After the drama of this summer's NA and EU LCS splits, it is clear that the young talent on the scene offers an exciting future
Things move quickly in the world of eSports, and League of Legends is no different.
Last season’s top dogs can become this season’s flea-ridden mongrels – but there’s always someone to take their place.
Of course, that’s half the fun. After everything that’s happened during this summer’s NA and EU LCS split, it might just be time to take a look at where things stand.
Who are the players to keep an eye on going forward?
NA Region
The first player that springs to mind is Team SoloMid’s Biofrost. In fact, almost all North American players responded with Biofrost when asked who had impressed them the most this season.
He came into the split as a rookie, having been drawn from the Challenger scene.
The fact that he was solid despite the pressure of playing in a professional environment is reason enough to be impressed.
But, in fact, he excelled as part of TSM, who finished first with 17 wins to just one loss.
Biofrost, the team’s Support, finished the split with the highest KDA in the entire NA LCS at 8.3, as well as the third highest kill participation percentage at 75.7%. Those are some monstrous numbers.
He also received praise from all quarters on the NA scene, with Counter Logic Gaming’s Huhi saying: “He works really well with TSM and he has pretty good mechanical skills.”
Cloud9’s Sneaky said: “Overall, I didn’t expect TSM to have such an insane record and have such insane team play.
“It is really surprising to see an NA Support come from the Challenger scene, not really known much overall, and just do extremely well.”
Of course, other players in North America deserve some credit. Bjergsen has been the reigning champ of NA midlane for three splits in a row and has helped TSM dominate the region.
He also has 28 fewer deaths than any other NA midlaner this season, which is pretty crazy.
Outside the SoloMid circle, Phoenix1’s Inori has been making waves.
After joining the split late due to visa issues, Inori really turned his team around. They were at 0-7 when he joined and finished 5-13.
A disappointing final placement, but the real story was Inori.
As soon as he was back on the team, Phoenix racked up impressive wins against TSM and Immortals.
Inori shocked fans by picking Rengar and Mordekaiser – yes, Mordekaiser in the jungle – respectively, taking his opponents by surprise.
Perhaps Team Liquid’s Dardoch summed it up best when he vociferously praised Inori’s decision.
EU Region
Over in Europe, there hasn’t been much fanfare surrounding any one player, but there’s still plenty of astonishing talent.
It would be churlish not to mention H2K’s FORG1VENGRE, an intense AD Carry with a phenomenal KDA of 11.7.
But there are other players to watch.
In Europe, Splyce have impressed fans and commentators with a barnstorming split that saw them finish second.
Individuals such as Trashy and Mikyx have been mentioned as great players, but a lot of praise was directed at the team overall, and its ability to work fluidly and cooperatively.
Among those impressed was Odoamne from H2K: “The way they’re playing as a team is just really good, even though many people would say as individual talents they’re not the best players in the roles.
“But the team plays really well.”
If we were to pick one star from Splyce to watch out for in future, however, it would be Sencux.
This extremely young player has been on commentators’ radars for a while, and he’s finally had his chance to shine in the professional sphere.
Sencux has demonstrated remarkable mechanical skill, but is also extremely versatile and adaptable.
He has an unusually large pool of champions, and made use of no fewer than 15 during this summer’s regular season.
Frankly, it’s a joy to see such promising midlane talent emerging onto the scene.
Anyone else?
We should also go to Asia to give one deserving player the credit he’s due.
Korea’s summer split is over and ROX Tigers finished at the head of the pack – with a lot of help from Smeb.
The Tigers’ ace toplaner had a remarkable season and has been awarded the LCK MVP award for the second season in a row.
That’s one hell of an achievement, with Smeb now joining Faker and Dade as the only players to have won the award twice.
But will his team take the title in the coming play-offs? They look dominant, but SKT have long seemed like the Tigers’ Achilles heel.
So all eyes on Korea.
All in all, this split has been one of the most intense and exciting in memory – both in NA and EU.
There is some exciting new talent on the scene, along with some seasoned veterans who’ve still got it.
Keep your eyes peeled. We’re witnessing the making of legends.
