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Bearded Elder29873 Posts
Since it's very close to the beggining of LCS Summer Split, it's time for another thread with predictions ! This split we're having 3 new teams, Origen for EU LCS + NME / TDK for NA LCS.
EU LCS :
1. Fnatic - After watching MSI I have no doubts that Fnatic has a huge potential and can repeat their achievements from Spring Split, definitely numer 1 for me. 2. Origen - Pretty ballsy prediction if you ask me but after SK getting rid of F0RG1VEN and getting CandyPanda back as their ADC, I can't see anyone being a good rival for 2nd spot, unless Unicorns Of Love can repeat their success from previous split. 3. Unicorns Of Love - Solid 3rd place for me, unless they get exposed hard this season. 4. H2K - Because Ryu. 5. Elements - Yup, that's right. I'm predicting Elements to end up in TOP5. Since they got rid of Shook and Tabzz is back on ADC, I think they got potential. 6/7. SK Gaming / Gambit - Can't decide yet, I think that one of these teams will end up being higher than I predict but getting CandyPanda is a huge downgrade for SK. Also no idea how Gambit with F0RG1VEN will work. I guess it's all on Betsy/Diamond back. 8. ROCCAT - No idea about their new top laner but seems like team have some issues, I hope they can fix it, as I'm not satisfied with them ending split in bottom 3. 9. Copenhagen Wolves - Seems like CW didn't make any roster changes for the upcoming split, can't have high hopes for them, probably gonna end up in the same place as they did in Spring. 10. GIANTS - Weakest team in whole EU LCS.
NA LCS :
1. Cloud9 - Although I don't believe in Incarnati0n doing big wonders in NA LCS, I think that they're able to beat TSM and defend first place position. 2. Team SoloMid - Even with Dyrus feeding and Santoring playing PvE in the MSI, I still think they're pretty decent. 3. Team Liquid - We improved. We did well and finally broke the 4th place curse so yeah, aiming at top3 is reasonable in this split. 4. Counter Logic Gaming - In Pobelter we trust. Although it might be the same shit as they had with Link, time will show. 5. Team Dragon Knights - I know that Emperor and Ninja might not be godlike tier replacements for ADC/Mid but I'm hoping for a big surprise, like UoL did in EU LCS. 6. Team Impulse - Because why not? 7/8. Enemy Esports / Gravity Gaming - I like NME's roster, I really do. I think they might perform even better than T8 did with their debut. 9. Team8 - Because they're slighly better than Dignitas in my eyes. 10. Dignitas - No comment on this one. I think they're worst team in NA LCS.
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Don't really see how you can place Origen above H2K when Origen looked pretty mediocre in the CS and the last season Xpeke/Soaz played they weren't looking very good either. They may be the most overrated team to join LCS lol. Also CLG about TiP doesn't make sense to me. Unless we talking only regular season. CLG will shit the bed like always but it's still up to debate if they'll even do well. We'll prob just see Impact destroying even more top lane shitters and Rush honing his gameplay further in this season.
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Bearded Elder29873 Posts
Can't judge team by their CS performance only. And as I wrote, Origen in top2 is pretty ballsy prediction but damn, those are just my predictions ^_^
Also #believe in Notorious Pob to be a slightly better mid than Link was.
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Yes I think I agree mostly with 739 predictions. But the last split has somehow shown that the newcomers are the new kings of eu and origen has traditional members in key roles. The question is can these members step up and delete how they played over two years? I doubt it. I think origen place 4 behind fnatic, h2k and uol.
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On May 18 2015 23:09 739 wrote: Can't judge team by their CS performance only. And as I wrote, Origen in top2 is pretty ballsy prediction but damn, those are just my predictions ^_^
Also #believe in Notorious Pob to be a slightly better mid than Link was.
Even if Pob is slightly better than Link you'll still have Dlift/Aphro/Xmithie/Zion(#Whatisteam) shitting the bed. Issue wasn't just link being awful, it's the whole team being awful when it matters.
