Week 2 Recap
The first match of the week saw a brilliant lane swap from Team Ares to pull away to a massive lead in the top lane against a new lineup for Top Dog Gaming. Team Ares top laner ChunkyFresh buried BrandonFTW in lane as he froze for what seemed an age to gain a 50+ CS lead as well as a first blood. Unfortunately, Team Ares couldn’t translate the lead in the top lane to pressure on the rest of the map. Top Dog instead focused on mid and bot, diverting the action away from top lane and pulling away to a relatively comfortable win. Game two was played to a similar tune as Chunky got to another lead in the top lane, but was unable to carry his team to a victory and Top Dog Gaming took the series 2-0. Despite the loss, ChunkFresh looked dominant in the top lane, and if Team Ares can play around his strength, they will become a force to be reckoned with.For Team Frostbite and Robert Morris University, week 2 was a big achievement, with both convincingly top their respective groups after dropping only one game each. They now have the hype and attention previously given only to teams of already-known players.
While RMU has yet to play some of the tougher opponents in their group, Frostbite beat Cloud 9 Challenger in last week’s match of the week. Despite losing a game with their signature Morgana/Lux ‘snare-fest’ combo, Frostbite eventually prevailed 2-1 with themassacre8, previous AD Carry of Team Imagine, becoming a walking highlight reel on Twitch and Jinx, rampaging through the KeithMcBrief-led Cloud 9 Challenger with ease. Next week Frostbite will be going against Team Liquid Academy, and if they pull off a win there, Frostbite should probably be considered as the main favourite to win the tournament.
Week 3 Preview
The third week of play will finally be on the highly-anticipated 5.22 patch. With a lot of shenanigans being exploited right now in soloq, these tournament matches will be sure to feature previously inconceivable picks and new builds.In addition, there will be some new faces in addition to the new patch. HTC Ascension has already seen the big roster changes over the last week as Top Dog Gaming revamped their lineup, with NintendudeX and Impactful leaving the team. Meanwhile Akaadian has switched to the jungle position and BrandonFTW and LOD filling up the top lane and the ADC position, respectively. Cloud 9 Challenger squad on the other hand, will have some big moves for the coming week. Mancloud and The Winter have been benched and replaced by former Team8 midlaner goldenglue and former North American All Star support, Xpecial.
Battle for the Top
Undefeated Robert Morris University face off against Zenith eSports in a top of the table match. After a surprising loss to middle of the table team, Serpentis Gaming, Zenith will look to bounce back against RMU who have looked exceedingly dominant in the group stage. As a top side focused team, Zenith will need to look to shut down an area which they haven't focused on too heavily, as much of RMU's jungle pressure has been aimed at getting their AD Carry, TriggerRL, fed. Whoever pulls out ahead in this match will be considered a favourite to escape the group in the all important first place.
However, on the second day, not only will Team Ares face Zenith Esports, but in our spotlight game of the week the brand new Cloud 9 Challenger roster will challenge Lyon Gaming in a match that is sure to provide sparks. With a lineup of Solo, Chau, goldenglue, KeithMcBrief and Xpecial, C9C is arguably the most stacked roster in the tournament, but they’re going against a Seiya and Uri lead Lyon Gaming, a team which won’t give up without a fight. We’re predicting a bunch of close games with Cloud 9 coming out victors 2-1, but who knows what can happen here.
Match to Watch
Serpentis, consisting of Allorim (top), Damonte (mid), Achilles (AD), Pet Me (support), and previous Final Five jungler ShorterACE, will be playing in their first broadcast match of the tournament. Serpentis looked strong last week with a surprise victory over Zenith eSports, and they took out the now-rising Team Ares in week 1. With one of their losses being the opening match of Group B against a dominant Robert Morris University, Serpentis look like strong contenders to make it out of the group.
Serpentis faces Lambada Leonis, who have not seen much success so far in HTC. However, in LCS, we have seen teams with unstable performances - able to perform against the top competition, but dropping games to teams lower ranked. Given that Serpentis's other loss was to a similarly 0-3 TILT Gaming, and that this match will be played on the new patch, ShorterACE and crew will need to be well prepared to not get caught by surprise.
Even without these emerging contenders jockeying for the top of the standings, Patch 5.22 guarantees some wild games for this week. Turn in at http://live.htc-ascension.com/!