NA LCS Season 4
01-17-2014
, 02:58 PM
Important Links before I get into my 9,500 word! preview of the NA LCS.
Leaguepedia
RIOT NA LCS Mainpage
2014 NA LCS Spring Split Preview
#8 Dignitas
Offseason Moves
Kiwikid -> bench
Patoy -> bench
Cruzer -> top
Kiwikid -> support
Current roster:
Cruz ‘Cruzer’ Ogden – Top
Alberto ‘Crumbz’ Rengifo – Jungle
William ‘Scarra’ Li – Mid
Michael ‘imaqtpie’ Santana – AD carry
Alan ‘Kiwikid’ Nguyen - Support
Current Bench (via Leaguepedia)
Jordan ‘Patoy’ Blackburn
Francois ‘Zamphira’ Boucher
Sung Moo ‘Heartbeat’ Lim
Offseason Thoughts
Dignitas had one of the worst offseasons in recent memory. Their first move, getting rid of Kiwikid and his increasingly insipid top lane play made a lot of sense – to be sure you’d have to have a lot of faith in the person that led the LCS in deaths to keep him on your team. With the relative plethora of top laners available, Dignitas somehow missed out on two of the biggest prospects in quas and InnoX and picked Cruzer to be their new top laner. Now Cruzer is a player that has been around the competitive scene, but has hardly covered himself in glory, and I don’t think he’s a bad player, but he’s certainly not the player Dignitas needs – more explanation on that later. Certainly I think Dignitas would be much improved if they would acquire Megazero from Complexity, a player with LCS experience that is a definitive upgrade.
The loss of Patoy is a huge one for Dignitas. Though his play tailed off from his best days – when he was leading the LCS in KDA, he was still a formidable support, and would certainly have thrived in the current meta that allows supports much more influence over teamfights. Still, a good support is not irreplaceable and there were many decent supports available to Dignitas. Yet, for some unknown reason, Dignitas picked Kiwikid, who had been recently benched from top, to be their support. Now Kiwikid appears to be a very nice young man, and his teammates clearly like him, but in a league that is clearly getting stronger, it’s a massive risk to try to convert your toplaner (who was originally a midlaner) into your support player. It’s also not like Dignitas is an organization without money to go and get an M eye A from Complexity or a Kazmitch (recently tried out by Alliance), so why was Kiwikid chosen? You might be able to take a risk at one position, when your team is a strong one that could make up for a misplay or two, but Dignitas looks much more like a team that will be fighting against relegation than anything else. There was lots of time for Dignitas to assemble a roster that would be competitive in the LCS, lots of new talent available, but to present your fans this roster, especially after getting demolished by Alliance (in fairness a very good team), is unacceptable for an organization as storied as Dignitas.
How I would have handled the offseason
I believe that Dignitas had a solid core that could have been built around, If I had been given complete freedom (within reason) here are the changes I would have made to the Dignitas roster.
Kiwikid - > gone
InnoX/Megazero/quas ->toplane
Crumbzz -> coach
Scarra -> jungle
Pobelter/Zamphira -> mid
Patoy -> sub
M eye A/Nydus -> support
You end up with a roster of Megazero/scarra/Zamphira/qtpie/M eye A, certainly a roster that has changed a lot since the end of season 3, but one that has a lot more talent. Moving scarra from mid to jungle is certainly a risk, but I feel like with his skill and experience he could make a good transition to the role. With Megazero and Zamphira in the solo lanes you have a lot of flexibility and dynamism, and you still have qtpie in the bottom lane, this time paired with a more natural support.
Lane by Lane Breakdown
Cruzer – Top Lane – 8th out of 8 top laners in NA LCS
I’m not Cruzer’s biggest fan, but I think he’s much better on carry style top laners (such as his famed Lee Sin) than on tanks, which was pretty clear in the two BotA games he played against Alliance’s Wickd where he was soundly beaten in favourable matchups. If Dignitas is unwilling to give Cruzer his best champions, then I’m honestly not quite sure why they picked him. Cruzer is a bit like Westrice, when there is the right champion in the right meta, he’ll be drawing bans, but I just don’t see him as being well rounded enough to give Dignitas any degree of consistency. I’ve labelled him the worst top laner in the NA LCS, but that does NOT mean he is a bad player, especially considering the talent that patrols the top lane in North America. I really hope he can grow into the role, but I am not particularly optimistic.
Crumbzz –Jungle – 8th out of 8 junglers in NA LCS
Oh Crumbzz, you are so difficult to rate, because you appear to do nothing for a few games than break out with a dominating performance that makes everyone stand up and take notice. I really hope that the Crumbzz can show that dominating side more often but it seems like he can only do it on Lee Sin, which has become his champion of choice. Too often, I believe that Crumbz makes sub-par ganks that do little to aid his laners, and while he can’t be blamed for all of Dignitas’ history of poor decision making, he at least has to accept some of the blame. Crumbz is a veteran and a smart guy who has clearly been a part of the Dignitas braintrust for some time, which has been key to their success – I just don’t know if his in game performances will merit keeping him around.
Scarra – Mid – 6th out of 8 mid laners in NA LCS
I’ll be honest, I’ve underrated Scarra for a long time. I had him penciled in as the 8th best mid in North America, yet upon further contemplation, I’ve raised him higher than that. Scarra’s current ‘struggles’ are more due to the changes to the meta and it not favouring him, but you don’t have to think too far back to think of him being a terror on Katarina or Diana. Scarra has a limited number of champions that he is good on but he is really strong on those champs. Right now he’s not at his best, but I would not be too quick to count out one of the longest tenured stars in the game. Scarra is mechanically solid, and one of the best farmers in North America. Scarra might not be the mid you would choose to carry a game on his own, but if you want solid, consistent play, he would be a fine choice.
Imqtpie – AD Carry – 3rd out of 8 AD Carries in NA LCS
Qtpie is perhaps one of the most underrated players currently plying his trade in the NA LCS. While Doublelift steals the headlines and Wildturtle is known for his solo queue prowess, imaqtpie is seen as a something of a goof, a player that is popular but not from his competitive skills, but his personality. Yet, Imqtpie is one of the premier AD carries in North America. It is on him that Dignitas will appear to rely on to get many of their wins. Qtpie does have his less than optimal moments of play, but considering other teams often focus on bottom lane against Dignitas, his performance is quite impressive. If Dignitas is to succeed this season it will be on the back of qtpie. Is his back strong enough though?
Kiwikid – Support – 8th out of 8 Supports in NA LCS
Kiwikid is ranked as the ‘worst’ support, because there is a sample size of two competitive games with him playing support, so this section will be somewhat shorter than most. I like Kiwikid, he seems like a good person to hang around and judging by his solo queue stats, he puts in long hours to improve his play, which is certainly laudable. His play was pretty poor in the BotA, but considering he is new to the role some hiccups are to be expected. Kiwikid should take inspiration from Aphromoo who also started out a little rough in his transition to the support role, but is now very solid in that position.
How They’ll Play
Dignitas, though they have a long history of innovation, have become a team that plays pretty standard, for the most part. They rely heavily on qtpie to carry, which makes sense as he is their best player. With a long history of poor decision-making, especially at baron, Dignitas have well-earned the moniker ‘Thrownitas.’ Scarra continues to operate as the 2nd most important player on the team, though he is much better suited for a position that requires him to carry less hard, though Dignitas could achieve that by giving Cruzer more ‘carry’ orientated top laners. Dignitas is a flexible team, and no one has a particularly small champion pool, so they can be a bit creative in their team compositions. While casters will try to convince you that Dignitas loves to split push – it is a strategy they employ rarely, however the fabled ‘Dignitas tri-lane push’ remains one of their favoured ways to end the game and produce late-game pressure.
Final Thoughts
While I’ve been generally critical of Dignitas in this preview, I don’t believe that they are going to go 0-28 or something horrible in the LCS, or that any of their players are horrible, I simply believe the roster as it is today, is likely to be the worst in the LCS. I don’t understand why Kiwikid was removed from the top lane, to be replaced by someone with a similar skill set, only to have him return as the support player, when there are plenty of support players that Dignitas could have acquired. For Dignitas to be successful they need to give qtpie the opportunity to carry – that doesn’t mean for Crumbz to camp his lane, but to create other threats in the other lanes so that the opposing team cannot focus on qtpie.
#7 Curse
Offseason Moves
Voyboy -> mid
Quas -> top
Nyjacky -> gone
Edward -> gone
Zekent -> support
Saintvicious -> coach
IwillDominate -> jungle
Current roster:
Diego ‘quas’ Ruiz - Top
Christian ‘IwillDominate’ Rivera - Jungle
Joe ‘Voyboy’ Esfahani - Mid
David ‘Cop’ Roberson – AD Carry
George ‘Zekent’ Liu - Support
Current Bench (via Leaguepedia):
Keenan ‘Rhux’ Santos
Aaron ‘Swain Gretsky’ Bean
Phillip ‘Only Jaximus’ Carter
Brad ‘OnebadBrad’ Watson
Offseason Thoughts
Curse had a tumultuous offseason, which was to be expected after they failed to make it to the season 3 world championships. The first casualty was a self-inflicted one as Saintvicious decided to step down as the jungler, feeling that he was burned out – he would become the coach of the team. Nyjacky was the next to leave, as the longtime midlaner for Curse would head up the new LoLPro team, along with Cop. Curse brought in IwillDominate, the Curse academy jungler to replace Saintvicious, a natural move, staying within the organization. Aphromoo, Zekent and Pobelter were to be the new blood at AD carry, support and mid for the team, reinvigorating the team with some new blood and popular players. This roster did not last long as some mediocre displays in the NACL along with worries about Pobelter being able to move into the teamhouse while the team battled against relegation, meant that Aphromoo and Pobelter departed the team. Cop returned to the team, apparently impressing Curse management during his brief stint on LoLPro. Curse then went out and acquired the most hyped talent in the challenger scene in ggLA’s quas. To make room for the new toplaner, Voyboy moved from toplane to midlane. Got all that?
I think many people believed that the first incarnation of the Curse roster was superior, but I believe that this isn’t necessarily true. While people like Aphromoo, and clearly he was a talented AD carry, his teams never had success, indeed he played on a team we would classify as quite talented, mtw.na/Team Fear (a team that included Mancloud, Balls, and Xmithie) but never seemed to live up to their potential. Aphromoo is a flashy player, Cop is a consistent one. The loss of Pobelter is huge, and the reasoning of Curse that he wouldn’t be available to be at the teamhouse, seem misplaced when he qualified through relegation with the new EG team. Lastly, while I think quas is a very good player, I don’t like the fit with Curse, because quas and Voyboy are essentially the same player, they both play off-meta champions, like to play aggressively and seem ‘wasted’ when they are playing generic tanks like Shen. Voyboy at mid has been a transition and the results don’t seem spectacular so far – certainly Curse has the option to send quas mid and give Voyboy his natural lane, but it seems like to add quas, they’ve diminished one of their biggest assets.
How I would have handled the offseason
Assuming that Saintvicious and Edward would be leaving regardless of roster changes, these are the changes I would make to Curse
Zekent -> support
Nyjacky ->bench
Pobelter ->mid
IwillDominate ->jungle
So some small changes, but I believe that a team of Voyboy/IWD/Pobelter/Cop/Zekent is a solid team that keeps much of the core of Curse intact. Is this team winning the LCS? Probably not, but I do believe it is superior to the current Curse roster.
