NA LCS Summer Split Week 1 Preview

6 weeks after the conclusion of the NA Spring Playoffs and 4 weeks after the Promotion tournament, LCS action kicks off for the Summer Split with a Super Week, each team playing 5 matches. Unlike the Spring Split, the teams will not be able to ease into action, and a poor performance in Week 1 will create a significant setback.

The Teams
The Promotion tournament allowed for 2 teams to join the LCS for the Summer Split, but almost every team will be entering Week 1 with a new look.

TSM Snapdragon

The Spring Split champions (3-2 over GGU) are back for the Summer sporting the same roster they ended Spring with. Since bringing in WildTurtle as a starter, TSM has gone 17-5 (12-2 in 1 game sets). If TSM's ridiculously hot streak hasn't been extinguished, they should be the odds on favorite to repeat as North American champions once again.

Starting Roster:
Top - Marcus "Dyrus" Hill
Jungle - Brian "TheOddOne" Wyllie
Mid - Andy "Reginald" Dinh
AD Carry - Jason "WildTurtle" Tran
Support - Alex "Xpecial" Chu
Key Additions: None
Losses: Manager Jack Etienne parted ways with TSM

Team Coast

Team Coast, formerly Good Game University, sports a new name as well as a "new" mid laner for the Summer Split. Team Coast was the surprise runners-up in the Spring Playoffs, knocking out both Dignitas and Curse before falling to TSM in a highly entertaining, back-and-forth finals. Team Coast spent the majority of the Spring Split at the bottom of the standings before securing 6th place thanks to a huge 3-0 record in Week 9. Team Coast had the most fluid roster in NA LCS, utilizing 8 different players over the 10-week Spring Split, however the addition of Daydreamin sparked Team Coast to a 2nd place finish. If Team Coast's roster issues are behind them, and synergy is maximized, they look poised to be a weekly threat to any team.

Starting Roster:
Top - Darshan "ZionSpartan" Upadhyaya
Jungle - Josh "NintendudeX" Atkins
Mid - Danny "Shiphtur" Le
AD Carry - Brandon "DontMashMe" Phan
Support - Miles "Daydreamin" Hoard
Key Additions: Shiphtur rejoins Coast after visa issues kept him out of the Spring Split, and former Curse Support Cody "Elementz" Sigfusson joins Team Coast as Coach
Losses: As Shiphtur returns to the starting lineup, Justin "Jintae" Dinh moves to Sub

Vulcun TechBargains

Vulcun returns in the Summer Split, after taking 3rd place in the Spring Playoffs defeating established teams CLG and Curse while falling 2-1 to TSM. Vulcun's late-season pickup of BloodWater coincided with their surge through the end of the Spring Split and run through the Spring Playoffs. With a stable roster since the BloodWater pickup, Vulcun looks poised to cement their position with the top teams in North America.

Starting Roster:
Top - Benny "Sycho Sid" Hung
Jungle - Jake "Xmithie" Puchero
Mid - Zachary "mandatorycloud" Hoschar
AD Carry - Chris "Zuna" Buechter
Support - Lyubomir "BloodWater" Spasov
Key Additions: None
Losses: None

Team Curse

Despite being atop the LCS standings for 9 weeks, Curse went 1-4 in week 10 and dropped to 2nd place. Following the disappointing end to the Spring Split, Elementz was once again benched in favor of Rhux for the playoffs. The move did not work out for Curse, as they lost to both GGU and Vulcun, finishing in 4th place. On June 7th, Curse made the biggest move of the break by signing former Gambit Gaming Support player EDward less than a week before the first games. With little time to practice with EDward, Curse is a bit of an unknown heading into the Summer Split. Curse undoubtedly has potential to unseat TSM as the North American champions, but will need to get in sync to get there.

Starting Roster:
Top - Joe "Voyboy" Esfahani
Jungle - Brandon "SaintVicious" DiMarco
Mid - Jacky "Nyjacky" Wang
AD Carry - David "Cop" Roberson
Support - Edward "EDward" Abgaryan
Key Additions: EDward joins Curse as Support
Losses: Elementz leaves Curse and Keenan "Rhux" Santos moves back to Sub

Team Dignitas

Another longstay atop the North American rankings, Team Dignitas returns for the Summer Split looking to improve on their 3rd place finish in the Spring Split. After a disappointing loss to GGU in the Spring Playoffs, Dignitas was forced to compete in the Summer Promotion Tournament. Dignitas made quick work of Team Summon to win back their spot in the LCS. With no roster changes, Dignitas hopes to improve upon their Spring Split ending and qualify for the Season 3 World Championships. Dignitas is always a threat to be the top team in North America, and should contend once again.

Starting Roster:
Top - Alan "KiWiKiD" Nguyen
Jungle - Alberto "Crumbzz" Rengifo
Mid - William "scarra" Li
AD Carry - Michael "Imaqtpie" Santana
Support - Jordan "Patoy" Blackburn
Key Additions: None
Losses: None

 

Counter Logic Gaming

Often considered to be the oldest North American team, CLG has gone through many roster changes and varying levels of success over the years. After finishing 4th in the Spring Season and losing to Vulcun, CLG found themselves playing for their LCS spot in the Summer Promotion Tournament against Azure Cats. Fortunately for CLG, they summarily defeated Azure Cats 3-0 to return to the LCS for the Summer Split, however, not without several changes to the look of CLG going forward, including the departure of Aphromoo, HotshotGG stepping down, and the addition of Nientonsoh and return of bigfatlp. CLG has been a big part of the NA scene for years, and there is little doubt they will contend to return to the top once again.

