10 thoughts: Believe in NA
If you missed the first week of Group Stage, here is one thought on your current living arrangement: it's under a rock. We saw doom and gloom and cause for balloons in an action packed Week 1 -- here are some takeaways!
Believe in NAAll three NA LCS teams are 2-1 right now. Immortals and Cloud9 can more or less punch their ticket through with wins over the GIGABYTE Marines and ahq respectively, whereas TSM is stuck in a three-way tie with Team WE and Misfits. However, despite having a tougher road, TSM proved they are undisputably the best NA team this year -- they should be able to handle the challenge. The question, then, is why should anyone believe this time will be different? Why are you sweating? What’s going to prevent another NA Week 2 fiasco? Well, this time, NA is winning with standard play, CLG-branded faith is at home, and… I mean, what are the odds they blow it again? There’s a famous saying in North America that should serve as your guiding light this week: “This is the year!”
Believe in South KoreaThere’s a famous saying in Korea that should serve as your guiding light this week: “SK telecom T1 wins the World Championship!”
In all seriousness, SKT and SSG actually struggled more than expected over the opening weekend. Both could be 1-2 (SSG actually dropped a game). But that’s just it -- they could. That they’re not is part of the reason the LCK has been so dominant -- their teams excel at the bend-but-don’t-break defensive style. It doesn’t matter that they almost lost. It matters that they didn’t.
ClearLove, Full Hearts, Can LoseThe bright side is Clearlove7 won’t be eliminated from the Quarterfinals again. The down side is Clearlove7 won’t be eliminated from the Quarterfinals again. :thinkingguymeme: EDG needs a lot of help to realistically stand a chance of escaping their group. They also need to start winning. That said, they had a 10k gold lead on SKT and also could have beaten ahq. Of the four 0-3 teams, I think they have the best shot at pulling off a miracle run. Do it for Dillon Wuhan.
EU’s hope is the power of evilPeople say love conquers evil, so Misfits are really lucky Clearlove7 and Edward Gaming aren’t in this group. Thanks to that, evil prevails. Mwahaha. Misfits could go 3-0 in Week 2 and you’d probably still get people saying, “DAE EU is ded? Lol” Misfits have looked really good thus far, though -- especially their Baron posturing. Let’s see what other tricks these rabbits can pull out of their hat.
The LMS’ steady declineThe last non-Korean region to win Worlds was the Taipei Assassins in 2012. It remains one of the great upset runs in history. Ever since then, the region has seen a steady decline in performance. In 2015, the LMS had two Quarterfinalists. In 2016, they had none. And now the Flash Wolves and ahq went a combined 1-5 in the first week after seeing their 3rd seed (Hong Kong Attitude) get bounced from the Play-In. It seems the flash of light at the end of the tunnel is shaped like a wolf.
Power ranking of items1. Ardent censer
2. LED fan signs
3. Froskurinn’s attire
4. Nashor’s Tooth on Orianna I guess?
5. LPL caster desk props: model car, headset milk
Uzi me now, Uzi me not:Twitchlaugh: Uzi famously made back-to-back Worlds Finals in 2013 and 2014 thanks to the “Protect the ADC” style being viable and him being the best ADC in the world for that job. And while the Worlds 2017 meta doesn’t exactly allow for 1v5s, the overwhelming focus is still on the ADC. Team fights frequently come down to which team has the better ADC. And years from now, when the robots have taken over, they’ll still be unable to replicate Uzi’s mechanics.
More teams should emulate the GIGABYTE Marines’ philosophyThe super leash that Levi received from his team in order to hit a five minute Level 6 on Nocturne was awesome. It was a super risky play because it immediately set his laners behind in tempo. The onus was then on him to immediately use the early Level 6 spike to secure a kill. Which he did. And if you’re a world class player, why wouldn’t you want that kind of responsibility? Teams follow the “meta” because it has been proven to work. But just because one team can win with that meta doesn’t mean you can. GAM’s innovations backfire in a big way when they don’t work, but that’s okay. An embarrassing 20 minute loss counts exactly as much as a 55 minute “close” loss.
Watching Rekkles is heartbreakingI don’t have any jokes to make this one easier. Fnatic has issues on and off the Rift at the moment, and this moment seems to be the culmination of a tough year for their captain. Them going 0-3 isn’t the most unexpected result, but their losses were each so uniquely devastating -- the Marines' super leash, the Rekkles flash forward, and then Khan’s cane. I don’t expect them to recover, but I do hope they find it in them to rally for a good showing in Week 2.
How might the meta evolve?Everyone I’ve talked to so far has said that we will not move away from the Ardent Censer meta. What might happen, though, is that responsibility will shift to a different lane. We already saw G2 try it with Ivern jungle, and the likes of Karma and Lulu could still flex to a solo lane. One way to punish passivity is to increase your engage tools -- especially from the support position. I think you might see some teams try the Blitzcranks and Threshes of the world again. We’re already seeing changes in top lane which take advantage of weaker tank top laners -- Trundle and Nasus both saw play. Maybe someone will whip out a Master Yi or so to try and take advantage of the hyper carry meta. What would you do to upset the meta?
Last year, TSM was eliminated from Groups despite going 1-1 against Samsung Galaxy (who ended 5-1) because they went 0-2 against RNG and lost the tiebreaker. This year, the situation is eerily similar. Only it’s the Misfits who may now hold that edge over them. This may be the most important game of TSM’s season, as it would at least guarantee they won’t be eliminated via tiebreaker. If TSM manages to beat WE earlier in the day, then a win over MSF would guarantee they advance. On the flipside, the tiebreaker argument is just as advantageous for MSF. MSF enjoyed consistent performances across the board from their players, and they were proactive in their map movements. The same can’t be said for TSM, who (as they often do at international events) played far too reactively. The key mismatches were in jungle and ADC as Maxlore and Hans Sama outplayed Svenskeren and Doublelift. Look for an even heavier focus on the bot lane in the rematch. NA vs. EU. The stakes are as high as ever.
Kien Lam is a content producer for Lolesports. You can find more awful great jokes and commentary on his Twitter @meanmisterkien.
