lanes, with Darshan being a massive liability during meta shifts (when the tank meta hit, he went from having the 3rd highest kda/kp among top-laners to 8th) and Huhi currently looking like a massive downgrade from pobelter lying in that "b-tier" along with fenix/ninja. TSM's problems meanwhile should/probably will be with top/jg/adc, as wildturtle has a habit of dying a lot more than DL while their top/jg are kinda in the B-tier. I'll give the slight edge to TSM, but would not be surprised to see one or both of these teams 'fall from grace'.
III BAKURYU III 1 votesDuring the 2016 Summer split the further TSM got to Playoffs and Worlds the worst they became for some reason to me. At the start they looked really good but I would bet it was that small hic-up loss to P1 that set TSM down a peg or two aka Humble pie. TSM is banking on raw talent once again to get them to the playoffs and the "Dream" to win Worlds which honestly won't happen; but talent will only get you so far. I agree TSM will "fall from grace" but they won't miss the playoffs; I do see them having trouble during the split tho.
CLG is a team people love to hate not solely because of the CLG/TSM rivalry but when CLG released D-Lift people thought this team was going to be garbage but yet they made the playoffs- Won the split- Looked really good at MSI and overall had a pretty good Worlds showing. They have the same roster which is 50/50 for them. A. Teams/players will know more about CLG as far as picks/bans/Huhi champions etc B. CLG has over a year of knowing more about each other and teammates playstyles.
Overall I don't see TSM winning the Spring Split championship, I'm honestly picking them to be eliminated in the first round if there in the first round or second round if they get a bye.
Selfie is pretty good but I can't say much as it's been like 2 years since I really saw him play, the last time I really watched his games were back in 2014. His 2016 MYM stint was also good.
I liked the Echo Fox topic you brought up as it really does fit them, again they're banking on Looper to carry them and with that roster I just don't think Looper can really carry them not without help from another lane COUGH COUGH FROGGEN STEP UP COUGH.
Miror B1 votes[{quoted}](name=III BAKURYU III ,realm=NA,application-id=9hBQwnEU,discussion-id=MR6XBMvu,comment-id=00010000000000000000,timestamp=2016-12-14T03:12:06.841+0000)
Yeah, selfie's coming off of what was a ridiculously good EU challenger run (he played on a misfits team featuring some EULCS-level talent, more or less dominated everyone, and brought the team up the ranks with many people thinking they'd become the next origen). Although he was replaced off that misfits team along with a bunch of other players (Powerofevil replacing him, because noone wants to stay on origen), he's one of those guys like goldenglue who could be a pretty good fit on a bunch of rosters.
Echo Fox should be fun not to watch, but to do commentary on especially if they get a bunch of subs like they did last year (grigne can save them!). Even if Looper has the best season of his life, he's not the kind of guy who can 1v9 carry games (reminiscent of soaz). We could be on pace to see something terrible, something so bad yet utterly hilarious that people are both madly offended and almost enjoyed. I'm personally giddy just thinking about it, as a team like this doesn't come by very often but when it does it turns heads and makes people just say "wow".
KazaLyn Shao1 votesHahahahaha, Goldenglue played like garbage in the game vs. Giants. Wow, he may as well have not even been there. He was absent for every team fight. One fight he was actually off fighting the Zyra plants while everyone else is dying. NA, still bottom tier. Nothing to see here.
Prince Satan1 votesYeah Goldenglue sucks, idk why they would try to give him another chance after constantly being mediocre in every professional game he's ever played. sips tea still love reignover and piglet doe.
KazaLyn Shao1 votesEveryone needs to stop giving Piglet so much credit. He's touted as the top NA ADC and I just don't buy it. He had a dismal performance yesterday and his performance today is even worse. Team Liquid is garbo.
BigBellBrute1 votes[{quoted}](name=KazaLyn Shao,realm=NA,application-id=9hBQwnEU,discussion-id=MR6XBMvu,comment-id=0003,timestamp=2016-12-16T03:53:00.994+0000)
Everyone needs to stop giving Piglet so much credit. He's touted as the top NA ADC and I just don't buy it. He had a dismal performance yesterday and his performance today is even worse. Team Liquid is garbo.
He was mediocre in game 1. He got dumpstered in Game 2. If this tournament is any guide, Liquid will go as far as Reignover takes them.
BigBellBrute1 votesDardoch reacts to the statement that Liquid is going to win the NA spring split and to Piglet's performance in game 2 today.