We've got a situation brewing in the NA LCS with last weeks results. It's not that things have drastically been shaken up, but that team Echo Fox is rearing its stacked head. If they can manage to go this week 2-0 they can move into the upper half of the standings after being tied for last going into last week. The biggest story of the NA LCS is shifting from Immortals dominance, which is becoming commonplace now, and towards what's going to happen if Echo Fox keeps this up? But enough speculation, numbers mean everything and here's where everyone stands heading into day one.
1) Immortals (10-0)
2) Team SoloMid (7-3)
3) Counter Logic Gaming, Cloud 9 (6-4)
5) NRG Esports, Team Liquid (5-5)
7) Team Impulse (3-6)
8) Echo Fox, Team Diginitas (3-7)
10) Renegades (1-9)
Team SoloMid have moved themselves from the middle of the pack into second place and are currently on a four game win streak. After an undefeated week Cloud 9 went back to their 1-1 ways and sit third alongside CLG who also split last week. The only real surprise, other than the return of team Echo Fox, is that NRG seem to be slipping with three of their five losses coming in the last two weeks. They've dropped from second place down to tied for fifth with Team Liquid who are still figuring things out themselves. With all of that in mind here’s the schedule for day one with the predicted winners highlighted in bold (Overall pick record 17-3):
- NRG Esports vs Team Dignitas
- Immortals vs Renegades
- Team SoloMid vs Cloud 9
- Counter Logic Gaming vs Team Impulse
- Team Liquid vs Echo Fox
NRG may be on a skid, but should be able to rebound against Team Dignitas. If they manage to somehow drop this game the team may need to do some serious soul searching. The undefeated Immortals are taking on the all but defeated Renegades in what will be a walk in the park for them.
Team SoloMid and Cloud 9 is a classic rivalry and could honestly go either way. I have to pick C9 purely because Hai has them playing extremely well right now. While TSM is 4-0 in the last two weeks C9 is 3-1 with their only loss coming to to Immortals.
CLG shouldn't have a problem taking on Team Impulse. They beat them pretty easily the last go around, but circumstances have certainly changed. That being said the only win Team Impulse have been able to pull off with their lineup is against Team Dignitas.
Lastly, we have Team Liquid taking on the full roster of Echo Fox. With their starters returning last week Echo Fox went 2-0 and got themselves out of last place. They may be literally right out of it but with Fenix not being his old self Froggen might have a field day tomorrow. He's looked pretty impressive since his return and I don't expect him to have too many problems tomorrow. If Liquid give him Corki they'll definitely lose as he's sporting a 26 KDA on that champ playing him both games last week.
There are really only two games that one paper look to be exciting. The classic TSM vs Cloud 9 and Team Liquid vs Echo Fox. The former because it's the two team who've dominated the NA LCS over the years going head-to-head. The latter because if team Liquid can figure things out they'll be a very powerful team with Piglet performing well, and Echo Fox is a strong team as well behind Froggen and Keith. Added bonus Echo Fox have to rebound to salvage this split and they fully understand that.
Also there have been requests for EU LCS predictions and that will definitely be happening next week. This week I took some time to figure out what's going on over there as the last time I watched Giants hadn't won a game and Noxiak was starting for Fnatic. So it's been a few weeks. Predictions will go up and next week, however, and I'm sure things will be very interesting.