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10 thoughts going into Summer Split
Doublelift rejoins TSM in a bid to challenge the behemoth that is Cloud9. LCS is back!
If you’re like me, then it feels like it’s been at least a decade since our last LCS game (and, according to health experts across the country, we have in fact lived through a decade since April). But we’re back! It’s the best start to summer for NA ever as we did not drop a single game in May -- you could call us undefeated in international play this year if you really wanted to. Here’s 10 thoughts going into Summer!
**1. 100 Thieves -- Run it back**
First off, as a quick reminder to those of you who did not follow the changes for this year, the results from Spring do not affect your status going into Summer in any way, which means it’s a fresh restart for teams hoping to reach Worlds. Eight teams will ultimately make the playoffs in the summer. Among them is the 100 Thieves, who quickly bowed out of the Spring Playoffs and then made no changes over the offseason. You might be thinking, “Isn’t that kind of worrying?” and you might be right in thinking that. 100 was never a team that dazzled even in their victories, and now they’re facing a bunch of teams who’ve retooled (and the ones that didn’t retool were better than them in the spring), which makes me wonder what the upside is for this squad. The optimistic take is that not changing their roster allows them to continue building on synergy they developed in the spring (which I agree with), but that only makes sense in a vacuum where you specifically just need to be better than yourself. Unfortunately, every other team that did not change their rosters (FLY and C9 being the two most notable) should theoretically have improved since spring as well, which means you not only need to be better than who you were, but also have improved more than the other teams have improved. My stance in the spring for 100 was that as long as you have Ssumday, you can win games, and that stance has not changed. Roster swaps fail just as much as they work out -- there isn’t any real formula for ascending to the top (except for Step 1. Be born as Faker and Step 2. Don’t be born as not-Faker) -- and 100 can prove, at least to each other, that sticking together is the right move.
**2. Cloud9 -- The sky’s the limit**
Cloud9’s reign right now is like the Seattle sky in that it’s extremely cloudy and it looks like it could rain but it also might not. All you know is it’s going to be Cloudy either way. One of the biggest losses for the LCS this spring was that we never got to see our historically dominant champion test their mettle on the international stage. It also means we didn’t see any heartbreak, but I really felt like this team was good enough to challenge the top teams in the world. It’s going to go down as one of those “what-if” moments, which will be doubly true if they somehow collapse in the summer split, as teams are wont to do with meta changes and time off. Any myriad of reasons could cause this team’s success to change. However, that also means Cloud9’s Spring Split win will always feel at least a little unsatisfying for them -- they never got to play in front of a live crowd and they weren’t rewarded with an international appearance. That should alleviate any concerns of complacency. If anything, they should be even more motivated to keep winning until they can reap all the awards that they deserved. This team was so far ahead of everyone else in the Spring Split that they are still my overwhelming favorite to take home the Summer Split trophy. Top to bottom they have the strongest or second strongest player in every single position, and to me, the question is not if they are going to win it all and more can they match their Spring dominance.
**3. Counter Logic Gaming -- Scrim Logic**
Early rumors (which were brought up and then also dispelled by Reapered recently) suggest CLG is looking very good in scrims right now. New CLG fans should be excited by that -- it looks like they are maybe capitalizing on the momentum they built since acquiring Pobelter. Old CLG fans -- you know the drill (secure the bunker, get the whiskey, and prepare for disappointment). CLG seems to be banking on the offseason with Pobelter fully in the ranks to be their saving grace, and I honestly don’t think that’s a bad plan. While they still lost most of their games after he joined, it was clear the energy in those losses was different. I don’t think there’s any way you look at this roster and say, “Yeah for sure a championship contender,” but at least you can be excited to watch them play now. Pobelter’s return also gave CLG some meme status that was once integral to their branding, and I think that’s a great thing for the fans. CLG needs to have an identity that stretches beyond the famous wheel. You’ll want to keep an eye on Wiggily, who went from looking like a top LCS jungler to a bottom one in the span of a split -- if he is able to recapture his good form with Pobelter at the helm, then CLG could rock the summer boat.
