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What to expect from week 7 of the NA LCS

More lethality, more AD carries and a whole lot of Cho’Gath.

Riot Games

After six weeks of League Championship Series play we have a pretty good handle on how North America is shaking out. So, this week we don't have a lot of match ups that are tough to predict. The few exceptions to this are both of the Team Dignitas games, one against TSM and one against C9, as well as the Sunday face off between Counter Logic Gaming and Immortals.

But while the match ups in week seven aren’t exactly the most exciting of the year, it is the first week for patch 7.14 — and Kayn — so it should have plenty of excitement and weirdness anyway.

Cinderhulk is good again

Patch 7.14 buffed Cinderhulk and it won’t take long for the professional teams to take advantage of it. Junglers like Sejuani and maybe even Gragas will suddenly be a whole lot harder to kill, which should kick them right back up to the top of the jungle tier list. The change could even see a resurgence of temporarily dormant champions like Maokai, and should make Zac even stronger than he was before — meaning he will probably remain banned.

The most likely terror in the jungle, however, is going to be Cho’Gath who is unbelievably strong in the role right now. His new and improved Vorpal Spikes — now with more slows — give him a perfect way to set himself up for an unmissable Rupture, giving him some truly terrifying ganks. Meanwhile, with the additional health from Cinderhulk and the new infinite stack mechanic, he should have no problem reaching unbelievable amounts of health in just about any game he is in. Not only should you expect to see him, but you should also expect to be surprised by how many teams lose game because he isn’t banned.

Duskblade is scary now

Tank junglers aren’t the only ones who got a boost this patch, as lethality items got quite the buff as well. Most notable among them, is the new and improved Duskblade which should make a whole slew of new champions strong out of the jungle.

The standout star for the item is going to be Kha’Zix. Teams that are already comfortable with their junglers playing the purple bug have suddenly gained a brand new ban slot, as it seems like he may be incredibly strong on the patch so far.

The pool of AD carries continues to grow

Last split teams could pick one of two bot laners: Ashe or Varus. Since then, the pool has steadily grown, the trend should continue this week as Kalista and Xayah will be the go to picks for any team looking to snowball early,. Tristana and Kog’Maw should get way more play than they have seen in weeks previous, as the go-to hyper carry options. Caitlyn may remain a frequent ban for most teams, but watch out for a few tank heavy compositions to try to counter her with an early Thornmail.

Meanwhile, the Duskblade changes could mean a return for a couple of AD carries we haven’t seen in a long time such as Jhin or even Miss Fortune, both of whom should be huge burst threats if any game they’re in.