My predictions for the C9/IMT and TSM/CLG series

Laughing Fish·Aug 15, 2016·7 votes·2,086 views

Damn this weekend is going to be awesome. I expect both series will be close, but someone has to win. So without further ado, here are my predictions for the series, and for the individual lane match-ups:

#IMT 3-1 C9 While the battles may be hard fought, this match-up favors IMT. Cloud 9 is good at adjusting between matches, and will likely pull off one successful strategy, but IMT's raw talent and superior in-game adjustments will ensure their victory.

Top lane: Advantage IMT Impact is good, and will not go down easily. But unless IMT does something foolish like put Huni on Lucian, I expect IMT to win this due to Huni's synergy with Reignover. It is worth noting however that Huni can get tilted in high-stress games, which gives Impact a fighting chance of win this one.

Jungle: Advantage IMT Meteos is far from bad, but Reignover is an absolute beast. His synergy with Huni is phenomenal, and his ability to great pressure on the map is second to no one in NA. This match-up heavily favors IMT

Mid: Advantage C9 Pobelter is a reliable, safe mid lane. He always does well. But after last week's dominant performance, Jensen is a force to be reckoned with. Unless Reignover manages to starve Jensen early, this is a clear advantage for Cloud 9

ADC: Advantage C9 Sneaky is in my opinion a very underrated ADC. He has not been able to play with a reliable support for awhile now (with Hai retiring again, and C9 switching back and forth between Smoothie and Bunny Fufu for most the year), and yet despite their support troubles he has performed at a very admirable level. WildTurtle on the other hand, while he may appear better at first, has far more support from his jungler and support, and has performed poorly if he falls behind. This is a slight advantage for C9.

Support: Advantage IMT As previously stated, C9's support situation has been a mess. Smoothie is not exceptional, whereas Adrian is aurgubly the greatest support in NA. This match-up heavily favors IMT.

#TSM 3-2 CLG I expect this series to be a close one. TSM may be a clear favorite, but CLG dies hard. CLG is still the team that has won NA the last two splits and performed quite well at MSI. But they lack focus, and it shows. I expect CLG to step up their game against their long-time rivals TSM, but ultimately TSM is the best team in NA, and I expect them to overcome.

Top: Advantage TSM Darshan may have been the best top laner in NA not that long ago, but he is slipping. As the meta has changed, he has had trouble adapting. Hauntzer on the other hand has adapted quite well. He is able to play a wide variety of roles, and make them all work. Hauntzer has also proven himself to be a devastating team fighter as well as a dominant lane opponent.

Jungle: Tie This was a hard match-up to judge. Svenskeren is a top tier jungler, but the versatility and reliability of Xsmithie is hard to beat. Honestly, this one could go either way.

Mid: Advantage TSM Huni isn't bad, not by any standard. But the Bjerger King is on a whole other level. With a 7.1 KDA and 73% Kill participation, there are very few players that compete with Bjergsen. Huhi's only chance will be to create enough pressure that Bjergsen can't roam, and hope his team can carry him through.

ADC: Advantage TSM Stixxay is a very good ADC, but Doublelift is having the split of his career. He is breaking records, dismantling very skilled teams, and driving TSM to greater heights. Doublelift is quite probably the best player in NA currently, and has the clear advantage.

Support: Advantage CLG This was an easy one. While Biofrost may be very mechanically skilled, Aphromoo is one of NA's most experienced and successful players. Biofrost can make some extremely clutch plays, and should not be counted out, but Aphromoo's intelligence, macro play, and experience in the playoffs gives him the clear advantage.

30 Comments

WoonStruckAug 15, 20163 votes

TBH, I think TSM is gunna crush CLG much harder than you expect. Unless they choke. They're prone to doing that at times.

Laughing FishAug 15, 20164 votes

While its possible, CLG is a very dangerous team who has more experience fighting TSM than anyone else. I think the greatest threat to TSM is not IMT, but CLG. Still, TSM is number 1 for a reason, and I expect them to defeat CLG.

