Meet the Challengers: North America’s Fresh Blood

The final three Challenger teams are within inches of securing the LCS spot they’ve been working for day and night. With the three relegated teams confirmed, the matchups will be as follows: Team Coast will face Complexity.Black, Evil Geniuses will square off against Cloud 9 Tempest, and XDG will battle LMQ.

The Chinese Titans

Previous Performances LMQ has shown an absolutely dominating performance in both splits of the Challenger Series. Coming in 1st place on both occasions, they exploit North America’s inability to deal with a tremendous amount of early game pressure. Star performers in each lane help carry LMQ to early and decisive victories, notably with XiaoWeiXiao and Vasilii who absolutely destroy middle and bottom lanes respectively. LCS Chances LMQ will be facing off against XDG in the upcoming promotion matches, and if XDG hasn’t improved drastically they are in deep trouble. Roster changes, management issues, and communication issues abound within XDG, and they’ve suffered tremendously for it. XiaoWeiXiao, Vasilii, and Ackerman will all win their lanes unless Xmithie interferes, but NoName won’t make it easy for him. If XDG hasn’t buckled down and hit the grindstone, they’ll quickly lose their spot in LCS to the Chinese powerhouse.

Cloud 9 Tempest: Revenge of the Walking Zed

Previous Performances Cloud 9 Tempest had a sordid past, but they’ve grown more than any other team in the Challenger Series and into one of the toughest opponents yet. As The Walking Zed, they just barely missed their opportunity to get into the LCS after a grueling match that went through all five games. Sadly, they lacked the stamina and crumbled in the final game. Back with a new sponsor, a new lineup, and a new attitude they’re prepared to take Evil Geniuses to the arena. Even in the NA CS they’ve shown drastic improvements over the two Series, losing in their first match out of Play-Ins in the first Series while coming in 2nd place in the second. They have a lot of talent as a team, especially now that Bischu and Altec have a comfortable champion pool and are performing consistently well. LCS Chances Over time, Cloud 9 Tempest has improved both their communication and teamwork as well as their pick and ban phase which even some LCS teams haven’t optimized yet. They’ve grown into quite the powerhouse and will give EG a solid run for their money. Bischu and Altec will be the main gauge for how well C9T will do, if they let nerves get the best of them they’ll quickly be thwarted, but if they’re on point they’ll bring EG to their knees.

The Complex Competitors

Previous Performances Coming in second during the first half of the NA CS, Complexity.Black has been a consistently solid team throughout the series, but has its pitfalls. Though they always perform well, they have trouble if anyone messes with their stellar jungler Brokenshard. He is the hinge upon which Col.Black swings, and if he doesn’t do well than it’s a disaster for the team. Sometimes just banning Kha’Zix and Elise is enough to throw the entirety of Col.Black off their game, so they’ll need to step it up if they hope to overthrow Team Coast. LCS Chances Team Coast will be their competitor, and they won’t go down easily. Coast will have done their homework on them and will easily subvert Brokenshard, so it will be upon the other carries to produce results. If Col.Black hasn’t upped their game and brought new strategies to the table, they’re going to lose their shot at the LCS. The NA Summer Promotion matches will take place on April 26 and 27 starting with XDG vs. LMQ. Be sure to catch all the matches and a full schedule over on the Lolesports Schedule Page.

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