Week 2 of the League of Legends Championship Series (LCS) saw the old guard of professional teams again rising to the top of their regions.
The North American LCS remains a relatively close affair with 3 teams tied for 1st, 4 for 4th and 3 for 8th. Both Team Solo Mid and Counter Logic Gaming, veteran teams in North America, are sitting in 1st place with records of 3W – 1L. Joining them is Gravity, a team enjoying strong success in their first ever LCS split.
Cloud 9 managed to redeem themselves somewhat this week by scoring their first victory against week 1 front runners Team Liquid, taking them to 1W – 3L. After a huge first week Team Liquid were looking to continue their streak into week 2 with the arrival of their new starting Marksman Piglet. The dream run ended there however, with losses to both Cloud 9 and Team Solo Mid knocking them back to a 2W – 2L record.
This week also saw the debut of Kalista into the North American LCS. Picked by 3 of the regions top marksman to great success, she was highly effective and proved a strong pick. The bottom lane of Counter Logic Gaming displayed particular finesse with their “Balista” combination.
It seems highly likely that Kalista will be a target ban against the 3 teams who have played her so far unless other teams can master her quickly.
The game to watch for NA this week is Cloud 9 vs Team Liquid. This game was both the debut of Kalista in North America, played by Sneaky of Cloud 9, and of Team Liquid Marksman Piglet.
Things are decidedly less even in the European LCS however, with 2 of the giants of EU sitting alone on 4W – 0L. Both Fnatic and SK Gaming have maintained a perfect record so far this split. The two teams don’t meet until week 5, leaving the distinct possibility of them remaining unbeaten for 2 more weeks until they finally face each other.
The standings are much more spread out in Europe due to the dominance of Fnatic and SK. Only one team is yet to win a game in either LCS this split, with that unfortunate honour going to Gambit Gaming. Plagued by roster issues and having to face both SK and Fnatic this week, Gambit have had a rough start to the Spring split.
The game to watch for Europe this week is fan favourite Unicorns of Love taking on Giants Gaming. The Unicorns run rampant against an underwhelming Giants, outplaying them all over the map. Mid Laner for Unicorns Power of Evil goes huge on Kassadin while Jungler Kikis gives a workshop on how to play Rek’Sai.
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