After three weeks of competitive play, the race for battle of best mid-laner in the LCS is beginning to shape out. You have Felix “Abbedagge” Braun as the clear favorite — given his stylistic flexibility along with the success of 100 Thieves. You can’t discount the performances of Nicolaj “Jensen” Jensen and Tristan “PowerOfEvil” Schrage. Daniele “Jiizuke” di Mauro has put together some brilliant performances. And then, there is the rookie mid-laner on the worst team in North America that is slowly gaining attention.
Just as everyone expected it to be.
Nicholas “Ablazeolive” Abbott has widely been recognized as one of the best prospects in North America. Whether it was the respect he received as the first overall pick for 2017 Scouting Grounds or the fact that he would be the face of TSM’s academy line-up for a long period of time, he has been on everyone’s radar for some time. Now, he’s finally getting the opportunity to showcase what he is capable of. The spring split didn’t go as intended for his professional debut but things are changing in the summer.
Coaching Correction
If we go way back towards the start of the season, Golden Guardians weren’t as bad as their 1-5 record led on. It would feature Abbott on champions that wanted to influence the map — Twisted Fate, Galio, Sett — with the occasion mage thrown in. His playmaking ability would shine and Golden Guardians would present themselves as an early skirmishing team. In their lone Lock-In Tournament win against Counter Logic Gaming, their four-man collapse to contest rift herald helped turn the game on its head.
However, Golden Guardians never really revisited this formula in their spring split. Instead, it was control mage duty — having a combined 1-11 performance on Syndra, Azir, Orianna and Viktor. He would average a minor gold lead (+93) and experience lead (+8) at 10 minutes but looked relatively out of place in the mid-to-late game. This made a lot of sense. The team around him would collapse early in the game. GGS’s average gold deficit at fifteen minutes was -956.
Golden Guardians understood that something had to change in the mid-season if they were looking to be presentable in the summer — not necessarily contenders. Switching out a developing top-laner for someone that could provide more stability in the role helped reduce the impact of early game woes — improving to only being behind 612 at fifteen minutes. They would switch out supports — going with the young, promising academy support.
And the changes would be complemented with a refreshed approach to the game on the rift.
Moving Ablazeolive off mages was a great start. While his performance on Zoe against Cloud9 was impressive, he’s been much more comfortable on mobile champions. His Viego, his Lee Sin, his Sylas have all looked great this season. It has also allowed him to have much more of a presence on the game — something that at times, would be lost and in the spring. It no longer feels like he wouldn’t even make an appearance in losses, he’s been actively shown trying to get his team out of a bad situation.
Getting Things Cooking
Ablazeolive has been making his money this split in the skirmishes. He’s first among mid-laners in percentage of his team’s kills (37.9%) and third in damage per minute (504).
Evil Geniuses did an excellent job at containing Ablazeolive for most of the game with not only a favorable mid lane match-up but constant pressure. He would be without a record on the scorecard until the 19th minute when Golden Guardians would pounce on an overeager push. In these moments where an opportunity presents itself, he’s been able to take advantage of it this split.
But most of the time, it isn’t on Ablazeolive to get things going. He’s shown a ton of poise in the laning phase and can hold down the fort. Its on his team. It is why the improvement in performance from Ethan “Iconic” Wilkinson has been critical. He’s by no means a top jungler in North America, he’s just been more involved than his spring self. An improvement in the synergy between Golden Guardians’ mid, jungle and support was key in their day one upset over Cloud9 — especially around the extended 12 minute dragon fight. Another example being Golden Guardians’ reaction to an overextension from Dignitas — where all five members on the map react accordingly and bring the game back into their favor.
The best thing about Ablazeolive’s summer split is how the Golden Guardians team is helping him have an excellent split.
The Most Promising Young North American Mid
It has been a guessing game between Ablazeolive, Cristian “Palafox” Palafox and David “Insanity” Challe as to who would try to break from the pack. And while Insanity has shown a ton of promise, Ablazeolive is the more complete package when it comes to mid lane prospects. He has the tools to be excellent in the laning phase, has stylistic flexibility that can be improved on and is clearly mechanically sound when it comes to fighting.
It doesn’t feel too early to think that Golden Guardians might have a franchise guy here.
North America has been searching for its native talent that could shift the swing of things. It has been this search for someone that can check all of the boxes. What he has managed to do early in his career in one of the most difficult positions has been praised by members of the community and rightfully so. Because if given the time and the attention, Abbott could find himself in a position to have a long LCS career.
He does feel like a good player in a bad situation yet he’s doing everything in his power to make the most of said situation. He’s not someone that acknowledges it, he’s someone that tries to grow from it. It is one of the best stories. Hopefully, it’s a story we will still able to read.
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