How the NA LCS teams prep for the Playoffs

Riot·Aug 3, 2015·1 votes·15,018 views

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.

32 Comments

BioniclesAug 3, 20154 votes

Uhhhhh tip has to play gravity? That's a glaring error….. TIP play dignitas in the quarterfinals.

RiotTayTay BotAug 3, 20153 votes

Gah! Our bad. We've fixed it, should be reflected as soon as the site caches.

Straw Hat LokiAug 3, 20154 votes

This split will be exciting just because it has been a while since TSM is not the favorite team going into the playoffs and CLG has not only a bye first round but also is on the weaker side of the bracket imo.

TSM vs Gravity is a series I think TSM will likely take given their experience in Bo5s despite both teams finishing the split looking very shaky. TSM historically has proven themselves to be a team which prepares well for the playoffs so I expect them to pull through against Gravity.

TiP vs Dig will be less exciting because the way TiP has been performing lately was fairly solid. How much XWX's absence hurts them will be revealed here but it helps TiP's playoff run in that they face the easiest team to qualify for the playoffs. This should help Gate settle a little more before facing tougher opponents. His game against TL showed his positioning and cohesion with the team needs work.

TL vs TSM and on the other side CLG vs TiP.

TL vs TSM should be super fun to watch because it will come down to whether TSM can regain their pre-MSI form or not. CLG vs TiP is hard to call b/c CLG has only won recently with a fast pushing adc strategy so if TiP counters that in their prep then what else does CLG bring? Impact vs ZionSpartan should be super exciting too!

Raise The GnarAug 4, 20153 votes

The Semi-Finals are gonna be really fun to watch especially the CLG vs TiP game. It's basically an Order vs Chaos match, CLG being Order and TiP the Chaos. So far the record is 3-1 in CLG's favor so I would assume CLG will win. On top of that without XWX, I feel Rush might have to spend more time Mid to help out Gate vs Pob, and if CLG predicts that then it mean Xmithie can setup amazing counterganks or make plays in the other lanes. IMO I think its mostly gonna come down Mid and Jungle synergy to determine the outcome of these games.

The TL vs TSM/GV match, not as hyped but probably a lot more important for TSM. In order for TSM to guarantee themselves a spot at worlds they MUST GET at least 3rd place, unless TL gets 1st then they can get 4th and still take the 2nd seed. For this matchup I thinks its actually gonna be about the toplane, because TL's botlane is a lot better, and Mid lane is about even if not slightly in Fenix's favor, so really I think its about how they utilize Dyrus/Hauntzer and Quas. We have seen Quas and Hauntzer carry games before, but in TSM's case I don't remember a single game this season where TSM put the carry pants on Dyrus, and that might just be their downfall. I'm not counting Rumble or Hecarim games because it's pretty easy to LOOK like you're carrying with well placed Equalizers and well timed Onslaught of Shadows. I'm talking about games where they actually carried like Quas' Fizz, sure they lost but carried as best he could, or ZionSpartan his games on Olaf, Fizz, and Kennen did numbers for CLG, and Hauntzer's Ryze idk y anyone would give it to him beat Quas and Piglet in a 1v2. Games like that are games i'm looking at.

TL;DR Final Predictions at the end of playoffs. (before the regional Qualifiers) Biased Prediction: 1st CLG, 2nd Liquid, 3rd TSM, 4th TiP, 5th-6th GV DIG Unbiased Prediction: 1st Liquid, 2nd CLG, 3rd TiP, 4th TSM, 5th-6th GV DIG I'd laugh so hard if GV beat TSM because then TSM wouldn't guarantee their spot for worlds

Raise The GnarAug 4, 20152 votes

okay so it wont let me edit my post but here is the edit I wanted to make.

**EDIT: *The TiP vs CLG matchup is actually split 2-2, so I guess it could go either way but I feel CLG will still win due to XWX not being there and that CLG will outplay TiP in rotational play, and pick/bans. I do think TiP will win if they can get a good teamfight comp and manage to keep the gold differential within 1k - 1.5k, because let's be honest CLG's early game is one of the best in NA.

