What We Learned from EU LCS Summer Week 1

by Reece "SabrewoIf" Dos-Santos


1. Origen are as good as they were made out to be.

Origen-ally I was sceptical about how xPeke's team would adapt to top tier competition that they haven’t yet been exposed to as a group. I thought that against some of the best EU has to offer, they might have some flaws exposed which they could later build upon. Instead what I received was a 2-0 trash of a week where Origen brushed away the likes of Giants Gaming and then proceeded to steamroll H2k - what I believed to be EU’s second best team and practically guaranteed worlds squad.

While Mithy is no Forgiven and opted against declaring himself as part of the best bottom lane in EU…by far, the duo pair of him and Niels has been crazily effective with the rookie marksman picking up the first MVP award of the summer split. But with so much attention on the oppressive dominance in the bottom lane duo, the good work and Peke, Soaz and Amazing are not to be overlooked. Aside from the occasional positional hiccup from Soaz, the top three members all held down their roles spectacularly showing that they’re still able to exhibit a top level of play. This will be especially warming to the top half trio as they all shouldered their fair share of doubt towards their ability to perform near the end of their last splits on Fnatic and TSM respectively.

I’m now excited to see how Origen fare up against some of the wilder teams in the LCS, as both H2k and Giants are quite tame and telegraphed in their style compared to the likes of UOL or Fnatic who aren’t afraid to shake the table.

2. The Copenhagen Wolves are still consistently inconsistent.

This team is about as consistent as my solo queue MMR, which by the way could be mistaken for an analogue radio wave. On their best days they can pool together a dominating performance and completely clean house against the best teams in EU, the next day or even literally half an hour later, they’re a mess of basic mistakes that can’t retain any control against a team that hardly looked like they knew why they were winning.

Although Freeze’s pure mechanical ability has been a shining point in lost moments along with areas of inspiration from Soren, the team needs heavy focus on regaining their flow and recovering from a loss of tempo if they want to be challenging for any of the spaces in the top half of the table this split.

3. Forgiven ruins the flow of any team he graces.

Although a tad bit harsh, there’s no way to express this without flat out saying it, Forgiven has proven to me that his playstyle appears to be unadaptable for everyone who tries to tame it. While the benefits of his presence are more than evident in having one of the best skilled ADC’s the west has to offer, it seemed like Gambit this week put themselves into a Piglet/Team Liquid situation where they tunneled on the acquisition of a world class talent and tried too hard to pool themselves around making it work. What Gambit need to avoid is the situation that has followed Forgiven like a dark cloud and it’s the internal collapse of teamwork, trust and synergy due to the clash in personalities. While SK Gaming held on for the best part of a split, it was too much for them as was with the Wolves. Personally with the history of how emotional Diamond and Edward can be, I’m a little worried as to how the team will recover if they don’t pull off a momentous upswing like last split.

4. The right Elements may have finally been blended together.

What an upgrade! This team looks to be with the right players in the mix alongside the right mentality. No joke, the KaBuM! incident obliterated the original lineup of Alliance and alongside the embarrassing worlds exit that followed, really tore apart the civil colleague relationship between the team. Only with the purging of the teams members and eventual rebuilding with the return of Tabzz, has the team finally begun to show the spark it showed in the summer of Season 4.

Dexter, Jwaow and PromisQ bring a new fresh feel and dynamic to the playstyle of the team and also seem to mesh with the rest of the team in a much better fashion than the previous trio of Wickd, Shook and Nyph who were simply Mission Impossible, Froggen’s waiter and some guy no one listened to. Rotations were good, the top laner actually looked like a member of the team and Froggen wasn’t giving off the vibe that he believed he was in elo hell.

As to how far this team can go, it’s still unknown as EL’s first game was a stomp over the currently broken Gambit and while they put up a good fight, they were ultimately taken down by the Unicorns. If EL wants to sneak in for a worlds spot, they need to overcome potential rivals for the spaces. Now it looks like they can, and not just on paper.

The question is, will they?

5. Roccat still have many problems that need to be addressed.

Woolite’s positioning has been the cause of many LCS face-desk moments for me and we’re only two games into the split. Whether or not he’s upped his poor positioning game to make up for the loss of his partner in crime, P1noy, is beyond me, but it’s hurting his team’s chances of being anything but relegation zone bound. It’s also apparent that every time Roccat change their top laner, it only seems to make the situation worse. Steve has yet to show why he was worth being selected as Roccat’s new top laner in place of Overpow, who went from the team’s shining star to a quickly ousted unmemorable top laner.

In fact, Steve’s biggest impact upon the LCS so far is the crowd chant of his name which follows a particular pattern of Roccat crowd memes when underperforming, one example being the ward chanting at LCS Wembley last season. On top of this, Jankos and Vander are mere shadows of their former selves and it’s been a very long time since I’ve heard anyone even try and call Jankos the “best jungler in the EU LCS”. Last but not least is Nukeduck, being the one returning Lemondog who isn’t a valuable asset to their new team. Out of the meta and completely out of his depth in most matchups, it’s a surprise Roccat chose only to make a change in the top lane, it’s even more surprising that it doesn’t seem like they’ve made any headway to addressing these issues which have carried on from the last split. In both management and player mentality, something is clearly wrong.

The MSI 2015 Playoffs Preview

The Heat is On in Tallahassee! 

by Reece "SabrewoIf" Dos-Santos 

We’re about to head into the Semi Finals of the Mid-Season Invitational with SKT heavily tested twice, AHQ in convincing third place, Fnatic looking like a finals ready team and TSM heading home after a shockingly disappointing tournament. Who saw this coming?