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Bearded Elder29873 Posts
On May 18 2015 23:31 Numy wrote:Show nested quote +On May 18 2015 23:09 739 wrote: Can't judge team by their CS performance only. And as I wrote, Origen in top2 is pretty ballsy prediction but damn, those are just my predictions ^_^
Also #believe in Notorious Pob to be a slightly better mid than Link was. Even if Pob is slightly better than Link you'll still have Dlift/Aphro/Xmithie/Zion(#Whatisteam) shitting the bed. Issue wasn't just link being awful, it's the whole team being awful when it matters. Yet they ended 3rd in regular season.
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Regular season doesn't matter. Hence why I said issue is them being awful when it matters ie: in the playoffs.
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The land of freedom23126 Posts
TDK top-5, lomo. That's hella optimistic, considering that Emperor was mediocre in Brazil, Smoothie isn't playmaker, Ninja can perform only once in a bluemoon, Kez is sightstone bonjwa and best Seraph's champion is Doctor Mundo.
But okay, let's try once again and not whiff as many EU things as last season.
H2K Fnatic Elements Gambit Roccat SK Origen UoL CW GIANTS
Ya, looks solid, rofl.
NA looks way weaker though, and even if I want to believe in Nicolaj, still...
TSM TIP C9 CLG TL DIG TDK Gravity T8 NME
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United Kingdom50293 Posts
EU LCS:
1. Fnatic - holo holo @ yo boy
2. H2K - I think loulex and odoamne as a top side can only get better, I think loulex has some tilt issues adjusting to the new meta that showed in the playoffs but besides that strong roster, good playstyle and overall I think H2K is going to improve and refine themselves further.
3. UoL - Back to back top 3 with vardags has to constitute an achievement
4. Gambit - This new roster on paper should be really good even if I'm not that enthused about betsy or edward. I think this may be heavily decided by how their new coach performs, this roster's got the skill to take it all with forg1ven but it's a matter of execution from here. Cabochard and Forg1ven may be the strongest pair of carries in all of Europe so it's a matter of piecing it together.
5. Lomoments - I'm sure it'll go better this time
6. Origen - Origen will proably do fine, I believe 3-6 is incredibly interchangable, honestly I think a safer prediction would be to reverse my current 3-6 standings but I choose to believe in the rosters above origen. Not a slight on origen, just a reflection of what I consider to be stronger teams.
7. Copenhagen Wolves - There's something to be said about refinement, they might not be the most talented or clever team but they've developed their own clear and distinct style. It functions and the team has gotten good at executing it, I think they might sneak into playoffs but if they do so freeze and soren are going to have to elevate their games even further than before.
8. SK - Between the one-dimensional playstyle, the inability of others to step up when forg1ven was targeted out, apparent team problems and a far weaker looking bot lane it's hard to have faith in SK. I feel like I've been here before with selling SK low, their top side especially svenskeren could certainly take them higher but with freddy's weak performances as the split progressed I think svenskeren can only do so much.
9. Roccatducks - I don't believe in Steve, we'll see what he and the new coach can do. Even in my lowest expectations of nukeduck and woolite, jankos and vander are absolutely not bottom 2 material but right now it looks like those two are gonna have to do some VG tier miracles to save the roccatducks
10. Giants - It's okay pepi, it won't hurt for much longer. Your struggle can soon end.
NA LCS
1. TSM - Okay they got fucking rekt at MSI, that was awkward and it sucked. But that being said lomodoco and TSM aren't stupid. It was an important learning experience hopefully the team will balance themselves out better and we won't see any more dyrus feed trains. Or at least less of them :>
2. C9 - Something something incarnati0n, something something gyrations etc etc
3. TiP - This team likes to hit things, now that they've had a season to gel together hopefully they can diversify from hitting things. Especially rush, the talent ridiculous but needs to be a bit more refined than hitting things. TiP are the best at hitting things in NA but they need to do more. Still they hit things at a top 3 quality so you keep doing you TiP and hit more things.
4. TL - You can fill in the dank meme yourself
5. TDK - Ninja was actually playing far better by the end of his tenure on World Elite, the meta favors him and NA LCS mids are going to be less punishing than the rookies and cools of the LPL. As long as TDK can play around ninja's champion pool well they can do well. I'm not the biggest believer in much else but Seraph/Ninja/Emperor can be a strong carry combination supported by kez's sightstone rushes. If there's a team that may suddenly go big or utterly crash because of a patch it'll be TDK.
