So lets go back and recap briefly on perceived calculations on who will make it through the group stage.
High (40-50%)
- Quantic Gaming
- The Walking Zed
- vVv Gaming
3. COGnitive Gaming
2nd team to qualify through #1 Season 4 Spring NA Qualifiers
courtesy of lol.gamepedia.com
| Cris | Cristian Rosales | Top | |
| Captain Ziploc | William Despard | Jungle | |
| Zamphira | François Boucher | Mid | |
| nothinghere | Gabriel Charbonneau | AD | |
| Zaineking | Will Bottrell | Support |
Somewhat newcomers to the challenger scene, hit a big momentum stride to earn them 2nd place in the PAX Prime qualifying tournament for Season 4. It seemed like COGnitive was on the rise during that time, Zamphira and iDream argubly there two best players carried COGnitive throughout the tournament. They played superb games over New World Eclipse but CompLexity stopped the rise and put them in 2nd which also denied them the easy chance to qualify already for the Season 4 Group Stage. Unfortunately for COG since they lost it out at PAX they have not been the best (4-19 in North American Challenger League).
They have kept mostly the same lineup but coming out from Reddit that they have to replace iDream with Cris, former top laner for Velocity Esports, due to iDream's pursuit of school. The roster switch affects the team synergy so much more for COGnitive and will have to learn with Cris with so little preparation time. They won most of there games by there knowledge of the game and solid laning plays, but it can only carry you so far. COG's biggest question can they effectively form together as a team, especially with a new member for the lineup?
They have kept mostly the same lineup but coming out from Reddit that they have to replace iDream with Cris, former top laner for Velocity Esports, due to iDream's pursuit of school. The roster switch affects the team synergy so much more for COGnitive and will have to learn with Cris with so little preparation time. They won most of there games by there knowledge of the game and solid laning plays, but it can only carry you so far. COG's biggest question can they effectively form together as a team, especially with a new member for the lineup?
Honorable Mention:
Nothinghere the Marksman for COGnitive ever since PAX Prime has been one of the budding stars for COGnitive as a whole, but can he release some of the pressure that the team needs to qualify?
Chance to make it to the LCS - Low
2. compLexity Gaming
1st in the PAX Prime Spring Promotional Qualifier
courtesy of lol.gamepedia.com
| MegaZero | Patrick Glinsman | Top | |
| Ninjaken | Andy Nong | Jungle | |
| Jintae | Justin Dinh | Mid | |
| Chuuper | Samuel Chu | AD | |
| MeyeA | Abe Nguyen | Support |
The once Season 3 Spring LCS team compLexity Gaming now a former image of themselves have a lot of changes during there Challenger time, which caused some turmoil but ultimately many successes. After the LCS team did not make it to qualify for Season 3 Summer (due to the innovative tactics of Ezreal Jungle by Velocity Esports) compLexity played in the challenger scene. They lost to FXOpen in the MLG Promotional Tournament possibly due to not securing there ADC since Chuuper wasn't doing the best and Brunch left the team, for the tournament and compLexity were in flux. They pushed on and trained Chupper (former Mid laner for compLexity) to become there Marksman/AD Carry. This plus gaining experiencing in league play through the Mobafire Challenger Series brought them great success ultimately winning the MCS. The next tournament during the time was the PAX Promotional Tournament in which they dispatched both opponents easily (FXOpen - now To Be Determined, and COGnitive) to earn the 2nd spot in the Spring Promotional tournament. Overall the team was set to be one of the longest if not the longest top challenger team together, but roster changes still happened for them.
Unfortunately this is another team that are amidst roster changes and a new member by group stage time. This was caused by losing Lautemortis due to time commitment issues and releasing pr0lly from the team. They substituted Ninjaken, Team Solo Mid substitute, for Lautemortis and just announced on twitter that they'll be using Jintae, former Good Gaming University/Denial Esports Mid Laner. Overall they have the experience (most of all the members of compLexity were in the LCS) but with most of the former members gone, the last founding members of compLexity, MeyeA and Chupper, are the people to provide that foundation for the team.
Overall I feel with there experience Megazero/Jintae they'll be fine and they'll still be able to advance, but also since Ninjaken is still in high school they might also have to find another jungler (which I would believe they'll just put Lautemortis back for then).
Biggest question of course is team synergy, but also how much pressure are they going to put on Megazero now that they added Jintae who has a very limited champion pool?
