After another 2-0 week, Cloud9 look to keep the undefeated ball rolling in the Summer Split with matches against Counter Logic Gaming (CLG) and Dignitas in Week 4. CLG are coming off a 1-1 Week 3 and Dignitas is currently without a win, three straight 2-0 weeks.
Counter Logic Gaming: 4-2 (Through Week 3)
In one of the more surprising events of the Summer Split so far, Counter Logic Gaming (CLG) are not bad at all. Having already surpassed their win total from spring (3) in just one-third of the games played, CLG currently sit in a five-way tie for second behind Cloud9. There seems to be a pattern forming here. Each week this split Cloud9 have played a team occupying the second-place slot, or a team dubbed second best as with their match against FlyQuest in Week 1. Cloud9 keeps knocking them down in a dominating fashion, further proving their stranglehold over the LCS.
The biggest difference this split for CLG is better team play. This is a testament to the talent on the team and just how bad they were in spring. They are actually playing as a cohesive unit and have identified their win condition, Eugene “Pobelter” Park. The offseason was a necessity for CLG as they were able to build chemistry and it gave the rest of the team time to gel with Pobelter. CLG do not dominate in their wins, but they come together when it matters. They successfully punish teams for slight mistakes and snowball from there. Which is unfortunate for them because Cloud9 ignore mistakes. Cloud9 comes at teams like piranhas at a piece of meat. CLG will have to come up with some funky strategy to challenge Cloud9 this week.
Player to Watch: Yasin “Nisqy” Dincer, Cloud9
CLG’s strongest and most experienced player is their midlaner Pobelter. They consistently play through him and it will be up to Nisqy to either give resources to other lanes or completely shut down Pobelter. Both are very proficient on control mages, although they have not played many games on them this split. Nisqy does have a larger champion pool and will have Robert “Blaber” Huang as a safety net. It would not be surprising for CLG to save their last pick for Pobelter in order to prevent the dreaded counter-pick from Nisqy. In reality, Cloud9 will probably draft Nisqy’s champion early in the Pick/Ban Phase due to their macro plans.
Prediction – Cloud9
Dignitas: 0-6 (Through Week 3)
With Immortals and 100 Thieves both destroying their opponents Nexus’, when will Dignitas finally achieve the same? Not this game. Last split Dignitas record was 3-3 after Week 3, so what is different? Well, the biggest difference is no Huni. Heo “Huni” Seung-hoon’s contract was terminated and he left to Evil Geniuses between splits but has yet to play an LCS game. Apparently he meant more for the team than anyone could have predicted. Dignitas attempted to fill the void Huni left by signing Omran “V1PER” Shoura. V1PER was then replaced 4 games in by veteran Samson “Lourlo” Jackson. Prior to FlyQuest’s run to the Spring Finals, V1PER was replaced by Colin “Solo” Earnest. Is V1PER the new Good Luck Chuck?
The biggest issue with Dignitas is their weak and very disjointed macro play. During their 47-minute “Hell-In-A-Cell” match with Team Liquid, Dignitas made costly and questionable macro decisions. The biggest mistake would be clearing minions outside the base when there is a Jayce forcing his way through top lane while Dignitas had no Inhibitors. Of course, that cost them the game. Also their reluctance to fight when they have advantages. Dignitas had Elder Dragon buff, which has a True Damage burn and put zero pressure on Team Liquid. Whenever Team Liquid got a buff, a dragon or Baron, Dignitas would just turtle and play extremely passively. All they would do is clear waves and wait for the Team Liquid buff to wear off.
Cloud9’s match against Immortals was expected to be a stomp until Immortals’ cleaned house and brought back their LCS roster from spring. Barring any drastic moves from Dignitas, this matchup will be that stomp. When a team whose weakness is macro play meets a team who only plays the map, nothing good will come of it. Cloud9 will repeatedly run over Dignitas, possibly resulting in the fastest game of the split.
Player to Watch: Jesper “Zven” Svenningsen
Dignitas loves to play through Johnson “Johnsun” Nguyen in the bottom lane. Zven is a better and more aggressive player. Factor in the “Sournois de Québécois” aka Philippe “Vulcan” Laflamme and one has a bottom lane that will just roll over Johnsun and Zaqueri “aphromoo” Black. Blaber will always be a threat to Dignitas, allowing Zven to play more aggressively.
Prediction – Cloud9
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