After the first four split games of the European LCS have been played, only two teams (SK Gaming and FNATIC) have emerged undefeated. With the North American teams set to finish their first four games tonight, now is the perfect time to look back on the history of LCS starts, good and bad, over the previous four splits in each region.
As well as looking at how teams began, one can look for correlations between who finished well or poorly, based on the nature of their start.
Best starts
Eight teams in the history of LCS have started a perfect 4:0 in a split. Excluding those this split, that leaves the following six:
Team: Cloud 9
Record: 4:0
Split: LCS Summer 2013
Regular split finish: 25:3 (1st)
Team: ALTERNATE
Record: 4:0
Split: LCS Summer 2013
Regular split finish: 13:15(tied 2nd)
Team: MYM
Record: 4:0
Split: LCS Summer 2013
Regular split finish: 8:20 (8th)
Team: fnatic
Record: 4:0
Split: LCS Spring 2014
Regular split finish: 17:11 (2nd)
Team: Curse
Record: 4:0
Split: LCS Spring 2013
Regular split finish: 19:9 (2nd)
Team: LMQ
Record: 4:0
Split: LCS Summer?2014
Regular split finish: 18:10 (2nd)
Correlation: Only two teams have ever started the split 4:0 and finished outside of the top four at the end of the play-offs, as MYM finished in dead last in LCS Summer 2013 and ATN placed sixth the same split.
14 teams have recorded a 3:1 start, but rather than list all of them I’ve picked out some from each end of the spectrum in terms of their finishes.
Team: Gambit
Record: 3:1
Split: LCS Spring 2014
Regular split finish: 14:14 (5th)
Team: ROCCAT
Record: 3:1
Split: LCS Spring 2014
Regular split finish: 15:13 (4th)
Team: Team Dignitas
Record: 3:1
Split: LCS Summer 2014
Regular split finish: 15:13 (4th)
Team: Alliance
Record: 3:1
Split: LCS Summer 2014
Regular split finish: 21:7 (1st)
Team: Cloud9
Record: 3:1
Split: LCS Spring 2014
Regular split finish: 24:4 (1st)
Correlation: Only three teams (Gambit Spring 2014, Dignitas Summer 2014 and Millenium Summer 2014) have begun the split 3:1 and failed to finish top four at the end of the play-offs of the split.
Worst starts
Six teams have recorded a winless first four games in a split. Excluding Gambit this split, here they are:
Team: Alliance
Record: 0:4
Split: LCS Spring 2014
Regular split finish: 16:12 (3rd)
Team: Copenhagen Wolves
Record: 0:4
Split: LCS Spring 2013
Regular split finish: 13:15 (6th)
Team: Ninjas in Pyjamas
Record: 0:4
Split: LCS Summer 2013
Regular split finish: 15:13 (tied 2nd)
Team: SK Gaming
Record: 0:4
Split: LCS Summer 2013
Regular split finish: 13:15 (tied 6th)
Team: Evil Geniuses
Record: 0:4
Split: LCS Summer 2014
Regular split finish: 11:17 (7th)
Correlation: Interestingly, no team to lose their first four games has ever finished in eighth place in an LCS split.
11 teams have recorded a 1:3 start, so again I’ve selected some specific examples.
Team: XDG
Record: 1:3
Split: LCS Spring 2014
Regular split finish: 7:21 (8th)
Team: Curse
Record: 1:3
Split: LCS Summer 2013
Regular split finish: 13:15 (tied 4th)
Team: Velocity
Record: 1:3
Split: LCS Summer 2013
Regular split finish: 5:23 (8th)
Team: ROCCAT
Record: 1:3
Split: LCS Summer 2014
Regular split finish: 12:16 (6th)
Team: Curse
Record: 1:3
Split: LCS Summer 2014
Regular split finish: 13:15 (tied 4th)
Correlation: No team to start the split 1:3 has ever finished top two at the end of the play-offs of the split.