Personal preference of team aside, this tournament has been everything the casual LoL scene viewer could have wanted. Top end competition, healthy regional rivalry, fast-paced unforgiving action. The unfortunate side effect of this is how quickly the inability to ramp up and get going can catch you out. Needless to say, the TSM we saw here was not the TSM that shocked everyone at the IEM World Championships. In comparison, this TSM looked lazy, unprepared and culture-shocked by the level of competition. Dyrus was left out to be slaughtered, Turtle never got to have any impact. Some say Santorin never even attended MSI. Seem familiar to some? This display from what was once known as the “Best Team in the West” was shockingly similar to the performances out of EU’s representative teams since the infamous group stage of Worlds 2014 where everything went wrong. Do fans have a cause for concern? Maybe, but it's too early to jump to conclusions as this one performance should not overshadow the team’s recent success or dare I say “golden age.” But generally it is fair to be heavily critical as LCS teams are all too familiar with a one-game format and should honestly be better prepared.

Now for the bracket stage - I couldn't be more excited.

Fnatic vs SK Telecom was easily the best match in the whole of the tournament and, for some EU fans, the biggest sigh of relief and reassurance that the region, like Korea, has not declined and is still of a competitive level despite losing promising players. Fate, however, had a different plan for Fnatic and the gamebreaking wall bug that Reignover had the misfortune of finding literally ended up tipping the scales as Fnatic began to lose grip of their gold lead after that one event.

Nevertheless, maybe this was a good twist of fate for Fnatic as now they have another chance to prove themselves against the team they almost took down. This is a good chance for them to discover if they have what it takes to ride their momentum through a Best-of-Five series, to see if they can not only outplay SKT but out-draft and out-adapt them as well. Bang has more than proven himself to be a huge threat and Fnatic be wary of ADC-centric comps like the one SKT pulled yesterday. But similarly, SKT should be more wary of Reignover’s peaked performance and Steeelback’s worrying reliance on Sivir to perform. While SKT have the superstar mid laner Faker and one of the best top laners in the world in MaRin, Bang deserves a lot of credit for being a heavy driving force behind SKT’s success this tournament. Like it or not, this series may well be decided in the bottom lane. Fnatic need to ensure Steeelback doesn't get mauled if they want a chance in winning. If he doesn't get on Sivir, which he shouldn't if SKT are smart, they’ll need to think carefully about how they’ll keep him comfortable, farmed and relevant.

Now AHQ and EDG are two teams that look on top of their form, Koro1 and Clearlove putting on dominating performances in their victories while Deft and Meiko displayed great teamwork and reminded everyone why the former is still considered the best ADC in the world. Meanwhile, AHQ came in and honestly shocked everyone with how convincingly they swept aside both LCS sides. The Westdoor hype is still alive and kicking but it’s not just him making the plays this time around. The rest of his team look just as strong and the carry potential is spread between all of them. This will now be AHQ’s fifth meeting with EDG across two tournaments with Koro, Clearlove and Westdoor being the only remaining players from the showdown in Group A of Worlds 2014. With both teams looking better than ever, this will also prove to be an entertaining series, I fear it may be more one-sided than the Fnatic and SKT game as EDG look and feel superior to AHQ in every way, but I've learned never to completely doubt this team. Any team with a Unicorn as its logo has the potential to really catch you off guard.

EU LCS Playoffs Preview : Unicorns of Love vs SK Gaming

Photo courtesy of Riot eSports

by Reece "SabrewoIf" Dos-Santos 

Order vs Chaos is the name of the game as SK Gaming faces one of the three teams to deal them a blow during their otherwise perfect split.

Time and again, the Unicorns of Love have shown that their creativity and use of "the element of surprise" is not to be trifled with. Kikis’s Udyr pick against Gambit has done a good enough job at displaying this to full effect. For the mythical creatures of friendship, statistically Fnatic was the better draw of the two as UOL are the only team to 2-0 them. However to get to Fnatic, they would have had to go through H2k, the only team to 2-0 UOL. So when it evens out, drawing SK isn't too bad. Read More...

EU Playoff Preview: Gambit VS Unicorns of Love

by Reece "SabrewoIf" Dos-Santos

For one team, this season has been the height of consistency - never pulling away and always remaining middle of the pack with a 1-1 record against all but two teams. For the other, it was an uphill battle against what looked like another dreary season, but they ended up in their best position since 2013. For both, it was a season of hope after impressive showings at IEM’s San Jose and Cologne respectively.

The Unicorns of Love stampeded into the European scene with probably the fastest growing fan base ever seen in a recently promoted amateur team. After their victory against TSM in San Jose, Power of Evil left with 10 times the amount of Twitter followers he had entered the tournament with. While the Unicorns haven’t quite pulled off the Cloud 9/Lemondogs effect of entering the scene and winning in their first split, they've put on a hell of show and could easily become one of EU’s best and biggest brands. What’s best about watching the Unicorns is simply how fun and energized they look; the enjoyment they’re getting from their experience is easy to see in their work ethic and reflects in their results. Especially in comparison to teams like Meet Your Makers and Elements who spent a good deal of time in a bubble of despair - a bubble that led to unmotivated and zombie like repetition of basic mistakes, mistrust in calls and underperforming.

Gambit, on the other hand, has been on a recovery mission after being one of EU’s biggest names and slowly falling away into irrelevance. Just as the above mentioned teams, Gambit also started off the season in an already established bubble of despair following a terrible 2014. Although IEM success provided a good recovery point, things still started off badly and looked to be a repeat of past EU LCS results. Needless to say. however, after the benching of NiQ and the picking up Betsy, this is the healthiest Gambit squad we've seen in over a year. Diamond finally seems revived and while not quite at the level he used to display, he’s still showing signs of the same spark before he dulled. For Gambit fans it’s a relief to see a squad that, despite failing to show up at IEM Katowice, looks like it can challenge for top spots and remain stable and healthy.

