How the NA LCS teams prep for the Playoffs
With the NA LCS Playoffs just on the horizon, teams can no longer afford to waste any time. They have to do intensive research on each individual matchup, put together terrifying team compositions, and make sure their mentality is just right. It's a ton of work, and not for the faint of heart.
The time for that work is now, and Counter Logic Gaming's AD carry Yiliang "Doublelift" Peng, Team Liquid's support Alex "Xpecial" Chu, and Team Impulse's AD carry Apollo "Apollo" Price, are definitely all feeling the pressure. Three players that haven't seen LCS gold since Cloud9 exploded on the scene way back in 2013, they're looking to prove that their respective squads have what it takes to go home with the top NA LCS Summer Split Playoffs spot -- and a guaranteed trip to Worlds.
Fixing what's wrong
They shouldn't get ahead of themselves, though. With just a few days left to go before the Playoffs begin, they've got to focus on the here and now. That speedy preparation is even more necessary for Apollo, as TIP doesn't have a bye week like CLG and TL. He and Team Impulse have to play Team Dignitas after a short break, starting on August 8.
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To make matters more interesting for them, as a squad, TIP hasn't been involved in a ton of Best of 5 matchups. "The only problem is we don't have too much experience with [Best of 5s]. It showed a lot last Split," he says. Outside of Eon-Young "Impact" Jeong, Spring Split's Playoffs were the first time they saw the format, and that inexperience was most prevalent in their state of mind. "Our mentality wasn't the greatest during the Playoffs," says Apollo. "We got down on ourselves, lost confidence, and fell over versus Team Liquid and Team SoloMid."
To stay confident heading into the Summer Split Playoffs, Apollo and TIP plan on sticking to what they do best -- finding wins with surprising and unique strategies. "We play the game that makes us feel the most comfortable," he says. "We always change things up. That's the reason teams don't know how to play against us yet. And that's a good thing."
The right mentality
For veterans of LCS Playoffs scenarios like Doublelift and Xpecial, success in the postseason will come from their experience on the Rift.
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Xpecial in particular has a lot of faith in Team Liquid's ability to use their veteran status as an advantage. "This is not the first time our support staff has been through a Best of 5," he says. "They're going to have a lot of experience going through the motions."
According to him, Liquid will be able to handle anything his competitors throw at them. "If we're up two games, how do we want to approach the third game? We're down two games, how do we want to approach this? It's Game 5, what do we do? All these situations, we've been through. Our support staff can be helping us prepare for that and helping us when it gets down to the wire so that we make the right moves." With confidence playing a key role in the Playoffs mental game, the backup that Team Liquid has in their staff will be invaluable.
CLG's Doublelift has plenty of confidence too, and despite struggling in prior Playoffs, he's ready to use those experiences to his advantage this time around. "We know hardship and failure. It's not something new to us," he says. "We've been there and we've done that. It's normal for us. We can play from ahead and we can stomp good teams. And from behind we can crawl out and come back. Having that experience is really important for staying positive and constructive all the time."
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For a team so well known for having interpersonal issues stop their Playoffs runs in their tracks, staying positive is going to be incredibly vital to their success. Doublelift is trying to avoid getting cocky, although he is hopeful. "I don't want to put extra pressure on my teammates and say 'This is the run,' but I really do feel it."
Down to business
With the rapid jump from the Regular Season's Best of 1 matches to the Playoffs' Best of 5 series, it's going to take a lot of logistical work for teams to prep. Sure, CLG and Liquid may have an extra week to get ready, but it's a short period of time to make such a huge adjustment. "Best of 5 is significantly different [than Best of 1]," says Xpecial. "They way you practice, they way you prepare for it [is different]. In a Best of 5 you need to prepare more than one strategy. And the strategies have to be different enough that they can't just ban it out if you do well in the first game."
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Apollo echoes that sentiment, saying, "We have to have more team comps. We have to think more about what they are going to be picking and adapting throughout the match. We don't know what they're going to pick, right? It's good to have pocket picks, it's good to have a safe team comp. A more risky team comp, too."
To get all that ready, they've got to put in work. Xpecial points out the importance of playing Solo Queue to make sure they're practiced up on all the champions they'll need. Of course, he can't resist heaping a bit of praise on his Liquid teammates in the process. "We play probably the most Solo Queue out of every team in the LCS and our rankings are really high as well. We always play."
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Doublelift is right there with him, even after describing his recent practice sessions as "difficult and grueling." He says, "This is the hardest I've seen my team work...I know that we deserve it. I observe other teams, other players, and how much effort they put in, and it's not on the same level as how much we put in. I know that we deserve it."
With all the work teams are putting into the 2015 NA LCS Summer Split Playoffs, the upcoming series are looking to be incredibly exciting. Make sure you don't miss a second of it when the Playoffs start on August 8, right here on Lolesports.
Taylor "Riot RoboTayCo" Cocke is a Web Content Coordinator for Lolesports. You'll typically find him on Leona or Bard in the bot lane, but he does love a good cackle while dropping Veigar's Primordial Burst on someone. You can follow him on Twitter, where he'll likely talk about bands you don't care about.
