The matchup we’ve all been anticipating since the start of the LCS, “Cloud 9 White against Cloud 9 Blue.” For obvious reasons, this is the highlight match of the week for most viewers. Current Cloud 9 were heralded as the top dogs heading into the split, so it’s no surprise that they sit atop the standings at 6-0.
The old school veterans of Cloud 9 now have a chance to prove that they’re better than the members who replaced them. Flyquest were coming in as “washed up” former pros that everyone expected to be fighting towards the bottom. With a 5-1 record, Flyquest will have a lot to prove this week as they face some of their toughest opponents so far in Phoenix1 and Cloud 9.
Solo Laners and Macro Play
Cloud 9 have been winning games through their mid-game team fighting abilities and superior shotcalling. Along with that, Cloud 9 have top talent in just about every position. Similarly for Flyquest, they’re often looking to just go even in laning phase before exploding for early baron calls and immaculate shot calling we’ve come to expect from mid laner Hai “Hai” Lam.
The difference between the two is that Flyquest doesn’t exactly have top talent in their roles. Individually, they don’t do phenomenal in lane as opposed to Cloud 9. C9 have some of the best solo laners in Jung “Impact” Eon-yeong and Nicolaj “Jensen” Jensen.
For Flyquest, An ”Balls” Le and Hai have never been known as strong mechanical laners, but do what their team needs. Despite having the worst CS differential@10 among tops, Balls has the third highest KDA. Hai currently has the most kills of all mids along with the highest damage percentage. Hai’s shotcalling has also reminded us that you can never truly count any roster out as long as he’s there.
We witnessed this firsthand when Hai retired and was brought back to salvage a struggling Cloud 9 team. Through the leadership of Hai, Cloud 9 turned around a seventh place finish into a magical run through the gauntlet to qualify for Worlds.
Hai and Balls will be looking to take revenge on the players that replaced them. Meanwhile, Jensen and Impact will look to prove that Cloud 9 made the right choices in doing so.
Jungle Matchup
In the Jungle, Cloud 9 rookie Juan “Contractz” Garcia is facing off against Flyquest’s Galen “Moon” Holgate. Contractz had been praised as being the next up and coming rookie talent from North America. He has not disappointed so far, and looks to be improving every week.
For Moon, not many expected this kind of performance from him. He was once in Contractz’ shoes, seen as an up and coming talent, but never really developed into what many had hoped. Under the veteran leadership of Flyquest, Moon has been able to finally show the NALCS that he is a top jungler in this league.
Moon and Contractz currently hold the top KDA’s among junglers at 6.5 and 4.8 respectively. It will be exciting to see just how well these two do against each other. They both look to be contenders for the best jungler in North America.
Sneaky vs. Lemonnation
One of the best bot lanes to ever play in North America face each other for the first time in competitive play. C9 ADC Zachery “Sneaky” Scuderi and Flyquest support Daerek “Lemonnation” Hart were infamous innovators during their time together in competitive LoL.
Lemonnation was one of the first innovators of really breaking down drafts strategically. With Ashe and Zyra returning to the meta, it reminds us that Sneaky and Lemonnation were one of the first bot lanes to use those champions successfully in competitive.
Sneaky now lanes with current C9 support Andy “Smoothie” Ta who has looked like one of the most improved players from last split. Lemonnation joins Johnny “Altec” Ru who isn’t exactly a carry style AD, but he’s definitely not someone you can sleep on. Smoothie has developed into arguably the best support of the NALCS. He currently holds the highest KDA among supports at 6.0. Altec currently holds the highest KDA among ADC’s at 6.2.
Prediction
Cloud 9 and Flyquest both have special places in my heart as I’ve been a C9 fan since I began watching competitive. I’ll never forget the undefeated LCS playoff title runs or the magical Worlds performance against Najin White Shield. This split has been a treat for C9 fans, as we’ve basically gotten to witness essentially “two C9’s” do extremely well to start off the split.
Cloud 9 have the edge, but Flyquest will not go down easy. Cloud 9 will take it in a close 2-1 series with a lot of bloody fights. As long as Impact is starting, I don’t see any team being able to take them down. Cloud 9 without Impact look completely different. With him, they look unstoppable.
You can ‘Like’ The Game Haus on Facebook and ‘Follow’ us on Twitter for more sports and esports articles from other great TGH writers along with Christian!
The Game Haus will be hosting Haus Wars, an amateur LoL Tournament with teams from all across the nation competing February 10-12.
Follow the action live at https://www.twitch.tv/thegamehaus