The fifth week of the 2019 LCS Spring Split brought two losses to 100 Thieves, Counter Logic Gaming, FlyQuest and Echo Fox. On the other hand, TSM, Team Liquid, Cloud9 and OpTic Gaming took 2-0s, while Clutch Gaming and Golden Guardians went 1-1. Winning teams mostly have better teamwork compared to losing teams, but certain individuals did stand out above others in week five.
The Fantastic Four recognizes four different players from different teams that exhibited different strengths in their gameplay. To review the qualifications for these awards, read week one’s piece.
The Thing – OPT Crown
OpTic started two different junglers in LCS week five -Meteos against 100 Thieves and Dardoch against Clutch. Crown held the team together across both rosters and played very well in both games. While his Ryze had a rough start in game one, Crown kept it together long enough to scale and become a strong force for the team. His Zoe was annoyingly powerful versus Clutch, even securing a solo kill against Damonte’s Syndra.
Arrow also showed a good pair of games in week five, but OpTic drafted his champion after the opponents’ bottom laners were showing in both matches. Meanwhile, Crown had one blind pick, one counter. OpTic’s games felt so anchored around mid lane, crucial for their victories so far. Moving forward, Crown will need to continue exhibiting this level of control against stronger opponents.
Mr. Fantastic – CG Huni
Huni looked so much better this week than in week four, and Clutch Gaming was the beneficiary. He put up a 5-0-2 scoreline on Cassiopeia in game one, and played very well as Malphite into a losing Vladimir lane match-up game two. Golden Guardians and OpTic felt Huni’s presence at all stages of their games, especially compared to CLG and FlyQuest in week four.
Week five’s games showed some of Huni’s high points since joining Clutch this year. It’s clear that he and Lira have huge impacts on CG’s wins and losses, so consistency will be key moving forward. Next week, they play 100 Thieves and Echo Fox, totally beatable opponents. Clutch and Huni need to ride their week five success into those match-ups. Week six will probably prove very important for the fifth and sixth playoff spot, since so many teams are one win apart.
Human Torch – C9 Nisqy
The first Cloud9 member to receive the Human Torch, Nisqy popped off on Sylas in both week five games. Between FlyQuest and CLG, Nisqy finished 6-1-17 on the weekend. In both matchups, he tended to have the highest impact with jungler ultimates – Sejuani’s Glacial Prison and Jarvan IV’s Cataclysm.
To make matters more impressive, CLG and FLY drafted their mid laners after seeing the Sylas. Pobelter opted for Leblanc, while PowerofEvil took Orianna. Neither pick put the Sylas very far behind, and Cloud9 played much better around cooldowns and objectives than either opponent. The two wins brings Sylas’ win rate to 71 percent in the LCS, 75 percent for mid laners.
Invisible Woman – FOX Fenix
Echo Fox suffered its first 0-2 week this year, losing to Team Liquid and Golden Guardians. Fenix still performed really well, though. As his team kind of crumbled around him against Team Liquid, Fenix tried his best to poke out their members with Zoe. Golden Guardians’ Froggen got fed on Viktor, but that didn’t stop Fenix from farming and disrupting on Corki.
In both losses Echo Fox seemed pigeonholed, slowly losing out on the game, but Fenix never rolled over. He looked for Sleepy Trouble Bubbles and Paddle Stars onto Team Liquid, and utilized the long range Valkyries and Missile Barrages to stop Golden Guardians from doing what they wanted. Honestly, Fenix has been a strong mid laner all year so far, and deserves the recognition for admirable play in week five.
CREDITS
Images from LoL Esports Flickr
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