**4. Dignitas -- D Fighters**
In the final fight of the Cell Saga, the bulk of the Z fighters arrived to face off against Cell ahead of Goku and Gohan (who, of course, would later defeat him). It was an assortment of dudes who definitely trained but who you were also fairly confident wouldn’t beat Cell (honestly, what is the difference between Krillin and Mr. Satan from Cell’s perspective?). C9 is Cell, and those Z fighters are Dignitas, who’ve announced that 10 players will be in contention for the starting five. They could stick to their first five, but it seems to be an indication that they haven’t fully settled on a roster and intend to use the live games as a chance to identify the best possible lineup. This is a very good situation to be in if you are building for long term growth and just trying to improve and a not very good situation if you are about to enter the Summer Split, which is the one split now that matters for Worlds qualification. I am more concerned for DIG going into the summer than I am for any other team, but I also don’t think it necessarily means they’re going to be bad. Every team should look at what C9 looked like going into Spring Split (a solid team at best) and realize that team synergy is the single most important thing you need. DIG has a lot of strong pieces to try to jostle into their puzzle, and with the Summer Split awarding eight teams with a playoff bid, they’ll only need to figure how to be the 3rd best team by that point. They don’t even have to beat Cell!
**5. Evil Geniuses -- NA SKT**
“What if you took Faker off of this SKT team?” is a question many people have asked and EG has decided to answer. Bang and Huni, Worlds Runner-ups in 2017 with SKT, have reunited in the LCS in an attempt to elevate Spring 2020 Runner-up EG to the top. It is, however, very unlikely the two will ever play together due to import rules (Jiizuke is, I think, unlikely to be subbed). On paper, I am extremely excited for this move for EG, but I am also admittedly extremely biased towards Huni, who I love. Which is not to say I think he has been particularly good (he hasn’t), but I think if he’s on a team with someone who is a really close friend of his (Bang), then perhaps we may see him reinvigorated. We’re a bit removed from Huni being a contender for the best top laner in NA, and it’s very rare for a top player to decline and then suddenly rebound, but it’s not impossible. Huni has always been an electric player that defies expectations, and now he is surrounded by a roster that finished in 3rd place in Spring. EG has, however, made it clear that Kumo is still in contention for the starting spot, but top lane felt like it was just… there... for EG last split, so I expect them to experiment quite a bit with Huni. Huni -- if nothing else -- definitely means EG’s top lane won’t just be some weird island to ignore. This team will transform with him. For better or for better (there is no worse since viewers will win no matter what).
**6. FlyQuest -- SeaQuest**
If you miss the forest for the trees, then you’re still left with the trees, which is honestly still pretty damn good in my book. FLY was one of the big winners of the Spring Split thanks to their TreeQuest campaign, and I am super excited to see them continue their environmentally friendly approach by supporting coral reefs this split. Personally I hope they consider taking it a step further and planting oceans this time -- trees are nice but anyone can do that. On the Rift, they elected to keep their 2nd place roster intact with the major “change” being a firm commitment to Solo in letting V1per leave. I think the hope is to capitalize on the momentum that saw them finish second -- if they are able to maintain such a finish, that would secure them a Worlds bid. I am, however, a little concerned as I don’t think any team outside of Cloud9 had a solid hold on their position. I felt like Spring was an “any given Sunday” kind of split where the standings were different depending on which parallel universe you checked. I feel the same way about this team as I do 100, which is that they were clearly not good enough to win Spring, so what is the situation that will lead to them beating C9? The hope is C9 has already reached their ceiling and will be outscaled -- it is not a bad hope but it is, I think, unlikely. Either way, FLY is still a strong candidate to claim one of NA’s Worlds seeds, and retaining the 2nd place roster is a strong play towards that end.
**7. Golden Guardians -- It’s Tanner time**
After a surprising run to the Playoffs in the Spring, the Golden Guardians elected to replace their Golden God, Greyson Gregory Gilmer, aka Goldenglue with Damonte. They went from GGGGGGG to simply GG, which is a loss to all the real Gs out there. I would not call the move surprising (or wrong even), but it’s a little disheartening to see Goldenglue get benched again. I thought he did a serviceable job in the Spring Split and that he certainly wasn’t the worst mid laner in the league, but it would seem that was not good enough for him to keep his job. One of the critiques I levied against him in the Spring is that I feel like of all the positions, mid lane needs to be the one role that can elevate and take over the game. So much of the game revolves around how a mid laner is able to pivot and control the map, and Goldenglue -- while not bad -- was rarely a player that could simply take over a game. It’s like having a Quarterback that throws a bunch of short passes and minimizes mistakes -- it’s not a bad thing if you have a team built to win from that. As they did not, I feel like Damonte may be the better candidate in terms of having a dynamic presence from mid lane. The hope is that he can do more with leads that Closer can secure for him (a bet that Closer can replicate his strong rookie split in NA), but the flipside may be that Closer is not able to secure as many leads without a mid laner that is willing to acquiesce on resources. Generally speaking, though, with the new qualification rules for Worlds putting all the emphasis on Summer, I am a fan of bold decisions if you are aiming for the top of the LCS.
