LTA
LEC
LCK
LPL
LCPLearn more
Events & Standings
6 thoughts going into the Mid-Season Showdown
-
Hello and welcome to six thoughts going into the Mid-Season Showdown! It's definitely-not-Kien-Lam also known as Emily Rand. You may know me from such films as being a sad KT Rolster fan or yelling about the LPL on [Twitter.][1] I'll be filling in for Kien while he goes off to conquer Teamfight Tactics or whatever top-secret project he's working on.
Let's get it.
[1]: https://twitter.com/leagueofemily
**1. Cloud9 (13-5) The "E" word**
Our brains love recognizing patterns. Patterns help us make sense of things and find our place in it all. They ground us. Patterns are oddly comforting to our brains even when they point towards an answer we may dislike. When C9 dropped three matches in a row to TL, TSM, and CLG, fans' thoughts immediately revisited last Summer, where the once-indomitable C9 slid out of Worlds contention in a graceless finish to the 2020 LCS season.
This time, that pattern doesn't seem to hold. The reports of C9's deaths were, as they say, grossly overexaggerated and C9 finished the final LCS week strong with wins over Dignitas and Immortals. Experimentation is often a dirty word in League of Legends, especially in a single-game league format where every game matters much more than it would in an LCK or LPL best-of-three.
Regarding the team's experimentation, C9 support Vulcan said in his post-match interview on Sunday, "That's something we learned for C9 specifically just because the way our year ended last year. And that's why we have a different approach where instead of focusing on winning every game and going for the 18-0 or the record and everything, we're much more focused on our development and making sure that we're headed in the right direction." He additionally said that they're working towards improvement and trying to avoid developing bad habits: lessons learned from the previous year.
One need look no further than C9's final two games of this split. In the first, they prioritized pushing lanes and Blaber's initial gank took him mid to ensure wave priority for Perkz. In their second game, Blaber tracked IMT jungler Xerxe early, keeping his Nocturne down while the rest of C9 sat back and waited for IMT, the team with the earlier and more proactive composition, to come to them. These two matches showcased not only a nod to the fact that C9 know what they're best at, but also a strong understanding of what they have to do to win. It's a good look going into playoffs.
**2. Team SoloMid (12-6) — Early and late**
The overarching theme of the week, if any, is perception versus reality. Throughout the split, TSM have been heavily-criticized for their lackluster early game only to have PowerOfEvil on his signature control mages take over the late game. This characterization is a bit specious given that their actual statistics (tied for third in first-turret rate, third in first-to-three turrets, fourth in average gold at 15 minutes) are still towards the top of the table. Yes, TSM have one of the stronger late games in the league (and a remarkable 76 percent Baron control rate), but their perceived early-game passivity isn't as bad as one would think.
Like the case of imposing 2021 C9 onto their 2020 selves, it's easy to assume that this TSM is exactly like all other iterations of TSM, especially with coach Bjergsen at the helm. Instead, it's an interesting amalgamation of old TSM and a SwordArt team. This TSM is never going to have the same ridiculous early game that older Flash Wolves teams had and it doesn't have to, especially with the mid/jungle duo of Spica and PowerOfEvil controlling the map.
A team with Huni and SwordArt was always going to look better once all five players were communicating with each other given how much they each look towards other lanes outside their own for playmaking. Both Huni and SwordArt are also phenomenal teamfight players, which again is made better when the entire team is on the same figurative page.
**3. Team Liquid (12-6) — Alphari on top**
One take that has irked me personally throughout the split is the fact that Alphari came from a last-place team, ergo his transformation to the top of the LCS charts is somehow miraculous. He was an absolute monster in Europe and he continues to be an absolute monster here. The question is of how well he, and the rest of Team Liquid, can translate the massive advantages he accrues on the top side to advantages elsewhere on the map. Although C9 are known for their early-game prowess, it's actually TL that tops team stats in gold difference at 15 minute, first turret taken, first to three turrets taken, Herald control, and drake control. They would have the strongest first blood rate as well if it weren't for those meddling CLG kids.