The Unicorns and Gambit stand 1-1 in their EU LCS series against each other with neither wins really providing a picture of how this match-up might turn out. The first win for the Unicorns being in Week 1 and the first of Gambit’s five game slump. In this match-up, Power Of Evil was allowed to play his signature Syndra and made great use of the soon-to-be-deleted item Deathfire Grasp to seize control and carry his team. In addition, every kill in the game bar one happened on Gambit’s side of the map. The only Unicorn that didn't completely outclass his match-up was Vizicsacsi.

One the flip side, the Unicorns had just gone 2-0 in Week 8 and therefore destiny required them to balance out and go 0-2 in Week 9 where they faced Gambit for a second time. While this match was more contested and actually had map-wide kill distribution, the game fell completely into Gambit’s hands as Power Of Evil’s new tank meta Cho’Gath pick didn't quite work out how it does in solo queue. This, and then the loss to the Giants to end the week, doesn't bode well for the Unicorns coming into playoffs but they aren't a team that has shown any tilting tendencies and I still expect their A game to be on.

For me, the match-up’s to look out for are in the Mid lane and the Jungle. If Power Of Evil and Kikis can pull away from Betsy and Diamond it's more than likely that the Unicorns will be able to trample Gambit. However, if those two lanes don’t go as planned, I worry for the Unicorns’ ability to comeback as I believe Gambit have the raw skill advantage in both the bottom lane and the top lane. But, on a whole team synergy level, the Unicorns are one of, if not the best teams in the EU LCS. They’re a team with full trust and belief in each other, and such a tight level of synergy is arguably the most dangerous element in professional League of Legends gameplay.

Love hurts.

Looking forward to the semi-final place these teams are fighting for, I also think it’s the Unicorns of Love that hold the advantage in a match-up against SK Gaming. The fact that SK are an objective based team and can be easily uprooted and overturned by disruptions to their game flow falls greatly into the Unicorns’ hooves. The fast paced and sometimes spontaneous shifts in game play, often started by Kikis, are a perfect combat strategy to EU’s strongest team. This was proved in Week 6 when the Unicorns handed SK one of their 3 losses in the split.

Gambit on the other hand has trouble making a comeback when teams outmuscle them in the earlier stages. Failure to secure dragons, barons and any more than 5 towers is also a dangerous habit among their losses. SK are the only team to 2-0 Gambit this split and I can’t see that trend changing in the playoffs, SK play Gambit’s game better.

Game prediction: Unicorns of Love 3-1

I believe in dark horses, and horned ones too.

EU LCS Possible Relegation Scenarios

by Reece "SabrewoIf" Dos-Santos 

Remaining Games:

EL- GIA, FNC

CW- ROC, GIA

GIA- EL, CW

MYM- SK, ROC

ROC- CW, MYM

Approaching the final week of the EU LCS, not everything is set in stone. There is a variety of situations that can still entangle the Copenhagen Wolves, Elements, Roccat, Giants and Meet Your Makers. Before I break down what could happen, I can explain that it’s impossible for Copenhagen Wolves to be auto relegated and Giants Gaming or Meet your Makers to reach playoffs.

Here are three I picked out:

Scenario 1: What I think will happen: CW (2-0), EL (1-1), ROC (1-1), GIA (0-2), MYM (0-2)

This clinches at least sixth and playoffs for CW on 9-9 while Elements and Roccat fight out a tiebreaker for seventh which I believe will be won by Roccat judging by the standard of play of both teams currently. Although I wouldn't put it past Elements to surprise us, while Roccat have been consistently below average, Elements have been fluctuating between showing signs of hope and being completely broken. This also leaves the bottom two in a scrap for auto relegation, one I actually favour MYM for at the moment. The latter having shown improvements in synergy and survivability while Giants have failed to secure any kind hold on their split.

Scenario 2: Three-way tiebreaker for Sixth: EL (1-1), GIA (1-1), ROC (1-1), MYM (1-1 or 2-0), CW (0-2)

For this to happen, Elements would need to pick up Giants and lose to Fnatic, Roccat take down CW and lose to MYM and Giants also need to take out CW. This will leave all three on a score of 7-11 and force the most important three way tie for the last playoff spot, the LCS safe zone and the promotion tournament. Also in this scenario, the auto relegation spot is decided by if MYM beat SK to go 2-0. If not they also get a tiebreaker for tenth. EU love tie breakers and this is definitely one that could change a lot.

Scenario 3: Four-way tiebreaker for Seventh: GIA (2-0), MYM (2-0), CW (1-1), EL (0-2), ROC (0-2)

This scenario seems wild and really far-fetched but it’s still a possibility. Under this scenario the Wolves get the last playoff spot and the bottom four all finish on 6-12 opening up the biggest tie breaker possible for the safe zone, the promotion tournament spots and the auto relegation zone. While this opens up the biggest storyline comeback for the bottom two, it’s a scenario that can end ugly for Roccat and Elements who cannot afford to tilt at such a crucial time. It's also not too hard to see this happening considering that GIA are 1-0 up against both their opponents and MYM have been looking better as of recent.