6. CLG - #GoldenAge
7. NME - NME's got a lot of things going for them to depose gravity of their perenially 5th/6th prowess especially with saint's retirement, strong jungle, a mid laner that did nothing wrong and otter. Solid macro game, solid players overall incredibly 5th/6th. They'll do k, maybe not $1.2 million of k but k.
8. Gravity - Losing saint's experienced leadership sucks and I'm not the biggest believer in the rumoured replacement of shorterace. Still like NME they got the tools to make 5th/6th, I just prefer NME because of blatant bias in favor of trashy :>
9. T8 - 9th until they merge with dignitas
10. Dig - 10th until they merge with T8
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Eu predictions super hard to do for me. I feel like my spot 2-8 are almost the same level and I could as well put them the other way around.
Fnatic
H2K UOL Gambit Origen Roccat SK EL
CW
Giants
NA seems to have clearer favorites, and I feel like there is a big gap between the top 4 and the other 6.
TSM C9 TIP TL
CLG NME Gravity T8 Dig TDK
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Well I cant possibly get EU more wrong this time around but I'm sure as hell gunna try
1) Fnatic 2) Gambit 3) Origen 4) H2K 5) Elements 6) UOL 7) SK 8) Roccat 9) CW 10) Giants
Putting the house on Forgiven and Cabochard. I almost picked them for first, thats how high I am on this Gambit roster. But because its Europe maybe they miss the playoffs completely. Putting SK out of the playoffs and CW at 9th feels terrible, there's so much parity its ridiculous.
NA:
1) C9 2) TSM 3) TL 4) CLG 5) TIP 6) TDK 7) Enemy 8) T8 9) Gravity 10) Dignitas
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NA:
Tier 1: Cream of the crop, the worlds contenders -
1. C9: I think C9 + Incarnation will have a rough regular seasons, something like TL last split, but will work out the kinks by playoffs and take it home.
2. TSM: I think they looked like garbo at MSI and I also think MSI revealed a huge hole in their abandon Dyrus strategy (by not allowing him to get champions that are still good with limited gold). However, at the end of the day, TSM always manages to fix their mistakes and get top 2, so I can't put them lower.
3. TiP: Showed a lot of progress over last season, I think they'll continue on that trajectory. Consistent high level performance over the course of the second half of the split.
4. TL: Looked great in the playoffs but I'm still not sure they can pull it out consistently. They need to show they can perform at a high level week after week before they make me a believer.
Tier 2: These teams have issues but are good enough to take games from the tier 1 teams, just not consistently -
5. CLG: I hate to use the "p" word, but I do think at least Huhi has a decent amount of room to grow and Pobelter may be able to perform better on a team without a lane that autoloses every game and requires a babysitting jungler.
6. T8: I'll say the same thing I said for my last split predictions - T8 are a smart team, they play a good early game with strong skirmishing from Cali, Porp and Slooshi. This will be enough to ensure wins over lesser teams and some upsets against the top dogs. Nien improves their skillcap, but only marginally so to stay inline with others.
7. NME: Trashy is gonna be a force to be reckoned with in NA. Easily can be a top 3 jungler over Santorin and Dom. Otter can go up against anyone. Innox will be a bit of a wildcard, he looked great in challenger but NME was so much better than the other CS teams, it was hard to judge how he'll stand.
8. Gravity: Despite Saint being a god awful player, he was an A+ shotcaller and a lot of Gravity's wins came from his superb game sense and decision making in the midgame. I don't really know who is going to step up to fill that role in this team, I get the feeling Bunny, Keane, Cop and Hauntzer are all quiet players. This will hurt the team unless they get some Rush-level mechanical beast that hard carries the early game.
9. TDK: Despite Emperor and Ninja looking like solid pickups on paper, I wasn't sold on what I saw of Emperor in Brazil and Ninja seemed quite meta dependant. Don't really know much about Ninja/Emperor though, so I could be way off. I actually think this is a very Winterfox-like team in that if everyone performs how they should on paper, they can make playoffs, but there is an equal chance of everything going horribly wrong.
Tier 3: ABORT -
10. Dig: Barely scrapped by to requalify and are making no roster adjustments despite being 1 game away from relegation by the 3rd place challenger team. If anything screams "make a roster change," that should have been it.
