Here are some quick hits and first impressions of teams in Week 1 before another roster move is announced.
Wham, bam, thank you ma'am.
**1. TSM: 15-6 (3-0 in summer)**
I've made no secret about how much I enjoy this TSM lineup on paper. More specifically, SwordArt has been one of my favorite supports in the world to watch for years and I followed Spica's initial foray into competitive League of Legends back when he was a completely unknown quantity before he landed on TSM's Scouting Grounds team, then Echo Fox, then TSM proper. Spica's growth as a player over the years has been immense and the way these individuals fit on a team has been interesting to watch.
While I personally wish TSM were a bit more proactive early — no I will probably not shut up about this, especially given how early-game-focused some of SwordArt's previous teams were — TSM seem to know who they are and how they want to play. In a new meta where everyone is shifting and adjusting to find their playstyle due to roster changes, the meta itself, or all of the above, TSM was the 3-0 stalwart of LCS Summer Week 1.
They did pick initiators for SwordArt, who then took over CC in teamfights (albeit with a few hiccups, I still see that ill-advised Rift Herald initiation against Evil Geniuses in my brain). They did pick scaling mages in the mid lane for PowerOfEvil, who brought us another interesting item build take on Orianna with his Riftmaker adaptation. Yet they also flexed the Veigo top and mid, showing that they too are finding a way to integrate some of the strength of the newer picks with their overall team style. In a Week 1 where so many LCS teams defied expectations, TSM were comfortingly consistent and now they're on top of the leaderboard.
**2. Cloud9: 14-7 (1-2 in summer)**
There's a small but growing sentiment in the community that going to the Mid-Season Invitational can be more of a hindrance than a boon. Obviously this depends on how much practice a team has with international opponents, the strength of their region, and, above all else, how far they go in the tournament. C9 had the dubious honor of getting ripped apart in the community for their MSI performance while failing to make it past the Rumble Stage before benching their bot laner Zven for K1ng.
At the very least, C9 had the wherewithal to announce their roster move before the split started, which shows that the team is firmly behind the K1ng promotion and hints that they'll be sticking with him for the foreseeable future. And even if you believe Zven to be the better bot laner, C9's losses cannot be pinned on K1ng. Instead it's been their inability to close games out due to a few missteps or ill-timed fights — not unlike some of their MSI performances.
When compared to the other top team with a roster change and some rough games (Team Liquid) C9 appears to be in a better position due to how small some of these mistakes are, and how they should be able to be easily fixed with more than three days worth of practice and a full week of preparation under their collective belts. I maintain that one of this team's strengths is their ability to improve and adapt as a unit (as we saw in spring and even, yes, at MSI) so yes, C9's performance took a hit but they'll probably be fine.
**3. 100 Thieves: 13-8 (2-1 in summer)**
In Spring, all I did was harp on 100 Thieves' playstyle, either praising it or talking about how they lost it. Initially I loved how they played to side lanes with Damonte while incorporating a heavy dive focus. Their dives weren't always successful but I loved their proactivity. After the meta shift, the team struggled to find their footing and the benching of Damonte for Ryoma didn't make things much worse but also didn't fix the team's adaptation issues.
Enter Abbedagge and Coach Reapered, the two largest signings of this past mid-season.
Admittedly I was one of the most vocal critics of putting Abbedagge on Karma after 100 Thieves' opening match: a loss to Immortals. Really? You bring this incredible mid lane player over from Europe mid season and put him on Karma duty? Against Immortals' piloting of the Rumble/Sett combination, 100 Thieves didn't look well-coordinated.
I was wrong.
Their draft adaptations from that series and not only doubling, but tripling down on the Karma pick for Abbedagge have been interesting to watch, especially when looking at some of the things their Academy lineup has done with a similar setup in Kindred/Lulu. In their second match, 100T pivoted towards the Xin Zhao pick for Closer with Abbedagge's Karma as his support while Ssumday got ahead on Gnar in the top lane. After that draft, which was admittedly risky and would have been punished had they fallen behind early, 100 Thieves fine-tuned their strategy even further against Dignitas with a Kog'Maw pick for FBI and the Gwen top for Ssumday. All of this points to 100 Thieves finding their own comfort and confidence in this meta, even if it wasn't the one that was expected.
Before the split started, Closer told me he was really looking forward to Reapered coaching and being reunited with Abbedagge again, and we've already seen both of those things bolster the team's new identity, with Closer visibly having more synergy with Abbedagge than any of his previous mids here in the LCS.
**4. DIGNITAS QNTMPAY: 13-8 (2-1 in summer)**
Fun fact, I was finishing up this column before a few unrelated work meetings when the announcement for the upcoming Dignitas roster swap dropped and I had to rewrite this entire section. In case you haven't heard, the latest LCS shake-up is that Soligo is out as the LCS mid laner for this week and Yusui is in.
This isn't as large of a move as the Alphari benching for Jenkins (nothing is, really), but it is another surprise swap given how well Soligo was playing. His Akali flanks were an instrumental part of Dignitas' come-from-behind victory against Evil Geniuses, and his Sett combinations with Dardoch's Rumble in their stomp of FlyQuest were a key part of their success. One of Dignitas' main strengths as a team is their teamfighting, which multiple members have gone on record as saying was something that just clicked about this team: they all had the hands and believed in them, it was everything else that needed fine-tuning. Disrupting that balance could be necessary or catastrophic for Dignitas' team dynamic on the Rift, and how well Yusui does will likely rely heavily on how coordinated he can be with Dardoch, who has been the focal point of Dignitas' drafting and early game.