EU LCS Week 8 Preview : Battle of The Animals!

by Reece "SabrewoIf" Dos-Santos

We’re back for Week 8 of the EU LCS, some teams in high spirits and some looking to shake off a rusty weekend. Here’s what to watch out for:

Day 1- Copenhagen Wolves (7-7) vs Unicorns of Love (7-7)

While both these teams look to be locked into the playoffs, there’s still room for error as the derailed hype train duo of Roccat and Elements are only two wins behind. The week break should have provided more than enough time for the Unicorns to work on their habit of going 1-1. The Wolves should also be feeling more refreshed after having a tough last two weeks. The main focus of this match is likely to be the mid game scuffles and the team fights will surely prove entertaining. With games against Fnatic, Gambit and H2k finishing off UOL’s split, a win here would be a blessing in what is one the hardest remaining runs.

Day 2- Giants Gaming (4-10) vs Roccat (5-9)

Rather unfortunately for Giants, Roccat, MYM, and Elements, there is a huge gap between them and the other six teams in the EU LCS right now. For these four teams, every win is an enormous step away from auto relegation and for at least one of them, the seventh place slot and a secure LCS spot will be more than appreciated after a terrible split. Owning the series over Giants, Roccat should come into this game looking to not only one up one of their bottom table competitors but close the gap on the loser of Wolves and Unicorns. With an MYM game and a Wolves game in for Roccat’s last week, a dream situation would be a Unicorn victory in this week’s battle of the animals and an upset next week against the Wolves which could very well book them a playoff spot.

Day 2- Gambit Gaming (8-6) vs Elements (5-9)

Both teams could be coming into this game feeling rather deflated; Gambit having their win streak broken and then putting up a lackluster performance at IEM, and Elements, who have struggled to find any kind of harmony within each other all split. Considering that Elements are 0-1 against all of their remaining four opponents, the outlook looks very bleak for what was EU’s perfect game super team just half a year ago. Despite the IEM disappointment, Gambit look the superior team and it’s probable that Elements could pull off a demise reminiscent of NA’s Vulcun/XDG after Season 3 Worlds. I can’t imagine Froggen and Rekkles in the challenger scene, can you?

Remaining schedule difficulty (Hard to Easy)

UOL- CW, FNC, GMB, H2K

MYM- GMB, H2K, SK, ROC

EL- H2K, GMB, GIA, FNC

CW- UOL, SK, ROC, GIA

GIA- SK, ROC, EL, CW

GMB- MYM, EL, UOL, SK

ROC- FNC, GIA, CW, MYM

SK- GIA, CW, MYM, GMB

FNC- ROC, UOL, H2K, EL

H2K- EL, MYM, FNC, UOL

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by Reece "Please Don't use that Picture of me in the Wolf Hat" Dos-Santos

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

EU LCS Week 4 Preview- Games to Watch

by Reece "SabrewoIf" Dos-Santos 

Week 4 of the EU LCS is about to begin, these are my picks on what will be the games to watch:

Day 1- Giants Gaming (2-4) vs Gambit Gaming (1-5)

Coming out of their first win of the split against H2k, the seemingly tilting Gambit squad should be going into this game with renewed confidence and their heads held high. If they can sustain the momentum and avoid being put behind early they should be able to give a good game to Giants. The lane to watch will more than likely be top lane since both Cabochard and Werlyb are key components in their team’s victories. Jungler interaction with the top lane will definitely be a swinging point in this matchup

Day 1- Unicorns of Love (3-3) vs Roccat (3-3)

This match has a lot of weight in being the match that decides who is biggest challenge to the top three in Fnatic, SK and Elements. As it stands UOL are 1-2 against the top three taking a game off Fnatic while Roccat stand at 0-3 against the top competition. On the flip side however Roccat have yet to lose against any non-top three team while UOL slipped up to the Wolves last week. In terms of skill and potential I’d have these two at the same. Being arguably the two most hyped teams going into the split, this will surely be a hotly contested match.

Day 2- Copenhagen Wolves (3-3) vs Fnatic (5-1)

Of all the matches in day two I picked this one because the Wolves have recently shown a sturdy resilience and a refusal to be defeated early. Soren in particular has had a really good time in some of the Wolves’ games. The matchups of Freeze vs Steeelback will be interesting to watch as well as seeing who can leave a bigger map-wide impact between Reignover and Airwaks. This game can go the way of the Wolves if the right conditions come into play, a victory here could also really help turn some heads to them being a dark horse for the playoffs. But Fnatic will be looking to shut out any more surprises after their loss to the Unicorns last week.

Fantasy Forecast:

If you have any SK or Fnatic members it’s in your best interest to slot them into your team with high scoring games on the outlook for both. Elements owners should also be rather happy with what should be fairly easier games on the cards for them too. While a shock result for the Wolves against Fnatic could happen, their week also starts against SK so be mindful. Unicorn and Roccat owners will be hesitant as both heavily impact the other’s weeks. Giants owners should also be mindful as while SK seems like a sure loss, Gambit might go either way. Any H2K and MYM owners should avoid fielding those players/teams as it looks to be fantasy drought for them this week, hard games as well as lineup changes and internal conflict come to mind.

Reminder- KaSing is now H2k’s starting support over Voidle.

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by Reece "SabrewoIf" Dos-Santos 

How Much Should Riot be Involved in Team Conduct?

by Reece "SabrewoIf" Dos-Santos 

The recent controversy regarding MYM and their mid laner, Marcin “Kori" Wolski, has brought the dark side of LoL esports into the light. One of the main questions raised by the situation is just how involved should Riot be in the goings-on of each team?

We've hit a stage where we can no longer use the excuse of  “growth.” Yes, the scene is still growing, but far too many teams are allowed to fly under the banner of Riot and the LCS while going unchecked in terms of conduct. The LMQ saga, the business with Lemondogs and NiP, it seems like not enough organisations are taking the scene seriously and respecting it and its rules, not to mention simply taking advantage of their own players and staff. As the organizers of the LCS, Riot should be well in-the-know of what goes on within each team.