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Ok, let's do this !
EU LCS :
1. Fnatic They showed how well they can play at MSI, and I'm sure with Rekkles and a now fully confident roster they will do wonders.
2. H2K I strongly believe H2K would have been in the finals would they have met SK or UoL on their way. For me, they are the unconstested n°2 EU team (especially with SK getting read of their most valuable player...) and they still have some room to improve (Ryu's shotcalling is really good, and the only thing keeping him from being the one his team needs is his difficulties to communicate which are onlyn going do decrease with time).
3. Gambit Because FORG1VENGRE & GOSU PEPPER. :D Botlane is gonna draw so much attention that mid & top are gonna carry hard (yes, I'm looking at you french boy on the top, it's your time to shine !). I feel like the only thing that could stop them from finishing third would be Diamond underperforming.
4. Unicorns of Love Because Bo1's. Would the LCS be Bo3's I would put them bottom 5 LCS.
5/6. Elements / Origen I don't know if those two teams can deal with the level of early aggression that I think the top 4 teams will likely display in the early game, and I can't figure it if any of those two team is better than the other.
7. SK Gaming Why bench the only player that could carry in your team ? I liked Fredy after worlds, but god did he prove me wrong and proved himself unable to carry in this non-tank meta when free from most of the bans he had last year. I also don't believe nRated & CandyPanda will be a good botlane since they can't stand each other.
8. Roccat The hype is long dead.
9. Coppehangen Wolves I like them, but Youngbuck will carry them to relegation.
10. Giants Autorelegation coming.
NA LCS :
1. Cloud9 Incarnation hype ! EUphoria !
2. Team SoloMid They will come back strong.
3. Team Liquid TL 3rd the dream !
4. TiP If they can clean up their aggression and take some look at how top-jungle is working for Fnatic i think they can be a really good team.
5-10 ??? No fucking clue, all those team are pretty bad IMO.
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My predictions were god-awful last time, but maybe this split will be different! I'll give it another shot, and this time, no criminally underrating TiP again. God please no.
EU LCS:
1. Fnatic - Lots can change between splits (never forget Najin Sword Champions into coasting on circuit points into S3 Worlds), but I still think Fnatic will stay 1st. Rekkles > Steelback imo and the whole team itself proved that it can more than handle themselves at MSI.
2. H2K - Loulex tilt in playoffs was real. Team still played solid and had a good idea of what to do. It's a good contrast from lomo-UoL plays.
3. Elements - Ok, don't laugh. Please. But I feel Tabzz is a much better fit for ADC than Rekkles was for Elements. Wickd had a narrow champ pool to boot, and Jwaow has a wider champ pool than him, which helps. The team in the past did finish as forerunners in the split before, and it can happen again. Only problem is they have real strategic weaknesses. If that doesn't get fixed. RIP Lelements.
4. Origen - Coming off a bit overhyped but it's not like Xpeke/Soaz/Amazing are challenger-tier trash. They're all LCS veterans along with Mithy too. It's a good team on-paper. It'll be interesting to see where they place come Summer Split.
5. SK - Yes, they had fundamental playstyle flaws that got figured out. Yes, Candypanda is a marked downgrade from Forgiven. But I still believe in Svenskeren to carry that team, and he almost did in playoffs, only to fall short. It's not like this iteration of the team did that badly in S4 either in the EU split; however, the EU LCS has improved markedly since then, so maybe they'll bottom out. I think they're being underrated though.
6. UoL - Very chaotic play. I still don't see them placing as high as they did Spring Split. They overperformed in my opinion and can just as well return to the more middling 5-6th places.
7. Gambit - Cabochard is good. Diamond has his moments, and Forgiven is Forgiven. I'm just not convinced Betsy can hold up an entire split and GosuPepper is a shadow of his former self. I don't see this team doing that well.
8. Copenhagen Doges - Youngbuck and friends going to find themselves back in home again in relegation lands. I don't see Soren/Freeze doing enough to carry this team again.
9. Roccat - So called "scrim legends" isn't really worth anything if you can't do anything come the actual games. Woolite still on team too and that's pretty hilarious. Youngbuck sends his regards.
