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Team Liquid: Piglet's Dream
NRG: GBM's Nightmare
Versus: The Head to Head Showdown
NRG is the team that has had some great highs and some low lows. Despite coming into the LCS with a mixture of some of the best established and upcoming talent the team has struggled both individually and on a team level. Still there have been visible improvements throughout the split and with the team looking more and more stable, a trip to Vegas isn’t off the table quite yet.
Coming into the season, NRG presented itself as the org to watch with the high-profile acquisitions of Impact, GBM, and Altec in addition to top-tier challenger talent Konkwon and Moon. For the first couple of weeks, it looked like it was working too, as the team catapulted itself to a top position by week two. Still cracks in the armor were apparent, and while GBM stealing two Barons in one week was impressive, it became indicative of the problem that has doomed the team’s record -- a terrible early game.
Underperformances
It’s easy to point fingers at Moon for these issues after some awful showings on stage, including a Kindred game against CLG where he couldn't manage to get any stacks until 38 minutes into the game. His offensive benefits ranged from middle of the road to terrible and for a while, it was speculated that he would be stepping down to an analyst position. However, as the split has continued he has shown up more and more with some improved performances especially on Elise. He isn’t a top jungler by any stretch, but he supports his team in other ways as he's among the highest warding junglers in the league ironically only behind Crumbzz in this regard.
More baffling is the consistent underperformance of Impact, who has fallen heavily from his time on SKT and even Impulse. His stats are shockingly bare of any major positives that one would expect from a World Champion ranking 5th in KDA and having the second worst team death percentage of any top laner. Worse still his communication with the team seems almost nonexistent despite having already played a year in the NA LCS. The result is a player whose role on the team is an unknown. He's been unable to engage on tanks and has been too inconsistent in gaining leads to be put on carries.
As for the bot lane, there isn’t too much to say about either Altec or Konkwon. Without Bunny backing him up and the immense amount of gold funneled into him, Altec has ceased to be the carry he was on Gravity. This has been exacerbated by the meta shifting towards more aggressive midgame ADCs and Altec just hasn't been able to adapt to this meta. With Sivir returning to the meta we may see some better performances coming from him, but he is another resource that NRG has that isn’t being fully tapped into. As for Konkwon he has been consistently average. His stats are good for the most part ranking highly in Kill Participation and Wards per Minute, but his ability to be a middleman for team communication hasn’t been shown yet.
The Bow Tie Wonder Kid
The saving grace for the team has been GBM who while entertaining to watch is also among the best mid laners in this split. His odd but deep champion pool ranks him as unpredictable and malleable with a whopping 12 different champions played and no champion played more than twice. His stat line also includes a top 3 kill participation for mid laners and the second lowest team death percentage for a mid laner. With the rest of his team underperforming he needs to continue this against Liquid if NRG are to make their way to Vegas.
However, as underwhelming as the team has been individually at the end of the day, the drafting is what's also sinking the team. So many losses seem to have their roots in baffling compositional errors including but not limited to hanging on to non-meta tanks like Maokai for Impact, denying GBM his legendary Gangplank early in the split and a baffling support Shen pick up just this past week. What makes it even more unacceptable is the team has two coaches and one of the most robust support networks in the league and while these are all single mistakes they account for at least half the teams loses so far.
NRG is a mixed bag. If they can fix their drafting and shore up their communication, there is potential for a deep playoff run still, but it doesn’t seem reasonable to expect these changes to happen that quickly. Still the team has been on the upswing in recent weeks and unlike TSM, it would be foolish to count them out entirely. Unfortunately, the hype has died down, and it may be time to start looking towards a better summer with a roster with more synergy.
It seemed as if the worst fears of Team Liquid fans had come true. After the loss of All Stars Xpecial, Quas and, IWD the team that had once been considered amongst the best of the West started its spring season out with an abysmal 0-3 record. Their next game didn't fill anybody with confidence as the squeaked past a substitute-filled Echo Fox. However, since then Team Liquid has become the sleeper success story of the LCS and despite being made up of mostly rookies; the team has chugged along at a consistent and respectable pace and could very well be contenders for a top 4 finish this split. So how did this team go from being one of the least successful rosters at the beginning of the split to being a competitive and potentially top 4 roster in the course of this season?
The Rookies
In addition to Lourlo, the team has officially incorporated both Dardoch and Matt to the starting roster and with great results so far. The stand out of the three is, of course, Dardoch coming in with amazing score lines this split. While many other junglers in the league are being heavily scrutinized for lackluster performances, Dardoch has surged onto the scene with excellent mechanical skill and game sense and ranks top 3 in KDA, Kill Participation, and CS per Min. Furthermore, he’s proving to be an excellent mechanical player and is giving Rush a run for his money on champions like Lee Sin and Nidalee with his KDA on both being well over 7. He’s an excellent player with a deep champion pool and given how many junglers in North America are failing to show up consistently his raw ability makes him an almost too easy pick for Rookie of the Split.