Lane by Lane Breakdown
quas – Top Lane - 4th out of 8 top laners in NA LCS
quas has the distinction of being the biggest prospect in North American League of Legends in some time, and it was only natural that he would make his move to a big team, in Curse. Quas is an extremely flexible player that thrives when he is playin his unorthodox picks – including Dr. Mundo (before it became popular) and Swain. He’s a very, very talented player, though he brings the same conundrums that Voyboy does – he is really, really good on carry champions and average on generic tank champions, so if the meta changes and Shen becomes the most sought after pick again (you know it is coming) quas might not be as valuable as he is right now.
IWillDominate – Jungle – 7th of out of 8 junglers in NA LCS
I admit that this ranking is partially because I’m not an IWD fan. I don’t think he was particularly good on Dignitas (before his ban), Curse Academy or what I’ve seen from him on the Curse main roster. IWD has some of the best mechanics of North American junglers and a very deep and flexible champion pool, but his decision making is often questionable. Fans expecting a big upgrade over Saintvicious will likely be very disappointed. IWD does have games where he looks very good, but also he will have others where he looks extremely indecisive and just wanders around attempting gank after mediocre gank and not have a huge impact on the game.
Voyboy – Mid – 8th out of 8 midlaners in NA LCS
I’m a fan of Voyboy. What I am not a fan of is Voyboy playing midlane. While certainly he’s put in the hours trying to convert himself into a mid laner, the results have been less than spectacular so far. Voyboy at his best is much like quas – at his best he is playing off-meta champions (like his famed toplane Katarina) that have the potential to carry. While he’s been okay at picking up the champions that are popular in the current meta like Ziggs and Orianna, neither of those picks will strike fear into the heart of their opposition. Voyboy will probably end up being a decent midlaner, but I have a hard time seeing him become a dominating presence like he once was in the top lane.
Cop – AD Carry - 5th out of 8 AD Carries in NA LCS
Cop is probably the most underrated player in the entire LCS. He’s not flashy, he doesn’t make highlight reel plays, but he is perhaps the most solid, consistent player in the LCS. You can absolutely have a great team with Cop as your AD Carry (see Cloud 9 and Sneakycastro). His Draven is perhaps his best champion and will almost certainly draw bans. Cop isn’t likely to bust out a Vayne, but he’ll play a safe carry like Caitlyn and if his team is in a position to win, Cop will carry them to victory.
Zekent – Support – 6th out of 8 Supports in NA LCS
Zekent is somewhat of an unknown even at this point. I think he’s been pretty solid so far from what I’ve seen from him, but I’m not falling over to heap praise on him either. His champion pool does appear to be quite deep, and if Janna ever comes back into fashion, Zekent will surely want to play her as she is arguably his top champion His development will be key to Curse doing well in the upcoming season, because their bot lane will have more pressure to carry than ever before
How They’ll Play
It’s tough to say how Curse will play, considering this roster has only been around for a couple of months, but I would expect Curse to offer a lot of variability in how they line up. With the flexibility and overlapping champion pools that Voyboy and quas have, Curse can spring some nasty surprises with some late picks (like perhaps a pocket Swain for quas). However, Curse has mostly played standard in their games so far, although generally speaking they’ve been the more talented team so the onus has not been on them to take a risk. I believe that they will focus mainly on their solo laners and I expect a lot of ganks toplane for quas in order to get him going as he is at this point, Curse’s most dynamic player
Final Thoughts
While Curse is 7th place in this ranking, they are perhaps the team with the most chance to make me look stupid in the season. Frankly, I just don’t believe in IWD’s ability to pull this team together, and while I like both Voyboy and quas, I think their skillsets are too similar for them to both be at their in the same game. If quas is playing Swain mid, and Voyboy is playing Renekton toplane, are you really getting the most out of your two star players? I also don’t believe Voyboy, right now compares very well to the other mids in North America. I like Cop and Zekent, but they aren’t going to carry games on their own. I think this could be a long season for Curse and don’t be surprised that if Curse gets off to a slow start, that Saintvicious makes his return to the jungle.
#6 CLG
Offseason Moves
Chauster -> bench
Bigfatlp -> bench
Aphromoo -> support
Trickz -> jungle
Trickz -> removed
Dexter -> jungle
Current roster:
Zach ‘Nientonsoh’ Malhas – Top
Marcel ‘Dexter’ Feldkamp – Jungle
Austin ‘Link’ Shin - Mid
Yiliang ‘Doublelift’ Peng – AD Carry
Zaqueri ‘Aphromoo’ Black - Support
Current Bench (via Leaguepedia)
Michael ‘bigfatlp’ Tang
George ‘HotshotGG’ Georgallidis
Offseason Thoughts
What would an offseason be without some CLG roster changes? These ones may not have been as drastic as some but they were handled in typical CLG manner – in a way that creates as little continuity and chemistry as possible. The latest episode with Dexter is just the icing on the cake – though he’s expect to rejoin the team for week 2 of the season, having him jailed for a night and deported is not exactly how one should welcome a new arrival. Otherwise, the other changes were good. Chauster and Bigfatlp never really adapted to their new (or old) roles and were due to be replaced. Dexter is almost certainly the best CLG jungler since Saintvicious and Aphromoo is a proven LCS support, plus he has a history with Doublelift.
How I would have handled the offseason
Though one can joke about how CLG goes about their changes, they generally made the right decisions this offseason. I would have probably kept Trickz on as the jungler, as his performance at IEM Cologne was decent enough to warrant a further look, but Dexter is a good player and is potentially superior to Trickz. Aphromoo is a good support player and has established chemistry with the team. Really, not too much to talk about here.
Lane by Lane Breakdown
Nientonsoh - Top Lane – 5th out of 8 top laners in NA LCS
Nien’s first season as a top laner was an uneven one, he had great games, often on Elise, but also had games where he was horribly ineffective – which is par for the course when trying to transition to a new position. Those who expect Nien’s skill level to continually rise as he gains increasing familiarity with the role, I’d like to point out that this always isn’t the case – Kiwikid shows that perceived potential is not always realized. There are worrying signs in Nien’s play that show him maybe peaking and instead of becoming one of the best top laners in North America, he’ll instead grade out as an average toplaner, which is fine, but I don’t think that is what CLG had in mind when they signed Nien. Nien is at his best on AP champions and has shown some skill on tanks, but he rarely carries or dominates lane.
Dexter – Jungler – 4th out of 8 junglers in NA LCS
A tough one to write about because he has 2 games played under the CLG banner, but his success at Lemondogs proves that he is a quality jungler – how he fits in with CLG is another matter. CLG has for the most part been a team focused on Doublelift. It’s slightly more balanced now with Link being a legitimate threat to carry, so it will be interesting to see if Dexter continues the ‘Camp mid’ strategy that worked so well for Nukeduck and the Lemondogs. Dexter is a good mechanical jungler and joins a team with excellent mechanics.
Link – Mid Lane - 7th out of 8 mid laners in NA LCS
If Link was as good as some people say, he would be at least the equal of Mancloud, but there is something about his game that is missing. It’s not mechanics, because he has great mechanics. It’s not champion pool, because his pool is very deep, and its certainly not his game knowledge. I think its very hard to put a finger on what is holding him back from fulfilling his obvious potential. In my completely uninformed opinion he’s a player that doesn’t have that ‘killer instinct’ that some players have. Now I know its silly to use a concept that originated in boxing to apply to League of Legends, but there are some player who go into the game with the idea ‘This game is on me, and I’m going to win it’ and I don’t think Link has that. That’s not to say he isn’t driven, he just isn’t the type of personality that seeks to dominate games.
Doublelift – AD Carry – 2nd out of 8 AD Carries in NA LCS
What is there left to say about Doublelift? For a long time Doublelift was hugely overrated by the community, now he’s actually probably properly rated. He’s still very, very good, but he no longer the top AD carry in North America, as Wildturtle has usurped that title. Doublelift’s season 3 was an up and down one, with highlights like outdueling Megazero’s Riven with his Twitch, but many displays of inconsistency and downright stupid decision making. And that is essentially what you get with Doublelift – you get the moments of genius that makes the crowd stand up and applaud, but you also get an array of facepalm moments, usually Doublelift farming a lane while his team loses a critical objective. Doublelift is a great character for the game, and still a very good player, but the gap that existed between him and everyone else in season 2 has disappeared.
Aphromoo – Support- 7th out of 8 supports in NA LCS
It feels like I’ve slightly underrated Aphromoo in my rankings. It’s certainly not because I don’t think he’s good at support – he is, its just that him relearning the position downgrades him slightly against the pool of very solid supports that exist in North America. Aphromoo is more comfortable on playmaking supports such as Leona and Thresh, though he’s clearly comfortable on Sona and Lulu as well. Aphromoo’s poor warding habits were a main cause for concern in his previous time at CLG, but he does appear to have improved in that area recently. Aphromoo was a solid choice for CLG’s support spot and I’m glad to see him back in the LCS.
How They’ll Play
No matter what the roster is for CLG, one thing has remained the same – the team plays for Doublelift. While it’s not as bad as the ‘4 protects Doublelift’ comps that CLG ran to strong success in season 2 (and at times in early season 3, that were essentially a one trick composition. CLG has moved away from this, very slowly, but the team is still often dedicated to giving Doublelift space to farm his items and carry in the late game, but this did not always work as intended last year. The problem with moving away from this template for CLG, is that between Nien and Link there does not seem to be too much ‘carry potential,’ so CLG just defaults back to playing for Doublelift. It is this pattern that hopefully can be broken by Dexter paying more attention to midlane so that Link can be put in a position to carry.
Final Thoughts
CLG are a team that can beat anyone on the right day. They beat fnatic at IEM Cologne in one game (though they lost the series), then proceeded to look pretty awful against Alternate at the Battle of the Atlantic. The problem with CLG, as ever, is that they can’t seem to find a consistent roster to build around. This current incarnation doesn’t appear to be a world beating roster either, but given enough time to build chemistry, they could potentially surprise.
#5 Coast
Offseason Moves
Dontmashme -> free agent
WizFujiiN -> AD carry
Elementz(coach) -> free agent
Current roster:
Darshan ‘ZionSpartan’ Upadhyaha - Top
Joshua ‘NintendudeX’ Atkins – Jungle
Danny ‘Shipthur’ Le - Mid
Apollo ‘WizFujiiN’ Price – AD Carry
Miles ‘Daydreamin’ Hoard - Support
Current Bench (via Leaguepedia)
Justin ‘Jinate’ Dinh
David ‘Pixel’ Zarinski
David ‘Diamond’ Bérubé
Offseason Thoughts
Coast, a team that has generally made few roster moves, kept up their tradition by making the smallest of changes, swapping out longtime AD Carry Dontmashme for up and comer Apollo ‘WizFujiiN’ Price. The only other change that was made was that Elementz, the coach of the team, departed to pursue other League of Legends related interests. Yet, despite few changes from the team that finished 7th last split, there is a great deal of optimism surrounding Coast. Coast dominated the challenger circuit and looked more like the team that almost won the spring split playoffs, than the team the struggled in the summer split. Credit goes to the team, who could have decided to shake up the roster and instead are seeing the fruits of their decision (take note CLG!)
How I would have handled the offseason
I really have no complaints. Shipthur has improved to a point where calls for him to be replaced look laughable. I thought Dontmashme was a solid AD carry, but the team felt otherwise, held an extensive try out and settled on WizFujiin, a player that I have been impressed by whenever I get to see him play. Also laudable is the temptation to pick up a popular player like Chaox who would have given the team a greater fanbase.
