1. First Stand

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  3. Worlds

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10 thoughts going into Spring Week 6

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This is the first time in two weeks that I haven't had to change a paragraph mid-writing it to account for a roster change or sudden team announcement. Let's get it.
**1. Cloud9 9-2** Are Cloud9 the best team in North America? We'll find out on Sunday when they face Team Liquid. Without going into how this is actually a bit specious of a logical leap — say I believe that Cloud9 are the better team but they narrowly lose to Team Liquid in a close single game — the match between C9 and TL this coming week is a must-watch. For C9 I'm looking at the top side of the map and how top laner Park "Summit" Woo-tae can easily open up advantages on the map from his laning prowess. This will obviously be difficult against Gabriël "Bwipo" Rau, who is a very different top laner than Summit, but in a standard matchup, Summit should have a laning advantage. When it comes to the rest of the map (and the fact that Bwipo definitely has more than a few interesting champion picks up his sleeve) that's where Bwipo has an edge. An interesting pressure point for C9 should come from their topside trio of Summit, jungler Robert "Blaber" Huang, and mid laner Ibrahim "Fudge" Allami who make up C9's early game points of pressure until their bot lane joins up for the strong mid-to-late game teamfighting that C9 has already become known for. Kim "Berserker" Min-cheol will take over games if there's even the slightest window for a strong fight.
**2. Team Liquid 9-2** Are Team Liquid the best team in North America? We'll find out on Sunday when they face Cloud9. Without going into how this is actually a bit specious of a logical leap — say I believe that Team Liquid are the better team but they narrowly lose to Team Liquid in a close single game — the match between TL and C9 this coming week is a must-watch. For TL, it's easy to see how Jo "CoreJJ" Yong-in having another week of practice with the team and his laning partner Steven "Hans sama" Liv will make their bottom lane both more aggressive and stifling for opponents in the 2v2. CoreJJ's LCS modus operandi has been to leave lane on the earliest possible roam timers once his bottom lane partner is set. Together with Hans sama, Core can make their 2v2 extremely volatile early and capitalize on that knowing that Hans will be fine if left in a 1v2. Against C9, this becomes really interesting since Berserker is known for his impressive teamfighting, but he and Winsome are not a lane that you necessarily think of as a particularly aggressive or even pushing one. The trick is punishing this lack of push with the combined power of Lucas "Santorin" Larsen's stability, CoreJJ's early roams once the lane state is generally set, and the volatility of Bwipo in the top lane.
**3. FlyQuest 7-4** Insert the Breaking Bad "they can't keep getting away with it" reaction gif here, except instead of this being a bad thing, the end result has something to do with planting trees and, as fellow deskmate Barento "Raz" Mohammed would say, "the Big Environment." After an 0-3 Super Week, FlyQuest bounced back this past weekend with an unexpected 2-0. Was it pretty? Not really. Did it showcase how this team keeps winning games despite people thinking less of them? Sort of? We talk about FlyQuest as if they're not a top team despite standings due to a combination of factors; the two most prominent being pre-season expectations and the names of this lineup on paper. Digging a bit deeper into the latter, the names on paper specifically in relation to what we think of those individuals compared to others in their position in the LCS. FlyQuest are greater than the sum of their parts and while not every single win of theirs is clean If I had to pinpoint one major difference for this FlyQuest lineup outside of the addition of veteran Zaqueri "aphromoo" Black in the support role, I'd highlight the significantly-improved performance from jungler Brandon Joel "Josedeodo" Villegas. This is more like the Josedeodo that was promised from his Worlds showings where he was scouted. It's likely due to a combination of team chemistry, veteran leadership, and more stability and playmaking from mid lane addition Loïc "toucouille" Dubois.
