Welcome to the 2020 Season LCS Edition
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The more things change the more they stay the same. With the EU scene commencing shortly the LCS will be underway as well. This year is a particularly different beast from the previous two years as teams were a lot more aggressive in free agency. Time to see which teams will compete for the chance to either disappoint us or give us heartbreak.
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100 Thieves: The main goal for you is trying to find a mid-laner that can actually keep you together and not have to rely on the relic that is Ryu. Bang was overrated like most people predicted and you replaced him with the more modest option of Cody Sun. Ssumday and can keep the top lane in a stable spot while you wait for your future in FakeGod to develop. Either this team will get run over due to having too many old guys or their experience will carry them to the playoffs.
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C9: After failing to get out of groups the boys in blue are in a weird situation. Either the season will be a disaster and you have to enter rebuild mode, or you pull another bullshit run out of your ass. This season also marks the first time they will be without their cornerstone Sneaky who will now meme off into the sunset. Your support itching to go in for a fight gone. Your MVP caliber jungler gone. Your success hinges on Zven. He’s either going to underachieve like with TSM or perform better than advertised; I’d say it’s 50/50 odds.
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CLG: Oh the irony; Crown has yet again replaced PowerOfEvil for mid laner. Honestly, I’d put them in the same skill level, both go full Rambo when they need to though POE is more unorthodox. To think that they had so much momentum only to fall short. Your goal this time is to come out of the gates swinging and stay at the top. I wouldn’t be surprised if this team underachievers again. High highs and low lows are the nature of this franchise.
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Dignitas: Despite have a young core and a decent amount of success last season. You gave Huni the big payday and will be now nicknamed $2.3 million dollar man. Also, Demonte is now replaced by Froggen. I personally disagree with the move, Demonte is young and was taking the right steps to become a better mid laner giving the team an identity. You also let go of Cody Sun and brought in a rookie that nobody knows about aside from his appearance in the TCS in Johnson. Looks like a house of cards waiting to fall.
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Evil Geniuses: Thank goodness the LCS spot didn’t go to Stan Kronke, not going into detail but he has done some shady things in the past. The caveat is that they got showered with gifts galore. They stripped C9 of their core and were given the # 1 overall pick in the draft to get a prodigy of a mid laner to develop for 2 years. They also got inconsistent but high ceiling talent with Bang and the Italian stallion. The sky's the limit for this squad as I can see them rivaling Team Liquid if they achieve their potential, alternatively, they stumble right out of the gate with no traction. They will either be the Golden Knights or the Buccaneers.
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Flyquest: What should have been a continuation of the success in the spring turned into a dumpsterfire in the summer. There was no excuse that it was because of a rough early schedule, good teams bounce back from adversity. Pobelter was turning into a liability and needed to be replaced. POE should be a suitable replacement for you guys and provides a much-needed identity shift that revolves around using creativity and feeding off the crowd. I also V1per experiment last season as a success as he became a threat that had to be kept in check by the enemy jungler or else he would carry. Ignar also makes for an exciting playmaker and was teammates with POE when they had SKT on the ropes back in 2017. This should make for a fun team to watch.
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Golden Guardians: If there is one word that defines your squad it’s young. Hauntzer is the only member on your team that I would consider a true veteran. Split after split it’s been nothing but mediocrity this looks to be more of the same. FBI seems to be making good progress in his development as he showed flashes during the summer. Also, you signed Kieth to be a support …. wait what. Hopefully, he can finally find a team he can stay on for more than a split.
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Immortals: They are back and not quite better than ever. You have some decent pieces to start your return with, sOAZ makes for a rock in the top lane and Altec is an underrated but consistent ADC. You also got the prize of Zmithie in free agency. My bets are that he steals at least 10 barons this season. Hakuho helps round out the squad with the playmaking ability to keep the roster from being stale. The only X-Factor is Eika as while he’s been on the scene in EU for 4 years, he is an unknown. This split will be a good indicator as to how good he is and the ceiling he offers.
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Team Liquid: Your success at MSI felt like a marriage. Little did we know that the curse of Doublelift in the group stage still applied to Worlds. Steve was able to keep the gang around with the only difference being an upgrade at jungle. For all of the smite steals that Xmithie could provide TL needed a player with a higher ceiling. The answer came in Broxah who became known across the world for his insane Lee Sin outplay back in 2018. The other addition is Pobelter as an emergency substitute if any player is out. Unless Broxah is a bust this team should be their usual selves.
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TSM: The obsession for International success compromised your ability to even win domestically. Let’s be honest, would you have really done any better at Worlds anyway? The jungle carousel was a revolving door last year as you couldn’t seem to settle on an identity. You got tired of having to pick a horse to ride up and down in a circle and decided to go high risk with the enigmatic Dardoch. If he doesn’t get released after the split he’ll probably turn into a stud. You also kicked Zven to the curb to bring in the slightly more aggressive Kobbe. If you want to reclaim your status as NA’s team this is it.
The roster shuffling has left most of the teams at critical juncture points this year with the 2nd and 3rd worlds berth being up for grabs. Unlike the LEC post I did I’ll try to predict the records each team will have this spring split. TL 16-2 CLG 14-4 C9 13-5 FLY 11-7 TSM 11-7 EG 9-9 IMT 9-9 DIG 8-10 GGS 6-12
Can NA send someone to Worlds that we can be proud of? Pretty Please? [sg-soraka]
