Team Briefing
Between season in any sport, you will find changes have been made to the team. In eSports not all teams will make changes, but when they do they can have some major implications. I will be going over the difference between each team that is in the NA LCS.
Team SoloMid (TSM)
2016 2017
Top Hauntzer Hauntzer
JNG Svenskeren Svenskeren
Mid Bjergsen Bjergsen
ADC Doublelift Wildturtle
Sup Biofrost Biofrost
There are a lot of great teams in the LCS this split. At least there should be after the rosters have done some swapping. TSM will start this split looking very much the same as they did in the fall split. They did add the sexy addition of Wildturtle which should help increase Biofrosts standings as a Sup.
Immortal (IMT)
Top Huni Flame
JNG Reignover Dardoch
Mid Pobelter Pobelter
ADC WildTurtle Cody Sun
Sup Adrian Olleh
IMT had a lot of changes…in fact, they do not look anything like they did in the fall split. Pobelter is the only person who will be back. I always worry about a team with so many changes. IMT was wanting to make a few changes so they could be a powerhouse outside of the regular season. With that said I am not sure what 4 new members is going to do.
Cloud 9 (C9)
Top Impact Impact
JNG Meteos Contractz
Mid Jensen Jensen
ADC Sneaky Sneaky
Sup Bunny FuFu Smoothie
I am very much looking forward to how C9 plays out the few changes they have made. Smoothie is not really a new addition, but Contractz looks like he will be starting over Meteos. Meteos had a fabulous split so I am not sure why there was a switch. Meteos is still on the roster, so we should watch and see how he is subbed in before we give to much trust to Contractz.
Envy (nV)
Top Seraph Seraph
JNG Proxcin Lira
Mid Ninja Ninja
ADC LOD Apollo
Sup Hakuho Hakuho
nV was a hot team last split when the split started. They were much more up and down following the first few weeks, but they showed upside. Seraph was a solid Top and ended in the middle of most categories. Ninja was a killing machine, but only had a 69% KP which does worry me some. Overall nV looks like they will be a team we can target early.
Counter Logic Gaming (CLG)
Top Darshan Darshan
JNG Xmithie Xmithie
Mid HuHi HuHi
ADC Stixxay Stixxay
Sup Aphromoo Aphromoo
CLG is unchanged. They were one of the teams that I was really looking forward to in worlds this last time around. They were a disappointment much like TSM. Still going into this split they are unchanged. They are not normally a sexy fantasy team, but spring split showed that they could produce scores. Their control play is not great for fantasy, but can produce wins.
Team Liquid (TL)
Top Lourlo Lourlo
JNG Dardoch Reignover
Mid FeniX Goldenglue
ADC Piglet Piglet
Sup Matt Matt
This is a roster that I really like the changes. Piglet and Matt will be staying the same which is great. Reignover should be a great fit, he is aggressive in play like Dardoch but is much more polished. I could actually see TL rising to the standard they should have in multiple years past.
Echo Fox (Fox)
Top kfo Looper
JNG Hard Akaadian
Mid Froggen Froggen
ADC Keith Keith
Sup Big Gate
This is an interesting roster from Fox. Hard was one of the worst Junglers last split, so Akaadian could easily be an upgrade without doing anything impressive. The only thing KFO did better than most in the spring split is die. Looper once again should have an easy time being an upgrade. Froggen and Keith have both shown they can be fantasy studs or fantasy duds. Both are skilled players and I am excited to see how they workout. Gate played great for P1 last split, so I will be waiting to see how he gels with Keith before getting to excited, but still its started some.
Phoenix 1 (P1)
Top Zig Zig
JNG Inori Inori
Mid Mash Ryu
ADC Pirean Arrow
Sup Gate Adrian
P1 was an exciting team near the end of the split, and I am excited to see how that carries over. Gate has been upgraded to one of the best Supports in the game for DFS. Adrian was with IMT which may have something to do with it, but I am excited to see how he upgrades P1. Inori wasn’t the best JNG play last split, but he was highly involved in his teams kills with a 75% KP. That was with a team who struggled most of the split. Zig is much the same still I am excited to see what P1 does, and I am hoping we get to use them as value for the next few weeks.
The New Blood
FlyQuest (FQ) & Team Dignitas (Dig)
Top Balls
JNG Moon
Mid Hai
ADC Altec
Sup LemonNation
Top Ssumday
JNG Chaser
Mid Keane
ADC LOD
Sup Xpecial
Does FQ look just like a different version of C9? That’s because the really are C9 in a way. This team has me excited Hai is one of the best Mids in the game, Balls is a Top I have never liked, Moon is a solid enough play. I am excited to see how it works itself out.
Fox, I am not so sure about, they seem like a roster thrown together, just to make an 8th team. We will keep an eye on them, but I would not count on anything special from them. Maybe we will be shocked, but we will have to wait and see.
Hopefully, this gives you everything you will need to be ready when it comes to the rosters. I hopefully will have another great article out shortly with the picks for tomorrow’s slate. I sadly missed the Friday slate this week but should have my top picks going forward.
Thanks for Reading
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