WoonStruckAug 15, 20163 votes

Any time TSM is having a good split, they always considered CLG a dangerous team, and yet when it comes down to it, they often roll over them. I almost always feel underwhelmed in TSM/CLG matches.

We'll see what CLG can pull off, though. It seems only cheese and the occasional terrible draft have beaten TSM so far. Keep that in mind.

Laughing FishAug 15, 20161 votes

If it wasn't for the loss to P1 I would agree, but losing to P1 proves that a lesser team can abuse them if they know how. Now, TSM has some brilliant coaches, and they will have already prepared for the strategies that P1 used. But while TSM is closer to perfect than any other team in the region, they still have flaws.

WoonStruckAug 16, 20161 votes

I feel the reason P1 won vs TSM is because they did cheese comps/drafts and it worked out for them.

That's kinda the purpose of cheese. In starcraft, lesser players will often try to cheese one of the rounds so they effectively only have to win one against a superior opponent.

TSM didn't take the snowball potential from P1 seriously enough, assuming they'd be able to just play normally and outscale.

TheSequelsRBadAug 15, 20163 votes

I am a Cloud9 and CLG fan, I will never betray them (especially C9), no matter how dark the circumstances.

Let the downvoters shower their hate!

#Cloud9win

#CLGwin.

Laughing FishAug 16, 20161 votes

I can respect that. I was chanting TSM all last split

Toa of DeathAug 21, 20163 votes

Well, your predictions so far have jinxed IMT.

Laughing FishAug 21, 20162 votes

That was a crazy series. There is something very wrong with IMTs coaching. Their players looked WAY too stressed. Polbelter was crying and Huni was covering his face and not looking at anyone after the game. I think their coach is putting too high expectations on them.

dapositivevikingAug 31, 20161 votes

hi I've come back to necropost because you bring up a good point. there does seem something up with whats going through their minds. second place team by just a margin? losing AGAIN in playoffs? pobelter joined this team bc he wanted to be the solo midlaner, because he wanted to be the one the team wanted to rely on first. and they're losing like clowns. poor guy. he has spoken before on his issues with what the coaches want and what he thinks is best for the team, like with team drafting and such. and to top that all off with being almost constantly autofilled..

DREADN0UGHTAug 15, 20162 votes

I don't think its going to be much of a surprise for Cloud9 and Immortals. IMT is clearly better, and I'm going to put my bet on it for sure.

For TSM and CLG, not sure really. I'm a big TSM fan and they've stomped so hard this split, but you have to respect CLG's strengths.

I'm not big for these kinds of predictions so I'll just see how it goes.

Laughing FishAug 15, 20162 votes

Yeah, IMT is a clear favorite against C9. The only way I see them losing is if they refuse to play the meta like they did last playoffs against TSM (Lucian top? Really?). TSM vs CLG will be a brutal series. I think TSM will win, but CLG should not be underestimated.

DREADN0UGHTAug 15, 20163 votes

That ''lucian top'' game was IMT not taking TSM seriously. It cost them the playoffs.

And there is ONE thing I don't agree with in all that stuff you said: Adrian being arguably the best support in NA. Come on, the guy has like what, 3 champs in his pool? He is so limited in his choices..

Laughing FishAug 15, 20161 votes

Yeah, IMT's lack of respect derailed them last time. If they didn't learn to respect their opponent, they will fall once again.

And there is ONE thing I don't agree with in all that stuff you said: Adrian being arguably the best support in NA. Come on, the guy has like what, 3 champs in his pool? He is so limited in his choices..

He is limited, but effective. All of his choices work well with a wide variety of ADCs, and he has enough champions that you can't ban him out. But yeah, this is why I said arguably. The meta currently favors him, and he makes great use of it, but due to his small champ pool I don't think he will be able to handle meta changes as well as others.

dapositivevikingAug 15, 20162 votes

I'd argue his small pool is not his fault but a reflection of his team and the league.

