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Esports
Looking ahead at the NA LCS Spring Split
We run through the teams to watch, the players to keep an eye on and who we think will reign supreme in this year’s NA League of Legends LCS Spring Split.
It’s 2018, it’s a new year and the League of Legends LCS Spring Split is just around the corner. The off-season has almost come to an end and there have been plenty of juicy roster moves and drama leading up to the brand-new season which starts on January 20.
The North American league has received a big cash injection and there are some colourful new faces, new teams and investors, but the veterans still stand vigilant. Even with the new franchise model, we’re looking at another exciting season of League – join us as we run through the big changes to the league, the players we think you should keep an eye on and our predictions on who’s going to take the Spring Split.
The changes to the league
Both the NA and EU LCS formats have been shaken up, all to hopefully bring in more viewers. At first glance, some of these changes might not seem particularly impactful, but they have the potential to completely wake up the west. The LCS has changed to a Bo1 round robin model, going back to its inception. This means that the LCS terms won’t have as many opportunities to practice best-of-series on stage, something they sorely lacked in the past, but it should make for an easier game to watch.
Alongside the format changes, the LCS also has a new start time, as well as ever so slightly shifting broadcast days, all to maximise viewership. What this means is that we should see teams making the most and playing even harder to make up for less game time going forward – which should be a boon for viewers watching at home.
North America’s shift of power to the mid lane
In its past the NA league has been bot-lane heavy, and sparse in the mid. With the introduction of TSM’s Bjergsen and later on Cloud 9’s Jensen, the two Danish stars have transitioned the power to the mid lane. Nevertheless, NA has historically lacked home-grown mid-laner talent. Team Liquid’s Polbelter, previously of Immortals who are now banished from the LCS, is possibly the only convincing candidate. Golden Guardian’s Hai can't be ignored, but his mid presence and capability come from his top-quality shot calling.
The introduction of franchising to the NA LCS, as well as the multiple mid-lane roster changes throughout the preseason, has created a league almost oversaturated with mid-lane contenders. It’s something you’d never expect – even just a few years ago. The so-called European exodus has added some exciting and familiar faces to the rosters of the league – no one team has remained the same. It’s hard to predict team synergy and the inevitable personality clashes, but it appears that the competition has dramatically increased – and all for the better. Instead of Bjergsen and Jensen’s Danish free-for-all of first bloods, we should all look forward to a more balanced mid lane this spring.
Three players to watch out for
Tristan ‘PowerOfEvil’ Schrage
Tristan ‘PowerOfEvil’ Schrage, previously of Europe’s Misfits, a team which surprised analysts at 2017’s World Championship, is an incredibly reliable player and is now playing for OpTic Gaming. He’s had his own grade-A moments, especially in Misfits and Unicorns of Love, but he’s rarely been in the position of team carry. PoE played his role efficiently, staying even against world-class mid laners, like SKT’s Faker.
PowerOfEvil’s not a player to make unnecessary risks, he'll rarely aim to take high-risk plays against his opponent mid laner; instead he chooses to scale, taking advantage of his late-game superiority, and letting the real carries of his team take charge. His dynamic, unpredictable and unorthodox mode of play helped to bring success to his previous teams – maybe he’ll do the same with OpTic.
Mike ‘MikeYeung’ Yeung
TSM’s new jungler is another name to look out for going into this new season. While Mike Yeung is no longer a rookie, it’s fair to say that he’s by far the least experienced member of the team – but he’s definitely one to keep an eye on. He played exceptionally well in his first split under the Phoenix1 banner, achieving the rookie of the split award. Yeung’s playing alongside possibly the most impressive-looking team in recent North American history, with players from both NA and EU holding multiple Spring and Summer Split wins. He’s a player with a lot of promise and joining TSM he now has to show off just what he’s made of, or he’ll surely face some scrutiny.
Yiliang ‘Doublelift’ Peng
Lastly, the polarising AD Carry Yiliang ‘Doublelift’ Peng will no doubt be a crucial player to observe. He’s been a big part of CLG, as well as Team SoloMid, two of the league’s biggest and most popular teams. Now he’s on Team Liquid. An unexpected roster change has led him off a fan-favourite team, to a completely new endeavour. He’s no doubt a valuable player, while many consider him the most competent AD Carry in the league.
At one point in his career he was considering retirement. He took a small break from the TSM roster, but swiftly came back – he has a winner’s mentality, after all. And he’s proved that by winning under both the CLG and TSM banners – but he’s not finished yet. Even though he’s been playing the game for such a long time now, he still has the capacity to win. He’s already stated that he’ll work harder than anyone else in 2018 and become the greatest American player of all time – and he means it.
The new season is upon us
© Riot Games
The teams to look out for
Cloud9
Cloud9’s roster doesn’t look quite as strong as they did last split, but they still hold their key members, and their extensive coaching staff. It’s hard to really ever count them out, because, no matter what happens, they always seem to bounce back. The team still has the solid backbone of European mid-lane star, Jensen and Sneaky in the bot lane – an ever-reliable addition to any top team.
The new addition of Dennis ‘Svenskeren’ Johnsen, TSM’s old jungler, could really shake up the team. Now he has room to breathe, as his previous role was much too supportive for his liking. With Cloud9, he’ll get the opportunity to carry again, much like the old days of SK Gaming.
Team Liquid
Team Liquid are admittedly a team with an element of uncertainty. Again, they have extremely strong and proficient members – especially in Pobelter and Xmithie – but the latest iteration of the team has an overall lack of experience working together. The defining factor that puts Team Liquid apart from everyone else though, is their carry potential all over the map.
The fact that it’s a new year and absolutely every team has changed their roster in one way or another suggests that synergy and team play will suffer widely. By the time the Summer Split starts, every roster should in theory be on the same page as each other, but it’s a different story in the spring.
Lane dominance and personal prowess will outshine, where team play lacks. It’s possible that Liquid will smash their opponents, purely based on their player’s personal performances. Needless to say, Liquid will surely be ones to keep an eye on this season.
Team SoloMid
TSM is often the easy option when opting to predict a winner, and for good reason. They’ve consistently been champions, even under a collection of different rosters. But they usually do have to ramp up a little before they truly perform. In the case of the latest iteration of the team, they have a lot of unpredictability. A new jungler in MikeYeung, as well as a bot lane which, while it's definitely experienced and strong, could push the team out of sync.
They may be a team that have to work on their synergies before they can function properly together as one defined unit. They are, however, very impressive looking on paper. They have a cast of exceptional players that have proved their worth – and on more than just a few occasions. Team SoloMid should have the ability to win this Spring Split and it’s very likely that they’ll at least find themselves contending in the grand finals.