Lane by Lane Breakdown
Zionspartan – Top – 3rd out of 8 toplaners in NA LCS
Zionspartan has long been considered a small step just below the best toplaners in North America, yet unlike someone like Dyrus, he’s much more of a gamebreaker that draws a lot of specific champion bans. Zion at his best is an aggressive player that is always trying to make plays, but unlike earlier in his career where he would be an easy target for ganks, Zion’s game knowledge is improved to a point that he knows when to push his advantage. I’m a huge fan of Zionspartan, his problem is not always on him, its that his team hasn’t been able to generate enough threats to prevent him from being camped, which appears to have changed this season. The last thing with Zion, is though he’s a capable tank player he’s much better on champions like Nidalee or Tryndamere, which means that Coast will have to gameplan around Zion’s strengths to get the most out of him.
NintendudeX – Jungle – 5th out of 8 junglers in NA LCS
NintendudeX is a longtime veteran of the jungle in North America, and while I don’t think he’s a world beater, he’s become a solid enough jungler. He’s known generally for playing a very strong Olaf (until he was nerfed into the ground) and using Fiddlesticks to some success in the summer split. Nintendude, like the rest of Coast, tends to play slightly off-meta champions, which can (and does) work but it comes with its own set of problems. Nintendude is a good player who provides Coast stability and some playmaking from the jungle.
Shipthur – Mid – 4th out of 8 midlaners in NA LCS
I was not a fan of the Shipthur pickup, after Coast (then GGU) had so much success with Jintae as their midlaner, finishing 2nd to TSM in the spring split playoffs in a close series, it seemed crazy to instead play Shipthur. A series of indifferent performances early in the LCS seemed to confirm my opinion (Coast even won when Jintae subbed in for Zionspartan at one point). Yet, there has not been a more improved player in North American League of Legends since that point than Shipthur. At the end of the summer split, Shipthur was average, and now after watching him a lot in the challenger scene and seeing him dominate solo queue, I believe he’s become one of the best midlaners in North America. He’s especially helped by the current meta, which appears to favour some of his best champions in Ziggs and Orianna, but I believe at this point he is flexible enough to fit any metagame.
WizFujiiN – AD Carry – 6th out of 8 AD Carries in NA LCS
Perhaps the player I’ve seen play the least, WizFujiiN was basically an unknown solo queue player until Coast tried him out for their AD carry spot, where he beat out experienced AD carries like Brunch and Chaox, so there clearly must be talent there. I’ve been impressed in the little I’ve seen him, but he is unproven against top level carries like Doublelift, Wildturtle, and qtpie. It is one thing to beat up on the challenger level bot lanes, quite another to go up against the best of the best in North America.
Daydreamin – Support – 5th out of 8 Supports in NA LCS
Daydreamin is the brains behind Coast, and he deserves a lot of credit for the turnaround Coast had in the spring split, but had an indifferent summer split. Daydreamin is probably the best Blitzcrank player in North America and while that doesn’t mean too much as the Great Steam Golem is out of favour at the current moment in the meta, it is always an option available to Coast in champion select if they need a wildcard. Daydreamin is solid, if unremarkable on other support champions, capable of great plays and great blunders. Like other supports his value to Coast is in gameplanning, theory crafting and playcalling.
How They’ll Play
Coast are one of the few teams that doesn’t slavishly follow the meta, and often will try out new strategies just for the surprise factor. To this end, they are a very flexible team and have done things like play a splitpushing strategy with Zionspartan on Tryndamere, and of course they are equally capable of playing a straight up – ‘on meta’ style. If you like watching teams experiment with picks, you’ll love Coast – their record with these unorthodox picks is uneven, but it is always fun to see happen.
Final Thoughts
I really like Coast, but I’m afraid of the cognitive dissonance of watching Coast beat up on lesser Challenger teams might have made me overrate them slightly, yet individually Coast has always been a talented team its just a matter of them putting it all together, they did for a period in the spring playoffs, I think we are all waiting for them to do it again.
#4 EG
Offseason Moves
N/A
Current roster:
Tyson ‘InnoX’ Kapler - Top
Stephen ‘Snoopeh’ Ellis - Jungle
Eugene ‘Pobelter’ Park - Mid
Peter ‘Yellowpete’ Wüppen – AD Carry
Mitch ‘Krepo’ Voorspoels - Support
Current Bench (via Leaguepedia)
N/A
Offseason Thoughts
EG had a great offseason – not only did they acquire an LCS place from Velocity E-Sports, but it secured a very solid roster that will be competitive in the 2014 season. Part of this was obviously achieved by transferring 3/5ths of EG’s European lineup, but they were also able to acquire two of the biggest prospects in North American League with the acquisition of Pobelter and InnoX, who were free agents for some reason. EG can now use their base of solid veterans and prospects to continue towards building a championship contender, if Snoopeh wants to retire after the season, EG can go and acquire yet another building block for their team. I mean for a team that wasn’t even in the LCS, they have a roster that is better than half of the NA LCS.
Lane by Lane Breakdown
InnoX – Top – 6th out of 8 toplaners in NA LCS
InnoX is an interesting player – he reminds me a bit of Zionspartan – though he’s clearly not on his level quite yet, InnoX gets a great chance to gain LCS experience in a team that doesn’t necessarily need him to carry. Like Zionspartan, he’s probably at his best on carry orientated top laners such as Riven, but I feel from watching him that he’s more than happy to be playing a tank as well. InnoX will be a key factor in determining how far EG can go in North America – if he’s great, maybe they have a shot at a top 3 spot in North America.
Snoopeh – Jungle – 6th out of 8 junglers in NA LCS
At one point it looked like Snoopeh’s LoL career was over. A series of disappointing performances led to Shacker being brought in to take over the jungling position, but then a funny thing happened on the way to irrelevance – Snoopeh won his spot back and started playing more like the jungler that was key to CLG.eu’s season 2 successes. He’s certainly not dominant and he’s maybe just a little above average, but this is also in a meta that does not favour him. Snoopeh at his best was playing champions like Maokai. But he’s shown decent flexibility and he does break out champions that do fit his playstyle like Ammumu. Snoopeh’s veteran presence and leadership cannot be underestimated as well, especially in a team with some younger players.
Pobelter - Mid – 5th out of 8 midlaners in NA LCS
This marks the debut of one of the players that was negatively affected by the age restrictions imposed by the LCS. Pobelter for a long time has been considered one of the best midlaners in North America, and now he gets his chance to prove that to a wider audience. Pobelter is an incredibly flexible player with outstanding mechanics, he’s equally comfortable on a pick like Zed or Ziggs, playing for kills or playing for farm. Just because of the team name he is going to draw comparisons to Froggen, and while Pobelter does not have the history of performances like Froggen, it’s not exactly an unfair comparison. However, Pobelter has had the nickname ‘Throwbelter’ for a long time in the North American scene, where he would play flawless for 98% of the game, only to make one critical error at an unfortunate point.
Yellowpete – AD Carry – 7th out of 8 AD Carries in NA LCS
Probably the most maligned player in League of Legends history, Yellowpete is what he is at this point. He’s solid, he’s not flashy, but there is a reason he’s stayed around in the competitive scene for years – he has good decisionmaking, reasonably good mechanics and a great deal of chemistry with his support, Krepo. Yellowpete is not the type of player that carries, he relies on other players around him to provide him space – but if you want a player that doesn’t mind giving the main spotlight to another player, Pete is a solid choice.
Krepo – Support – 3rd out of 8 Supports in NA LCS
Krepo is one of the most solid, consistent players in professional League. He rarely has bad games, and though his list of gamebreaking plays is pretty small, he does have the capability to make a key play. As a support main the thing I appreciate most about Krepo’s play is his solid warding. Krepo’s teams would often have vision advantages in the mid and late game which could allow his team to close out a game or create a comeback. Krepo is one of the hardest working players in the scene, putting in long hours to maintain his high level of play. Krepo is also a solid leader, in game and out, and as one of the good guys in the professional scene, it is hard not to cheer for him.
How They’ll Play
Very tough to say, considering we have seen this incarnation of EG play rather infrequently, but a team with 3/5ths ofCLG.eu will likely maintain a similar playstyle. While InnoX and Pobelter are not Wickd and Froggen, they are reasonable facsimiles – thus I would expect EG to play much like CLG.EU/EG used to, until they can develop a playstyle that works for them. I would anticipate a strong focus on their solo laners and specifically Pobelter.
Final Thoughts
Evil Geniuses may not be a team that can win the North American LCS – they are just not talented enough to defeat some of the top tier teams, but that is not to say that they can’t take a game off a TSM or a C9. I expect EG to be well coordinated, do well in picks and bans and be rarely blown out of games.
#3 XDG
Offseason Moves
Zuna -> Jungle
Xmithie -> AD carry
Current roster:
Benny ‘Benny’ Hung – Top
Jake ‘Xmithie’ Puchero – Jungle
Zachary ‘mancloud’ Hoschar - Mid
Christopher ‘Zuna’ Buechter – AD Carry
Lyubomir ‘Bloodwater’ Spasov - Support
Current Bench (via Leaguepedia)
Nicholas Wu ‘Nickwu’ Smith
Robert ‘RobertxLee’ Lee
Christopher ‘Scubachris’ Lee
Joshua ‘Master of LoL’ Webb
Offseason Thoughts
To be honest, I’m going to ignore the hilarious stupidity that is moving Zuna to jungle and Xmithie to AD Carry. Until I see XDG actually play with that lineup, I’m going to assume it is some sort of elaborate troll. Zuna, as some people may remember, was the jungler for CLG.Black, but that was so long ago, it is unlikely that he can even come close to the skill level of Xmithie, one of the best junglers in North America. Besides that, the two name changes of XDG, namely renaming themselves XDG from Vulcun went over with the community like a lead balloon, and Sycho Sid becoming Benny is another downgrade in the ‘cool names’ category.
How I would have handled the offseason
Simple – XDG have 2 strengths, mancloud in mid and Xmithie in the jungle, so replace the teams weakness (Zuna) with their LCS ready sub (RobertxLee) and call it a day. This was clearly too obvious for XDG’s braintrust so instead of being the #3 team in the LCS, they are probably not even close to that right now.
Lane by Lane Breakdown
Benny – Top – 7th out of 8 top laners in NA LCS
Sycho Sid, now Benny, was one of the pleasant surprises of the LCS season. At one point, top lane was considered one of the weak points of XDG, but now Benny is pretty much a staple of North American top laners. He’s not in the top tier, he’s just solidly in the middle. The one weakness of Benny, which became apparent in the World Championships was that he has a tendency to farm…and farm…and farm…and not accomplish much. Other top laners when given space know how to make themselves a nuisance across the map, and when to stop farming, but Benny hasn’t quite figured that out yet. However, Benny strengths – his ability to play pretty much every top laner in existence and his solid play, mean that he will be a mainstay in the North American scene for a long time.
Xmithie – Jungle - 2nd out of 8 junglers in NA LCS
Xmithie used to be one of the worst junglers in the pre LCS era of the North American scene. He would make 1 great play and then 3 terrible ones. This somewhat continued in the spring split, but he was down to 1 or 2 errors compared to 1 great play. Now, in my opinion, Xmithie is the 2nd best jungler in North America, and is basically the posterboy for sticking with a player instead of benching him. Xmithie’s chemistry with Mancloud is XDG’s main strength. Quite possibly the best Lee Sin player in North America, Xmithie is at home on the jungle champions that are popular at the moment, tanky, initiating junglers (Jarvan, Lee, Vi, etc). Why anyone would want to turn him into an ad carry is beyond me.