10. GIANTS - lol
NA LCS:
1. TSM - No real change for them. It's pretty much going to be C9/TSM in top 2 anyways. They got majorly exposed in MSI, but that's probably good for them since they can adapt. It's also not like anyone in NA LCS punished them for being so exposed pre-MSI either.
2. C9 - Incarnation, odds are, is going to play better than Hai did in mid-lane for Spring Split, and that's already a plus for C9, who finished 2nd place with a Hai that was bleh.
3. TL - They came this close to going to Finals v. TSM against Hai, but choked big time, coughing up another 2-0 series lead. wtf with this team and 2-0 leads? Anyways, a split more for Piglet/Xpecial to gel will be great. I'm still not convinced with Fenix though and IWD can be inconsistency embodied.
4. TiP - No, you won't be 7th-8th place like I put you last time Impulse. You can rest assured with that. It's clear despite communication barriers, they can still play great. Impact will be Impact and maybe one day XWX can play Yasuo without being science'd. Rush is good too. Only question is Apollo Justice. I'm still not completely convinced he's that good of an ADC, but...
5. NME - NME HYPE. I feel they're going to do very well in their LCS debut. Their players look fine enough and Challenger scened didn't really challenge them either.
6. CLG - RIP Potential. RIP Golden Age.
7. T8 - I put them in last place last time, but I won't this time. They play smartly enough (with the exception of Cali YOLO). They should be able to do fine.
8. Gravity - This is going to be a case of Saintvicious where art thou? I'm feeling it will be. Unless they grab ShorterACE may be for jungler, then they might push back to 6 or 7th place. Still, hard gaem.
9. TDK - Seraph still meh for me. I watched TDK games and he still looked...off, like not-convincing. Probably might be a case of Cris syndrome (I can do fine in Challenger, but come LCS, I'm bottom-tier). It could be me underrating a team again, but I think Alex Ich really did do more of the elo-boostings with this team, making them look better than they are, but still not bad enough to be...
10. Dignitas - Gamsu will join Spirit in the agony of suffering. Azingy v. Dada777, who is heavier weight?
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Might as well leave a formal record of how amazing(ly terrible) my predictive powers are. Perfect for looking back on this in a few months and having a hearty laugh. Maybe even a HOLO HOLO HOLO.
EU LCS: 1. Fnatic - I don't see why they'd decline, especially after a great showing at MSI. Plus, Rekkles should be a skill upgrade over Steeelback, and Yellowstar already has experience working with him. Still a hungry team with a high ceiling to reach, and I think that Deilor can continue to guide them there. 2. H2k - I believe in pr0lly as their coach, the resurrection of Ryu's career, and them in general having things figured moreso than most of EU. 3. Unicorns of Love - This is more a case of I don't know what to think of the rest of EU (aside from Giants being everybody's favourite for auto-relegation). I might as well believe in the chaotic magic of these ponies. They'll just mystify people up to this spot. 4. SK Gaming - Not a believer in the panda. Maybe a believer in Svenskeren and the development of Fox? 5. Gambit Gaming - Powerful headless chickens is my impression here. Coaching spot is currently vacant as far as I'm aware, so who's providing direction for this team, be it out of game or in-game? 6. Origen - Not sold on sOAZ versus the new class of toplaners. 7. Elements - I feel like Froggen's spot in the effective hierarchy of this team combined with his stubbornness on how to approach the game will keep this team down. Turning Spanish has not been kind to them; overwrote Danish powers. Also, no more opportunity for Deficio to say 'El Shook' again with his magnificent accent. 8. Roccat - Ok, toplaner hasn't been revealed yet, but I'm just not a believer in them after this last split. Adding the Norwegian has broken their all-Polish identity; glorious patriotic fervor as a source of power can but only go down from here. 9. Copenhagen Wolves - Youngbuck, most moe of male deer, will be free from the LCS so that he may pursue exciting doe. 10. Giants - As if anybody else can land here. Libera Pepi.