**4. 100 Thieves 6-5** By contrast, we talk about 100 Thieves as if they are still a top team due to what we already know this team is capable of: an LCS championship. This is in spite of disappointing LCS results that currently have 100T in fourth place at 6-5, just above three teams tied for fifth at 5-6. One thing I found particularly interesting from the side of 100 Thieves this past week, was Choi "Huhi" Jae-hyun's postmatch interview where he talked about a few things that the team has been looking at in their own play. "I think when we're doing poorly that is always a way to make it stable or consistent," huhi said of Kim "Ssumday" Chan-ho's continued Tryndamere picks. "Especially when Ssumday picks Tryndamere we know that he's going to carry the game as long as we play properly." This was interesting to hear for a few reasons: the first being that it was something that we analysts had noted behind the scenes as a potential stabilizing draft point chosen by the team. (Pushing this one step further I personally posit that 100T have struggled with side lane pressure generally and Ssumday's Tryndamere split-pushing gives them an easy way into better side lane control.) Stability is nice to have when so many things seem to be going wrong and 100T have chosen this specific pick for Ssumday as a ballast of sorts. The other part was the section before huhi called out the Tryndamere where he talked about how they can't just generate leads through bot lane anymore. This is also something that has been highlighted a few times — the earliest being after their Lock In loss to Dignitas — in how 100T struggle when they can't get 2v2 leads or play around bot lane dives the way that they used to. All that being said, they're still a good enough team to be in fourth, but it's certainly a precarious position and not one they were likely expecting.
**5. Dignitas 5-6** Neither the coveted Jarvan IV pickup for Dignitas jungler Kim "River" Dong-woo nor the loss rate for FlyQuest being unable to counterpick top on red side favored Dignitas in their rematch versus FlyQuest. By most, if not all, accounts and purposes this should have been a Dignitas victory save a few mis-timed, stumbling teamfights from the team that led to their downfall. I still like Dignitas a lot despite their recent shakiness, especially in the way they play around their bottom lane early. Toàn "Neo" Trần and Vincent "Biofrost" Wang are a strong duo and the team usually knows how to play around them having pushing 2v2s well, rotating them around the map accordingly after they take down the bot side turret. This is usually set up with bot lane dives and vision control from the wave pushing while both River and mid laner Ersin "Blue" Gören join up for these setups. That being said, if River can't get one or more of his lanes ahead early it sets Dignitas behind their opponents and puts them in a place where their mid and late game decision teamfighting is even more of a liability.
**6. Evil Geniuses 5-6** Like 100 Thieves, Evil Geniuses are another team where we are assuming their prowess and quality based on their Lock In run and what is expected of them, not their current standing. While I think EG have dropped in most's estimation of a title contender, they're certainly still considered a top team, despite being tied for fifth place. So what's wrong (or right) about EG? Mid laner Joseph "jojopyun" Joon Pyun is still a player to watch in the LCS, and anyone who says otherwise isn't paying attention. Someone with his mechanical ability and aggressive approach to laning should be lauded, even as they make mistakes learning the nuances and depth of their position at a professional level. Bot laner Kyle "Danny" Sakamaki is still a monster teamfighter, and the team finds clever ways for him to get bot lane advantages while his laning is still improving with Philippe "Vulcan" Laflamme. The big difference from Lock In is the team's lack of coordination around set plays, or their insistence on forcing them when they don't have an optimal setup, pushing lanes, or well-coordinated resets. Even on their massive run, they tended to get a bit too aggressive in the mid game, overreaching for fights or objectives, but it didn't matter at that time due to how far ahead they were in most games. I don't think people should throw out EG's Lock In success or use it against them now, but I do think expectations should be adjusted while the team continues to grow.