Mancloud – Mid – 2nd out of 8 mid laners in NA LCS
Mancloud is one of the most underappreciated players in North America. Truly an elite talent, Mancloud is the main reason that XDG are a threat to finish in the top 3 of North America, no matter who his teammates are. Probably the best mid in the NA LCS (outside of Bjergsen) at actually carrying a game, Mancloud’s farming abilities and champion pool are all top notch. While Mancloud’s #1 champion, Twisted Fate is probably not going to be picked very often, Mancloud is likely to be given the farm to carry by XDG – and he is one of the few midlaners that is used as a splitpusher and he’s done so with great effectiveness. Mancloud is a player with no obvious weaknesses and if he was on a team that could give him slightly more space and support he might even be considered to be an even better player – it is however, a special player that can carry a game, in spite of his teammates.
Zuna – AD Carry – 8th out of 8 AD Carries in NA LCS
I’m completely irrational about Zuna so I’m not going to write about him, needless to say, he would be off the team in 2 seconds if I was in charge.
Bloodwater – Support – 2nd out of 8 Supports in NA LCS
Support players are traditionally underrated and in that respect Bloodwater might be the most underrated of all. Playing with a mediocre at best AD carry, Bloodwater has constantly maintained a high level of play and one of the better KDA ratios in the North American LCS. Now paired with *sigh* a completely new AD carry, Bloodwater must guide Xmithie into learning a new role, while making sure XDG does not fall behind in the bottom lane.
How They Will Play
XDG will get ahead in the laning phase and then will flip a coin, if heads they’ll close out the game, if tails they’ll find a new and hilarious way of throwing the game, proving that you cannot stop watching a XDG game, because it’s not over until the nexus falls.
Final Thoughts
Please bench Zuna and return Xmithie to jungle. Thanks.
#2 Cloud 9
Offseason Moves
N/A
Current roster:
An ‘Balls’ Le – Top
Will ‘Meteos’ Hartman – Jungle
Hai ‘Hai’ Lam – Mid
Zachary ‘Sneaky’ Scuderi – AD Carry
Daerek ‘Lemonnation’ Hart - Support
Current Bench (via Leaguepedia)
Patrick ‘Megazero’ Glinsman
Brian ‘Otter’ Baniqued
Offseason Thoughts
When a team crushes the NA LCS and comes within a game of reaching the semi-finals at the world championships, there isn’t much impetus to change the roster. The only thing that C9 could have done is to pick up a slightly stronger roster of substitutes, Megazero is a good player, but I doubt C9 will be benching Balls anytime soon – a support sub might be useful as support is the weakest aspect on C9 – not weak, but weakest.
How I would have handled the offseason
No changes necessary, perhaps getting Nydus as a support sub would have been a good move.
Lane by Lane Breakdown
Balls – Top – 1st out of 8 top laners in NA LCS
Balls is either the #1 or #2 top laner in North America, which is amazing for a player that was ignored by the big teams until he joined Cloud 9 (I think Curse, Dignitas and CLG would love to have Balls right now!). Balls is a perfect fit for C9’s midgame focused objective style. He’s great at teamfights and is probably the best Rumble in the west, even when the champion does not appear to be in the current meta. Balls is a very flexible player, though he’s probably best on AP champions like Kennen and Rumble, his tank play is still very strong. Balls is an ‘X’ factor for C9, a player capable of playing multiple styles and carrying games, or playing in a more supportive role – the type of player every team would like to have.
Meteos – Jungle - 1st out of 8 junglers in NA LCS
I’m not sure there is much more to say about Meteos. He’s the best jungler in North America by a massive amount and one of the world class players in North American League of Legends. Meteos has a vast array of champions that he plays (though not Lee Sin), draws bans, and is capable of playing a gank heavy style – he just chooses to play his signature farm heavy style…and why not, it just works. Meteos also has exceptional mechanics for a jungler, often surviving teamfights he initiates with a mere sliver of health, which is part of the reason he had an absurd KDA last split. In short, Meteos is the straw the stirs the drink for C9 and he makes everyone on his team better just by his sheer presence.
Hai – Mid – 3rd out of 8 mid laners in NA LCS
Hai is a tough one to rate. He’s clearly very good on his best champions (Zed probably being his #1 champion) but when forced outside of his comfort zone, he often does not look all that stellar (Fizz, Gragas). Hai is a beneficiary of a strong jungle presence that will often help in getting him ahead, but he also must deal with the fact that Meteos often takes the 2nd (and sometimes 3rd) blue of the game, meaning that if he is going even in lane and Meteos is causing havoc elsewhere, he is doing his job. Hai might be the most inconsistent player on Cloud 9, and that in and of itself makes his difficult to rate.
Sneaky – AD Carry 4th out of 8 AD Carries in NA LCS
Sneaky has the dream job of any AD carry player. The team isn’t focused on him, so as long as he doesn’t horribly feed, he’s going to be in a position to win the game. To maximize this, Sneaky has used many utility ad carries that don’t need the same amount of farm to be effective as other carries. Yet, to some this means that Sneaky is a weak player, but to me, he’s just adapting to what the team needs from him. It’s not like he can’t play other carries – this is a player who’s main champion was Twitch after all – he’s just adapting to his role in the team.
Lemonnation – Support 4th out of 8 Supports in NA LCS
I’m not totally a fan of Lemon, I think overall he’s probably the weakest player on C9, certainly not a bad player, but if you had to pick out a weak point it is probably Lemon. His biggest weakness of last season has been somewhat mitigated as Lemon hated to ward, but loved getting items, so now with the support meta less about warding and more about items, it is probably a good thing for Lemon. Lemon has a decent champion pool, but rarely makes gamebreaking plays, however C9 does not expect that from him.
How They Will Play
Cloud 9 has its own, distinctive style, mostly determined by their jungler, Meteos and his farm orientated style. While their lanes mostly have to survive without jungle interference, Meteos is capable of making timely ganks that swing the balance of lanes. However, the main focus of Cloud 9 has always been their objective control. Cloud 9 are the masters of the dragon fight and know exactly how and when to rotate to put pressure on a weak turret or to get a timely kill that will get an objective on the back of that kill. Cloud 9 are also completely fine with letting their individual lanes lose slightly while Meteos farms up, giving their best player the space to influence teamfights later in the game.
Final Thoughts
Cloud 9 will be the #1 team on many pre-season predictions and for good reason, however I expect that with teams given several months to dissect C9’s style they won’t be as absolutely dominant as they were last split. Yet C9’s consistency and skill means that they are likely to be either at the top of the LCS standings or extremely close.
#1 Team Solo Mid
Offseason Moves
Wingsofdeathx (sub) -> free agent
Dan Dinh (sub) -> free agent
Reginald -> coach
Bjergsen -> mid
Current roster:
Marcus ‘Dyrus’ Hill – Top
Brian ‘TheOddone’ Wylie - Jungle
Søren ‘Bjergsen’ Bjerg – Mid
Jason ‘Wildturtle’ Tran – AD Carry
Alex ‘Xpecial’ Chu - Support
Current Bench (via Leaguepedia)
Andy ‘Ninjaken’ Nong
Johnny ‘Altec’ Ru
Offseason Thoughts
Team Solo Mid have always been an ambitious team. They were the first team to set up a teamhouse in North America, and have been the dominant team for so long, it was something of a shock to see them so comprehensively dethroned by Cloud 9 last split. Clearly not satisfied to be the 2nd best team in North America, Reginald made the decision to step down as the teams mid laner to become the teams coach (as well as handle the business of TSM). With a gaping hole in the soul of TSM, they made a dramatic move for Bjergsen, one of the best midlaners in Europe. A less ambitious team may have settled for Pobelter or acquired Mancloud, but TSM knew they needed a dramatic move to compete with Cloud 9. A brilliant player, who brings the dynamism and playmaking of Reginald with a higher skillcap, Bjergsen is a perfect fit at TSM
How I would have handled the offseason
TSM got it absolutely right.
Lane by Lane Breakdown
Dyrus – Top – 2nd out of 8 top laners in NA LCS
Everyone’s favourite Hawaiian Dyrus has been a top level player since he replaced Rainman in season 2. He’s solid, consistent and he can play in basically any meta. He’s also one of the top laners that can carry a game when he gets ahead, he can play AP champs, tanks, assassins and more. It’s hard to imagine a TSM without Dyrus, a player that has been integral to TSM’s success. He’s actually kind of underrated, considering he is such a high level, consistent player.
TheOddone – Jungle – 3rd out of 8 junglers in NA LCS
At one point it looked like Oddone would become one of the first generation players that eventually found themselves pushed out by the younger players in the scene, yet Oddone’s recent play has shown that he’s not done yet. Oddone’s strengths are that he is one of the most experienced players in the scene and that experience is invaluable. He’s one of the best at smiting in North America, and he has a penchant for coming up with big steals when it looks like TSM might be out of the game. Now freed of the ‘camp mid for Regi’ mentality its likely he will still focus his attention on mid, but perhaps the greater flexibility will give him more room to shine.
Bjergsen – Mid – 1st out of 8 mid laners in NA LCS
Perhaps slightly overrated by some, Bjergsen is a great talent. It is a rare player that can turn around the fortune of a team like Bjergsen did for Copenhagen Wolves in the spring split in the EU LCS. While Bjergsen is very flexible, he’s most at home on assassins, rather than control mids, he does have a deep champion pool. A playmaker that is capable of the most absurd of plays, Bjergsen should theoretically feast on North American mids who appear to be, on paper, weaker than the EU mids Bjergsen faced and performed well against.
Wildturtle – AD Carry – 1st out of 8 AD Carries in NA LCS
Almost without question, Wildturtle is the #1 AD carry in the North American scene. With his amazing solo queue record and his amazing mechanical play, TSM clearly made the right choice when replacing Chaox. Wildturtle is comfortable on pretty much every AD carry RIOT has ever released and has formed a strong partnership with his support, Xpecial. The only question I have for Wildturtle is if we will consistently get the player that was great at the World finals or the player who appeared to get tilted in the North American final against Cloud 9. If his level of performance from worlds continues, Wildturtle will be a shoo in for an All-star place and will likely be key in seeing TSM rise atop the North American LCS.
Xpecial – Support – 1st out of 8 Supports in NA LCS
For a long time Xpecial was hugely underrated, now that he is receiving his much deserved due as North America’s best support. He is blessed to be paired with an amazing AD carry in Wildturtle, but it is often Xpecial’s subtle plays that open up Wildturtle to make a big splash in the game. Comfortable on many champions, but especially deadly on champions like Thresh and Annie, Xpecial is one of the few supports that may consistently draw bans, in a vain hope to keep him down. Xpecial is one of my favourite players to watch for his consistency and his skill at warding – even with the new vision changes, TSM is one of the better teams at maintaining vision control of key areas and it is Xpecial who takes the lead in that area.
How They Will Play
TSM has traditionally played for Reginald in the mid lane, and we could see that continue, because lets be honest, playing for Bjergsen is just as good an option as was proved in the last EU LCS split. Yet, TSM has an embarrassment of riches at their key positions. They don’t have to play for one person to carry as pretty much every member of their team has the capability to do so. TSM have tried to improve their objective control over the past year, and while it is not quite on Cloud 9 level, it is not far behind either. It is my hope that TSM will embrace the flexibility this roster has, crafting a variety of different compositions that will make them a nightmare to gameplan against.
Final Thoughts
On paper, TSM is the best and most talented team in North America. The only question is if they can be consistent enough to keep up with the other front runner in Cloud 9. It is my belief that this TSM roster is the strongest that they’ve ever fielded and that hurts to say, because I am NOT a TSM fan. This is a team that does not have any obvious weaknesses and thus is my pick to win the North American spring split.