NA LCS: 1. Team Impulse - This is my GO HARD OR GO HOME pick. I believe in Rush's continued development. I believe in their skill ceiling. I believe in Fly as a legit coach from OGN guiding them to reach their ceiling. And Impulse is the only team I root for in this region; fanboyism is a go! 2. Team SoloMid - Outside of Impulse firing on all cylinders and Incarnati0n living up to the hype, I don't believe in this region's ability to punish TSM. 3. Cloud 9 - Bjergsen demonstrates what a powerful and/or Danish midlaner can do for a team in this region. This is the bet that Incarnati0n will take some time to adjust to competitive play (thus letting TiP and TSM build a lead in the standings), but will perform to expectations by the end, thus securing the 3rd seed. 4. Team Liquid - I figure that there'll be a Dominate slump period to keep the regular season record down. 5. Team Dragon Knights - He may not be Danish, but Ninja has LPL experience anyway. And didn't look that bad right before stepping down to get Styz the hell out of there? I'm investing in the notion that this region has no midlaner depth. 6. Enemy eSports - Might as well continue the gag of believing in Danish power, with Trashy this time. But he's not the midlaner. 7. Team 8 - I don't think much of their collective talent, but they don't seem like they'd want to cave each others' heads in by the end of the split. 8. Counter Logic Gaming - This is the team environment in which I'd expect a 2-man mid rotation to go horribly, horribly wrong. 9. Gravity - No more veteran guiding hand from Saint, presumably no more magical mid-tier LCS powers from Cop. I dunno what to think about Altec. 10. Dignitas - Free Gamsu? Free Gamsu.
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EU
Fnatic / H2K / Gambit or Roccat / Roccat or Gambit / Elements / UoL / Origen / SK / CW / Giants
NA
C9 / TiP / TSM / TL / CLG / TDK / GV / T8 / NME / Dig
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Don't know enough about EU except to say that Fnatic is very likely going to be n1.
TSM: MSI was't just a bad performance, it was more or less the worst they could have done. Not representative of their skill/ performance at all, expect them to drop a couple dumb games here and there as usual but finish +2 over 2nd place. TL: Probably a bit of a YOLO pick, but I think they're on a nice place in their growth curve. Probably edge out C9 which will be adapting to roster changes. C9: Some trouble with the first roster change ever (correct me if I'm wrong). Some trouble shotcalling, Incarnation with great solo play but team having trouble because TL and TSM have bestlanesNA (Bjerg, Quas). They'll figure it out. TiP: Like TL, great players, lots of growth but aggression will be a problem against older and smarter teams CLG: Poor CLG. They still haven't figured it out, and I don't expect them to this season either.
And everyone else is going to finish below 50%, so it doesn't really matter. Gravity might be sixth, dunno. Expect a challenger team to do pretty good.
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Well after majorly overestimating the impact of coaching for last split lets hope this one can be more accurate.
EU Predictions:
I think that this split could be very close around the upper middle of the standings, very similar to NA last split, but because the teams are more equal, not equally prone to choking.
1. Fnatic
Good team, Great organisation, hopefully Rekkles doesn't get restless again. HUNI HUNI HUNI HUNI
2. H2K
I think they'll continue to power their way up the standings, I'd like to put UoL but I think that H2K have a more stable team regardless of the patch they play on.
3. Unicorns of Love
This is where things get tricky. I don't think they'll quite be 3rd after the regular season, but they could well be first or second after the playoffs. UoL are definitely stronger in Bo5s but their less predictable regular season performance could hamper their ability to use their advantage in the playoffs.
4. SK Gaming
It's hard to gauge them here. The loss of Forgiven could very well hurt them, but Candypanda was still very good when they replaced him last season. This will entirely depend on how they've improved strategically though, especially around their vision game.
5. Elements
Definitely a better roster, yet I'm still not certain if they'll get to Worlds. Their position could all depend on their support staff, and whether or not they can make the right environment to improve the team as they go and have them succeed. TBH I'd consider them a very heavy contender for 4th especially once playoffs come around, but we'll have to see.
6. Gambit Gaming
There's a sense of choking that's come with Gambit lately. I might be wrong in this impression but I'm not sure they quite have it to make it to worlds and the split could go very well the same way the last did where they get stumped once they make the playoffs. Forgiven is the reason I have them above Origen for this spot and also the reason that I think they could make it to 4th just as easily. Like I said, this split feels like it'll be very similar to the NA one.
