What to Watch – Week Seven NA/EU LCS

As the spring split nears conclusion the games have been getting more and more intense.  With SK on a slide for the first time this season, and the Unicorns unable to decide if they’re a top tier team or not EU has continued to be super competitive, with playoff spots and relegation within two games either direction, this week will make or break many teams.

The NA standings are a little more clear cut, though TSM has faltered a slightly as Team Liquid roared back into contention, turning the top two seeds and their playoff advantage into a four way contest.  It’s likely that TSM will be able to hold on, but they cannot afford to drop games against lower tier teams as they did against Impulse.

My predictions were back in form despite some upsets, at 8/10 in EU and 6/10 in NA.

EU

Day 1
MYM v GIA
H2K v GMB
CW v EL
SK v FNC
ROC v UOL

Game to Watch:  What a stacked day!  The game to watch has to be the classic SK vs Fnatic match, in which SK will look to take sole ownership of first place from a Fnatic team which is still on fire.
  However if you have the time to watch more matches, H2K and Gambit is going to be huge, as both teams are steam rolling through the standings.  If H2K win they’re actually in contention for a top spot due to SK and Fnatic playing the same day.

Day 2
ROC v SK
EL v UOL
FNC v MYM
H2K v CW
GMB v GIA

Game to Watch: Elements are dangerously close to relegation.  Let that sink in.  They need to go at least 1-1 this week or they risk being overtaken by Giants, which should be horrifying to Elements fans.  To do so they need to pass a moderate test in the Wolves day one, and a serious threat in the Unicorns day two.  UoL for their part have run hot and cold.  For a young team they’re doing fantastic, but they could easily be in the top teir if they played to their potential more often

NA

Day 1
DIG v CST
GV v CLG
WFX v TSM
TIP v C9
TL v T8

Game to Watch:  With a win over TSM last week, Impulse had some incredible plays.  TSM had more blunders though, so while I expect C9 to take the game handily, the game will be interesting if only to show the relative abilities of TSM vs C9.

Day 2
C9 v DIG
TSM v T8
TL v TIP
GV v WFX
CLG v CST

Game to Watch:  Team Liquid are on fire and have a very aggressive play style which makes for great games, especially when paired up with a team like Impulse that just want to go in and make plays.  I’ll be watching the top lane in particular.  Quadra Quas against the world champ Impact should be high level.

Should be a good week, though there are a lot of matches which are skipable.  Every team is feeling the pressure now, let’s see who buckles down and who cracks.