In the 2015 summer season, North American League of Legends fans were treated to a nail-biting tie breaker finish between Team Liquid and Counter Logic Gaming at the top of the table. But in 2016 things are looking sewn up already.
Immortals has extended its unbeaten season opening to ten games—the longest a team has gone unbeaten at the start of a Split in North American League Championship Series (LCS) history.
Extending their streak with dominant wins over Team Dignitas and Cloud9 this week, Immortals have now turned back every team in the league with little difficulty.
Former Fnatic top laner and 2015 World Championship semi-finalist Seung Hoon “Huni” Heo has been the star of the show alongside jungler Yeu Jin “Reignover” Kim, who also made the switch from the European team. Both players have experience going undefeated, having gone a perfect 18-0 with Fnatic in the 2015 Summer Split.
The team have not yet secured a playoff berth, but one or two more wins should do it. Only twice in eight seasons has eleven wins not been enough to advance from North America.
Immortals are one of a number of new teams for the 2016 LCS funded by investor groups with deep pockets. Immortals investors include Peter Levin, the president of Lionsgate Interactive Venture and Games, and Machine Shop Ventures—the business arm of rap metal band Linkin Park.
At the other end of the table another new side, Echo Fox, showed signs of life with their first unbeaten week. With Danish mid laner Henrik “Froggen” Hansen and Korean top laner Park “kfo” Jeong-hun finally able to join the side after visa issues kept them out of the first four weeks, the team recorded victories over NRG Esports and fellow strugglers Renegades. With a 3-7 record, the team will be looking to turn their season around and at least avoid having to play for their spot in the Summer Promotion tournament.
Image via Riot Games/Flickr (used with permission, all rights reserved)
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Published: Feb 15, 2016 06:36 am