Honorable Mention:
The organization of compLexity Gaming have brought great teams together and the roster on paper is star filled. Megazero a star in his own right during his time on Season 3 Spring LCS, Jintae the unsung hero to lead GGU to a 2nd place finish in the S3 Spring LCS, Chupper/MeyeA a developing duo that have been solid throughout the NACL/MCS season, and Ninjaken a young and future LCS type player.
Chance to make it to the LCS - Medium
1. To Be Determined
1st in the MLG Summer Championships
courtesy of lol.gamepedia.com
| Westrice | Jon Nguyen | Top | ||||
| Brokenshard | Ram Djemal | Jungle | ||||
| Arthelon | Taylor Eder | Mid | ||||
| ROBERTxLEE | Robert Lee | AD | ||||
| Bubbadub | Royce Newcomb | Support |
The final team is another team that solidified there roster in the first few weeks of NACL play, but have hit there stride at the right time. To Be Determined have gone through a surge of greatness during the time they won the MLG Summer Championships went through a big downturn once the aggressive split push style was the one trick pony of TBD and now are on the rise especially coming into patch 3.14 (less vision at the moment from teams all around, and the solo laners (Westrice and Arthelon) champion picks are favored on this patch).
The team itself have had a few roster changes since TBD finished 4th in the Mobafire Challenger Series, they lost the Team Astral Poke's support NydusHerMain to Gold Gaming Los Angeles and had to try out new subs until they locked on into Bubbadub. They also went through the season of NACL with heaventime, and unfortunately could not rely on shot calling and once coach now EU turned NA Jungler Brokenshard moved into the team, it has seems that the team has been communicating better.
Overall good timing for TBD there roster changes happened early in the NACL season. This helped solidify the core of the lineup which is Arthelon, RobertxLee and Westrice. The team are 13-9 in NACL play and have played very well in the National ESL Pro Series.
Overall good timing for TBD there roster changes happened early in the NACL season. This helped solidify the core of the lineup which is Arthelon, RobertxLee and Westrice. The team are 13-9 in NACL play and have played very well in the National ESL Pro Series.
The biggest question are the solo laners for TBD. 3.14 favors alot of aggression which fits into both Westrice and Arthelon's champion pool, but can they keep consistent throughout the group stage to not make the team have to comeback from early mishaps?
Honorable Mention:
The team is highlighted by RobertXLee the ADC/Marksman for TBD. One of the best Marksman/ADC mechanically in the challenger scene has carried teams before but having the backing of veteran leadership does not have to rely on himself to carry the team.
Chance to make it through the group stage - High (40-50%)
Chance to make it to the LCS - Medium
Chance to make it to the LCS - Medium
That does it for the previews of the teams! Tonight before everything starts I'll post another blog stating my predictions and *hopefully* a vlog attached reiterating and expanding on some of the quick information I put down for the teams in the group stage! Otherwise tell me what you think, do compLexity with there new roster just roll over the competition, how big will it be if COGnitive get through the group stage, how likely is it for To Be Determine to stay "Solid" throughout the group stage?
Mmm I never really thought of Jintae as having a limited champ pool, but then I'm probably biased lol. I always feel like he's got enough champions to use, but yes, he definitely favours some champions heavily (cough Ori cough) over others.
ReplyDeleteBut yeah, coL's members have pretty good individual skill, but the question is how good their teamwork will be with such little time to practice together. Jintae never even hinted at joining a team, although fans were asking about it often, so there's no idea how long he's actually been practicing with the team- though I suppose we can guess by looking at when pr0lly was let go, which was only about 2 weeks ago.
So far though, it looks like you don't think the challenger teams are going to fare too well against the LCS teams, giving only I think Quantic a high chance of getting into LCS. Sadly, I pretty much have to agree. Most of the teams are just too inexperienced to perform well against the more experienced LCS teams, and a lot of the players on the challenger teams have more limited champion pools.
As much as I wish I could see two of my favourite mid players in LCS... I'm pretty sure it's not gonna happen at this time. Oh well.
Great summary! I will say though, there are a few grammar/spelling errors throughout (ie. I think the word is snippets). Not a huge deal, don't really detract from the writing, just thought I'd tell you they're there.
Can't wait to see the vlog for this! I'd love to see some more in-depth analysis of the teams, and maybe a little on the LCS teams? I think they've experienced some rather large roster changes as well since the S3 times.
Yeah not a strong writer, but i'll try! Once the seeds have been decided i'll do some speculation posts updates and such to keep it fresh rather than preview the LCS relegation teams now
ReplyDelete