Starting Roster:
Top - Zach "Nientonsoh" Malhas
Jungle - Michael "bigfatlp" Tang
Mid - Austin "LiNk" Shin
AD Carry - Peter "Doublelift" Peng
Support - Steve "Chauster" Chau
Key Additions: Nientonsoh joins as Top Lane and bigfatlp returns to CLG as Jungler
Losses: George "HotshotGG" Georgallidis moves to Sub/Coach and Zaqueri "Aphromoo" Black leaves the organization

 

Cloud 9 HyperX

Once considered a favorite for LCS Spring qualification, Cloud 9 fell in the group stages to Team MRN and Azure Gaming. Following several roster changes, Cloud 9 returned once again for qualification in the Summer Promotion Tournament. Cloud 9 (as Quantic Gaming) cruised through Team Astral Poke and former-LCS team compLexity Gaming without losing any games. Shortly thereafter, Cloud 9 left Quantic Gaming, with former TSM manager Jack Etienne joining as owner and manager of the team. Cloud 9 looks poised to make their mark on the North American scene in the Summer Split.

Starting Roster:
Top - Hai "Hai" Lam
Jungle - Will "Meteos" Hartman
Mid - An "Balls" Le
AD Carry - Zachary "Sneaky" Scuderi
Support - Daerek "LemonNation" Hart
Key Additions: After qualifying for the Summer Split, Jack Etienne joined as manager and owner, and Alex Penn was announced as Coach and analyst.
Losses: N/A

 

Velocity eSports

Velocity joins the Summer Split of NA LCS after defeating Team MRN in a closely contested 5-game match. Formerly Dirt Nap Gaming, Velocity nearly qualified for the LCS Spring Split, falling to Team MRN in the last chance match. Following several roster adjustments, Velocity once again sought LCS qualification. This time successful, Velocity joins the NA LCS looking to make a name for themselves and surprise League of Legends fans worldwide.

Starting Roster:
Top - Cristian "Cris" Rosales
Jungle - Andrew "Nk Inc" Erickson
Mid - Joseph "Vileroze" Bourassa
AD Carry - Ainslie "maplestreet" Wyllie
Support - Evan "Evaniskus" Stevens
Key Additions: None
Losses: N/A

 

Matches

Each team will 5 games in Week 1, playing 2 games on either Wednesday or Thursday (with 1 game on the other day), and 2 games on Friday. TSM, Cloud 9, Team Coast, and Vulcun play twice on Wednesday, with CLG, Curse, Dignitas, and Velocity playing twice on Thursday.

Key Matches
In a week where all teams open the Split with 5 games, all games are key. With that said, several matches stand out as being highly interesting.

Wednesday:
Team Coast vs. TSM Snapdragon (3pm PST) - the first game of the Summer Split is a rematch of the Spring Playoff finals as Team Coast (then GGU) seek to prove their playoff run was more than a fluke.

Team Dignitas vs Cloud 9 (5pm PST) - Dignitas looks to snap out of their Spring slump as Cloud 9 makes their LCS debut. This match should help show how capable Cloud 9 is against the best of NA.

CLG vs Velocity (6pm PST) - CLG debuts their new roster as they face off against Velocity for the first time. Can CLG outmatch the "lesser" LCS teams in the Summer Split? Will Velocity be able to contend against the most established NA teams?

Thursday:
CLG vs Dignitas (4pm PST) - The two "top 4" teams who were forced to re-qualify face off. Which team will bounce back stronger and gain an advantage in ranking?

Friday:
TSM vs Curse (9pm PST) - Curse led the NA LCS standings for 9 weeks until TSM unseated them to take the top spot. Will Curse's addition of EDward provide the edge needed?

Velocity vs Cloud 9 (10pm PST) - The final game of Week 1 pits the two LCS newcomers against each other. The teams look to prove themselves in the LCS, and defeating a fellow newcomer is key to staying out of the LCS cellar.

All Week 1 matchups
Wednesday - 6 games (all times PST)
Team Coast vs TSM Snapdragon 3pm
Curse vs Vulcun TechBargains 4pm
Team Dignitas vs Cloud 9 HyperX 5pm
Counter Logic Gaming vs Velocity eSports 6pm
TSM vs Cloud 9 7pm
Coast vs Vulcun 8pm

Thursday - 6 games
Curse vs Velocity 3pm
CLG vs Dignitas 4pm
Cloud 9 vs Curse 5pm
Dignitas vs TSM 6pm
Vulcun vs Velocity 7pm
Coast vs CLG 8pm

Friday - 8 games
Velocity vs Dignitas 3pm
Cloud 9 vs Coast 4pm
TSM vs Vulcun 5pm
CLG vs Curse 6pm
Dignitas vs Coast 7pm
Vulcun vs CLG 8pm
TSM vs Curse 9pm
Velocity vs Cloud 9 10pm

 

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