NA LCS Summer Split: Players to Watch

Posted by Kien Lam at 2 Jun 2017 1:00am

For the first time in NA LCS history, not a single team was relegated. In the offseason, there weren't many roster shuffles -- just a whole bunch of teams that believe they've improved enough to stand on top. Here are my 10 thoughts players to keep a close eye on. Or both of your eyes.

After narrowly losing the MVP vote, Hauntzer probably spent the offseason snapping arrows in half. And losing at MSI. TSM’s international woes continued, but it’s not like they were wildly outclassed (except against SKT, who outclassed everyone). And with Doublelift back, there’s a lot of buzz and hope for TSM faithful. Part of the Spring Split MVP result was due to Hauntzer splitting votes with Bjergsen, which perhaps was a precursor for what’s to come. Resources will be even scarcer with Doublelift on the team. Hauntzer blossomed in the spring, and relinquishing those resources may come to be a point of contention. That’s a good “problem,” though (“Oh no, we have too many good players!”). This roster gives TSM a ton of flexibility in the pick and ban phase. It’s a luxury to have options. TSM can pool their resources anywhere and expect to find success. Top, mid, bot, banana, the payload -- you name it! Hauntzer can play pretty much any style -- if you went back a year and told people Hauntzer might eventually carry a team with Bjergsen and Doublelift on it, people would report you for intentionally feeding. TSM is without a doubt the early favorite to win the NA LCS again.

Contractz’s rookie split had its ups and downs, though perhaps he was judged a little too intensely by the massive C9 fan base. Jungle is a role C9 has not had stability in for a couple years now. They didn’t make any roster adjustments over the brief offseason, but they didn’t really need to. They were only a split second misplay away from reverse sweeping TSM in the Spring Finals. The Impact and Ray rotation in top lane developed into a potent weapon by the end of the split, and they have every reason to expect it to evolve even further. Especially if Contractz can continue to improve -- he has a chance to become one of North America’s best homegrown talents. And if Meteos can learn Lee Sin in an hour with C9, then imagine what Contractz learned after his first season. C9 could win it all if he can consistently bring the mechanical talent that earned him Rookie of the Split honors.

You could turn Lake Michigan into an ocean with all the salt thrown at Arrow after he won MVP of Spring Split. But what he did last split was pretty incredible. Everyone else was complaining about ADCs being weak, but Arrow still placed his team on his shoulders. And it’s not that P1 was lacking in other roles so much as Arrow shined. He was highly touted coming from Korea, and he delivered. He can play any champion and at any pace his team requires. And while he speaks some English, rotating through three different supports and two junglers was no easy task. Some stability will make both him and P1 even scarier. And his topknot will only grow. There is power in good hair.

Aphromoo is one of the premier leaders in all of esports -- he has long stood at the helm of a group of players all accustomed to heavy criticism. Enter Dardoch. Purported “bad guy.” Steals your CS. Your Barons. Your lunch money. You name it. There’s a Mighty Ducks script in here somewhere. There are few doubts about Dardoch's talent -- CLG fans should be excited to have an aggressive jungler. And if there’s one team that can help him control his emotions, then it’s CLG -- the original home for star junglers with bad attitudes. The responsibility, then, lies with Aphromoo -- the longtime captain. Dardoch can find a home with CLG. He can help bring back the Faith Age. But it’s up to Aphromoo to lead the way.

FlyQuest’s strategy last season was simple. They won off of a Hai Risk Baron call or they lost off a High Risk Baron call. It’s a slight nuance (you can tell the difference based on whether they all die or not), but that’s all it takes to snowball a game in the wrong direction. The group added another veteran in WildTurtle -- one of the few players with longer LCS tenure than Hai, Balls, and LemonNation. It’s easy to forget that Turtle thrived last year on IMT, and maybe FLY will be able to replicate a similar environment. Turtle can’t be overextended if Hai overextends before him. FLY’s aggressive playstyle has thus far revolved around Hai and Moon coordinating plays. They’ll need to filter out the bad aggression in order to challenge the top teams in the NA LCS.

Ssumday quietly had a strong debut season in the NA LCS. He helped reverse Team Dignitas’ early season woes as they snuck into the playoffs. But that wasn’t enough. He wasn’t supposed to be quiet. Ssumday was in the conversation for best top laner in the world while he was on KT Rolster. He was expected to destroy his competition in NA. DIG fans need to embrace "the process," though. With a split under his belt and much improved English, this Summer will be Ssumday's chance to reassert his prowess. If Dignitas plays like they did during their second half resurgence in the Spring Split, then I think we’ll find him in contention for the MVP award. It may finally be time for a top laner to win the top award. And if not now, then maybe... Ssumday.

Sometimes you can be too smart for your own good. With 200 IQ, Pobelter is maybe so far ahead at times that he’s actually behind. Like when you’re about to lap someone in Mario Kart -- sure, you’re technically ahead, but you look like you’re behind. Pobelter was the OG teenage prodigy in NA. But no longer. Splits have come and come again, but Pobelter has yet to truly shine. Maybe it’s just a perception thing -- maybe he never got enough credit on winning teams or maybe he got too much blame on losing teams. But now, with a supportive and consistent jungler in Xmithie, IMT is Pobelter’s team. Or, at least, it should be. IMT needs the emergence of the Notorious POB -- not just regular Pobelter -- if they want to get to Worlds.

It looked like NA might get its very own first blood king when Akaadian leapt to an impressive start in the spring. But like Echo Fox, that initial hype went to the curbside. What looked like an easy Rookie of the Split nod was hushed by FOX’s struggles. Akaadian has the tall task of juggling his desire to carry as a jungler with enabling two potent solo laners in Froggen and Looper. He’ll need to find the middle ground to forge his own identity. Or at least reclaim his knack for first blood if FOX is to challenge for the NA LCS title this split. Whether he’s Ayyykaadian or Okaadian will greatly influence how FOX finishes this summer.

If Liquid finds themselves struggling this split, you can bet the fine memers of the world will suggest Piglet role swap to a different lane again. But that’s too easy. What Piglet needs to do then is role swap from ADC to Marksman. No one will see it coming. “Where’s their ADC?” they’ll say. But Piglet will just be firing away from the safe comfort of the Marksman role. Liquid will field the exact same roster they opened with last split. And subsequently chopped up. Was GoldenGlue’s Korean hyperbolic time chamber that successful? While Glue was gone, Piglet’s stint in mid lane showcased his desire to make plays -- he found success flanking in team fights. You can replicate that with Twitch. And new champion Xayah also brings a lot of playmaking potential. ADCs in general are in a much better spot at the moment, and that may bode well for Liquid’s shots this summer.

LirA getting First Team All NA LCS honors despite his team’s struggles is like getting an S+ rating in a losing effort. Sure, it’s nice, but you still lose elo. One common explanation for junglers who struggle is that a jungler’s performance is more reflective of how the team does than any other role. It’s easy to look bad as a jungler when every lane needs help. But Envy actually looked solid or even good in lane phase throughout the Spring Split. A lot of that was thanks to LirA. NV’s problem was mostly in the mid game. This split, though, we introduced the 15 minute surrender. Maybe they’ll be able to encourage the enemy team to forfeit and thus skip the mid and late game altogether. Or... maybe they’ll just improve their understanding and execution of win conditions. NV has the pieces to be scary.

The road to Worlds resumes on Friday at 3 pm PT as Cloud9 takes on Counter Logic Gaming to kick off the NA LCS Summer Split.

Back