Pre-Season All-Star Team
Top – Balls
Jungle – Meteos
Mid – Bjergsen
AD Carry – Wildturtle
Support - Xpecial
Leaguepedia
RIOT NA LCS Mainpage
2014 NA LCS Spring Split Preview
#8 Dignitas
Offseason Moves
Kiwikid -> bench
Patoy -> bench
Cruzer -> top
Kiwikid -> support
Current roster:
Cruz ‘Cruzer’ Ogden – Top
Alberto ‘Crumbz’ Rengifo – Jungle
William ‘Scarra’ Li – Mid
Michael ‘imaqtpie’ Santana – AD carry
Alan ‘Kiwikid’ Nguyen - Support
Current Bench (via Leaguepedia)
Jordan ‘Patoy’ Blackburn
Francois ‘Zamphira’ Boucher
Sung Moo ‘Heartbeat’ Lim
Offseason Thoughts
Dignitas had one of the worst offseasons in recent memory. Their first move, getting rid of Kiwikid and his increasingly insipid top lane play made a lot of sense – to be sure you’d have to have a lot of faith in the person that led the LCS in deaths to keep him on your team. With the relative plethora of top laners available, Dignitas somehow missed out on two of the biggest prospects in quas and InnoX and picked Cruzer to be their new top laner. Now Cruzer is a player that has been around the competitive scene, but has hardly covered himself in glory, and I don’t think he’s a bad player, but he’s certainly not the player Dignitas needs – more explanation on that later. Certainly I think Dignitas would be much improved if they would acquire Megazero from Complexity, a player with LCS experience that is a definitive upgrade.
The loss of Patoy is a huge one for Dignitas. Though his play tailed off from his best days – when he was leading the LCS in KDA, he was still a formidable support, and would certainly have thrived in the current meta that allows supports much more influence over teamfights. Still, a good support is not irreplaceable and there were many decent supports available to Dignitas. Yet, for some unknown reason, Dignitas picked Kiwikid, who had been recently benched from top, to be their support. Now Kiwikid appears to be a very nice young man, and his teammates clearly like him, but in a league that is clearly getting stronger, it’s a massive risk to try to convert your toplaner (who was originally a midlaner) into your support player. It’s also not like Dignitas is an organization without money to go and get an M eye A from Complexity or a Kazmitch (recently tried out by Alliance), so why was Kiwikid chosen? You might be able to take a risk at one position, when your team is a strong one that could make up for a misplay or two, but Dignitas looks much more like a team that will be fighting against relegation than anything else. There was lots of time for Dignitas to assemble a roster that would be competitive in the LCS, lots of new talent available, but to present your fans this roster, especially after getting demolished by Alliance (in fairness a very good team), is unacceptable for an organization as storied as Dignitas.
How I would have handled the offseason
I believe that Dignitas had a solid core that could have been built around, If I had been given complete freedom (within reason) here are the changes I would have made to the Dignitas roster.
Kiwikid - > gone
InnoX/Megazero/quas ->toplane
Crumbzz -> coach
Scarra -> jungle
Pobelter/Zamphira -> mid
Patoy -> sub
M eye A/Nydus -> support
You end up with a roster of Megazero/scarra/Zamphira/qtpie/M eye A, certainly a roster that has changed a lot since the end of season 3, but one that has a lot more talent. Moving scarra from mid to jungle is certainly a risk, but I feel like with his skill and experience he could make a good transition to the role. With Megazero and Zamphira in the solo lanes you have a lot of flexibility and dynamism, and you still have qtpie in the bottom lane, this time paired with a more natural support.
Lane by Lane Breakdown
Cruzer – Top Lane – 8th out of 8 top laners in NA LCS
I’m not Cruzer’s biggest fan, but I think he’s much better on carry style top laners (such as his famed Lee Sin) than on tanks, which was pretty clear in the two BotA games he played against Alliance’s Wickd where he was soundly beaten in favourable matchups. If Dignitas is unwilling to give Cruzer his best champions, then I’m honestly not quite sure why they picked him. Cruzer is a bit like Westrice, when there is the right champion in the right meta, he’ll be drawing bans, but I just don’t see him as being well rounded enough to give Dignitas any degree of consistency. I’ve labelled him the worst top laner in the NA LCS, but that does NOT mean he is a bad player, especially considering the talent that patrols the top lane in North America. I really hope he can grow into the role, but I am not particularly optimistic.
Crumbzz –Jungle – 8th out of 8 junglers in NA LCS
Oh Crumbzz, you are so difficult to rate, because you appear to do nothing for a few games than break out with a dominating performance that makes everyone stand up and take notice. I really hope that the Crumbzz can show that dominating side more often but it seems like he can only do it on Lee Sin, which has become his champion of choice. Too often, I believe that Crumbz makes sub-par ganks that do little to aid his laners, and while he can’t be blamed for all of Dignitas’ history of poor decision making, he at least has to accept some of the blame. Crumbz is a veteran and a smart guy who has clearly been a part of the Dignitas braintrust for some time, which has been key to their success – I just don’t know if his in game performances will merit keeping him around.
Scarra – Mid – 6th out of 8 mid laners in NA LCS
I’ll be honest, I’ve underrated Scarra for a long time. I had him penciled in as the 8th best mid in North America, yet upon further contemplation, I’ve raised him higher than that. Scarra’s current ‘struggles’ are more due to the changes to the meta and it not favouring him, but you don’t have to think too far back to think of him being a terror on Katarina or Diana. Scarra has a limited number of champions that he is good on but he is really strong on those champs. Right now he’s not at his best, but I would not be too quick to count out one of the longest tenured stars in the game. Scarra is mechanically solid, and one of the best farmers in North America. Scarra might not be the mid you would choose to carry a game on his own, but if you want solid, consistent play, he would be a fine choice.
Imqtpie – AD Carry – 3rd out of 8 AD Carries in NA LCS
Qtpie is perhaps one of the most underrated players currently plying his trade in the NA LCS. While Doublelift steals the headlines and Wildturtle is known for his solo queue prowess, imaqtpie is seen as a something of a goof, a player that is popular but not from his competitive skills, but his personality. Yet, Imqtpie is one of the premier AD carries in North America. It is on him that Dignitas will appear to rely on to get many of their wins. Qtpie does have his less than optimal moments of play, but considering other teams often focus on bottom lane against Dignitas, his performance is quite impressive. If Dignitas is to succeed this season it will be on the back of qtpie. Is his back strong enough though?
Kiwikid – Support – 8th out of 8 Supports in NA LCS
Kiwikid is ranked as the ‘worst’ support, because there is a sample size of two competitive games with him playing support, so this section will be somewhat shorter than most. I like Kiwikid, he seems like a good person to hang around and judging by his solo queue stats, he puts in long hours to improve his play, which is certainly laudable. His play was pretty poor in the BotA, but considering he is new to the role some hiccups are to be expected. Kiwikid should take inspiration from Aphromoo who also started out a little rough in his transition to the support role, but is now very solid in that position.
How They’ll Play
Dignitas, though they have a long history of innovation, have become a team that plays pretty standard, for the most part. They rely heavily on qtpie to carry, which makes sense as he is their best player. With a long history of poor decision-making, especially at baron, Dignitas have well-earned the moniker ‘Thrownitas.’ Scarra continues to operate as the 2nd most important player on the team, though he is much better suited for a position that requires him to carry less hard, though Dignitas could achieve that by giving Cruzer more ‘carry’ orientated top laners. Dignitas is a flexible team, and no one has a particularly small champion pool, so they can be a bit creative in their team compositions. While casters will try to convince you that Dignitas loves to split push – it is a strategy they employ rarely, however the fabled ‘Dignitas tri-lane push’ remains one of their favoured ways to end the game and produce late-game pressure.
Final Thoughts
While I’ve been generally critical of Dignitas in this preview, I don’t believe that they are going to go 0-28 or something horrible in the LCS, or that any of their players are horrible, I simply believe the roster as it is today, is likely to be the worst in the LCS. I don’t understand why Kiwikid was removed from the top lane, to be replaced by someone with a similar skill set, only to have him return as the support player, when there are plenty of support players that Dignitas could have acquired. For Dignitas to be successful they need to give qtpie the opportunity to carry – that doesn’t mean for Crumbz to camp his lane, but to create other threats in the other lanes so that the opposing team cannot focus on qtpie.
#7 Curse
Offseason Moves
Voyboy -> mid
Quas -> top
Nyjacky -> gone
Edward -> gone
Zekent -> support
Saintvicious -> coach
IwillDominate -> jungle
Current roster:
Diego ‘quas’ Ruiz - Top
Christian ‘IwillDominate’ Rivera - Jungle
Joe ‘Voyboy’ Esfahani - Mid
David ‘Cop’ Roberson – AD Carry
George ‘Zekent’ Liu - Support
Current Bench (via Leaguepedia):
Keenan ‘Rhux’ Santos
Aaron ‘Swain Gretsky’ Bean
Phillip ‘Only Jaximus’ Carter
Brad ‘OnebadBrad’ Watson
Offseason Thoughts
Curse had a tumultuous offseason, which was to be expected after they failed to make it to the season 3 world championships. The first casualty was a self-inflicted one as Saintvicious decided to step down as the jungler, feeling that he was burned out – he would become the coach of the team. Nyjacky was the next to leave, as the longtime midlaner for Curse would head up the new LoLPro team, along with Cop. Curse brought in IwillDominate, the Curse academy jungler to replace Saintvicious, a natural move, staying within the organization. Aphromoo, Zekent and Pobelter were to be the new blood at AD carry, support and mid for the team, reinvigorating the team with some new blood and popular players. This roster did not last long as some mediocre displays in the NACL along with worries about Pobelter being able to move into the teamhouse while the team battled against relegation, meant that Aphromoo and Pobelter departed the team. Cop returned to the team, apparently impressing Curse management during his brief stint on LoLPro. Curse then went out and acquired the most hyped talent in the challenger scene in ggLA’s quas. To make room for the new toplaner, Voyboy moved from toplane to midlane. Got all that?
I think many people believed that the first incarnation of the Curse roster was superior, but I believe that this isn’t necessarily true. While people like Aphromoo, and clearly he was a talented AD carry, his teams never had success, indeed he played on a team we would classify as quite talented, mtw.na/Team Fear (a team that included Mancloud, Balls, and Xmithie) but never seemed to live up to their potential. Aphromoo is a flashy player, Cop is a consistent one. The loss of Pobelter is huge, and the reasoning of Curse that he wouldn’t be available to be at the teamhouse, seem misplaced when he qualified through relegation with the new EG team. Lastly, while I think quas is a very good player, I don’t like the fit with Curse, because quas and Voyboy are essentially the same player, they both play off-meta champions, like to play aggressively and seem ‘wasted’ when they are playing generic tanks like Shen. Voyboy at mid has been a transition and the results don’t seem spectacular so far – certainly Curse has the option to send quas mid and give Voyboy his natural lane, but it seems like to add quas, they’ve diminished one of their biggest assets.
How I would have handled the offseason
Assuming that Saintvicious and Edward would be leaving regardless of roster changes, these are the changes I would make to Curse
Zekent -> support
Nyjacky ->bench
Pobelter ->mid
IwillDominate ->jungle
So some small changes, but I believe that a team of Voyboy/IWD/Pobelter/Cop/Zekent is a solid team that keeps much of the core of Curse intact. Is this team winning the LCS? Probably not, but I do believe it is superior to the current Curse roster.
Lane by Lane Breakdown
quas – Top Lane - 4th out of 8 top laners in NA LCS
quas has the distinction of being the biggest prospect in North American League of Legends in some time, and it was only natural that he would make his move to a big team, in Curse. Quas is an extremely flexible player that thrives when he is playin his unorthodox picks – including Dr. Mundo (before it became popular) and Swain. He’s a very, very talented player, though he brings the same conundrums that Voyboy does – he is really, really good on carry champions and average on generic tank champions, so if the meta changes and Shen becomes the most sought after pick again (you know it is coming) quas might not be as valuable as he is right now.