**8. Immortals -- It gets good eventually**
If you’ve ever talked to a One Piece fan, then they’ve surely recommended it and told you, “Don’t worry it gets good after about 100 episodes!” That’s what it’s like to watch IMT -- if you make it through the first 30 minutes or so of a game, and IMT is still in a position to win the game, then you can be damn sure you’re in for a treat of a finish. That’s what made this team one of my favorites to watch in the Spring, and as the roster hasn’t really changed, I think we’re in for a whole lot more of the same IMT. They just know how to be scrappy when it counts. They hung around for most of the split before a quiet collapse in the latter half, which is sure to have left a bitter taste in their mouths. The one thing that is perhaps easier for them (still) is that people don’t have particularly high expectations for this roster. That makes it extremely easy to overachieve, but the flip side is people also have their finger on the flamethrower and their keyboards on caps lock ready to spam, “I TOLD YOU SO!” At the center of the flames is, again, going to be Eika -- an EU import mid laner who didn’t exactly dazzle people in the spring. It’s a similar situation to 100 and Ryoma (and Jiizuke at one point, but his turnaround should serve as inspiration for these two), all eyes should be focused on Eika’s growth. It’s time to put the “more” in Immortals and lose the “ache” in Eika (don’t worry, I got more of these all split -- we’re back, baby).
**9. Team Liquid -- Moving on**
There is a feeling you get when a new WoW expansion launches and you, in your full matching set of armor acquired over long months of raiding, start to explore new lands. You slay an orc or walrus or some such creature and it drops a new piece of gear that looks horrible, is green rarity, and will service you for all of three hours. But it has better stats than your armor. And so, reluctantly, you must part ways with the old -- not matter how cool it looks. That is the feel I get when I think of Doublelift leaving TL. Not that Tactical is necessarily better, but that moving on itself is better. I am not going to pretend like I am some psychological expert, nor am I going to say I had insider access to TL, but I will say from the outside looking in, it feels like this move was inevitable. The moment he got benched was such a shock that there’s really no going back. People who breakup and then get back together almost never work out. That’s just the rules. TL can now focus on what they are instead of what they could be, and I think that’s a really huge distinction for them going into summer. Doublelift is a phenomenal player and was integral to their four titles, but it’s not like the other four players are a bunch of clowns. I think TL can develop a really strong playstyle that better utilizes CoreJJ’s roaming prowess to help enable Broxah, which will in turn allow Jensen to be the star once again -- he still has the ability to be the single best player in the league, and now that he has to be that good, I think TL could benefit as a whole. To help facilitate this transition, TL brought in a podcaster to be their head coach (what a world we live in). In all seriousness, Jatt has a brilliant mind for the game and I think the professional environments he’s been a part of have helped him mature as a communicator as well. I expect him to thrive in his role as a head coach. Overall, this makes TL the team I am most excited to watch this summer.
**10. TSM -- Return of GOATs**
I feel like this meme basically sums up the entire TSM offseason for me, which is to say I freaking love it. Doublelift leaving four-time champion TL to return to TSM is the kind of thing they write into Season 5 of a TV show that saw ratings go down in both Season 3 and Season 4. There are a few things I want to make clear: first off, I still think Doublelift is the best ADC in the league and arguably the best overall player period. Second, he absolutely did not play as such in the Spring and, in fact, played poorly, and so my first point has no merit aside from legacy and gut feeling (it’s my patented narrative-based analysis). Finally, the change that is potentially more impactful is that Dardoch got replaced by unproven academy jungler in Spica to add to TSM’s long history of jungler hot potato. Kobbe is a terrific player and swapping in Doublelift -- at least on the Rift -- shouldn’t be a massive swing in terms of ability from their bot lane position (though it should help immensely with team chemistry). Spica, however, is a huge question mark going into the Summer, which is not necessarily a bad thing, but it does place an immense burden on his shoulders. Dardoch had his own share of issues but he was extremely successful at generating pressure for TSM in the early game, and that was the one area which helped separate TSM from the rest of the pack in the spring. This means we should see a great shift in how this team approaches the game now, especially if Doublelift takes on shotcalling duties. I don’t expect an immediate return to glory for them, but I do think the ceiling is high for this team if Spica is able to perform at a high level.