**5. Team Liquid: 13-8 (1-2 in summer)**
From the outside, everything was looking great for Team Liquid headed into the Summer Split. They remained towards the top of the leaderboard. Starting jungler Santorin was returning to the lineup after his illness at the end of Spring that kept him from playing in Finals, and C9 were coming off of a short practice week and a brutal MSI schedule.
Then, after one summer loss, Team Liquid announced that TL Academy top laner Jenkins would be starting in the LCS over Alphari.
After a 1-1 finish to the weekend with Jenkins, Alphari took to Twitter as an avenue to hint at some of his grievances which snowballed into full-blown discourse and speculation.
First things first. Jenkins is much-improved from his initial appearances in amateur and Challenger/Academy squads. He's evolved from a Kennen one-trick to someone who has a much wider champion pool and stronger coordination with his junglers. He shouldn't be blamed in any of this.
Secondly, Alphari wasn't just a bright spot on TL, he was one of the best LCS players last Spring and a runner-up MVP candidate. One of the things that TL struggled with that they had said they were looking forward to in Summer was building on the laning leads that Alphari automatically brought them, and better transferring that into stronger map pressure.
While TL did appear to play around Jenkins well in their match against CLG, they struggled against C9 (while C9 somewhat ironically found their own footing against TL in their final match of the week).
**6. Evil Geniuses: 10-11 (0-3 in summer)**
Of the two winless teams in summer, Evil Geniuses' losses hurt the most. They've put themselves in positions to win and have the narrowest loss margin of all LCS teams thus far this split. Throwing yourself on an opponents' Nexus only to die isn't unheard of (even from MSI teams) but it's a particularly rough way to lose.
For EG going forward, it's going to be about shoring up their mid game decision making. Impact's teamfight flanks have been uncharacteristically poor and some of Svenskeren's choices have seemed out of sync with what the rest of the team is doing at that time. Danny has been a bright spot on the team but if they're going to see success with some of the double-AD compositions they've been running, Jiizuke will also have to improve on his communication with the rest of the team, both in teamfighting micro and also rotating to and from side lanes.
**7. Immortals: 10-11 (3-0 in summer)**
I said it on broadcast and I'll repeat it here: last split Immortals were the team that was the most fun to watch and also the most frustrating. They would come up with really unique drafts or lane picks and either execute them really well or very poorly. They showcased the ability and teamwork to beat top teams, but were wildly inconsistent.
Now they're just one of the most fun teams to watch on and off the Rift.
Immortals synergy as a unit has visibly improved. In particular, their warding patterns and jungle-to-lane communication are noticeably stronger. This is strengthened by the fact that this is an excellent meta for the Immortals players. Destiny's Thresh has fallen through the draft every single game (although he's only picked it twice) which has opened up even further potential for Raes to dazzle on hypercarries like Jinx. Rumble jungle is something that Xerxe has been playing since 2017 and his coordination with Revenge on top lane Sett has been the best execution of that pocket Rumble/Sett duo. Insanity has quietly flown under the radar, but his flexibility and large champion pool shouldn't be underestimated, especially when it seems like he can pivot to fit whatever Immortals want to do elsewhere on the map.
Outside the game, Immortals are fun. Their insistence that they fill the audience during their teammates' post-match interviews gave me 2015 Rebels Anarchy vibes and Revenge has emerged as the LCS' newest and most hilarious trash-talker on Twitter. It remains to be seen as to how long they can keep this up, but above all else, they've built on the flashes of brilliance that we saw from them last split, and appear to be significantly more consistent, which makes them a dangerous opponent.
**8. FlyQuest: 8-13 (2-1 in summer)**
FlyQuest is another team that seemed a bit overwhelmed by the new meta. When they were able to bring out a team composition with both Gwen and Viego, Licorice's Gwen took over the game and they played through his pressure well. By contrast, they looked completely outclassed by Dignitas and their Rumble/Sett combination and narrowly beat Evil Geniuses in a match that came down more to EG's mistakes than FlyQuest's success.
I know I'll be repeating this with a few teams in the LCS, but FlyQuest's summer outlook will depend not only on how well they can adapt to this patch, but stringing together enough wins while they do to keep out of the bottom two in the standings.
**9. Counter Logic Gaming: 5-16 (0-3 in summer)**
In a world where every team is still trying to figure out the latest patch, Counter Logic Gaming look the most lost. They kicked off the weekend by piloting a more cohesive team composition against FlyQuest, but this draft also gave both Gwen and Veigo as well as Ezreal (arguably the strongest bot laner on this patch) and a rising Sett flex to FLY. Their subsequent games against Team Liquid and Immortals showed them continuing to try and find a foothold in this current metagame.
Although I haven't personally been as much of a fan of Lee Sin compared to other junglers as opposed to his current prowess in a solo lane, get Broxah on his signature pick if possible and get him involved in lanes early. Any adjustment to jump start this team and at least have them return to their Spring strength of coordinated Level 1s and early games would be a start.
**10. Golden Guardians: 4-17 (1-2 in summer)**
What a difference a few changes can make. Golden Guardians' mid-season roster moves and tryouts weren't unexpected or headlining news, but this team already looks more stable and dangerous in their first three matches this summer.
Golden Guardians have continued to build on Ablazeolive and Iconic's increasing comfort in the LCS with more consistency in the top lane from Solo all while integrating a new support onto the lineup in Chime. It's an interesting mix that already seems to have stronger coordination, especially between Iconic and his lanes, that allowed for a shocking opening victory over C9 on the back of Ablazeolive's Zoe.