IWillDominate – Jungle – 7th of out of 8 junglers in NA LCS
I admit that this ranking is partially because I’m not an IWD fan. I don’t think he was particularly good on Dignitas (before his ban), Curse Academy or what I’ve seen from him on the Curse main roster. IWD has some of the best mechanics of North American junglers and a very deep and flexible champion pool, but his decision making is often questionable. Fans expecting a big upgrade over Saintvicious will likely be very disappointed. IWD does have games where he looks very good, but also he will have others where he looks extremely indecisive and just wanders around attempting gank after mediocre gank and not have a huge impact on the game.
Voyboy – Mid – 8th out of 8 midlaners in NA LCS
I’m a fan of Voyboy. What I am not a fan of is Voyboy playing midlane. While certainly he’s put in the hours trying to convert himself into a mid laner, the results have been less than spectacular so far. Voyboy at his best is much like quas – at his best he is playing off-meta champions (like his famed toplane Katarina) that have the potential to carry. While he’s been okay at picking up the champions that are popular in the current meta like Ziggs and Orianna, neither of those picks will strike fear into the heart of their opposition. Voyboy will probably end up being a decent midlaner, but I have a hard time seeing him become a dominating presence like he once was in the top lane.
Cop – AD Carry - 5th out of 8 AD Carries in NA LCS
Cop is probably the most underrated player in the entire LCS. He’s not flashy, he doesn’t make highlight reel plays, but he is perhaps the most solid, consistent player in the LCS. You can absolutely have a great team with Cop as your AD Carry (see Cloud 9 and Sneakycastro). His Draven is perhaps his best champion and will almost certainly draw bans. Cop isn’t likely to bust out a Vayne, but he’ll play a safe carry like Caitlyn and if his team is in a position to win, Cop will carry them to victory.
Zekent – Support – 6th out of 8 Supports in NA LCS
Zekent is somewhat of an unknown even at this point. I think he’s been pretty solid so far from what I’ve seen from him, but I’m not falling over to heap praise on him either. His champion pool does appear to be quite deep, and if Janna ever comes back into fashion, Zekent will surely want to play her as she is arguably his top champion His development will be key to Curse doing well in the upcoming season, because their bot lane will have more pressure to carry than ever before
How They’ll Play
It’s tough to say how Curse will play, considering this roster has only been around for a couple of months, but I would expect Curse to offer a lot of variability in how they line up. With the flexibility and overlapping champion pools that Voyboy and quas have, Curse can spring some nasty surprises with some late picks (like perhaps a pocket Swain for quas). However, Curse has mostly played standard in their games so far, although generally speaking they’ve been the more talented team so the onus has not been on them to take a risk. I believe that they will focus mainly on their solo laners and I expect a lot of ganks toplane for quas in order to get him going as he is at this point, Curse’s most dynamic player
Final Thoughts
While Curse is 7th place in this ranking, they are perhaps the team with the most chance to make me look stupid in the season. Frankly, I just don’t believe in IWD’s ability to pull this team together, and while I like both Voyboy and quas, I think their skillsets are too similar for them to both be at their in the same game. If quas is playing Swain mid, and Voyboy is playing Renekton toplane, are you really getting the most out of your two star players? I also don’t believe Voyboy, right now compares very well to the other mids in North America. I like Cop and Zekent, but they aren’t going to carry games on their own. I think this could be a long season for Curse and don’t be surprised that if Curse gets off to a slow start, that Saintvicious makes his return to the jungle.
#6 CLG
Offseason Moves
Chauster -> bench
Bigfatlp -> bench
Aphromoo -> support
Trickz -> jungle
Trickz -> removed
Dexter -> jungle
Current roster:
Zach ‘Nientonsoh’ Malhas – Top
Marcel ‘Dexter’ Feldkamp – Jungle
Austin ‘Link’ Shin - Mid
Yiliang ‘Doublelift’ Peng – AD Carry
Zaqueri ‘Aphromoo’ Black - Support
Current Bench (via Leaguepedia)
Michael ‘bigfatlp’ Tang
George ‘HotshotGG’ Georgallidis
Offseason Thoughts
What would an offseason be without some CLG roster changes? These ones may not have been as drastic as some but they were handled in typical CLG manner – in a way that creates as little continuity and chemistry as possible. The latest episode with Dexter is just the icing on the cake – though he’s expect to rejoin the team for week 2 of the season, having him jailed for a night and deported is not exactly how one should welcome a new arrival. Otherwise, the other changes were good. Chauster and Bigfatlp never really adapted to their new (or old) roles and were due to be replaced. Dexter is almost certainly the best CLG jungler since Saintvicious and Aphromoo is a proven LCS support, plus he has a history with Doublelift.
How I would have handled the offseason
Though one can joke about how CLG goes about their changes, they generally made the right decisions this offseason. I would have probably kept Trickz on as the jungler, as his performance at IEM Cologne was decent enough to warrant a further look, but Dexter is a good player and is potentially superior to Trickz. Aphromoo is a good support player and has established chemistry with the team. Really, not too much to talk about here.
Lane by Lane Breakdown
Nientonsoh - Top Lane – 5th out of 8 top laners in NA LCS
Nien’s first season as a top laner was an uneven one, he had great games, often on Elise, but also had games where he was horribly ineffective – which is par for the course when trying to transition to a new position. Those who expect Nien’s skill level to continually rise as he gains increasing familiarity with the role, I’d like to point out that this always isn’t the case – Kiwikid shows that perceived potential is not always realized. There are worrying signs in Nien’s play that show him maybe peaking and instead of becoming one of the best top laners in North America, he’ll instead grade out as an average toplaner, which is fine, but I don’t think that is what CLG had in mind when they signed Nien. Nien is at his best on AP champions and has shown some skill on tanks, but he rarely carries or dominates lane.
Dexter – Jungler – 4th out of 8 junglers in NA LCS
A tough one to write about because he has 2 games played under the CLG banner, but his success at Lemondogs proves that he is a quality jungler – how he fits in with CLG is another matter. CLG has for the most part been a team focused on Doublelift. It’s slightly more balanced now with Link being a legitimate threat to carry, so it will be interesting to see if Dexter continues the ‘Camp mid’ strategy that worked so well for Nukeduck and the Lemondogs. Dexter is a good mechanical jungler and joins a team with excellent mechanics.
Link – Mid Lane - 7th out of 8 mid laners in NA LCS
If Link was as good as some people say, he would be at least the equal of Mancloud, but there is something about his game that is missing. It’s not mechanics, because he has great mechanics. It’s not champion pool, because his pool is very deep, and its certainly not his game knowledge. I think its very hard to put a finger on what is holding him back from fulfilling his obvious potential. In my completely uninformed opinion he’s a player that doesn’t have that ‘killer instinct’ that some players have. Now I know its silly to use a concept that originated in boxing to apply to League of Legends, but there are some player who go into the game with the idea ‘This game is on me, and I’m going to win it’ and I don’t think Link has that. That’s not to say he isn’t driven, he just isn’t the type of personality that seeks to dominate games.
Doublelift – AD Carry – 2nd out of 8 AD Carries in NA LCS
What is there left to say about Doublelift? For a long time Doublelift was hugely overrated by the community, now he’s actually probably properly rated. He’s still very, very good, but he no longer the top AD carry in North America, as Wildturtle has usurped that title. Doublelift’s season 3 was an up and down one, with highlights like outdueling Megazero’s Riven with his Twitch, but many displays of inconsistency and downright stupid decision making. And that is essentially what you get with Doublelift – you get the moments of genius that makes the crowd stand up and applaud, but you also get an array of facepalm moments, usually Doublelift farming a lane while his team loses a critical objective. Doublelift is a great character for the game, and still a very good player, but the gap that existed between him and everyone else in season 2 has disappeared.
Aphromoo – Support- 7th out of 8 supports in NA LCS
It feels like I’ve slightly underrated Aphromoo in my rankings. It’s certainly not because I don’t think he’s good at support – he is, its just that him relearning the position downgrades him slightly against the pool of very solid supports that exist in North America. Aphromoo is more comfortable on playmaking supports such as Leona and Thresh, though he’s clearly comfortable on Sona and Lulu as well. Aphromoo’s poor warding habits were a main cause for concern in his previous time at CLG, but he does appear to have improved in that area recently. Aphromoo was a solid choice for CLG’s support spot and I’m glad to see him back in the LCS.
How They’ll Play
No matter what the roster is for CLG, one thing has remained the same – the team plays for Doublelift. While it’s not as bad as the ‘4 protects Doublelift’ comps that CLG ran to strong success in season 2 (and at times in early season 3, that were essentially a one trick composition. CLG has moved away from this, very slowly, but the team is still often dedicated to giving Doublelift space to farm his items and carry in the late game, but this did not always work as intended last year. The problem with moving away from this template for CLG, is that between Nien and Link there does not seem to be too much ‘carry potential,’ so CLG just defaults back to playing for Doublelift. It is this pattern that hopefully can be broken by Dexter paying more attention to midlane so that Link can be put in a position to carry.
Final Thoughts
CLG are a team that can beat anyone on the right day. They beat fnatic at IEM Cologne in one game (though they lost the series), then proceeded to look pretty awful against Alternate at the Battle of the Atlantic. The problem with CLG, as ever, is that they can’t seem to find a consistent roster to build around. This current incarnation doesn’t appear to be a world beating roster either, but given enough time to build chemistry, they could potentially surprise.
#5 Coast
Offseason Moves
Dontmashme -> free agent
WizFujiiN -> AD carry
Elementz(coach) -> free agent
Current roster:
Darshan ‘ZionSpartan’ Upadhyaha - Top
Joshua ‘NintendudeX’ Atkins – Jungle
Danny ‘Shipthur’ Le - Mid
Apollo ‘WizFujiiN’ Price – AD Carry
Miles ‘Daydreamin’ Hoard - Support
Current Bench (via Leaguepedia)
Justin ‘Jinate’ Dinh
David ‘Pixel’ Zarinski
David ‘Diamond’ Bérubé
Offseason Thoughts
Coast, a team that has generally made few roster moves, kept up their tradition by making the smallest of changes, swapping out longtime AD Carry Dontmashme for up and comer Apollo ‘WizFujiiN’ Price. The only other change that was made was that Elementz, the coach of the team, departed to pursue other League of Legends related interests. Yet, despite few changes from the team that finished 7th last split, there is a great deal of optimism surrounding Coast. Coast dominated the challenger circuit and looked more like the team that almost won the spring split playoffs, than the team the struggled in the summer split. Credit goes to the team, who could have decided to shake up the roster and instead are seeing the fruits of their decision (take note CLG!)
How I would have handled the offseason
I really have no complaints. Shipthur has improved to a point where calls for him to be replaced look laughable. I thought Dontmashme was a solid AD carry, but the team felt otherwise, held an extensive try out and settled on WizFujiin, a player that I have been impressed by whenever I get to see him play. Also laudable is the temptation to pick up a popular player like Chaox who would have given the team a greater fanbase.
Lane by Lane Breakdown
Zionspartan – Top – 3rd out of 8 toplaners in NA LCS
Zionspartan has long been considered a small step just below the best toplaners in North America, yet unlike someone like Dyrus, he’s much more of a gamebreaker that draws a lot of specific champion bans. Zion at his best is an aggressive player that is always trying to make plays, but unlike earlier in his career where he would be an easy target for ganks, Zion’s game knowledge is improved to a point that he knows when to push his advantage. I’m a huge fan of Zionspartan, his problem is not always on him, its that his team hasn’t been able to generate enough threats to prevent him from being camped, which appears to have changed this season. The last thing with Zion, is though he’s a capable tank player he’s much better on champions like Nidalee or Tryndamere, which means that Coast will have to gameplan around Zion’s strengths to get the most out of him.
