NA LCS shakes things up in Week 1 of Summer Split
The opening week of Summer Split 2017 in the North American League Championship Series reveals some very unexpected and refreshing results.
If you watched the European LCS, you would have seen some great games, but it was still very reminiscent of Spring Split this year with the same teams coming out up top. While in North America, the Spring Split brought some wild changes to the rankings after Week 1, and I’m glad to see them in the League of Legends Esports scene.
Who expected Cloud 9 to go 0-2? Immortals beating TSM after their performance in the spring? Nobody expected Phoenix1 to lose to Team Envy! WildTurtle is on FlyQuest, why are the 0-2?
At the end of this week, the top three teams from the Spring Split are on the bottom half of the board. Phoenix1 and Cloud9 finished 0-2, and TSM managed to finish 1-1, after beating Cloud 9.
Some of this can be attributed to rough matchups, sure. Cloud9 went up against Counter Logic Gaming and then Team Solo Mid. While both are strong teams from the last split and powerhouses in NA, TSM is no slouch. You have to wonder, how much of it is shaking off the rust and how much is just being outplayed?
More from LCS
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- EG Sheiden reportedly staying on Evil Geniuses as starting jungler
- 2023 LCS Summer Split Awards – LCS All-Pro Team
When Immortals beat Phoenix1 on Friday, it was an impressive showing for sure.
Regardless, Phoenix1 had no business losing a single game to Team Envy, much less the whole series.
Team Envy came in dead last in the spring split! Has Phoenix1 fallen that far or is it Team Envy who has risen from the ashes?
This split is looking exciting! While TSM is North America’s favorite team, it would be great to see something different. Maybe another team, CLG perhaps, will come out on top and not drop the ball on the international stage. After their crazy early game versus Team Liquid, maybe this is Echo Fox’s year!
Or maybe this was a fluke week and we’ll be back to our previously scheduled TSM stomping next week, though I hope not.
All of these teams have things they need to work on to improve their overall game, but the competition seems a lot closer than it did the last split. I don’t know if it was the break between splits or the new patch, but it was what North America needed to draw my interest in. Who knows what will happen next. We’ll have to stay tuned to find out, but I already can’t wait for Friday!