Preview of EU LCS Spring Split 2015 playoffs: H2k vs CW

By Anel “Musinlol” Musinovic

EU LCS playoffs begins at 17.00 tonight with H2k facing Copenhagen Wolves which will be followed by Gambit and Unicorns of Love.

H2k Gaming vs Copenhagen Wolves

Odoamne, loulex, Ryu, Hjarnan & KaSing vs Youngbuck, Airwaks, Soren, Freeze & Unlimited

The last time H2k and Copenhagen Wolves faced off in a Bo5, the Wolves sent H2k packing in a clean 3-0 sweep to keep their LCS spot. However since then they've lost their star player, Febiven, to Fnatic and acquired a new fresh support, mid laner and coach in KaSing, Ryu and Prolly. Needless to say, the change has worked amazingly for them. They've looked better and better as a team and the week that they've had is playing into their favor to develop even better strategies, etc.

     Finishing in 3rd with a 12-6 record and looking the stronger of the two, H2k will once again be going in as favorites against the 8-10 Copenhagen Wolves. Hopefully to a different outcome than the last time.

Pick and bans:

H2k:

In pick and bans, H2k should focus on getting a winning match-up for Odoamne. Even though I think Odoamne could go even in a losing match-up against Youngbuck, it could work out well. I explain why in the “Player to Watch” section, so you'll have to wait for a minute to find out. 

If they want to go with a comp where they try to pick winning lanes they could also try to bring out the Nidalee, Rek’Sai or Lee Sin to have even more early game pressure. We know loulex is probably one of the biggest Lee Sin advocates and still prefers him in the changing jungle meta. The pick could work well vs a Kennen - who Copenhagen Wolves have previously played. 

They could also go with a scaling comp with the likes of a Kog’Maw and Lulu in the mid lane but I would like to see an aggressive early game comp because of their superior map play.

If H2k want to play the Sivir that they've brought out eight times, with seven of them being successful, they should try to ban out Freeze's signature Draven who has a good match-up vs Sivir. Even trying to ban out three adc’s could be a good great idea because Freeze hasn't found a single win on other champs besides Graves, Kalista & Draven.

Copenhagen Wolves:

For Copenhagen Wolves, I find it a bit more difficult because there's a lot you want to ban against H2k and the recent Jarvan nerfs might have hit them hard.

Airwaks has had eight games on Jarvan and managed five wins from them, but with the recent nerfs he has been trying out different picks such as Sejuani and Fizz - with the Sejuani being a bit better for the team in my opinion.

Getting the Sejuani pick will be important and if banned it doesn't mean that much because it leaves up other picks for his teammates. It's likely that he's practiced other tank junglers such as Nautilus, Zac & Gragas. Otherwise, he can fall back on more early game pressure junglers in Lee, Rek’Sai & Nidalee. Last time, in the promotion tournament vs H2k, he did play Gragas so he should have that as a pocket pick if needed.

The bans I would go for in Game 1 would be Leblanc, Ahri & Sivir. I’m unsure about the two mid lane bans because I feel like Ryu can shine on other champs as well but is really good on those two specifically. Also they could let the Sivir go through and pick up Draven if open. With those two assassins banned though they could go for their Cassiopeia, they’ve won three out of three games with her.

Player to watch from H2k Gaming: Odoamne

Even though the great addition of KaSing seems to be what has made them a better team I would like to go for Odoamne. Youngbuck has a lot to prove with the pressure he's been getting from the community.
     He leads the team with his shotcalling and is able to do pretty good calls when doing fine himself, but when getting behind I feel like Youngbuck can make Copenhagen Wolves’ shotcalling suffer. Also the extra pressure from community can make him believe that if he doesn't put up a great performance the wolves might be looking for other options. Therefore I would like to see a top lane pick from Odoamne that can bully Youngbuck into mistakes, deaths or just falling behind in experience.

They both have five games on Maokai despite Odoamne having way more success on it with a 100% rate while Youngbuck is sitting on a 20% win rate on him. H2k will know that could be a contested pick and might just give it over to Copenhagen Wolves and pick up the Gnar who they've played in two out of the last four games.

Gnar can be a difficult champ to play because of the rage but can be incredibly strong in teamfights and is a really good lane match-up against Maokai. Odoamne also has a 80% win rate in five games on Gnar so it is likely that he will try to pick that up.

Player to watch from Copenhagen Wolves: Soren

Soren has improved massively this season. He seems way more confident when he plays and it shows in his performance. He's been compared to other great danish midlaners and he will be one of the key players against H2k. He has had a strong Cassiopeia winning all three of his games on her.

If his main champs get target banned I'm guessing he would go for Xerath but it will be interesting to see if he has picked up recent champions such as Diana which could be great in teamfights which the Wolves have been favoring a lot this season.