NintendudeX – Jungle – 5th out of 8 junglers in NA LCS
NintendudeX is a longtime veteran of the jungle in North America, and while I don’t think he’s a world beater, he’s become a solid enough jungler. He’s known generally for playing a very strong Olaf (until he was nerfed into the ground) and using Fiddlesticks to some success in the summer split. Nintendude, like the rest of Coast, tends to play slightly off-meta champions, which can (and does) work but it comes with its own set of problems. Nintendude is a good player who provides Coast stability and some playmaking from the jungle.
Shipthur – Mid – 4th out of 8 midlaners in NA LCS
I was not a fan of the Shipthur pickup, after Coast (then GGU) had so much success with Jintae as their midlaner, finishing 2nd to TSM in the spring split playoffs in a close series, it seemed crazy to instead play Shipthur. A series of indifferent performances early in the LCS seemed to confirm my opinion (Coast even won when Jintae subbed in for Zionspartan at one point). Yet, there has not been a more improved player in North American League of Legends since that point than Shipthur. At the end of the summer split, Shipthur was average, and now after watching him a lot in the challenger scene and seeing him dominate solo queue, I believe he’s become one of the best midlaners in North America. He’s especially helped by the current meta, which appears to favour some of his best champions in Ziggs and Orianna, but I believe at this point he is flexible enough to fit any metagame.
WizFujiiN – AD Carry – 6th out of 8 AD Carries in NA LCS
Perhaps the player I’ve seen play the least, WizFujiiN was basically an unknown solo queue player until Coast tried him out for their AD carry spot, where he beat out experienced AD carries like Brunch and Chaox, so there clearly must be talent there. I’ve been impressed in the little I’ve seen him, but he is unproven against top level carries like Doublelift, Wildturtle, and qtpie. It is one thing to beat up on the challenger level bot lanes, quite another to go up against the best of the best in North America.
Daydreamin – Support – 5th out of 8 Supports in NA LCS
Daydreamin is the brains behind Coast, and he deserves a lot of credit for the turnaround Coast had in the spring split, but had an indifferent summer split. Daydreamin is probably the best Blitzcrank player in North America and while that doesn’t mean too much as the Great Steam Golem is out of favour at the current moment in the meta, it is always an option available to Coast in champion select if they need a wildcard. Daydreamin is solid, if unremarkable on other support champions, capable of great plays and great blunders. Like other supports his value to Coast is in gameplanning, theory crafting and playcalling.
How They’ll Play
Coast are one of the few teams that doesn’t slavishly follow the meta, and often will try out new strategies just for the surprise factor. To this end, they are a very flexible team and have done things like play a splitpushing strategy with Zionspartan on Tryndamere, and of course they are equally capable of playing a straight up – ‘on meta’ style. If you like watching teams experiment with picks, you’ll love Coast – their record with these unorthodox picks is uneven, but it is always fun to see happen.
Final Thoughts
I really like Coast, but I’m afraid of the cognitive dissonance of watching Coast beat up on lesser Challenger teams might have made me overrate them slightly, yet individually Coast has always been a talented team its just a matter of them putting it all together, they did for a period in the spring playoffs, I think we are all waiting for them to do it again.
#4 EG
Offseason Moves
N/A
Current roster:
Tyson ‘InnoX’ Kapler - Top
Stephen ‘Snoopeh’ Ellis - Jungle
Eugene ‘Pobelter’ Park - Mid
Peter ‘Yellowpete’ Wüppen – AD Carry
Mitch ‘Krepo’ Voorspoels - Support
Current Bench (via Leaguepedia)
N/A
Offseason Thoughts
EG had a great offseason – not only did they acquire an LCS place from Velocity E-Sports, but it secured a very solid roster that will be competitive in the 2014 season. Part of this was obviously achieved by transferring 3/5ths of EG’s European lineup, but they were also able to acquire two of the biggest prospects in North American League with the acquisition of Pobelter and InnoX, who were free agents for some reason. EG can now use their base of solid veterans and prospects to continue towards building a championship contender, if Snoopeh wants to retire after the season, EG can go and acquire yet another building block for their team. I mean for a team that wasn’t even in the LCS, they have a roster that is better than half of the NA LCS.
Lane by Lane Breakdown
InnoX – Top – 6th out of 8 toplaners in NA LCS
InnoX is an interesting player – he reminds me a bit of Zionspartan – though he’s clearly not on his level quite yet, InnoX gets a great chance to gain LCS experience in a team that doesn’t necessarily need him to carry. Like Zionspartan, he’s probably at his best on carry orientated top laners such as Riven, but I feel from watching him that he’s more than happy to be playing a tank as well. InnoX will be a key factor in determining how far EG can go in North America – if he’s great, maybe they have a shot at a top 3 spot in North America.
Snoopeh – Jungle – 6th out of 8 junglers in NA LCS
At one point it looked like Snoopeh’s LoL career was over. A series of disappointing performances led to Shacker being brought in to take over the jungling position, but then a funny thing happened on the way to irrelevance – Snoopeh won his spot back and started playing more like the jungler that was key to CLG.eu’s season 2 successes. He’s certainly not dominant and he’s maybe just a little above average, but this is also in a meta that does not favour him. Snoopeh at his best was playing champions like Maokai. But he’s shown decent flexibility and he does break out champions that do fit his playstyle like Ammumu. Snoopeh’s veteran presence and leadership cannot be underestimated as well, especially in a team with some younger players.
Pobelter - Mid – 5th out of 8 midlaners in NA LCS
This marks the debut of one of the players that was negatively affected by the age restrictions imposed by the LCS. Pobelter for a long time has been considered one of the best midlaners in North America, and now he gets his chance to prove that to a wider audience. Pobelter is an incredibly flexible player with outstanding mechanics, he’s equally comfortable on a pick like Zed or Ziggs, playing for kills or playing for farm. Just because of the team name he is going to draw comparisons to Froggen, and while Pobelter does not have the history of performances like Froggen, it’s not exactly an unfair comparison. However, Pobelter has had the nickname ‘Throwbelter’ for a long time in the North American scene, where he would play flawless for 98% of the game, only to make one critical error at an unfortunate point.
Yellowpete – AD Carry – 7th out of 8 AD Carries in NA LCS
Probably the most maligned player in League of Legends history, Yellowpete is what he is at this point. He’s solid, he’s not flashy, but there is a reason he’s stayed around in the competitive scene for years – he has good decisionmaking, reasonably good mechanics and a great deal of chemistry with his support, Krepo. Yellowpete is not the type of player that carries, he relies on other players around him to provide him space – but if you want a player that doesn’t mind giving the main spotlight to another player, Pete is a solid choice.
Krepo – Support – 3rd out of 8 Supports in NA LCS
Krepo is one of the most solid, consistent players in professional League. He rarely has bad games, and though his list of gamebreaking plays is pretty small, he does have the capability to make a key play. As a support main the thing I appreciate most about Krepo’s play is his solid warding. Krepo’s teams would often have vision advantages in the mid and late game which could allow his team to close out a game or create a comeback. Krepo is one of the hardest working players in the scene, putting in long hours to maintain his high level of play. Krepo is also a solid leader, in game and out, and as one of the good guys in the professional scene, it is hard not to cheer for him.
How They’ll Play
Very tough to say, considering we have seen this incarnation of EG play rather infrequently, but a team with 3/5ths ofCLG.eu will likely maintain a similar playstyle. While InnoX and Pobelter are not Wickd and Froggen, they are reasonable facsimiles – thus I would expect EG to play much like CLG.EU/EG used to, until they can develop a playstyle that works for them. I would anticipate a strong focus on their solo laners and specifically Pobelter.
Final Thoughts
Evil Geniuses may not be a team that can win the North American LCS – they are just not talented enough to defeat some of the top tier teams, but that is not to say that they can’t take a game off a TSM or a C9. I expect EG to be well coordinated, do well in picks and bans and be rarely blown out of games.
#3 XDG
Offseason Moves
Zuna -> Jungle
Xmithie -> AD carry
Current roster:
Benny ‘Benny’ Hung – Top
Jake ‘Xmithie’ Puchero – Jungle
Zachary ‘mancloud’ Hoschar - Mid
Christopher ‘Zuna’ Buechter – AD Carry
Lyubomir ‘Bloodwater’ Spasov - Support
Current Bench (via Leaguepedia)
Nicholas Wu ‘Nickwu’ Smith
Robert ‘RobertxLee’ Lee
Christopher ‘Scubachris’ Lee
Joshua ‘Master of LoL’ Webb
Offseason Thoughts
To be honest, I’m going to ignore the hilarious stupidity that is moving Zuna to jungle and Xmithie to AD Carry. Until I see XDG actually play with that lineup, I’m going to assume it is some sort of elaborate troll. Zuna, as some people may remember, was the jungler for CLG.Black, but that was so long ago, it is unlikely that he can even come close to the skill level of Xmithie, one of the best junglers in North America. Besides that, the two name changes of XDG, namely renaming themselves XDG from Vulcun went over with the community like a lead balloon, and Sycho Sid becoming Benny is another downgrade in the ‘cool names’ category.
How I would have handled the offseason
Simple – XDG have 2 strengths, mancloud in mid and Xmithie in the jungle, so replace the teams weakness (Zuna) with their LCS ready sub (RobertxLee) and call it a day. This was clearly too obvious for XDG’s braintrust so instead of being the #3 team in the LCS, they are probably not even close to that right now.
Lane by Lane Breakdown
Benny – Top – 7th out of 8 top laners in NA LCS
Sycho Sid, now Benny, was one of the pleasant surprises of the LCS season. At one point, top lane was considered one of the weak points of XDG, but now Benny is pretty much a staple of North American top laners. He’s not in the top tier, he’s just solidly in the middle. The one weakness of Benny, which became apparent in the World Championships was that he has a tendency to farm…and farm…and farm…and not accomplish much. Other top laners when given space know how to make themselves a nuisance across the map, and when to stop farming, but Benny hasn’t quite figured that out yet. However, Benny strengths – his ability to play pretty much every top laner in existence and his solid play, mean that he will be a mainstay in the North American scene for a long time.
Xmithie – Jungle - 2nd out of 8 junglers in NA LCS
Xmithie used to be one of the worst junglers in the pre LCS era of the North American scene. He would make 1 great play and then 3 terrible ones. This somewhat continued in the spring split, but he was down to 1 or 2 errors compared to 1 great play. Now, in my opinion, Xmithie is the 2nd best jungler in North America, and is basically the posterboy for sticking with a player instead of benching him. Xmithie’s chemistry with Mancloud is XDG’s main strength. Quite possibly the best Lee Sin player in North America, Xmithie is at home on the jungle champions that are popular at the moment, tanky, initiating junglers (Jarvan, Lee, Vi, etc). Why anyone would want to turn him into an ad carry is beyond me.
Mancloud – Mid – 2nd out of 8 mid laners in NA LCS
Mancloud is one of the most underappreciated players in North America. Truly an elite talent, Mancloud is the main reason that XDG are a threat to finish in the top 3 of North America, no matter who his teammates are. Probably the best mid in the NA LCS (outside of Bjergsen) at actually carrying a game, Mancloud’s farming abilities and champion pool are all top notch. While Mancloud’s #1 champion, Twisted Fate is probably not going to be picked very often, Mancloud is likely to be given the farm to carry by XDG – and he is one of the few midlaners that is used as a splitpusher and he’s done so with great effectiveness. Mancloud is a player with no obvious weaknesses and if he was on a team that could give him slightly more space and support he might even be considered to be an even better player – it is however, a special player that can carry a game, in spite of his teammates.