While I’m not suggesting a full-on big brother like grip, it's concerning that on a few occasions it seems like Riot hasn't been fully in the loop with what goes on with their teams. This is worrying because the players and even some of the staff are still quite young and for many, this is their first experience in a job like environment. It's Riots responsibility to ensure that in some way or another, teams are regularly checked up on and to first and foremost protect their players.

Be it a union or a set group of Riot employees, someone should be involved in making sure players and staff are paid on time rather than waiting on empty promises. Players and staff should know where to go if they’re threatened in any way and they should be assured that something will be done as soon as the problem is reported. Players shouldn't be used as placeholders, than swept off their job after two or three weeks of play, nor should they be blackmailed or manipulated by contractual affairs they’re likely not used to. While Nick Allen and his team do a great job, these things are still happening, so something needs to change. It's events like these that provide crucial building blocks for an organisation to improve itself.

The last thing anyone wants is the LoL professional scene to gain the reputation of a backstreet mafia where shady characters rule. The uproar and backlash of young people being blackmailed and exploited is unforgivable. This isn't something that can slide.

I personally think it would be shameful to allow Meet Your Makers to continue to exist within the LCS. Riot have shown effective disciplinary action against shady actions from organisations in the past, a memorable one for EU being the banning of Lemondogs. I believe MYM should be given the Lemondogs' treatment and also be banned from the scene, especially considering the difference in magnitude of the two offences. If they can force Alliance and Evil Geniuses to rebrand, they can surely do the same for the MYM players, but it would be a dark shadow over the LCS to allow the players to continue under a brand that has pretty much tainted its reputation. In some situations, sorry just isn't enough. The removal of Falli from the MYM squad is a good step by them but it doesn't make everything okay.

Seeing as there hasn't been a situation that is quite like this one before, the decision here will live on as precedent and can either act effectively as a deterrent for it ever happening again or not set the right example and become problematic in the future. With power comes responsibility. MYM have grossly neglected theirs, so Riot needs to appropriately administer theirs and ensure something like this never happens again.

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by Reece "SabrewoIf" Dos-Santos 

Tips to maximize your Fantasy experience!

by Reece "SabrewoIf" Dos-Santos

Following its success during the Season 4 Summer Split, the Fantasy LCS system is back and re-tuned for the coming Spring Split of Season 5. I'd like to outline a few tips to help your Fantasy LCS experience be as enjoyable as possible.

1. Fantasy LCS isn't region locked.

One of the best parts of Fantasy LCS is the fact that you don’t need to stick within your region like when playing League of Legends itself. You can join a league with anyone from North America, EU West, EU Nordic East, Brazil, Oceania, Latin America North, Latin America South, Turkey and Russia.

However, this freedom should be taken in moderation as the drafting period takes place when the owner of the league decides to start it, meaning it’s in your best interests to join leagues with people you have a good means of communicating with. It is also in a league owner’s best interest to ensure each of the players in their league is available for one specified time to draft. Poor draft organisation can lead to having to wait for 1 minute per round for each missing player which can really slow down and drag out the process since each missing player is a guaranteed 10 minute wait (for the 10 available draft slots).

2. Tactical drafting, know the scene.

One of the cleanest ways to secure a Fantasy win is to be tactical about every single player you draft. When you go to draft a player, think about what they could bring to your team and how they play rather than simply if you like them or if their estimated scores are high. A close eye should also be paid to who is left on the board when it comes to your turn and who is most likely to be picked by your rivals (TSM players and Mid Laners go really fast). Sometimes drafting a player who might be outside of your original game plan can help you secure worthwhile trades and deals later on.

The scoring criteria are as follows:

Players:
Kills: +2
Deaths: -0.5
Assists: +1.5
CS: +0.01
Triple Kill: +2 bonus points
Quadra Kill: +5 bonus points
Penta Kill: +10 bonus points
10+ Kills: +2 bonus points
10+ Assists: +2 bonus points
Teams:
First Blood: +2
Dragons taken: +1
Barons taken: +2
Towers destroyed: +1
Victory: +2

If you know that a particular player is known for being bloodthirsty it might be in your best interest to pick them up; however, it is also a good idea to have a backup player available to swap in for the games where your bloodthirsty player might gift away too many deaths. Teams that have great objective control are also very worthy pick-ups, as that is basically the whole criteria of a team’s points spread. Players like Kerp were goldmines of points on days where they hit their stride but in matches where the pressure was reversed, an oasis of points can quickly turn into a drought.

One of the biggest missteps people make during the drafting process is tunneling too hard on estimated point values. While they’re there to guide you, they’re not a prediction of the future. This is where knowledge of the scene and of the true value of every player to his team comes in handy.

As an example: Copenhagen Wolves and Counter Logic Gaming have for a long time played a style that heavily favoured their AD Carries. Woolite and DoubleLift owners prospered as a result of this. On the flip side, Seraph and Youngbuck owners didn't see as much of a flood in points due to their more supportive playstyles and tendency to be the men to take one for their team, usually in order to help said carries.

3. Stay alert on player news.

Sometimes the unexpected can happen, a player can be hit with an expected illness or be banned from playing for a week. One case to be aware of in the coming season is ZionSpartan’s inability to play for CLG in the first week. There were a few moments in the last season where certain players were unable to attend and one rare moment where Copenhagen Wolves flat out forfeited a game. When a player is unable to play their substitute is later added to the free agents pool where anyone can pick them up, meaning you could be left in a bad position if someone tactically signs them before you can and you’re left with a player who isn’t playing. Quick reactions and an alert watch over the scene can help you not befall any of these fantasy tragedies.