*CLG has the 2nd highest gold lead @15 at 984 gold over their opponents (the first being Liquid at 1069) and in comparison the 3rd highest is TiP(628) and then C9(377) TSM(175) GV(-14) TDK(-201) DIG(-522) T8(-807) and lastly NME at -1800 (DAMN O.O) more stats at oracleselixir.com

EzikiorageAug 4, 20151 votes

These predictions are funny...

Raise The GnarAug 15, 20151 votes

Funny Predictions? huh well so far my prediction(s) are correct. CLG ALL THE WAY SON! WHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

FinalRetaliationAug 4, 20157 votes

Nobody is mentioning the biggest wildcard in this, and that is CLG HuHi. When he arrived in America the casters said that after talking to CLG members they learned that they had not only been scrimming with him, but doing very well. I expect them to finally pull him out to catch someone off-guard with him.

Straw Hat LokiAug 4, 20153 votes

Oh man. I would love to see that. I do feel that they will only pull him out in the finals or if things go south against TiP. I would love to see how he plays and how it changes their gameplay overall.

Raise The GnarAug 5, 20151 votes

I'd LOVE for CLG to finally bring out Huhi, but I feel they're going to stick with Pobelter due to his consistency. If anything maybe we see them pull the SKT move, where they put in Huhi for Games 1 & 2 and then if they win those they keep him in if they go 1-1 or 0-2 then they bring in Pob for the next 3 games. I WANT to see Huhi but I'm afraid it probably won't happen :(

cjconway1Aug 4, 20152 votes

Choke Logic Gaming winning a game that actually means something... Have you ever watched them play. TDK could beat CLG in playoffs the way they always manage to choke

Raise The GnarAug 15, 20151 votes

WHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! GET REKT! EVERYONE SAID "OH TIP'S GONNA 3-0", I THINK YOU MEANT TO SAY "gonna GET 3-0'd" WHOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

Straw Hat LokiAug 4, 20152 votes

I agree that Semis are where it really will pick up the heat! I totally agree that Gate might run into trouble against Pobelter. I still think if Rush/Impact can shut down ZionSpartan it will make a huge difference and significantly increase their chances of winning just b/c Zion is such a huge carry for CLG. If Gate plays like he did in his game against TL, TiP loses hard to CLG. On the whole though I expect him to play safer just because his team will need him to and they know it. Fizz is a must ban against Zion and I expect his Olaf to not be as impactful against Impact. This guy knows his matchups and isn't going to roll over feeding or lose lane. I personally want TIP to win this but let's see :3

TL usually has winning lanes in all their matchups; the exception might be Bjergsen who I still think is slightly better than Fenix. I have not really seen Fenix carry as much on anything besides Azir and I do not expect teams to leave Azir open at all. His Viktor was not impressive imo. That aside, I do think they have winning lanes against Gravity through and through. Against TSM, Bjergsen is the only carry threat they need worry about. This series will become easy to foresee after TSM's performance against Gravity.

Absoluti0n ZeroAug 4, 20152 votes

I am not sure if tip cna shut down zion 100% because he is still probably one of the better toplanes in NA because he plays aggressively smart. he is the top of carry top who is able to deal with 1v2 and to be honest i don't think we'll see to much 1v1 between them during laning phase as clg likes to lane swap for towers. even then i wouldn't say impact is to far aheado f zion in duel prowess but it would be interesting. i think olaf is a good pick against impact because olaf does fine into gnar an maokai and rumble which is most of impacts champions and it might even do well into hecarim.

i think TL is my favored to win because as 5 i think they are little better. i wouldn't agree Fenix doesn't carry i think he does but he isn't always needed to carry games more then be a persistent damage source, their whole team all 5 players on TL are capable of carrying the game regardless of what they play. i saw this because yes bjerg can carry a team, dyrus has not carried a game yet but i feel they won't put him into the psoition to, turtle has kinda carried games and santorin is basically with lustboy making a play praying the team follows up. even then santorin at this current point will most likely not carry a game.

now TSM does have bjerg who i think is also slightly better then Fenix, i don't mean as a 1v1 skill match up because Fenix is probably even with him if not maybe better in some aspects, but this game is gonna rely on every lane of tsm. if even one lane goes outta control for TL they will probably push tsm hard and they have shown that they can take early leads and run a marathon or wait and claw back into victory. It'll come down to Dom and Santorin to decide what team will control the game.