**7. Golden Guardians 5-6** The unluckiest Corki package I've seen in a while (I saw a lot of rough Corki packages when he came back into meta those first few weeks across multiple regions) occurred for Nick "Ablazeolive" Abbott and Golden Guardians after a great Gnar ultimate setup from Eric "Licorice" Ritchie. It was a down week for GG who lost to Cloud9 in their first game — a team that they were not expected to beat but if you told me that they won I wouldn't find it overwhelmingly shocking for a single game — and TSM. If the season was to end today — unevenly, with not all teams having played each other — Golden Guardians would be the last team to make the playoff cut. I still think Golden Guardians will not only recover but make playoffs convincingly given how, up until this week, you could see small incremental improvements in their play from game to game. Additionally, I like what their coach Nicholas "Inero" Smith had to say while chatting with us on the Analyst Desk in regards to how they approached the C9 game specifically: without fear, especially when looking at the top lane matchup. It didn't work out for them but I appreciated the effort and thought process, especially with how strong GG's early game plans have generally been.
**8. Immortals 4-7** Oh Immortals. I really want to like you — and I suppose I will admit that I do…begrudgingly — but no team throws games quite like you and it's rather infuriating to watch. I say this, but I can only imagine how infuriating it is to live through as a player or staff member on the team. So instead of focusing solely on the negative, I'm going to say a few things that I genuinely appreciate about this Immortals team and how they've evolved. In the 100T section, I talked about how certain draft picks can be a stabilizing force, and for IMT one need look no further than Tristan "PowerofEvil" Schrage's Orianna pick. While IMT have been working on their own issues internally and swapping from Jason "Wildturtle" Tran to Noh "Arrow" Dong-hyeon in the bot lane, POE's Orianna has been a steady, reliable (some might say boring) lock in. And that's the point. While IMT try out different things with their side lanes, POE's Orianna is their constant. This has been especially beneficial for Mohamed "Revenge" Kaddoura, who admittedly is a player I've always had a soft spot for due to his willingness to play counterpicks and countermatchups top, rather than going for a safe bet. He's been burned by this many times and has never relented on the type of top laner he wants to be regardless of results, which is rare in NA. This year on IMT, the team has been leveraging his increased understanding of side lane pressure and has looked far more interesting because of this.
**9. CLG 3-8** I think I keep repeating myself when I say that I enjoy watching all of these teams, but I really do. Hopefully if you don't believe it in writing, you at least believe it on the desk where I can be a bit more visually-animated. Now for the reasons I enjoy CLG. Similarly to Golden Guardians and Immortals, I can track improvements CLG have made as a five-man unit, which is particularly nice for a squad that is more obviously (and stated as such by staff and management) an actual development lineup. Mid laner Cristian "Palafox" Palafox has shown an increased understanding of how to relate to his side lanes, especially on something like Ryze which allows for a certain ease of execution and when he teams up with jungler Juan "Contractz" Garcia early, CLG can garner formidable leads. The prowess of their bot lane was already talked about as early as the Lock In tournament as a point of power for this team, and I wanted to give a special shout-out to Jenkins who receives the least amount of help from his team of any top laner in the LCS. When CLG are able to get those aforementioned leads, it gives them a buffer against some of their lackluster neutral objective setups and tendencies to overextend for teamfights or kills.
**10. TSM 2-9** Putting all of the TSM off-Rift stuff aside — whether you agree with the staff's decision-making or messaging or the myriad things that TSM can and is being rightfully criticized for — I wanted to take the time to highlight an unexpected bright spot from TSM's performances this past weekend. Ji "Takeover" Cha Hyeun-min didn't stand out all that much when he played with the rest of the TSM Academy lineup in Lock In, and not many eyes have been on him during his time on TSMA this year, primarily because TSM has not only been doing poorly in LCS, but Academy as well. He had all eyes on him on Sunday as TSM unexpectedly snapped their loss streak against Golden Guardians in what was a fairly rough game but a good showing from Takeover on a comfort pick, Sylas. With Zhu "Keaiduo" Xiong still on TSMA for now, it's safe to say that we'll probably be seeing more of Takeover in the LCS, and I'm curious to see how he'll fit on this lineup, especially if they start playing more around mid-jungle like they did in their last two games.
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