The NA playoff picture is starting to round into form, but some contentious battles still remain. Week six brought us some of the best games of the split, so join us as we sift through the rubble in search of answers.
In three weeks, the NALCS Spring 2016 playoffs will be set in stone. Until then, multiple riveting storylines will unfold. Will Echo Fox cap their resurgence with a playoff berth? Can NRG eSports find consistency? Will anyone beat Immortals?
These power rankings are becoming more contentious than ever. Join us as we sort the contenders from the pretenders.
All photos courtesy of Riot eSports on Flickr.
Follow me on Twitter (@GG_Jankeroo) for more live LCS updates and eSports insight.
S Tier
Immortals (12-0)
Immortals hasn’t flirted with their mortality often this split. Saturday, however, they went through what can most aptly be defined as a “near-death experience.”
Surprisingly enough, though down 7-1 in kills at one point against LA Renegades, Immortals never suffered a gold deficit greater than 200 gold. Throughout most of the contest, they still had item advantages through objective control. However Ui-jin “Reignover” Kim, the first-blood king, got a taste of his own medicine against the basement dwellers, succumbing to a botched invade.
The game still resulted in a victory, and Immortals continued their steamrolling ways on Sunday. Through adversity, IMT never wavers. Saturday was an anomaly. Based off their remaining matches, I can confidently suggest that they will finish 18-0.
A Tier
Cloud 9 (8-4)
GG no RE.
Minute 25: C9 the dream.
Minute 40: Worrying trend.
Minute 50: C9 the dream.
Cloud 9 continues to play thrilling contest after thrilling contest, just like their comeback effort against Team SoloMid (Followed up by a tense contest against NRG eSports that saw a C9 gold lead from start to finish). Their single frontline compositions are leaving fans scratching their heads at champion select but cheering fanatically at the fall of the nexus.
Pundits hammered this team for being one-dimensional and lacking innovation, but they are laughing in the face of the NALCS as they sit in second place. Nicolaj “Jensen” Jensen is playing to the caliber expected of him, Hai “Hai” Lam is in the top three in assists and kill participation while only playing ten out of twelve games. Yoon-jae “Rush” Lee has the second-most assists among junglers, Zachary "Sneaky" Scuderi is as steadfast a presence in the bot lane as ever, and An “Balls” Le is shattering expectations (and memes).
Cloud 9 has the best shot of beating Immortals in a series. Barring a late season collapse, I don't think there's much of an argument otherwise.
Counter Logic Gaming (8-4)
After a softball week with matches against LA Renegades and Team Impulse, Counter Logic Gaming face rolled their way to a 2-0 week and a tie for second place with Cloud 9.
An ugly start on Sunday gave Alberto "Crumbz" Rengifo a triple kill, but Renegades, as usual, could not translate advantages into a victory. Darshan “Darshan” Upadhyaha brought out a surprise Pantheon pick and gave his opponents fits with near-global presence. Jake “Xmithie” Puchero is starting to come into his own and establish himself as the carry jungler critics never thought he was.
CLG has a tough schedule ahead of them in the final stretch. Their playoff aptitude will be tested in the next three weeks.
B Tier
Team SoloMid (7-5)
Not good.
As quickly as Team SoloMid nullified reservations from the peanut gallery, they brought them right back to the forefront. Their team fighting ability is strongly in question this week after losing crucial fights against C9’s squishy pick composition in crunch time and a sloppy mid-game fight against Team Dignitas that led to a massive upset defeat in just over 35 minutes.
Two winnable games slipped away from a more than capable team this week. There’s no reason to write off Team SoloMid as a playoff candidate, but I have serious reservations about their potential success in those playoffs. Consistency is antonymous with TSM this split, and I don’t see them winning an extended series against any of the top tier teams.
C Tier
Echo Fox (5-7)
My fear of hasty decision making is the only thing keeping Echo Fox out of the B tier.
The boys in orange (and grey, because continuity seems to be lost on Rick Fox) have yet to find themselves a true marquee win, but the convincing manner in which they have secured their past four games has the entire scene on their heels. Henrik “Froggen” Hansen has had the appearance of an all star mid laner since his return, and his performances have enabled his teammates to follow suit.
Immortals, Cloud 9, Counter Logic Gaming, and Team SoloMid are all realistically locks for the postseason. Perhaps an Echo Fox with their starting roster would have found themselves in that group had they been available all season.
Two of the three teams in the C tier will most likely find themselves filling the final two playoff slots. Echo Fox looks poised to claim one of them.
NRG eSports (6-6)
The more I watch this team play, the less I like them.
In NRG eSports' losses, Galen “Moon” Holgate has looked entirely out of his element. He has amassed a lackluster 2.8 KDA and has only participated in 64% of his team’s kills.
Not one single player on the NRG roster has a KDA above 3.8. With the exception of their week three drubbing of Team SoloMid, they don’t have one win against a top tier team, and their losses tend to be embarrassing ones. The trend of flying high and sinking quickly is not sustainable. If this team secures a playoff spot, I don’t expect them to escape the first round.
Team Liquid (5-7)
If these last three weeks are indeed a three-horse race for the playoffs, Team Liquid may be the odd man (or horse) out.
Liquid, much like NRG, seems to be incapable of keeping up with the top teams in the league. Four out of their six remaining games consist of battles against Team SoloMid, Cloud 9, Counter Logic Gaming, and NRG eSports. Barring a significant change of pace, Liquid may be on the outside looking in come playoffs.
Individually, TL players are doing relatively well. Jae-hoon “Fenix” Kim, Gwang-jin “Piglet” Chae, and Joshua “Dardoch” Hartnett are all performing admirably, but as a collective, TL needs to be much more consistent if they hope to snag a berth in the postseason.
D Tier
Team Dignitas (4-8)
A big win is likely not enough to keep Dignitas afloat.
Sitting at 4 wins and 8 losses, Dignitas likely needs to escape the next three weeks undefeated to secure a playoff spot. With matches against Cloud 9, CLG, and Immortals to look forward to, however, this is an entirely unrealistic scenario.
Apollo “Apollo” Price hasn’t performed horrifically, but is a mere shadow of his previous iteration on Team Impulse. An exciting win over Team SoloMid, unfortunately, will be but a blip on the radar.
Team Impulse (4-8)
Team Impulse continues to look futile with Wang “Feng” Xiao Feng in the top lane.
The non-sub TIP solo laners have looked outstandingly ordinary all split. Each team seems to have one standout performer that can be relied on to keep their team in each and every game they play. Team Impulse lacks that sort of presence on their roster.
A trendy midseason pick to sneak into the playoffs, Team Impulse now looks primed to land snugly in the bottom three at the end of the split unless something drastic changes.
F Tier
Renegades (1-11)
This was the encouraging week the bandits needed.
LA Renegades was supposed to go 0-2 this week against Immortals and Counter Logic Gaming. While certainly fulfilling these expectations, the last-place squad actually put forth a solid effort in two surprisingly contentious games. The return of Oleksii "RF Legendary" Kuziuta brought a fire we havent seen yet from the team. Crumbz performed like a competent jungler this week for the first time in what seems like an eternity despite the pedestrian stateline. Nickolas “Hakuho” Surgent also found his rhythm with two respectable performances on Braum.
I’m still expecting Renegades to be relegated, but this weekend was a much needed breath of fresh air for them.