4. Don’t overlook supports.

A common thing I saw from drafting periods was the overlooking of support players in comparison to Mid Laners and AD Carries who were drafted off rather quickly. An A-Tier support can and often is the difference between a win and a loss in Fantasy LCS. In a lot of cases, the sheer amount of assist points picked up by players like Yellowstar and Aphromoo can help clinch tight matches. While it’s easy to see kills and carries as the most important factor to gaining points, supports will usually pick up the most assists on their team and assists are worth only 0.5 less than kills. In addition to this, supports won’t be getting points from stats like kills, CS, or kill streaks, and they often pick up a lot of deaths in tough games. So investing early in a high-assisting and or low risk-taking support can really aid your season.

5. Don’t judge a player based on one week’s performance.

I myself was a victim of this as I removed Amazing from my squad immediately when he failed to score any points worth mentioning one week very early on, I was then disappointed when he went on to find his stride and become a key player for TSM securing a lot more points. Just because a player has a bad week doesn't necessarily mean they deserve the boot. Manage your team with a calm mind and properly evaluate who is a good fit for your team. The best time to make some roster changes, if needed, is not until week three or four in my opinion, because by then you have a good backlog of performances to make a more informed decision on.

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by Reece "SabrewoIf" Dos-Santos

EU LCS Expansion Tournament: H2k vs Giants Gaming

By Reece "Sabrewolf" Dos-Santos 

With the demons of past failed LCS attempts behind them, H2k took to the stage against Giants Gaming; both teams coming off back-to-back 3-0 sweeps against their first round opponents.

Pick/ban phase

Interestingly, because of how the teams chose to be set up, Giants remained on red side for the whole series. What they aimed to get out of this strategy, however, will remain an enigma.

H2k was relentless in their ban strategy of taking out the threat of xPepii by removing Xerath, Leblanc and Syndra in all three games. Giants, on the other hand, opted to try and adapt their banning to remove one key component of what dismantled them in the previous game: banning Febiven’s game one Jayce in game two and Voidle’s game one and two Janna in game three.

Pick-wise, both teams displayed good variety of picks and compositions. H2k played a poke strategy with Corki and Jayce in game one before moving on to more team fight orientated compositions in games two and three. The only person that played the same champion in all three games was Rydle on Thresh, a champion that worked quite well for him in the series, especially in game three.

Into the Games

One thing that was noticeable to me across this series was the performance of the bottom lane of Giants. While the action in the bottom lane was often overshadowed by the standout performances of H2k’s top half, Adryh and Rydle put up a very good laning phase in all 3 games. Adryh’s Sivir in game one had a 20 minute CS lead six minutes in, in game three they also heavily bullied out the bottom lane of H2k to the point where Hjarnan’s Sivir only managed to get back into the game off the back off the performance of the rest of his team. Despite the consistent lead in Giants’ bottom lane, there was simply nothing the pair could do when faced with the absolute demolition that Loulex, Odoamne and Febiven put up.

Game one saw three consecutive counter ganks from Loulex on the middle lane as Fr3deric tried his hardest to shut down Febiven but subsequently he ended up just pushing himself and xPepii further behind. Giants made a little comeback with 4 kills and the first dragon but the next three went to H2k and Febiven and Loulex slowly choked the Giants out. 

Game two saw a similar story of Giants’ falling behind on a solo lane early on. Odoamne took complete control of the game on Irelia getting a huge cs lead and 4 kills early on. Febiven’s Orianna also played a heavy part in their team fight presence in backing Odoamne who went nuts decimating the Giants in any way possible. One thing that was a slight let down for H2k was Loulex’s tendency to over commit and go in to deep without the proper protection in order to set things up for his team.

While these attempts proved non detrimental in any way, a team in a better position than Giants would have been able to easily pick on these small positional missteps. The biggest error for H2k in game two was over chasing a good fight they could have used to push into the base, gifting two unnecessary kills to xPepii’s Ahri.

Similarly in game three, Loulex’s presence across the map in the early stages was heavy and the H2k solo lanes quickly took control of the map. Odoamne’s Irelia had Werelyb’s Maokai in his back pocket for the whole game and Febiven’s Ahri was a huge threat; however due to H2k’s tendency to make missteps and positional errors, particularly on Loulex’s front, the game took a lot longer to close out than it  should have. H2k’s dragon control was also very lax allowing Giant’s to pick up three, but the fact that this simply did not matter at all proved how far ahead and how oppressive the solo lanes of H2k were throughout this series.

If I had to pick an MVP throughout this series I’d have to give my vote to Febiven, he had a super commanding series knocking xPepii down and keeping him down across all three games. He remained a constant deadly threat and made team fighting very difficult for the Giants.

With this H2k finally live up to their growing hype since the days being Cloud 9 Eclipse and earn their way into the EU LCS as its 9^th team.

by Reece "SabrewoIf" Dos-Santos

EU Expansion Tournament Day One Recap

By Reece "Sabrewolf" Dos-Santos 

EU kicked off their double elimination expansion bracket with Giants Gaming, who eliminated the hyped up Millenium, vs Reason Gaming who are made up of previous LCS players.

Giants executed their pick/ban strategy flawlessly removing Zed and Irelia in all 3 of the games rotating the third ban each time. For games one and two they stuck to the solid 4 champ combo of Pantheon, Jax, Jinx and Thresh while using Leblanc in game one and Azir in game two. The true key to this composition was the sheer dominance that their Pantheon pick displayed in controlling the early game and moving the game to his pace.

First bloods went to Giants in both games and Reason’s Lulu jungle pick in game one was completely steamrolled in its attempts to be relevant, often being blown up before even able to execute an ultimate on a teammate. It was particularly interesting to watch how much Kubon struggled against Werelyb at top and how much extra effort Giants invested into ganking and keeping him down. Most people expected that the giveaway of Gnar to Reason would spell trouble for Giants but they proved this doubt wrong many times throughout the course of games one and two.