Laughing FishAug 15, 20162 votes

Exactly. He makes great use of the top tier support champs. It is hard to tell if he actually can only play those champs until the meta changes, and we can see how he adapts.

dapositivevikingAug 15, 20162 votes

and a lot of the talk earlier this year was that adrian was so ahead of the meta, playing janna/soraka while everyone was on alistar. i liked adrian during his time on tip, bc he fit in really well with rush/impact/xiaoweixiao and their aggressive style. now, he fits in imt with their style. there is serious claim to him being the best support.

Laughing FishAug 15, 20162 votes

Yeah, he set the meta before, and owns it now. Besides, whether he will adapt later doesn't change that he is a force to be reckoned with now.

LintheAug 16, 20162 votes

{quoted}

That ''lucian top'' game was IMT not taking TSM seriously. It cost them the playoffs.

And there is ONE thing I don't agree with in all that stuff you said: Adrian being arguably the best support in NA. Come on, the guy has like what, 3 champs in his pool? He is so limited in his choices..

No. There is NO way he only has 3 champs in his pool. He has played Raka, Janna, Ali, Karma and he started off playing Leona every game eons ago. Probably a few that I am forgetting (oh yea, Zyra early split I think?)

Banning out Adrian is an oft-mentioned strat that does NOT work. We can discuss how good a support he is but calling our his champ pool is not correct.

DREADN0UGHTAug 16, 20162 votes

{quoted}

No. There is NO way he only has 3 champs in his pool. He has played Raka, Janna, Ali, Karma and he started off playing Leona every game eons ago. Probably a few that I am forgetting (oh yea, Zyra early split I think?)

Banning out Adrian is an oft-mentioned strat that does NOT work. We can discuss how good a support he is but calling our his champ pool is not correct.

Well, I'd rather we all look at this objectively.

Lets look at Summer split 2016

Adrian played** 9 champions** over 43 games.

12 Soraka games 11 Karma games 6 Nami games 5 Zyra games 4 Sona games 2 Taric games 1 TahmKench game 1 Braum game 1 Bard game

So, technically, he played

_23 of 43 games with Soraka and Karma _

**That is 53% of his games with 2 champions. **

Now lets look at 2 other supports from top tier teams: Aphromoo and Biofrost

Aphro also played 9 champs, over 46 games:

14 Bard games 8 Karma games 7 Alistar games 5 Thresh games 4 Braum games 3 Soraka games 3 Morgana games 1 Janna game 1 Nami game

in his case, his top 2 most played champs are and ,

which represent 47% of his played games.

And biofrost played** 6 champions** over 41 games

18 Karma games 8 Braum games 8 Bard games 5 Nami games 1 Taric game 1 Alistar game

In his case, his most played champion alone, ,

represents 43% of his played games this split..

In conclusion, when it comes to Spring split 2016, you are right. I was wrong to look at him that way. Turns out Biofrost is the culprit here!

Ps- I found looking these numbers up very intersting.

WatchDogs LegionAug 16, 20162 votes

Your POV on both support about TSM vs CLG is much base on your opinion

Aphromoo? Advantage over Biofrost? Biofrost may not be as good with his micro/macro play because he's a rookie in LCS, but Mechanic wise he's way better than Aphromoo and that alone should not give him Advantage?????

Just because Aphromoo is a Vet. doesn't mean he's the shit with advantage. Look at fucking Kiwikid, fucking Vet. as well, don't want to be a hater but he fucking suck. It's time for him to leave the scene.

