The Recap: NA LCS Week 2

North America finds itself extremely close as the top 5 teams are within 2 wins of each other. Dignitas is at the top with CLG, Cloud9, and LMQ in the middle and TSM just under them. TSM seems to be struggling slightly with synergy, while the solo lane talent of Dignitas has propelled them into the #1 spot in NA.

Games of the Week

Day 1: CounterLogic Gaming vs Team SoloMid In the 2014 Spring Split playoffs, CLG looked like the better team for the first half of the series before they fell apart and let TSM walk all over them. But when they met for their rematch, CLG was ready. True to their form, CLG didn’t have the most dominant laning phase, with dexter falling behind due to a failed invade, and Dyrus picking up a double-kill in a failed dive by dexter and Seraph. However, they rotated their way back into the game, picking up kills and objectives from movement around the map, and eventually pulling a small lead. Once they were able to get to teamfights, their game plan was simply stronger. True to form, CLG centered their team composition around Doublelift, protecting him with shields from Orianna, Locket of the Iron Solari, and Face of the Mountain, not to mention 6 hard crowd control abilities from his team. This left them free to use CC to initiate and still have peel available for Doublelift, and propelled them to a dominant victory over TSM. Day 1: LMQ vs Team Dignitas LMQ is known for winning all of their lanes and snowballing off of that, and has taken criticism for sub-par rotations, team fights, and late-game decision-making. But Dignitas didn’t let that come to light at all, dominating from the start, with ZionSpartan’s Irelia snowballing hard over Ackerman’s Shyvana while Dignitas’ bot lane pulled ahead of LMQ’s. Thanks to a number of early objectives, Dignitas was able to push their advantage and take a commanding 29 minute victory. Day 2: LMQ vs Cloud9 LMQ came out strong after their loss to Dignitas, pulling ahead to an early 2 kill, 4k gold lead against Cloud9. However, they tried to force a dragon fight 23 minutes into the game, and the AoE from Sneaky’s Corki allowed Cloud9 to pick up the 1-1 team fight victory, leading to dragon. LMQ tried to respond with a homeguard teleport by Ackerman’s Renekton, but Cloud9 turned, picking up even more kills onto Corki, who ended the whole fight at 4-0-1, finishing his Trinity Force and his Bloodthirster. From there, LMQ actually had the gold advantage, but the mid-game strength of Corki proved too much for LMQ. While they were able to make plays to keep the game going, even winning a baron team fight against Cloud9, the momentum stayed in Cloud9’s advantage for the rest of the game. Ultimately, the chase power from Corki and the Leap resets from Hai’s Kha’Zix turned a lost team fight into a rout, and Cloud9 pushed in for the win. Day 2: Dignitas vs Team SoloMid Dignitas vs TSM ended up being an extremely close game, with no kills until the 24 minute mark. TSM wanted to run a heavy team fight composition, with a 2-tank front line and Bjergsen’s Lulu shields to protect Wild Turtle’s Kog’Maw. Meanwhile Dignitas ran split-push composition with Shiphtur on Ziggs, Imaqtpie on Ezreal, Crumbzz on Lee Sin, and Kiwikid on Nami. While the rest of his team kept TSM busy, ZionSpartan split-farmed all game despite being far behind Dyrus’ Shyvana. As the game went on, Jax continued to get harder and harder, while TSM was unable to force favorable fights in the face of Dignitas’ heavy disengage. Dignitas chose their fights very carefully for much of the game, only engaging when they felt their heavy AoE damage and mobility allowed them to follow up and chase. They chose their time wisely, taking the late game victory.

Biggest Surprises

Dignitas Hype Continues Dignitas is a team synonymous with hype and disappointment. Last season, they took down Cloud9 in their first head-to-head before falling all the way to 4th place in the season and 5th place in the playoffs. But their new solo laners have been extremely dominant, and have propelled them to the #1 record and North America. Is this another hype train, or is the new Dignitas the real deal?

Biggest Disappointments

TSM Falls to Long-Time Rivals Three teams have defined the North American scene for 2 years: CLG, TSM, and Dignitas. Cloud9 broke into the summer split in North America and has been dominant since, and LMQ looks to be a top-tier NA team as well. But TSM has always beaten their long-time NA rivals. Until now. TSM fell 0-2 to CLG and Dignitas, and for the first time in a long time, find themselves behind both teams in the standings. Their team is quite talented with Gleebglarbu and the European import Amazing, but they have struggled to build synergy. TheOddOne may not have been flashy, but perhaps his old-school support jungle style was exactly what had kept TSM dominant, by giving them consistently winning lanes! They have a whole split to figure their issues out before Worlds, but right now, they look like they’re not competing for the #1 spot in NA for the first time in years. Editor's Note: This story originally contained a number of errors pertaining to the teams and matches involved. These inaccuracies have since been corrected, and Lolesports regrets the error. Mattias "Gentleman Gustaf" Lehman is a League of Legends mathcrafter turned esports journalist who spends his spare time staring at mountains of League of Legends data. Follow him @GentlemanGustaf on Twitter.

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