Week 7 of the 2020 LCS Spring Split was a bizarre one, even for Immortals. They started out with a loss to 100 Thieves, who gained large leads in the solo lanes and snowballed. However, Immortals turned around and beat Team Liquid through superior fighting, including a Pentakill for Apollo. The 1-1 weekend puts Immortals tied with Evil Geniuses and 100 Thieves for fourth place at 7-7. Heading into Week 8, TSM and FlyQuest are Immortals’ next foes.
Theoretically, Week 8 will be a 0-2 for TSM, as they have been flip-flopping 2-0 and 0-2 each week. However, this will probably be the week they break the curse. TSM are coming off a stellar pair of performances, beating previously undefeated Cloud9 and second place rivals FlyQuest These were the clear top two teams until TSM took them down back-to-back. If fate does not gift Immortals the win, then this match-up will be TSM-favored.
Immortals played TSM back in Week 1, and actually won. This was the 61-minute match that warped their average game time. Even now, Immortals and TSM have the longest average game times in the LCS, but they are only about 1 minutes slower than the rest. The biggest difference, though, is TSM’s +558 gold difference at 15 versus Immortals’ -943. TSM tends to win the early game, while Immortals tends to fall behind and either get snowballed on or claw their way back in.
PENTAKILL! With an impressive performance all game and a beautiful pentakill to finish off Team Liquid, @ApolloPrice is our IMT MVP of the game! #IMTWIN
IMT MVP presented by @toyotasocal #ToyotaSoCal pic.twitter.com/dck0MOO1kh
— Immortals (@Immortals) March 10, 2020
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TSM’s top side of the map is very strong, especially compared to Immortals. The bottom lane is one that Immortals could target in draft and on the Rift to gain an advantage. Immortals’ ADCs (both Altec and Apollo) have proven to be the most consistent in wins and losses. Apollo scored a killer Pentakill in their win versus Team Liquid.
In reality, TSM should win fairly convincingly. They just need to repeat what 100 Thieves did versus Immortals. Give Broken Blade and Bjergsen strong laning champions, and have Dardoch camp top-side. Immortals tends to rely on scaling, especially in top lane, which gives their opponent a clear win condition. TSM’s top-jungle-mid trio has been their greatest early game strength anyway, so this should be quite the mismatch.
FlyQuest was Immortals’ other Week 1 opponent, where V1per’s Riven and IgNar’s Blitzcrank ran rampant. FlyQuest took down Immortals pretty easily. Both teams have come a long way since that game. FlyQuest has not been able to draft Riven since then. PowerOfEvil has stood out as an MVP candidate. Immortals has substituted Apollo for Altec, and has slowly decayed down the standings.
FlyQuest and Immortals are actually a good match for each other. They both have weaker top lanes, controlled junglers, longtime consistent bottom laners, and supports that like to roam and control vision. The biggest mismatch is mid lane, where FlyQuest has a clear advantage. PowerOfEvil has exhibited much more influence in his matches, compared to Eika. Not only does PowerOfEvil show stronger laning phases, but he also maximizes his damage better than any other mid laner.
Xmithie has the highest First Blood Victim rate, while Santorin has the lowest (Games of Legends)
Xmithie could be the difference-maker in this match. Tracking in the early game, superior mid-game rotations and smart late-game objective control are Immortals’ best tools for beating FlyQuest. Unfortunately, Xmithie has the highest First Blood Victim rate (28.6 percent), while Santorin has yet to fall victim to First Blood. Immortals needs to make sure their first few levels do not go awry, as was the case against 100 Thieves last week.
This is a prediction based on trends, rather than the actual match-up. Immortals continue to win games they should be losing, as they have all split. Between TSM and FlyQuest, FlyQuest seems like the more likely opponent to lose to Immortals in Week 8. If Eika and Xmithie can mitigate disaster the first six levels, then Immortals will be a contender. Top and bottom lanes should be fine match-ups for Immortals, as long as they draft to their strengths.
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