Biofrost is playing and syncing with DL way better than Aphromoo when he was DL support for 3-4 year. It only took Biofrost 1 split to do it. Biofrost don't really need to know his micro/macro play as he got that cover for him with his Team mates. Just like Staxxay got Aphromoo for that. (Basically don't just give advantage to a player base on micro/macro play) Sure it has some to do with the game, but from Mechanic, making plays, getting your team kill? Biofrost done that way better than Aphromoo

MasziiAug 17, 20161 votes

Plus Sven > Smithie. Smithie is just a bodyjungler, not flashy, just being around and soaking damage. Never really thought he was that good (Season 3 on Lee he was decent though)

XantakAug 16, 20162 votes

I think the finals will be IMT vs TSM. Though TSM has a monopoly on real estate in IMT's head, and it could possibly be the %%%%% in IMT's armor during the semifinal match between IMT and C9. I also think that Darshan peaked at MSI, same with Aphromoo, whereas TSM has been devastating in every match series except the one against P1. Biofrost has been making his case for ripping the crown out of Aphromoo's grasp for NA's best support all split.

I see it as IMT 3-2 vs C9, and TSM 3-0 or 3-1 vs CLG. I believe that while TSM was on postseason break, that most likely they were hammering out the practice hard and improving further, just like the Korean bootcamp while MSI was going on. You also have TSM reaching every split finals going for them.

Smart KittyAug 16, 20161 votes

I think C9 will beat IMT, I want CLG to beat TSM, but the way TSM is playing right now makes it difficult to believe they'll pull it off, but I gotta root for em anyways.

Communist ToastAug 16, 20161 votes

IMT can easily beat C9, if they focus. IMT has what appears to be a bad streak of thinking they are god's gift to league. they make really dumb calls and dumb picks in the past cause they don't seem to take anyone serious. cause they think they are just naturally better.

TSM should beat CLG I think too, unless CLG plays some wild champs like P1 did and destroyed them

FlashNekoAug 16, 20161 votes

Honestly, at this point it's kind of hard to tell because these series will be the first time we see TSM and IMT in a post-Australia Lanes meta.

As we've seen in the past, such massive changes in how you start the game off can reek havoc on what would have been a sure thing in the older meta. CLG and C9 already having "live fire" experience with it while TSM and IMT have only had scrims could quite possibly make more of a difference than you'd think.

This is especially true in TSM's case given that traditionally, for whatever reason, they've always been slow to adapt to this level of change... except in the past such changes were at the start of a season while this is the playoffs. Now the team is different enough that might no longer be true but history does have a gloriously nasty tendency to repeat itself.

Basically I'm hoping C9 and/or CLG win so I'll have someone I actually WANT to root for in the Finals/At Worlds.

YfrappefortAug 17, 20161 votes

I pretty much think the same way you did, except I believe C9 will bring it to 5 games against Immortals. Their last week gave them huge momentum and it will surely show in the series, but in the end I doubt it will be enough to defeat Immortals.

TSM has no reason to lose VS CLG. I am not a fan of them, but they are clearly the best team in NA atm. Even if CLG is a tough nut to crac, unless TSM draft bad and don't adapt to certains matchups (like VS Phoenix1), they should win it.

I just hope there won't be too many stomp and hopefully no 3-0.

VeraskaAug 17, 20161 votes

I think both TSM and IMT will win their series 3-0 honestly they know how to win early, hard, and consistently

TBakesAug 19, 20161 votes

I agree with almost everything you stated above. I think C9's win condition is if Impact can "absorb" the pressure of Reignover-Huni in the top lane and Meteos focuses bot and mid. This is something I am confident Impact can do, but it will more heavily rely on Meteos enabling Jensen and Sneaky to become the carry monsters they are while containing Huni's carry potential. Individually, the argument can be made that Immortals are better, but I think this new patch/meta will tilt the odds more in favor of C9 than the regular split. I expect it to be an even showdown with longer games.

TSM-CLG will be interesting to watch too. I expect it to be 3-0 because I think CLG have been tilted from the whole split, but they also have potential to win the whole thing. It is hard to tell. They have had time to practice, the patch/meta has changed, etc. There are some variables that could change TSM's dominance. I am looking forward to these games though.

Kal Vas FlamAug 20, 20161 votes

As much as I love C9, I think they actually adjust rather poorly. They're a snowball team and kick ass when they get a lead, but falter hard when they're behind. The good news though is if they can beat IMT they got a shot at going all the way.