7. Origen
Close but no cigar for me. If there's a team that I'd consider myself under rating in EU it's Origen, but I don't know if I'm all aboard the hype and the split looks close. I could see this go like Team 8 did in NA last split and have them just barely not make the play offs in a tie breaker vs the established team who's just found their edge with their bot lane.
8. Copenhagen Wolves
No changes, so no changes (well, -1 because of increased competition).
9. Roccat
Not sure I'm buying what Roccat is selling. Is Steve going to be the solution to so many of their synergy issues? I dunno, they could surprise me but I'm still pretty -eh on them.
10. Giants! Gaming
I like these guys but some drastic strategic changes need to be made for this not to happen. They don't have MYM as a crutch anymore so they'll either need someone else to fall to crippling internal organisational issues or do a complete 180º on what they've been so far. I don't know that they'll get 2 first week wins to save them this split.
NA Predictions
1. Cloud 9
Cloud 9 had a rough patch and still made the grand finals. With Incarnation they have potential to become a powerhouse again, especially since they'll have something new in the mid lane to 1 up TSM in their rivalry. I believe in C9 as an organisation and think they'll return to form.
2. Team Liquid
This is the big one. TL has a chance to make their mark. They clicked with Piglet in the playoffs, they've had their lows, I think this split will bring the highs. I'm going to turn into a bit of a hype man here and say that the blue on white matchup will be a show every time and TL could really try to compete with C9 for that first spot, and I definitely think they could make worlds.
3. Team Impulse
I'm pulling a 180º. Communication issues don't mean shit when you have decent support staff and it looks like TiP have just that. They did pretty well in the playoffs and their botlane showed that they're not going to be as easy as people thought. With Rush now having the competitive experience he has I think they could hold 3rd for themselves and fight for 2nd.
4. Team Solo Mid
Ok, I'm a biased mofo. I dislike TSM and how they've been winning in NA. I sincerely hope that the coaches of some other teams start looking at how TSM lost at MSI and start exploiting something there. Honestly, they'll probably be second again in the grand finals vs Cloud 9, but if something clicks in NA then they could still be fairly high in the regular season but fall very flat in the playoffs. I believe in you NA, release yourselves from your shackles and show the world that you can make more than two decently managed esport organisations.
5. Team 8
I'd like to put them higher, but they still have a fairly predictable pick and ban phase, and that could leave them exploitable. I don't know what to think of ADC swap rumours but it shouldn't matter since they weren't an ADC focused team to begin with. If they can change things up then Team 8 should become a solid middle of the pack team.
6. Counter Logic Gaming
TBH, I have no idea where to put these guys. They have shown themselves consistently prone to random anything. They could be big and become a properly managed group of players who live up to their potential, or they could crumble like they have done. I'm just...eh on the midlane pick up? Pobelter could be good or bad, he hasn't had a choice to prove himself outside of EG/WFX so who knows how it will go, and Huhi wasn't the star player that an LCS team needs. I've put them low because despite all playoff performances Link was a pretty big part of their early regular season success.
7. Gravity
With a new jungler and ADC there'll be some adjusting. I'm skeptical of Altec and completely disagree with his replacement of Cop. Saint was hit or miss but I think he was some experience the team needed. I dunno, there were some minor improvements on this team that could have made them a big team in NA running on from an ok last split but I don't think they've made them and it's possible they've gone backwards.
8. Enemy eSports
Better than below, worse than above...not much to say. I'm not too knowledgeable on how they've been recently but they used to be pretty good as far as challenger teams went. Just not sure they'll make a splash in LCS
9. Dignitas
Big performance by Kiwikid to get through the promotion tournament. I won't lie, I was sure going into it that Fusion would win it. They're not making playoffs, but they do have the ability to improve from here.
10. ¿¿Team Dragon Knights??
I could be entirely under rating them, I have no idea. I didn't pay a whole lot of attention to them in the challenger scene, though that might not matter since they look pretty different to what they were then. Consider their placement here as a placeholder. They could be good, they could be terrible. I'm not sure that they'll break top 5, but there's an odd chance for them to make the playoffs. Also what's the deal with Ninja? Is he temporary? ??????????????????????????????????????
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Do not trust Xpeke. i'd say he is bottom three mid laner along with soren and betsy/fox.
I cant say much about sOAZ though.
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