Week one at LCS 2016: The European War
With 2016 now well under way, we can get stuck into the year’s eSports offerings.
With the LoL Championship Series (LCS) having kicked off a week ago, we’re already spoilt for action.
This winter has seen some pretty brutal Game of Thrones-style roster changes and expectations weigh heavily on our teams of fresh LoL heroes.
With a week of LCS behind us, how are they looking?
Europe’s division of LCS has been dominated by Fnatic since its inception, with the team having failed to come in first only once; and even then they came second.
That said, even Fnatic could not avoid a drastic roster change in December, losing keys players such as Yellowstar, Huni and Reignover and welcoming Noxiak, Spirit and Gamsu to the team.
Though still looking strong, the team got off to a somewhat shaky start this season, winning their first match against Origen, only to lose their second to Team Vitality the very next day.
Febiven, the team’s Mid, did a good job of anchoring the team considering the roster has scarcely had a chance to play together, so Fnatic have every reason to be optimistic for when they settle in.
So which teams performed strongest?
Three teams won both of their opening two matches, with impressive displays of skill and strategy. G2 Esports beat both ROCCAT and Elements, in part thanks to what has turned out to be a shrewd roster shakeup.
Trick, the team’s Jungler, joined G2 in late December and brought a refreshingly aggressive playing style to the team. Trick managed an impressive six kills, 21 assists and just the one death across the two games, making him a formidable asset. Similarly, Emperor, who joined at the same time at Trick, died once but racked up a respectable seven kills.
H2K, meanwhile, bested Origen and Giants in their two matches, putting them in a strong position going forward. FORG1VEN, the team’s Greek ADC, joined H2K in December and his hit the ground running, with 34 per cent of the team’s total damage attributed to him.
However, it was arguably H2K stalwart Ryu who kept the team together as a formidable force. The experienced Mid managed a 17.0 kill/death ratio – impressive stuff.
Unicorns Of Love also won their two games and were helped along by a pretty fresh roster, having signed Fox, Steelback and Diamondprox in December.
However, it was the team’s Top, Vivicsacsi, who shone brightest, with a 32 per cent kill share to boast of. Looks like anyone going up against the Unicorns should beware the wrath of Vivicsacsi.
Origen, one of the favourites, has kept its team pretty unchanged since last year, but suffered defeat not once, but twice.
Having finished second at the last split, fans had high hopes for Origen, but all is not lost. Given that their first two games were up against Fnatic and H2K respectively, perhaps the results should be seen in context.
So far it definitely looks like the roster changes are paying off for the European teams, but it is still not yet clear if their victories are down to happy early match form against weaker teams or a team playing totally in sync.
It’s looking to be an exciting season for LCS.
The theme this spring seems to be the impact of roster changes. The teams have some strikingly different personnel who are already making their presence felt in their new roles.
Can Fnatic fight their way back to a dominant position in Europe? We’ll just have to wait and see.
READ: Out with the old and in with the new – part two
READ: lurppis: Current trends in how the top teams are viewed
