IEM San Jose Preview

Teams

• Counter Logic Gaming
• Team Solo Mid
• LGD Gaming
• Unicorns of Love
• Jin Air Green Wings
• Origen

Tournament Format

• Single Elimination Knockout Stages
• Best of 3’s for the QuarterFinals and Semifinals
• Best of 5 for the Final
• This tournament will be played on patch 5.21

Counter Logic Gaming

Top: ZionSpartan

Jungle: Xmithie

Mid: Huhi

Adc: Stixxay (most likely)

Support: Aphromoo

CLG have changed both their carry roles in Pobelter and Doublelift replacing them with Huhi and Stixxay. Huhi has shown glimpse of talent during his fusion days but the real question is on their Ad. There is a lot on Stixxay’s shoulders right now especially because he is replacing Doublelift who is arguably the best Adc in NA and one of the most popular esports persona in the industry, this is also his first LAN experience so Stixxay is a very big question. Stixxay as a player is good in a sense that he is mechanically good and has the same playstyle as his successor Doublelift but will he be able to play to his highest capabilities in this tournament? it is on their coaching staffs shoulders to unlock stixxay inner strength.

Team Solo Mid

Top: Hauntzer

Jungle: Svenskeren

Mid: Bjergsen

Adc: Doublelift

Support: Kasing

On paper this team looks great, TSM now has 3 strong lanes and a strong carry-esque jungler that likes to make plays. Svenskeren and Bjergsen have played together in a competitive setting in the past on Copenhagen Wolves so they somewhat know each other’s playstyles. I am more interested on what role Hauntzer and Kasing will fill in this team because they are overshadowed by the other players. Hauntzer

was filled whatever role was needed in his previous team Gravity so I expect him to play the same role but now he is going to play against stronger top laners such as Soaz, Acor, Flame, Trace and etc. While the Doublelift Kasing bottom lane should be fairly strong mostly because Kasing is sort of similar to Aphromoo and Doublelift is a good enough Adc to be able to adapt to another support.

LGD Gaming

Top: Flame, Acorn

Jungle: TBQ

Mid: GodV, Xiaoxi

Adc:Imp

Support: PYL

This same roster did not get out of groups at worlds, so my expectations for this team is rather all jumbled up. The real question is what LGD will show up in this tournament, the spring split of Season 5 LGD or Season 5 Worlds LGD. It is also a question if they are going to let their subs play a game or two. Other than that I don’t really expect much from LGD because China as a region is very confusing at the moment so LGD in this tournament is more of a wildcard where they could either steal the show and win the whole thing or fail and lose badly while I cry in a pool of tears. I am very excited on the possibility of Imp playing Caitlyn and this is the only type of hype I have for LGD at the moment.

Unicorns of Love

Top: Viziscacsi

Jungle: Gilius

Mid: Fox

Adc: Steelback

Support: Hylissang

Unicorns are back in IEM San Jose and they are ready to induce chaos, or are they? The Unicorns of Love were a last minute induction to this tournament so they probably have had less time practicing as a team. This new roster is not the same Unicorns of love of old because there crazier players have now left and now they introduce players such as Steelback and Fox who play more in line with the meta and have a fairly passive playstyle. Replacing Horo with Gilius is kind of odd because Horo is an overall better player but Gilius can maybe provide positives to the team in other areas. It is going to be interesting to see what kind of playstyle Unicorns of Love show in this tournament especially with the addition of these new players.

Jin Air Green Wings

Top: Tracer, SoHwan

Jungle: Chaser, Winged

Mid: Kuzan

Adc:Cpt Jack, Pilot

Support: Sweet, Chei

Jin Air Greenwings have lost their main carry that is GBM. Kuzan becoming their main midlaner switches the whole playstyle of Jin Air, with GBM they had a more passive playstyle but now with Kuzan they are going to be a little bit more aggressive. It is going to fun to see how Jin Air go against all these other teams and if they have adapted to the lost of their star mid laner.

Origen

Top: Soaz

Jungle: Amazing

Mid: Xpeke, PowerofEvil

Adc: Niels

Support: Mithy

The biggest change that Origen has is the addition of Power of Evil. The addition of Power of Evil adds another perspective to their style of play because now they have added a mechanically skilled mid laner who has a vast champion pool. The only thing I am worried about is that now they have two mid laners who somewhat play off meta champs even though they have different playstyles.

* Note

Fnatic were supposed to play but was replaced by Unicorns of Love due to “injuries.”