Two months through the League Championship Series and we are entering the home stretch, with just three weeks of matches remaining in League of Legends’ top competition. It’s the first time in a month that there has not been more than two teams tied at the top of the North American standings, and it’s the first time in a month a team is just one game behind Alliance in the European region.
This week Counter Logic Gaming and LMQ jumped ahead of their closest American competitors, gaining games on Team SoloMid, Dignitas, and Cloud9.
In Europe, Fnatic continued their meteoric rise to just out of reach of the top spot, but they were aided by ROCCAT, who continues to streak from the bottom of the standings into playoff position. ROCCAT beat both Alliance and SK Gaming, the two teams who have lead the standings for seven of eight weeks this season.
Infographic by LoLStats
ROCCAT’s rise up the standings is in large part due to their jungler and mid laners stepping up their game, at least if the stats have anything to say about it. Marcin “Jankos” Jankowski controlled the game from the jungle by putting up an 11/3/17 KDA line and a 66.67 percent kill participation. That helped set up Remigiusz “Overpow” Pusch in mid, who went 10/3/15 with a 380.42 GPM.
In America, Counter Logic Gaming leveraged their bottom lane duo into two victories. Peter “DoubleLift” Peng and Zaqueri “Aphromoo” Black were instrumental in their wins over Team SoloMid and Dignitas, winning their lane matchup and turning Peng into a monster carry in both games. The marksman’s KDA line was a ridiculous 17/2/6, with 82.14 percent kill participation and 449.97 GPM. Black posted a 0/2/20 KDA with a 291.12 GPM, a ridiculous number for a support.
This week also heralded the return of a competitive stalwart champion. Gragas, a top tier mid lane pick in Season 3, fell out of favor after his rework in patch 4.5 back in April. But he’s making a triumphant return, and in every single lane, seeing play in top, middle, and as support. This week he was picked in 12 games and posted a great 58.33 percent win rate.
This week also featured the longest game in the history of the LCS, a 1 hour 20 minute battle between Curse Gaming and Complexity.
Screengrab via Riot Games/YouTube