Predicted score: H2k Gaming 3-1 Copenhagen Wolves

The game will be played April 4th at 11 PM EST & 17:00 CEST over at www.twitch.tv/riotgames

If you want to contact me or follow me on twitter -> www.twitter.com/musinlol

Week 7 EU LCS Preview! El Classico Round Two!

by Reece "SabrewoIf" Dos-Santos 

Three more weeks, three more games, and for some teams, one chance. Here’s what to watch out for in Week 7 of the EU LCS:

Day 1- Meet Your Makers (2-10) vs Giants Gaming (4-8)

The outlook is quite bleak for MYM who look to be heading down to the challenger scene as the first ever auto relegated LCS team. However, unlike their NA counterpart in Team Coast, the team is still showing signs of life and can realistically climb out of the bottom spot. Taking out one of the teams directly above them is the best way to go about this. Provided MYM can show up here and against the other team at 4-8 overall (Roccat) in their last game of the split, they can at least hope to pull off a tiebreaker or even trump the other two if they can pull off any more upsets. It isn't much to hold onto, but the true sign of a team that should remain in the LCS is the ability to adapt and turn deficits. If Gambit and H2k can do it, MYM can too.

Day 1- H2k Gaming (8-4) vs Gambit Gaming (7-5)

It’s the battle of the six game win streak vs the seven game win streak, a battle of the two teams with the most momentous turn around in EU LCS history since Alliance in spring 2014. Funnily enough, Gambit’s win streak started off with their victory over H2k in week three so what better team to end it than H2k themselves. If H2k win this match they tie second at the end of day one with the loser of El Classico round two, however if Gambit win they tie third with H2k and equal the second longest EU LCS win streak held by themselves, SK Gaming and Alliance at eight. Another win in day two then ties them for the longest held by Fnatic at nine. With all these teams have learnt and the momentum they've built since their rise, this could prove to be an even better game than Fnatic vs SK.

Day 1- SK Gaming (9-3) vs Fnatic (9-3)

Round two of the rightfully-hyped matchup, El Classico ended SK Gaming’s eight game win streak in Week 5 and now they have a chance to get one back on Fnatic and reclaim the first place spot. SK have been humbled in the past two weeks while Fnatic have been struggling to maintain perfect consistency having slipped up a few times to teams at the peak of their form (UOL, CW & GMB). If SK want to be taken seriously at IEM, they should look to fix themselves here. Realistically this game will decide which of these teams finishes in first and is subsequently the best team in EU at the moment. By far.

Fantasy Forecast-

For the first time in a while, no team is particularly safe. SK and Fnatic have each other to worry about while rising stars H2k and Gambit also clash.  Even the Unicorns who have Elements and Roccat should still be hesitant as the two most hyped teams in the preseason could still pull off a big win if they’ve begun to work on their problems. This week is a pure gamble.

Reminder: Wickd will be starting over Kev1n on EL and Noxiak over Nisbeth on MYM

EU LCS Week 6 Preview

By Reece "SabrewoIf" Dos-Santos

The Spring Split is past its halfway point and now, more than ever, each game matters. Here are my picks for what to watch in the EU LCS Week 6.

Day 1- Roccat (4-6) vs H2k Gaming (6-4)

Since the introduction of KaSing, H2k have become a much more competitive team. They've gained the ability to make better calls, gained stronger map presence on a whole and now look much more decisive in closing out games and holding onto leads. This momentum is also helped by the slide some of the bigger teams have been having in terms of living up to their hype. One of those teams being Roccat. It’s been hard to predict Roccat this season as they have all the tools available to be a top tier team; they’re just not falling into place. Roccat can be the team to halt H2k’s KaWin streak but, considering the latter is coming into this off a win over SK, momentum is certainly in H2k’s favour.

Day 1- Gambit Gaming (5-5) vs Copenhagen Wolves (6-4)

Gambit fans finally have something to smile about, the team has been on a good reverse tilt ever since H2k turned themselves around as well. P1noy and Cabochard look great in their positions, Diamond and Edward seem like they've been revitalized and NiQ, prior to his side-lining, looked to be meshing well with the team. Luckily for Gambit fans, the swap in of Betsy didn't affect the team dynamic much and they should feel confident going up against what looks like the strongest Copenhagen Wolves squad in a very long time. Youngbuck, Airwaks and Unlimited are starting to show really good moments while Freeze and Soren have been instrumental in holding the team together in later phases and team fights. The special matchup of this game will certainly be in the bot lane. P1noy vs Freeze won’t disappoint.

Day 2- SK Gaming (8-2) vs Elements (4-6)

The battle of the two "should-be-top" teams in the EU LCS. While one team has lived up to its hype, the other has fallen prey to the same kind of weaknesses they displayed this time last season. Froggen’s super team are no strangers to really slow starts, but with the addition of Krepo in place of Nyph, maybe they have the right Elements to produce a winning formula. Krepo provides a strong analytical game sense, leadership and solid mechanics in a form that nRated brings to SK. If Elements have actually built upon their hardship and learnt the power of teamwork and friendship, this will be the perfect time to show it against a recently shocked SK. While an 0-2 week isn't necessarily a panic siren for them, poor momentum could easily make it a third consecutive loss.

Fantasy Forecast:

H2k owners should feel very confident considering Giants and Roccat aren’t the toughest looking competition on paper right now. Unicorn owners should be wary of SK Gaming and Fnatic owners of the Wolves but generally those two remain solid picks. Be mindful that this is a week that could halt the Wolves' hype train but it could be a very profitable week for their carries. While it seems impossible for Elements to lose against MYM, it also seemed impossible that they’d be 4-6 this far into the season so never say never.


Reminder: Krepo is Elements’ starting support over Nyph and Betsy will continue to start over NiQ on Gambit.

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By Reece "SabrewoIf" Dos-Santos