NA LCS Summer Week Five Recap
Flying High
A review of week Five of the NA LCS summer split
By: John Jaskot
Game of the Week
Who would have thought that FlyQuest would have been my pick for game of the week two weeks in a row? This game deserves the title this week as it was decided by one of my favorite things and one of the most exciting things to watch in League of Legends eSports .... The base race!
What is a base race you might ask? A base race occurs at the point in the game where the opposing teams decide to stop looking for the fight that will kill off the other team and both rush directly to the ememy nexus to try and win the game. This is different because most games end by one team winning a big team fight against the other team and using their numbers advantage to overthrow their opponent and win the game. In a base race, it comes down to which team is stronger against the game's AI to destroy the other teams base the fastest.
There are very few base races seen in competitive play these days as it is a very risky call for a team to make. If the call to try for a nexus rush fails for a team it generally means the other team walks down a lane and wins the game themselves. For both teams to make a nexus rush at the same time, and start what is called "the base race," is rare. It can be one of the most exciting finishes to a game of League. Not only does this game deserve game of the week but it will also go down in NA LCS history as one of the most exciting "base race" finishes of all time. If you didn't catch it, go watch it NOW!
Most Valuable Player of the Week
My MVP pick of the week is Power of Evil of Optic Gaming. PoE has had his struggles in the NA LCS since his introduction a few years back from the EU LCS. He never really found the same rhythm he had over in Europe. That was, until this past weekend.
- Game 1: Defeated Team Solo Mid. Played Vicktor. Score line: 7/0/3 with a CS score of 363
- Game 2: Defeated Cloud 9. Played Talon. Score line: 11/3/7 with a CS score of 298
Needless to say PoE carried this team to their first ever winning weekend in the 2018 NA LCS. His decision making and impact in team fights reminded me of the old Power of Evil back on the Unicorns of Love. He was so exciting to watch back then because he would always play that champion you would never have expected to see in a pro match. Vicktor is that champion in this current meta and although Talon is slowly creeping back into the meta I have not seen anyone in the NA LCS play Talon as well as PoE did this past weekend. His leadership and shot calling was flawless this weekend. Everything he did just seemed to work, and even better, it was against TSM and Cloud 9 who are both teams that Optic has struggled with in the past. So congratulations, PoE, for my pick of player of the week! Now everyone please excuse me while I go fire up my League of Legends client as PoE has inspired me to learn Vicktor Mid!
Standings
Schedule This Weekend ( July 28th - July 29th )
Saturday Sunday
This Weekends Game to Watch
This has been the biggest rivalry since the induction of C9 into the NA LCS. This game should be interesting as TSM is not the dominating team NA is used to currently and C9 is off to the worst start they have had in a split ever. Don't let that sway you from watching this game as these teams always historically bring their best against each other. Did I forget to mention this is a pivotal game for C9 to win if they plan on making the summer split playoffs?