NA LCS: Two of the most intriguing matchups of the weekend in the North American League of Legends Championship Series revolve around Echo Fox, who square off against Cloud9 and Team SoloMid.
Echo Fox a surprise
As one of the most impressive teams during week one, Echo Fox enter the second weekend with a chance to prove themselves against some of the favourites to win the entire split. Initial expectations for Echo Fox were varied, given their wide array of skilled players; skilled players that also happen to be incredibly dependent on momentum. Echo Fox are the type of team that could win seven in a row, lose one game, then fall of a cliff and fail to secure another win.
Nevertheless, the team do have the ability to compete against anyone on any given week. The key for Echo Fox in week two will be the play of Dardoch, who squares off against two players still adjusting to their new squads in C9’s Svenskeren and TSM’s MikeYeung. If Dardoch can secure an early advantage, the likes of Huni should be more free to press their side of the map, leading to a fairly straightforward win. Should Echo Fox fall to Cloud9, they are unlikely to rebound for their match against TSM the next day.
Critical week for Clutch
Another team with a chance to prove their worth this week is Clutch Gaming, who face off against Counter Logic Gaming and Team Liquid. Clutch Gaming went 1-1 in week one, securing a victory over Golden Guardians before falling to the aforementioned Echo Fox. Clutch Gaming entered as a fringe playoff team, with some analysts believing their overall talent could make them a fourth-place team.
This is a critical weekend for Clutch, with a struggling CLG on deck who will be hungry to find their winning ways, as well as a match against Team Liquid who are clearly the best team in the league currently. Clutch even going 1-1 would be a solid result. The question about this squad is whether or not Solo can hold his own within the top lane, given he faces two of the best top laners this weekend in Darshan and Impact. If Solo can at least go even, Clutch have a shot in both of their matches this weekend due to how well their other players should perform with a decent top presence.
Contractz the key
After team that struggled in week one, Golden Guardians, have a chance to steady themselves with matches against FlyQuest (1-1) and CLG (0-2). Considered one of the worst squads in the league, Golden Guardians are hoping to catch the likes of CLG while they’re slumping, which will boost their hopes of outpacing the likes of OpTic at the bottom of the table. The continued development of jungler Contractz will be key for GG, and their match against FlyQuest is one of the few games where Contractz does not hold the least amount of experience in his head-to-head matchup, as Anda is a rookie for FQ. If Golden Guardians are to make any head way at the bottom of the table, this is the week to do so.
Big week for TSM
The most obvious team looking to rebound after a poor start is Team SoloMid who, after entering the season as one of the major favourites, fell to 0-2 after an incredibly disappointing first week of action. TSM play fellow strugglers in Team OpTic (who also went 0-2 in week one), with a perfect opportunity to get back on their feet. TSM looked completely outmatched against Team Liquid in their first match of the season, following that up with another unfortunate performance against FlyQuest who had minimal expectations entering the season.
TSM have one of the most stacked rosters in the history of the LCS, yet their team cohesion and synergy was completely lacking last time out. One concern for TSM could be if mid-lane superstar Bjergsen attempts to play outside of his comfort zone and roam around the map due to the massive criticism he received this week due to his lack of presence on the map. If Bjergsen can just stick to his own gameplan, TSM should be able to recover with a 2-0 week.
It’s already shaping up to be a fascinating spring season following the surprise results of week one, and this second week could really help to define the North American favourites going forwards.