Zuna – AD Carry – 8th out of 8 AD Carries in NA LCS
I’m completely irrational about Zuna so I’m not going to write about him, needless to say, he would be off the team in 2 seconds if I was in charge.
Bloodwater – Support – 2nd out of 8 Supports in NA LCS
Support players are traditionally underrated and in that respect Bloodwater might be the most underrated of all. Playing with a mediocre at best AD carry, Bloodwater has constantly maintained a high level of play and one of the better KDA ratios in the North American LCS. Now paired with *sigh* a completely new AD carry, Bloodwater must guide Xmithie into learning a new role, while making sure XDG does not fall behind in the bottom lane.
How They Will Play
XDG will get ahead in the laning phase and then will flip a coin, if heads they’ll close out the game, if tails they’ll find a new and hilarious way of throwing the game, proving that you cannot stop watching a XDG game, because it’s not over until the nexus falls.
Final Thoughts
Please bench Zuna and return Xmithie to jungle. Thanks.
#2 Cloud 9
Offseason Moves
N/A
Current roster:
An ‘Balls’ Le – Top
Will ‘Meteos’ Hartman – Jungle
Hai ‘Hai’ Lam – Mid
Zachary ‘Sneaky’ Scuderi – AD Carry
Daerek ‘Lemonnation’ Hart - Support
Current Bench (via Leaguepedia)
Patrick ‘Megazero’ Glinsman
Brian ‘Otter’ Baniqued
Offseason Thoughts
When a team crushes the NA LCS and comes within a game of reaching the semi-finals at the world championships, there isn’t much impetus to change the roster. The only thing that C9 could have done is to pick up a slightly stronger roster of substitutes, Megazero is a good player, but I doubt C9 will be benching Balls anytime soon – a support sub might be useful as support is the weakest aspect on C9 – not weak, but weakest.
How I would have handled the offseason
No changes necessary, perhaps getting Nydus as a support sub would have been a good move.
Lane by Lane Breakdown
Balls – Top – 1st out of 8 top laners in NA LCS
Balls is either the #1 or #2 top laner in North America, which is amazing for a player that was ignored by the big teams until he joined Cloud 9 (I think Curse, Dignitas and CLG would love to have Balls right now!). Balls is a perfect fit for C9’s midgame focused objective style. He’s great at teamfights and is probably the best Rumble in the west, even when the champion does not appear to be in the current meta. Balls is a very flexible player, though he’s probably best on AP champions like Kennen and Rumble, his tank play is still very strong. Balls is an ‘X’ factor for C9, a player capable of playing multiple styles and carrying games, or playing in a more supportive role – the type of player every team would like to have.
Meteos – Jungle - 1st out of 8 junglers in NA LCS
I’m not sure there is much more to say about Meteos. He’s the best jungler in North America by a massive amount and one of the world class players in North American League of Legends. Meteos has a vast array of champions that he plays (though not Lee Sin), draws bans, and is capable of playing a gank heavy style – he just chooses to play his signature farm heavy style…and why not, it just works. Meteos also has exceptional mechanics for a jungler, often surviving teamfights he initiates with a mere sliver of health, which is part of the reason he had an absurd KDA last split. In short, Meteos is the straw the stirs the drink for C9 and he makes everyone on his team better just by his sheer presence.
Hai – Mid – 3rd out of 8 mid laners in NA LCS
Hai is a tough one to rate. He’s clearly very good on his best champions (Zed probably being his #1 champion) but when forced outside of his comfort zone, he often does not look all that stellar (Fizz, Gragas). Hai is a beneficiary of a strong jungle presence that will often help in getting him ahead, but he also must deal with the fact that Meteos often takes the 2nd (and sometimes 3rd) blue of the game, meaning that if he is going even in lane and Meteos is causing havoc elsewhere, he is doing his job. Hai might be the most inconsistent player on Cloud 9, and that in and of itself makes his difficult to rate.
Sneaky – AD Carry 4th out of 8 AD Carries in NA LCS
Sneaky has the dream job of any AD carry player. The team isn’t focused on him, so as long as he doesn’t horribly feed, he’s going to be in a position to win the game. To maximize this, Sneaky has used many utility ad carries that don’t need the same amount of farm to be effective as other carries. Yet, to some this means that Sneaky is a weak player, but to me, he’s just adapting to what the team needs from him. It’s not like he can’t play other carries – this is a player who’s main champion was Twitch after all – he’s just adapting to his role in the team.
Lemonnation – Support 4th out of 8 Supports in NA LCS
I’m not totally a fan of Lemon, I think overall he’s probably the weakest player on C9, certainly not a bad player, but if you had to pick out a weak point it is probably Lemon. His biggest weakness of last season has been somewhat mitigated as Lemon hated to ward, but loved getting items, so now with the support meta less about warding and more about items, it is probably a good thing for Lemon. Lemon has a decent champion pool, but rarely makes gamebreaking plays, however C9 does not expect that from him.
How They Will Play
Cloud 9 has its own, distinctive style, mostly determined by their jungler, Meteos and his farm orientated style. While their lanes mostly have to survive without jungle interference, Meteos is capable of making timely ganks that swing the balance of lanes. However, the main focus of Cloud 9 has always been their objective control. Cloud 9 are the masters of the dragon fight and know exactly how and when to rotate to put pressure on a weak turret or to get a timely kill that will get an objective on the back of that kill. Cloud 9 are also completely fine with letting their individual lanes lose slightly while Meteos farms up, giving their best player the space to influence teamfights later in the game.
Final Thoughts
Cloud 9 will be the #1 team on many pre-season predictions and for good reason, however I expect that with teams given several months to dissect C9’s style they won’t be as absolutely dominant as they were last split. Yet C9’s consistency and skill means that they are likely to be either at the top of the LCS standings or extremely close.
#1 Team Solo Mid
Offseason Moves
Wingsofdeathx (sub) -> free agent
Dan Dinh (sub) -> free agent
Reginald -> coach
Bjergsen -> mid
Current roster:
Marcus ‘Dyrus’ Hill – Top
Brian ‘TheOddone’ Wylie - Jungle
Søren ‘Bjergsen’ Bjerg – Mid
Jason ‘Wildturtle’ Tran – AD Carry
Alex ‘Xpecial’ Chu - Support
Current Bench (via Leaguepedia)
Andy ‘Ninjaken’ Nong
Johnny ‘Altec’ Ru
Offseason Thoughts
Team Solo Mid have always been an ambitious team. They were the first team to set up a teamhouse in North America, and have been the dominant team for so long, it was something of a shock to see them so comprehensively dethroned by Cloud 9 last split. Clearly not satisfied to be the 2nd best team in North America, Reginald made the decision to step down as the teams mid laner to become the teams coach (as well as handle the business of TSM). With a gaping hole in the soul of TSM, they made a dramatic move for Bjergsen, one of the best midlaners in Europe. A less ambitious team may have settled for Pobelter or acquired Mancloud, but TSM knew they needed a dramatic move to compete with Cloud 9. A brilliant player, who brings the dynamism and playmaking of Reginald with a higher skillcap, Bjergsen is a perfect fit at TSM
How I would have handled the offseason
TSM got it absolutely right.
Lane by Lane Breakdown
Dyrus – Top – 2nd out of 8 top laners in NA LCS
Everyone’s favourite Hawaiian Dyrus has been a top level player since he replaced Rainman in season 2. He’s solid, consistent and he can play in basically any meta. He’s also one of the top laners that can carry a game when he gets ahead, he can play AP champs, tanks, assassins and more. It’s hard to imagine a TSM without Dyrus, a player that has been integral to TSM’s success. He’s actually kind of underrated, considering he is such a high level, consistent player.
TheOddone – Jungle – 3rd out of 8 junglers in NA LCS
At one point it looked like Oddone would become one of the first generation players that eventually found themselves pushed out by the younger players in the scene, yet Oddone’s recent play has shown that he’s not done yet. Oddone’s strengths are that he is one of the most experienced players in the scene and that experience is invaluable. He’s one of the best at smiting in North America, and he has a penchant for coming up with big steals when it looks like TSM might be out of the game. Now freed of the ‘camp mid for Regi’ mentality its likely he will still focus his attention on mid, but perhaps the greater flexibility will give him more room to shine.
Bjergsen – Mid – 1st out of 8 mid laners in NA LCS
Perhaps slightly overrated by some, Bjergsen is a great talent. It is a rare player that can turn around the fortune of a team like Bjergsen did for Copenhagen Wolves in the spring split in the EU LCS. While Bjergsen is very flexible, he’s most at home on assassins, rather than control mids, he does have a deep champion pool. A playmaker that is capable of the most absurd of plays, Bjergsen should theoretically feast on North American mids who appear to be, on paper, weaker than the EU mids Bjergsen faced and performed well against.
Wildturtle – AD Carry – 1st out of 8 AD Carries in NA LCS
Almost without question, Wildturtle is the #1 AD carry in the North American scene. With his amazing solo queue record and his amazing mechanical play, TSM clearly made the right choice when replacing Chaox. Wildturtle is comfortable on pretty much every AD carry RIOT has ever released and has formed a strong partnership with his support, Xpecial. The only question I have for Wildturtle is if we will consistently get the player that was great at the World finals or the player who appeared to get tilted in the North American final against Cloud 9. If his level of performance from worlds continues, Wildturtle will be a shoo in for an All-star place and will likely be key in seeing TSM rise atop the North American LCS.
Xpecial – Support – 1st out of 8 Supports in NA LCS
For a long time Xpecial was hugely underrated, now that he is receiving his much deserved due as North America’s best support. He is blessed to be paired with an amazing AD carry in Wildturtle, but it is often Xpecial’s subtle plays that open up Wildturtle to make a big splash in the game. Comfortable on many champions, but especially deadly on champions like Thresh and Annie, Xpecial is one of the few supports that may consistently draw bans, in a vain hope to keep him down. Xpecial is one of my favourite players to watch for his consistency and his skill at warding – even with the new vision changes, TSM is one of the better teams at maintaining vision control of key areas and it is Xpecial who takes the lead in that area.
How They Will Play
TSM has traditionally played for Reginald in the mid lane, and we could see that continue, because lets be honest, playing for Bjergsen is just as good an option as was proved in the last EU LCS split. Yet, TSM has an embarrassment of riches at their key positions. They don’t have to play for one person to carry as pretty much every member of their team has the capability to do so. TSM have tried to improve their objective control over the past year, and while it is not quite on Cloud 9 level, it is not far behind either. It is my hope that TSM will embrace the flexibility this roster has, crafting a variety of different compositions that will make them a nightmare to gameplan against.
Final Thoughts
On paper, TSM is the best and most talented team in North America. The only question is if they can be consistent enough to keep up with the other front runner in Cloud 9. It is my belief that this TSM roster is the strongest that they’ve ever fielded and that hurts to say, because I am NOT a TSM fan. This is a team that does not have any obvious weaknesses and thus is my pick to win the North American spring split.
Pre-Season All-Star Team
Top – Balls
Jungle – Meteos
Mid – Bjergsen
AD Carry – Wildturtle
Support - Xpecial
01-17-2014
, 03:30 PM
01-17-2014
, 04:01 PM
01-17-2014
, 04:08 PM
01-17-2014
, 04:12 PM
01-17-2014
, 04:21 PM
01-17-2014
, 04:27 PM
01-17-2014
, 04:30 PM
01-17-2014
, 04:49 PM
hai down 50cs at 20m 
01-17-2014
, 05:15 PM
01-17-2014
, 05:16 PM