Game three of the series showed a bit more life from Reason Gaming who secure first blood on Fr3deric, Kubon on Jax even manages to take a 1v1 kill on Werelyb. However the game once again snowballed out of Reason’s control as Kubon again struggled to maintain any kind of relevance.

The MVP of the series in my opinion is Giants Gaming’s Fr3deric who really set his team’s strangleholds into motion and demonstrated a map wide presence that simply couldn’t be handled by their opposition.

If the series against Millennium wasn’t enough to turn some heads towards Giants as favourites to qualify, I’m sure there will be some heads turning now.

H2K vs FAC

The second series of H2K vs N Faculty displayed the same result of a clean 3-0 crushing any hope of a reverse sweep like seen we’ve commonly in the NA expansion bracket. Unlike Reason Gaming, N Faculty had next to no sign of any kind of life during the series, LCS veteran Xaxus was unable to do anything about his team’s systematic take-down.

H2K went into the series with no particular pick/ban strategy other than removing Syndra and Leblanc from every game. N Faculty banned Xerath, Jayce and Lee in games one and two and Jayce, Ahri, Zed in game three.

The games themselves weren’t kill filled thrill rides and didn’t show off anything too flashy or special, the whole series gave off the impression that N Faculty were playing not to lose rather than to win. Barring game three with dragons, H2K displayed a heavy objective control and slowly drained out N Faculty in all areas before taking the series. There was one point where H2K took two completely uncontested towers in middle in game two, N Faculty were simply nowhere to be seen. Soz Purefect had next to no impact and paled in comparison to Febiven who took the carry seat across the series for H2K.

At times it seemed like H2K were taking the games too slow as they never really made any dynamic decisions or rushed plays. The chessboard takedown of N Faculty showed that H2K never really felt any pressure.

As mentioned above, the MVP of the series would have to go to Febiven who lived up to his hype and completely obliterated his opponent.

Giants vs H2K in the winners match looks to be an exciting series but N Faculty and Reason have a lot to work on in their series if they want to stand a chance against the loser of the winner bracket for the second LCS spot. 

by Reece "SabrewoIf" Dos-Santos

Unicorns of Love Take Down Lyon Gaming

By Reece "Sabrewolf" Dos-Santos

With their first appearance in an international event coming just before their LCS debut, some people were initially sceptical on how the Unicorns of Love would face up to the competition of IEM San Jose. But the team came out to play and play hard.

Pick/Ban phase:

Unicorns of Love stayed adamant on removing Jayce and Zed from the series along with Warwick in game 1 and Pantheon in game 2. Meanwhile Lyon saw to remove Thresh in both games but targeted Pantheon and Vizicsacsi’s odd ball pick Poppy in game 1, then opted to his Gnar instead and remove Warwick.

Lucian and Corki premiered as the only ADC’s picked across the two games played but every other role saw a range of variety, the biggest surprise factor being Kikis’s decision to bring out a Jungle Kayle which in the end worked out rather nicely for him as his team. Generally Unicorns Of Love opted for a “stun and destroy” theme across their team comps focussing on having Braum in both games as well as picking up Syndra and Gnar in game 1 and Irelia in game 2. Meanwhile Lyon Gaming clearly had the idea of picking comps designed to make plays across the map employing a roaming Alistar support in game 1 with Lee Sin and Leblanc. This was attempted again with Orianna, Sion and Evelyn in game 2. The fault in Lyon Gaming’s team comp set ups and playstyle choice however was that they required Lyon to not fall behind and still maintain the ability to actually set up all the plays that the champions enabled, unfortunately for them they simply weren’t ever allowed. 

Game 1:

Game one started off slowly but it was evident that the Unicorns were clawing ahead slowly, by the 6 minute mark both solo lanes were ahead by over 10 cs and Dodo on Alistar had begun to start roaming in order to try and get a 3 man catch with their jungler Thyak. Unfortunately for Lyon this led to unsuccessful gank attempts on Power of Evil and eventually led to Dodo being pink ward baited and killed seven and a half minutes in.

The situation then only began to get worse for Lyon as the solo lane cs lead had doubled to 20 in favour of UOL by 10 minutes and Dodo became more desperate to land another attempt on ganking Power of Evil. By the time they finally succeeded, it only left Maplestreet to get return killed in the bottom lane and put further behind. Thyak managed to land a dream steal on dragon at 13 minutes meanwhile Vizicsacsi increased his cs lead to 50 while taking a tower moments later.

The pressure on Lyon Gaming was evident as Dodo remained fixated on using his Alistar to roam and make plays but they simply never fell into place, instead Maplestreet on Lucian remained a sitting duck to ganks and eventually got pushed out of relevance entirely.

Things looked like they might change as UOL made a sloppy play in topside in an attempt to take an inhibitor tower and gifted away 4 unnecessary kills but the chokehold they had amassed up until this point was simply too much to handle for Lyon Gaming. With 3 dragons, 1 baron and a 14k gold lead, Unicorns of Love took game 1.

Game 2:

Game two in my opinion played out like a mirror image of game one. By the 5 minute mark Vizicsacsi was 10 cs up ahead of Porky again. The clear difference in his impact to Porky’s was so big he was able to teleport bottom lane for the first blood on Dodo, not get the assist for it and still go back to being dominant on his lane. Meanwhile Power of Evil was picking up easy kills on Seeiya.