Individually, Alphari leads nearly every positive statistic for top laners and over the past week, we saw significant improvement in team communication around getting him and his leads involved in plays earlier. Santorin, although not as flashy of a jungler as the other top jungler in the league in Blaber, has seemingly strengthened his coordination with his lanes recently as well. TL have gone from being more of a bot-focused team that transferred 2v2 kills from CoreJJ and Tactical on the bot side into victories, to sending CoreJJ top occasionally and trying to make the most of what Alphari will already get by himself through sheer laning dominance. It may seem odd to cite TL as the team that could improve the most throughout playoffs, but it's because of their high skill floor that they potentially have so much higher to go.
**4. 100 Thieves (11-7) — Because we're one of a kind?**
Style, team color, flavor, whatever you want to call it the general LCS community consensus is that 100 Thieves had it during the Lock-In Tournament and lost it during the regular season after subbing out Damonte for Ryoma. While Damonte was a Doinb-lite style mid laner who focused on globals and side lane pressure, often ceding minion waves mid, Ryoma is more of a control mage player and this is why they decided to start him after visibly struggling to adapt to the meta shift around patch 11.4.
Yet, it seems that 100 Thieves simply believe that Ryoma is a better player right now, regardless of champion pool. The community may disagree, but all signs point to the team sticking to Ryoma, even while trying to return to what would be considered their signature style this past week in attempting more turret dives and early attention from Closer to his lanes. 100 Thieves have had some interesting draft looks, particularly with how they've used Sylas against their opponents.
When 100 Thieves exploded into this season via the Lock-In Tournament, their existing synergy was obvious. Now the question is how much the team can improve prior to their Lock-In best-of-five rematch against C9 this weekend regardless of perceived style.
**5. Dignitas (11-7) — Go crazy, go stupid**
One of my personal favorite articles that Kien has ever written was one titled ["Go Crazy, Go Stupid"][1] regarding Invictus Gaming at the 2019 Mid-Season Invitational. You didn't have to understand iG in order to feel something during their frenetic victories where they either smashed opponents early without looking back, or managed to eek out wins due to miraculous late-game teamfights. Good things can happen in League of Legends when you believe in your own two hands and Dignitas, for better or for worse, certainly believe in theirs when it comes to late-game teamfighting. Their wins evoke an emotional response not only due to their chaotic nature but who is winning these fights: two purportedly washed-up veterans in Dardoch and Aphromoo leading not-quite rookies that the community had already cast aside in Fakegod, Soligo, and Neo (Asta). Their utter defiance in the face of expectations is worth rooting for.
Dignitas have a little iG in them, not because their early game is particularly strong but because they legitimately fight well, never seem to give up, and genuinely make the most of whenever an opponent ill-advisedly funnels through a choke point into their waiting arms. They could potentially benefit from having a little more 2018-19 iG in them, particularly on red side where they could hone their draft a bit with a few stronger counterpicks.
At the very least, Dignitas certainly elicit a similar response from me as iG as they've managed to win not one but two games with gold deficits after strong teamfight victories. They can't keep getting away with it...or can they?
[1]: https://nexus.leagueoflegends.com/en-us/2019/05/go-crazy-go-stupid/
**6. Evil Geniuses (10-8) — Rubin's vase**
In his 1915 doctoral thesis, Danish psychologist Edgar Rubin outlined the figure-ground relationship in our visual perception. Putting it simply, your eyes can only recognize one image at a time — the vase, or two human faces in profile — at once. Even if your brain knows there are two available images, it can only see one "figure," making the other "ground." The ambiguity between the two can reflect pattern recognition or, presumably, one's mental state. We recognize Evil Geniuses as both "good" and "bad" but can only see one at a time due to the ambiguous nature of this team. The only constant is seemingly how much of the team's resources are devoted to Jiizuke. This is less of a critique of Evil Geniuses and more of a recognition of just how strong they can be. It's also a commentary on how frequently we shape our perception based on results and no team has exemplified this as much as EG this split given their drafting and play from game to game.
Week 6 showcased both the figure (a convincing win over Counter Logic Gaming with a longer-range AD carry in Jhin and Jiizuke on his signature Ryze) and the ground (a loss to Team Liquid where the team was a bit cheeky in draft and swapped Jiizuke's Neeko topside while Impact played Renekton mid into Jensen's Ahri). With over a week to prepare and an entire best-of-five series to study from their future opponent, we should all look forward to whatever EG can pull out because figure or ground, it's always interesting.
