EU LCS Week 4 Preview
Riot·6/11/2014, 11:55:21 PM·0 votes·693 views
The changing of the guard under way. Gambit, ROCCAT, and Fnatic, whom appeared to be the mainstays of the LCS in the beginning of the year, are now all in the bottom half of the league. Replacing them are Alliance, SK Gaming, and Supa Hot Crew, rebuilt squads that have found success. And Millenium aren’t far behind. With the weeks quickly passing by, only time will tell if the power balance in Europe will finally find stability - or if it will shatter to pieces once again.
It’s judgment time for Gambit, and with 8 games behind them, the chance for testing the waters is over. A win against Millenium here puts them back on the map for a decent playoff seed. They are no longer the powerhouse they once were, but the team is showing an evolution that could leave them in even better shape than they were beforehand. The only question left to answer is whether they’ll survive the transition, or whether they’ll be squashed under the baggage that has plagued the team since spring.
ROCCAT vs. Copenhagen Wolves
When: Thursday, June 12, 19:00 CEST / 10:00 AM PDT For both ROCCAT and Copenhagen Wolves, this week will be a battle to stay alive. For the Wolves, who haven’t been the same since Amazing jumped over the pond to North America, a match against the 1-7 ROCCAT represents a breath of fresh air to recover from a winless Week 3. The biggest surprise here is Woolite, who came out of nowhere to post a 14/5/12 stat line despite the losses. If the rest of the team can up their game, the Wolves could be back on track. For ROCCAT, however, the story is much more dire. Rough matches last week saw Xaxus struggle to pick up even a single kill, while Overpow was similarly held to low KDAs. The magic well fueling this team in the spring has ran dry, and further losses this week sends strong signals that fans may move on to more fertile grounds.
Supa Hot Crew vs. Millenium
When: Thursday, June 12, 20:00 CEST / 11:00 AM PDT The third match of Day 1 sees two breakout teams this season, the Kerp-ful Millenium and the recently-ignited Supa Hot Crew going head-to-head. Millenium, outside a smack-down from SK Gaming last week, are doing just fine and have shown some outstanding games so far. Consistency issues aside, this team can play with the best when on point. Further tweaking and Millenium should have no problem climbing back over a 50% win rate. The Hot Crew, however, are just shy of catching fire. Despite being put on ice by Froggen’s Anivia last week, the Crew are playing with ferocity and it’s a great sign of their fate to come this season. The tide has changed for the Supa Hot Crew, and as SELFIE and Wewillfailer get more experience with the team, things will only get better. This match sees them defending third place, and they’ll be sure to bring their A-game.Gambit vs. Millenium
When: Friday, June 13, 19:00 CEST / 10:00 AM PDT Gambit has managed, despite the loss of Alex Ich, to stem the bleeding, at least for now. Their 1-3 first week has been followed by two 1-1s, and the team is now stuck in a holding pattern, waiting for something to break. Last week, we got a hint at what the newly-formed Gambit promises, namely, the 11/1/5 Lucian that Genja steered to lead his team to victory over the Wolves. Newly named permanent mid laner NiQ, similarly, laid down the pain on Ziggs, keeping pace with CowTard throughout the match.
It’s judgment time for Gambit, and with 8 games behind them, the chance for testing the waters is over. A win against Millenium here puts them back on the map for a decent playoff seed. They are no longer the powerhouse they once were, but the team is showing an evolution that could leave them in even better shape than they were beforehand. The only question left to answer is whether they’ll survive the transition, or whether they’ll be squashed under the baggage that has plagued the team since spring.
