This article is part of our LoL Previews series.
Immortals vs. Cloud9:
After having dropped two series during the Summer Split, Immortals are coming off an only slightly less dominant split than in the spring. This is largely thanks to the dynamic Korean duo of top laner Heo "Huni" Seung-hoon and jungler Kim "Reignover" Yeu-jin. While Huni hasn't been quite as dominant this split as he has in the past, he still managed to put up the most kills for NA top laners --- albeit, only while simultaneously dying more than anyone else in the region. However, as Huni has faltered somewhat, Reignover has managed to keep the team afloat, with more assists, CS per minute, and gold per minute than any other jungler in NA. Immortals' bottom lane is no joke either, with Adrian "Adrian" Ma's peel-heavy support style continuing to enable Jason "WildTurtle" Tran's trademark aggression. Eugene "Pobelter" Park has stepped up from spring as well, which is a godsend for Immortals in this mid-centric metagame. All in all, Immortals is a top-tier threat in NA, and has got to be the favorite against any team not named TSM.
Cloud9 were predicted by most to take their series against EnVy in the quarterfinals, and they did not disappoint. The series started off with a Game 1 loss for Cloud9, but things quickly and consistently got worse for EnVy from there. The next three games were increasingly drastic wins for C9, who, as a result, put up the best KDAs across the board in the quarterfinals. This kind of performance is what was expected of them, but it remains to be seen how they'll fare in a matchup where they aren't the clear favorites. The gap between EnVy and Immortals is a wide one, and it's unclear whether Cloud9 are capable of bridging it.
Key Matchup: Pobelter vs. Jensen
While the regular-season records indicate that Cloud9 may be somewhat outclassed as a whole against Immortals, the mid lane is the place where they may end up having a distinct advantage. While Pobelter has performed very well this split, he's still been doing so from a more supportive role within his team, leading NA mid laners in assists but landing in the bottom three in terms of gold share.Jensen, in contrast, has been a true carry for his team, grabbing the most kills and highest gold per minute. If Cloud9 can manage to get Jensen a lead, he's already proven time and again that he has the potential to run away with it, which may be C9's best chance to pull out a win in this matchup.
The Verdict: 3-1 Immortals
While the matchup of a second-place team with a third-place one should be close in theory, Immortals proved this split that they--along with TSM--are a cut above the rest of the league. No one aside from TSM has managed to take a series off of them thus far, and there's no reason to think this match will be any different. Still, Immortals had a tendency to drop more individual games than TSM, to the extent that Cloud9 are likely to be able to pull out at least one win in the series. A series victory, however, seems all but out of reach for the longstanding NA squad, especially without Hai "Hai" Lam's leadership present in the more extended, pressure-filled match.
Team SoloMid vs. Counter Logic Gaming:
Team SoloMid, the most historically successful North American team in League of Legends, finally looks poised to do what the organization has set out to do for a very long time: perform at a top level internationally. TSM's 17-1 record in the regular split ties with Immortals' Spring Split record, making this current iteration arguably the most dominant team NA has ever seen. Led by All-Stars Søren "Bjergsen" Bjerg and Peng "Doublelift" Yiliang, TSM have the strongest laners in the LCS, with every member of the team except jungler Dennis "Svenskeren" Johnsen making the first All-League Team in NA. These same members all possess the highest or second-highest KDA for their positions, with Sven sneaking into fourth for NA junglers. In particular, Bjergsen's 7.11 KDA ratio beats out runner-up Pobelter by a full 2.20 points. This is the strongest TSM squad that the world has ever seen, and they're not going to go down easy. While TSM do already have the most championship points in NA behind CLG, they're not going to be happy with anything other than a first-place trophy and an auto-qualification.
Counter Logic Gaming may have taken the 3-1 victory over Team Liquid, but it wasn't the most confidence-inspiring performance. CLG looked extremely weak in the game they lost, as they utterly failed to react at all to Joshua "Dardoch" Hartnett's absurdly predictable bot-lane camping strategy, as the deaths simply piled up for Trevor "Stixxay" Hayes and Zaqueri "aphromoo" Black. Furthermore, while CLG were able to take the matchup in standard lanes, as necessitated by patch 4.15's gutting of the lane-swap metagame, the laners of Liquid pale in comparison to CLG's next opponents, with Liquid's starting ADC performing so poorly that they swapped him out in Game 3 for an up-til-then unused substitute. CLG will need a much more convincing performance to take out TSM.
Key Matchup: Biofrost vs. aphromoo
While Vincent "Biofrost" Wang has put up amazing numbers and made fantastic plays throughout the split, there is still speculation as to whether Biofrost is an integral part of TSM's success or is merely the benefactor of it, a question that was bound to come up when concerning a rookie on a team full of All-Star veterans. After all, unlike aphromoo, Biofrost isn't a shotcaller for his team, making it arguably much easier to look good from a mechanical perspective. And, of course, a support's statistics often sink or swim with the success of the team regardless of the support's contribution. Still, at a surface level, Biofrost looks like the best support in NA, a title that, for the past couple of years, was typically held quite firmly by aphromoo. While his performance this split hasn't quite been up to par, along with the rest of his team's, if aphromoo can return to his previous form, he may be CLG's only chance to take down the North American titans.
The Verdict: 3-0 Team SoloMid
What else is there to say? CLG, while they surged at the end of the split, have simply had a very up-and-down summer. TSM, meanwhile, may just be the strongest team ever to grace North America. And with the most recent patch taking away CLG's favorite toy: the lane swap, it's doubtful that they'll be able to stand up to TSM's top-tier laners. Add to that that TSM are historically the most consistently and drastically playoff-buffed team in League of Legends, and you've got a recipe for a sweep. CLG look to be completely outclassed in this matchup.
