The North American League of Legends Championship Series had a wild opening week, highlighted by the first match between Team Liquid and Team SoloMid.
Favourites clash
Team Liquid and Team SoloMid entered as the two favourites to win the Championship, with each team revamping their roster in a perceived positive way. However, the matchup was completely one-sided, with Liquid dominating from the start. Team SoloMid not only looked completely lost, but they then carried their downward momentum into their match against FlyQuest, which they would also lose.
Concern has already begun to set in in the TSM camp, as this all-star lineup was expected to dominate from the very beginning, let alone lose to a middle-of-the-road FlyQuest squad. TSM should be able to stabilise, but this loss to FlyQuest could hurt them down the line when seeding for the playoffs rolls around.
Liquid, on the other hand, pulled off a 2-0 weekend, with wins over TSM and OpTic Gaming. The match against OpTic Gaming was not as clean as Liquid would have liked, but overall the week was a resounding success for the new-look squad. Liquid will be a favourite in any match moving forward, given their overall skill and display during week one. Team Liquid could even be a force to be reckoned with on the Worlds stage, should their quality play persist.
Cloud9 perform well
A pleasant surprise this weekend was Cloud9, who impressed after offseason roster moves left fans questioning their overall skill. The losses of star top laner Impact as well as up-and-coming talent jungler Contractz left many believing Cloud9 would regress this season, but a 2-0 start with new faces Licorice and Svenskeren performing well has given the boys in blue confidence moving forward.
Cloud9 played against two very different teams, first defeating Counter Logic Gaming, who entered the year with title aspirations, then defeating a Golden Guardians team that looked like one of the weaker teams in the league. The victory over CLG was incredibly impressive, with their willingness to play top-lane carries (Gangplank and Kled) showing faith in Licorice’s abilities. While it is early, the synergy and flexibility shown by this squad is a decent indicator of positive things to come.
Echo Fox roll early
The surprise 2-0 team of the week were Echo Fox, who came in with mixed expectations after an odd offseason. The removal off Froggen from the mid-lane position coupled with the additions of Huni, fresh off his second-place Worlds finish with SK Telecom, as well as Dardoch, known as a skilled player that is unable to stay on teams for long periods of time due to personality clashes, led to many assuming a difficult road for Echo Fox given the volatility of the lineup. Yet Echo Fox came out of the gate on fire, defeating both FlyQuest as well as Clutch Gaming, the latter of whom were expected to be a 4-6 ranked team, with both victories coming off the back of Huni.
The positives for Echo Fox are incredibly similar to those of Cloud9, with a willingness to play diverse champions in the top lane complementing an overall quality of play from the entire team. While still a question mark long term, for at least the first week, Echo Fox impressed.
CLG struggle
The other team joining the aforementioned TSM in disappointment during week one were CLG, who dropped both of their games. Some analysts pegged CLG as the favourite to win the entire split, given their team cohesion and roster additions that appeared to overall benefit the team, especially the debut of ReignOver. But the team struggled to find their identity in week one, lacking an overall game plan and execution in their losses to Cloud9 and 100 Thieves – even though both of these ended up with a 2-0 record. CLG, much like TSM, should be able to rebound, but the first week was a major step back for the title hopefuls.
Presumptions and expectations were very much challenged in the first week of the 2018 NA LCS Spring Season. Whether a trend or just first-week jitters remains to be seen with TSM, in particular, needing a bounce-back week.