Of course, the other big addition to the team is Matt taking over the shot calling roll. Matt also puts up impressive numbers in terms of Kill Participation and KDA and has shown to be a capable support on a healthy pool of champions. The real thing he has been bringing to the table is his playmaking and shot calling. While the team’s cohesion can still use some work, he is proving to be more than capable of sidestepping the language barrier of the team to make great calls and his picks from the support role focus on this goal. Most impressive have been his performances on Bard where he averages over ten assists per game. His presence in the game is the glue that holds the team together, and at a time where teams like TSM and NRG struggle to be on the same page, that’s a trait that makes TL so consistently good.
Finally, we have to talk about Lourlo. While comparisons to Quas would be hard to match for any rookie Lourlo has stepped up to the plate and done a good enough job filling in for his predecessor. While not the bringer of wins that Huni or Darshan are Lourlo is currently playing the supportive role his team needs and with great success. His champion pool is very deep, and he has been able to fulfill whatever the team needs him to be and while he doesn’t put up impressive numbers like some others in his position his KDA and KP are still very high making him a more than suitable replacement for Quas.
While the Academy Alumni are currently the centers of attention, Fenix remains a relevant part of the team. Fenix has shrunk into the background since his glory days of Quadra killing teams solo on Azir but his performance so far in the split has been very acceptable. This season he has developed a flexible champion pool and is putting up sturdy numbers in CS per minute and KDA. In a time where the mid lane is arguably at its weakest state, being above average isn’t all that bad for Fenix.
The Rebirth Of A Champion
Of course, the real stand out on the team remains Piglet. With a new aggressive meta comes a much bolder hard carry style from Piglet and he continues to be one of the most dominant ADCs in NA. His KDA trails only behind Wildturtle, but he beats him in terms of Kill Participation. Other statistics are also favorable for Piglet, ranking him as one of the best ADCs coming out of NA and one who is adapting to the changing meta of the game well.
Finally, we have to touch on Locodoco’s coaching as it has been an integral part of the team's development throughout the split. While always having sturdy and well-designed strategies for pick and ban, Loco has also played a role in the development of the team's play. As the split has continued the calls and decisive plays for objectives have helped Team Liquid surge past more challenging opponents like Cloud9. This sort of synergy is impressive to see in a team with so many rookies and has made Liquid a real contender.
With a split of growth behind them, Team Liquid might just make a splash coming into playoffs. With teams like CLG and TSM on the downtrend, it isn’t too much of a stretch to see Team Liquid pull out some surprising wins and while it would be a bit of a stretch to call them favorites a potential 3rd or, yes, 4th place finish wouldn’t be completely out of the question. And that’s okay because Team Liquid’s roster only seems to get better the more they play together, and a good playoffs run could just be the beginning of a reborn and competitive Team Liquid.
At the beginning of the year, this matchup would have been an easy call. Team Liquid were a struggling team with a bunch of rookies and NRG were looking to challenge for the title as the best team in North America. Fast forward to the end of the split and it's Team Liquid on the rise, with NRG struggling in both individual and team play.
It's All About The Rookies
The biggest gap between the two teams is the performance of their respective rookies. Dardoch and Matt have brought a ruthless edge to Team Liquid's play, and if Lourlo has been a reliable addition in the top lane as long as he can get his power picks. Meanwhile, the opposite has been true for NRG's rookies. In KonKwon's first full LCS split, he's looked mediocre at best, and Moon has looked downright terrible in a lot of his games.
It's ironic that Moon was, in fact, the player who replaced Dardoch in the NA Challenger Series last year. His performances on Team Imagine led them to a playoffs berth, and even though they couldn't make the LCS, it was enough to convince NRG of his talent. Those performances haven't continued in the LCS, where he's struggled to make an impact in many of his games.
Dardoch spent the rest of the year playing solo queue, slowly, but surely improving his skill and it's shown in his performances this year. He remains the carry jungle threat that he was well renowned for as he has the second highest gold share of any jungler. You can see the solo queue edge in a lot of his games as he often pushes a little too hard which can lead to his downfall. But it's that very fearlessness from Dardoch that has pushed his team to new heights, and he'll have to continue to do so under the pressure of a playoffs match.
The Korean Carry Battle
Both NRG and TL have relied heavily on their superstar Koreans. Last year it was Piglet who arrived with much fanfare and this year it was GBM who made his way over the Pacific looking to make a name in North America. While Piglet struggled initially, he has come into his own this season and has arguably been the best AD Carry in North America.
GBM didn't take as much time to warm up to his adopted region as he began his time in North America with two incredible Baron steals. He's shown an immense amount of depth in his champion pool, and when push comes to shove, he's the player that will step up and lead NRG to victory.
If there is one performance from Team Liquid that has given me a reason to believe in them overcoming NRG and going to the next round it has to be their performance against Cloud9. From the very first minute, they controlled the game with the right amount of aggression. With TL's early game coming together, and NRG being the worst early game team in the playoffs it could spell doom for NRG.
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