League of Legends: The first week of the North American League of Legends Championship series is littered with crucial hotly contested matchups, with none being more hyped than the opening bout between Team Liquid and Team SoloMid.
Clash of titans
TSM and Liquid enter as two of the favourites to win the entire Split, each crafting a super-team with high expectations. At the core of Team Liquid is the ex-Immortals lineup of Xmithie, Pobelter and Olleh, as well as former Cloud9 top laner Impact and former TSM AD carry Doublelift. Liquid went all in on spending top dollar to acquire the best possible free agents. There are high hopes for the side for the first time in recent memory, as they’ve produced poor results over the past few years.
Team SoloMid built around Bjergsen and Hauntzer, adding star NA jungle talent MikeYeung, as well as arguably the best bottom lane duo the west has ever seen with Zven and mithy, formerly of Europe’s G2 Esports. TSM are the favourite for this initial match given their decent opening synergy: Zven and mithy played together for years, Hauntzer and Bjergsen played together this past year, and so on. This will be an incredibly important match for both playoff seeding and momentum, as these teams look to open on the right foot.
CLG must contend with aphromoo
Another battle of contenders takes place when Counter Logic Gaming face off against 100 Thieves in aphromoo’s first start for the latter against his former squad. CLG are currently viewed as the third-favourite to win the Split, given the addition of Reignover to the roster in place of OmarGod, who struggled mightily after replacing Dardoch last season.
However, the concern for CLG is the replacement of aphromoo, one of the best shot callers in the entire west, with Biofrost, who has reportedly had communication issues in the past. On paper, this lineup looks incredibly stacked, especially given Huhi’s rise in play throughout last season. 100 Thieves, on the other hand, have the benefit of adding aphromoo to the roster, joining star player Ssumday in the top lane as the major influences on this team. While 100 Thieves’ overall talent is top tier, their consistency is a concern, given multiple members’ history of failing to maintain a high level of play for an entire Split. If these players, such as Cody Sun and Meteos, can pan out, 100 Thieves may be a dangerous team throughout the season.
Golden Guardians with the upset bid
Cloud9 versus Golden Guardians is an intriguing match, in which Golden Guardians have a decent shot at the upset. Cloud9 have long been a top-tier organisation in the North American League of Legends scene, yet they have struggled at times to find their top form during the regular season. In comes Golden Guardians with two former Cloud9 members in Hai and Contractz, with Hai having a reputation – due in part to this happening with FlyQuest early last season – of carrying less talented players to higher levels due to his shot-calling.
While teams such as Cloud9 adjust to having new players, Hai can shot-call his team to an upset victory, especially given Contractz’s motivation to perform well against his old squad. Cloud9 are still a solid top-five team and the favourite, even with the side expecting to take a step back after the exit of superstar top laner Impact to Team Liquid in the offseason. Jungler Svenskeren is coming off a fairly poor performance last Split with TSM, with hopes of returning to the superstar status he achieved while in Europe. The concern for Cloud9 comes in top laner Licorice, who is unproven on the biggest stage. Licorice could struggle early, leading to teams such as GG focusing on that lane as a potential avenue to victory. Cloud9 are still the favourite, but their brand does leave them a tad overhyped entering the year.
All in all, there are some very strong and interesting matchups to get the Split underway, and Liquid and TSM, in particular, will be looking for the momentum in the early going. Roster changes continue to be the story for League of Legends and as long as there is constant movement, the early weeks of a Split are always good for some stunning results.
