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There’s only one week left before playoffs and quite a bit changed in week eight of the NA LCS.
With Immortals taking a loss they have fallen level with Team SoloMid for first place in the league and just one game ahead of Counter Logic Gaming. Meanwhile, as teams like Dignitas and EnVy continue to look more dangerous, the first couple of seeds have never been more important.
This week was all about the top six teams drawing level with each other and proving that this really is anybodies split to win.
1. Team Dignitas are here to stay
Since the earliest moments of the Summer Split it has seemed like Team Dignitas were a fluke. One week, the wheels would fall off and they would be sent spiraling back to earth ending the split somewhere around 9-9. But, after six weeks the only real criticism to level at them was their consistency.
It seemed to be the only thing stopping them from beating some of the best teams in the league. And while week seven’s dominant win over Team SoloMid and underwhelming loss to Cloud9 did little to convince anyone that Dignitas had overcome their consistency issues, week eight saw them beat another of the league’s top three teams. Meaning that in three weeks Dignitas beat Counter Logic Gaming, Team SoloMid and Immortals, all three of the league leaders.
It may not mean that Team Dignitas is, themselves, a top three team, but at the very least it means we can put away our notion that they would disappear before the split’s end. Team Dignitas are here to stay, and it’s more than likely that they will go into playoffs as the league’s hottest team.
2. We still have a lot of questions about OmarGod
OmarGod had a strong week seven and it left many of us surprised that he could take over for Dardoch so quickly. But, after another week of play, there are a few questions that need to be answered if Counter Logic Gaming want to stay a top team. First and foremost, there’s the question of which champions he can actually play.
During the first couple of weeks, we mostly saw him play Gragas along with a couple Olaf games. And while that isn’t necessarily a bad thing, it certainly isn’t a sustainable competitive champion pool. Particularly, when games can so often be dominated by champions like Elise and Rek’Sai.
In a normal circumstance these issues wouldn’t be that big of a deal, but with just one week before playoffs, OmarGod overcoming this obstacle will be critical to CLG’s ability to advance and make it to the World Championships. If OmarGod’s champion pool continues to be limited to the tankiest junglers, CLG are going to struggle when it comes to longer series against teams who don’t have to rely on one singular play style.
3. Hyper carries are back in bottom lane
It’s been a while since we saw genuine hyper carries at ADC, but it seems like they may be back as a response to the tank meta we have seen developing over the last couple of patches. That means more Tristana, already one of the league’s most popular picks, more Kog’Maw, a champion North America has always sort of struggled to figure out, and, probably, a full fledged return of Twitch.
While these may not seem like massive changes, it’s likely that they’ll affect the meta quite a bit. For instance, teams are most likely to run a few more utility focused midlaners, as well as put an even higher priority on champions like Orianna. Finally, it’s also going to heavily favor teams that have the right AD Carries for the champions. That should leave teams with veteran AD Carries like Doublelift and Sneaky, who have proven they can perform under pressure, in the best possible spot as we head into the final week before playoffs.