DawnzAug 4, 20152 votes

TSM was only the favorite last split, the split before that they went in as 3rd seed

CantripsAug 4, 20153 votes

DoubleLift's entitlement is going to crush him if they fail... the word "deserve" was a bit strong, in my opinion...

Whey ProteinAug 3, 20152 votes

Tip plays Dig... You had one job...

2CooL42Aug 4, 20152 votes

TSM I BELIEVE IN YOU, YOU CAN DO THIS!!!!! TSME=BEA

OutlawHunterAug 4, 20154 votes

i no its cheesy but FreeSM sucks

Me EvilMasterAug 4, 20152 votes

The NA playoffs will be extremely interesting to watch this year, as a result of all 5 teams are relatively close to each other, and each miss step may even triggers the whole game. In my opinion, TIP has a greater chance to beat dig without doubt. The lighting match will be CLG vs TIP, as a CLG fan myself, Im indeed pleased with their recent performance. However , this doesn't wipe out the fact that CLG is weak during playoffs. I still want CLG to win thought it will be tough. TSM dominated the NA since season1, its pretty odd their performance dropped dramatically lately, may be they are saving their strategies for the world, therefore they have a high chance to beat gravity. TSM VS LI will be so fun to watch and it can go either way to be fair CANT WAIT FOR THE PLAYOFFS!!!!!!!

EleshakaiAug 4, 20151 votes

hey look, another article that's almost entirely about tip and tl... does Riot realize there are 10 teams in the league, not 2? Because it doesn't seem like it lately.

FinalRetaliationAug 4, 20152 votes

The other teams aren't really relevant since none of them are actually contenders to even get a win in their groups at Worlds, TIP and TL can get out if they get what TSM got last year.

EleshakaiAug 4, 20152 votes

{quoted}

The other teams aren't really relevant since none of them are actually contenders to even get a win in their groups at Worlds, TIP and TL can get out if they get what TSM got last year.

This isn't about worlds. It's about playoffs. And if Dig, TSM, or Gravity beats TL or TIP, then they might be able to do something at worlds too.

However, if you look at most of the past few weeks NA based articles, it's been a lot of content about the same two teams, whether it be interviews, game analysis, etc... it's almost always about those two games. Hell, they were involved in more than half of the 'big plays'... which is nonsense.

cjconway1Aug 4, 20153 votes

It's nonsense that TL got two of the big plays... Piglet blind stealing baron with a Corki rocket and a 1v4 Quadra are both godlike plays. IMO best of the split for sure...

EleshakaiAug 4, 20152 votes

{quoted}

It's nonsense that TL got two of the big plays... Piglet blind stealing baron with a Corki rocket and a 1v4 Quadra are both godlike plays. IMO best of the split for sure...

yes, in your TL fanboy opinion the best of the split. I get it.

Cheryl ColeAug 5, 20151 votes

does Riot realise there are another leagues not just one? Becouse it doesn't seem like it since the beginning.

DCZephyrosAug 4, 20151 votes

Under "Down to Business" and the fourth sentence it says "They way you practice" and the following "they way you prepare" just a small error and I'm sorry it sounds like nitpicking I'm just throwing it out there.

YellowLiftAug 4, 20151 votes

i will say this once everybody can say that TSM can loose but nobady can say that TSM wont be stronger ..... TSM can still win playoffs they came back everytime they had to and they can do it again its gonna be hard but this will show how great is the team .

no doubt the most hyped up playoffs we ve had !

LT DrkLinkAug 5, 20151 votes

I think that it is worth mentioning that these playoffs will be even more exciting because the two teams that always, ALWAYS went to Finals since Cloud9 arrived in the LCS - Cloud9 and TSM - cannot go to the Finals together, bringing new teams to have a chance at the Finals. Hyped for these Playoffs!