Lyon however made good use of their Evelyn pick by flanking bottom lane and synergizing the surprise with another surprise appearance of Sion as well. Lyon had also learnt from the mistake of leaving Maple alone and he was provided with more support from Dodo and his team this time around. However by the same point of near 14 minutes Vizicsacsi had once again amassed a 50 cs lead and was fast becoming a monster. This was backed up the sudden 4 slaughter that occurred around 19 minutes lead by Vizicsacsi’s first picked Irelia.

Going into 20 minutes Lyon Gaming had however managed to take 2 dragons but on the flipside they only had 3 kills which were all on Thyak’s lessening impact Evelynn.

In almost an exact repeat of their first game mistake, Unicorns of Love go in big for an inner turret and Vizicsacsi manages to hard dive the team for a kill. But things appear to go south for the Unicorns in the 3^rd dragon dance as they once again over aggress and fall prey to a 4 man shockwave, into Sion Q, into Corki rockets that removes 4 Unicorns from the map instantly. However like in game 1, 4 kills for Lyon appear to mean absolutely nothing as they simply cannot find the resources to hold off the Unicorn’s relentless aggression.

Outlook:

Overall the Unicorns looked impressed throughout this series; they appeared to ramp up as time went on and they got more into the flow of the games but the biggest worry throughout this was their clear over aggression in the mid game period which could be attributed to over-confidence. If Lyon were more able to grab hold of momentum swings they could have heavily punished the Unicorns in both games but once put behind they struggled to have any kind of late game presence. The overall series MVP in my eyes was Vizicsacsi, his top lane dominance was outstanding and entertaining to watch.

GG 2-0 to the Unicorns of Love

by Reece "SabrewoIf" Dos-Santos

Samsung White : 2014 League of Legends' World Champions

by Reece "SabrewoIf" Dos-Santos

Worlds 2014 has been a roller coaster of plays, tears, upsets and high flying performances, but in the end, it was all down to Star Horn Royal Club’s second consecutive finals appearance against Samsung White, who crashed out in groups last year as Samsung Ozone. A lot had changed for both teams, and their respective rides to the finals were both fairly similar in being overlooked by some in favour of other teams from their region as well as being predicted winners by others.

Pick/Bans:

The ban phase from both teams throughout the four matches that were played was static at best. Samsung White was relentless in their commitment to remove Lee Sin and Lucian from all games played while Star Horn Royal Club also shared the same conviction in continuously banning out Alistar and Zilean. Staying on the topic of trends, Star Horn Royal Club also showed a very strong belief in Tristana and Ryze, who both featured in every game for them except game three. I believe their desperation in trying to outscale SSW is what ultimately led to their downfall in this series, as they were taken apart before twenty minutes in every single game except game three. Had Royal Club opted to try and pick a more early or mid-game peaking team comp, they may have had the opportunity to fight back the aggression and sheer dominance of SSW led brilliantly by Dandy’s map pressure.

Samsung White’s picks were successful because they always went for a team comp that had mid game power spikes and could pick individuals off with ease. They played around Dandy’s ability to perfectly execute ganks and skirmishes while continuously punishing the time it took for SHR’s comps to scale. Game 3 was the only one where their picks didn't particularly synergize and the Singed never did have as much impact as when Looper was on Kassadin, Maokai and Rumble. Similarly to how SHR relied a lot on Tristana as an ADC pick, Twitch was also taken by SSW in three of the four games and put to a much greater use than the Tristana pick. If anything, these games certainly stood out as a demonstration of exactly how you put down and keep down a Tristana, even in comps designed to prioritize her.

Games:

Royal Club, in game one, tried to go for a standard “Uzi protection” team comp that relied on Tristana hyper scaling into the late game with Janna and Orianna shields to prevent her ever being taken down. While this had worked in past games and Uzi is undeniably one of the best AD Carries in the world, Samsung White’s early to mid-game domination was simply too much for SHRC to handle and their Hyper carry comp never really got a chance to breathe. First Blood was secured at around 1:20, Dandy wasted no time controlling the enemy jungle with wards and pinks which then allowed for an easy second kill on the bottom lane. By fifteen minutes the score of the first game was 0/6, which went on to also be the story of games two and four. Insec’s performance was particularly lacking in the face of near perfection in Dandy and the pressure really seemed to get to him the most out of all the players on Royal Club. In game one he was killed by the same Jayce shockblast combo twice in quick succession; in game two he failed to secure an easy to kill on Pawn because he decided to walk away and let Damage Over Time deal the killing blow instead of simply attack one more time which allowed for Pawn to escape with a last second Janna shield. Insec’s failure to be relevant in any way compared to his counterpart is only the worst example as every member of Star Horn Royal paled in comparison to the Koreans and even Uzi who was really hyped up failed to put up any kind of relevant showing in games one, two and four. Once he finally got a chance to scale, though down to SSW’s questionable and overconfident picks and choices in game three, he showed what he’s known for but the beast was tamed whenever Samsung White had their feet on the pedal.

If I had to pick a standout performer of the series I would have no choice but to pick Dandy. He completely suppressed Star Horn’s lanes with well-timed ganks, counter ganks and flawless vision control. A lot of Samsung White’s ability to be so frightening is down to how well he and Mata light up the map, his ganks were covered by his team as well as circles of vision to ensure no blank spots could allude to potential danger. It was as close to perfect jungling as I’ve ever seen in my time watching professional League Of Legends, in both synergy and single-handed brilliance.

The question now is what will happen to Samsung White in the coming months, if they can maintain this level of beautiful gameplay it's more than possible that they can be the first team to re-qualify for worlds after winning it. But there is every chance that they could go down the route of SKT T1 K who many also thought were absolutely unstoppable, Only time will tell.

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by Reece "SabrewoIf" Dos-Santos