well, this is my first post of my new blog, The Cptn's Log (yes, i get that i spelled captain wrong, its because that's how it coincides with my LoL account name.)
before i start, let me give you a quick background on me. i've been a league player since s2, started as a top laner, moved to support and then to adc. i'm roughly a silver level player, but mostly because i don't put in enough time to climb faster...having a child will do that. i like to think i'm knowledgeable and have well formed opinions on the game, the meta, the teams/players, but i'm also producer at a game company, so i can delve into the games guts as well. should you listen and take my opinion for more than just an opinion? i mean, if you want to, go ahead, but this is just me, saying what i think. ok, introductions out of the way, lets get to the meat.
basically, today we get back into the lcs with 2 weeks remaining. sk, fnatic and h2k lead the way with elements/roccat, giants and mym carrying the bottom of the ladder. now that i've gotten all of the stuff you can find out on esportspedia out of the way, here's my actual opinion, which i will deliver in a breakdown of what i think of the teams mentioned.
sk gaming - i don't get this team. one week, they're badass, the next week, they're shit. as forg1vengre and svenskeren go, so does this team, shut them down, and fox is still too green to carry. i think they'll hold onto a top 3 finish, but i don't know if they'll be able to keep the top spot. fredy122 has been wildly inconsistent this season, to continue playing at a top team level, they will need him to be more of a force more often, mostly because teams will begin to target forg1vengre and his seemingly puddle of champions. i don't believe they are the best in EU, but i do believe they have some of the most experience and play well as a team.
fnatic - they have started to come back down to earth after quite the run early in the season. they came out of nowhere, from the ashes of one of the most popular teams in EU, led by the quiet, frenchman, YellOwSTaR. i like them, a lot. i like that they're aggressive, i like that they seem, at times, to play like a team with nothing to lose. i feel those are their finest moments. i think, for them to really show they're on that next level, Steeelback needs to be more of a force earlier in the game. he consistently loses laning phase, but picks it up in mid-late game, which is fine, but that has exposed the early game weakness of fnatic. i think Huni and ReignOver were outstanding additions, coming in as complete unknowns and really solidifying their place here. i think Febiven is very strong in mid, with a nice champion pool to pick from who can carry at any time and play's a smart, cerebral style in mid. if they can continue to improve and sure up their weak early game woes, then i think they can take and keep the top spot in eu.
H2k-Gaming - i'll be honest, i knew nothing of this team. even now, at 10-4, they're remain a bit of a mystery to me, and clearly to the rest of the eu lcs. early in the season, they looked like a joke, now it appears the joke is on us, because this team is for real. the bot lane, sured up, when they replaced voidle with kasing, has been outstanding. hjarnan has come from c9 Eclipse and has emerged as a top adc in eu. ryu, who looked lost the first few weeks, is finally showing why he was so highly thought of, he has turned a bad season around in a big way. top laner odoamne has gotten better each week, where now, he is considered among the best top laners in the region. part of their success can definitely be attributed to their coach, PR0LLY, who, as a player, was pretty good, but as a coach, has definitely found his calling. his knowledge and experience has done nothing but help H2K find themselves this split.
Now for the bottom of the barrel. I won't give them nearly as much face time as i gave the top teams.
Roccat - this is a team with no identity. they have some nice players in positions, but can't seem to put it all together on a consistent basis. nukeduck hasn't looked like the player from the lemondogs in quite sometime, and while woolite is a bright spot, something seems to be missing from this team. they'll be fighting to keep their lcs spot.
Elements - this is why super teams never work. you put 5 of the top eu players together, and they can't figure out how to win with a gun to their head. their problem isn't their personnel, its their approach. their entire strategy is too easy to counter and they're too stubborn to fix it. they get blitzed by more aggressive approaches and it throws off their entire game, to the point that they can't recover. rekkles seems out of sync, froggen seems disinterested, shook looks like he doesn't know which way he'd rather play and the revolving door at top and support offers very little in creating any kind of team atmosphere. on talent alone, they could win, they just need a real coach to tell them that their strategy is crap and here's how you're going to win. this team is the definition of disappointment. they don't deserve to be in lcs, but they will manage to keep their spot in relegation.
Giants Gaming - this team isn't bad, they're just overmatched. PePiiNeRo is a nice midlaner, who can make a few plays, Fr3deric is a decent jungler who seems to know what he's doing and again, makes a few nice plays here and there. Werlyb is solid in top, but too easily banned out since his first week Jax dominance. He has never approached that level of play since, and needs to deepen his pool if he is to remain relevant. all in all, they just lack the experience to get out of the cellar at this time.
Meet Your Makers - this organization is simply put, a disaster. i don't need to go on about how they handled the Kori situation, so lets keep it to their on the field play. they look like a team that just wants this season to end. Kori doesn't want to be there, H0R0 doesn't want to be there, Jwaow is a nice player, but not the answer, MrRalleZ looks lost, at times and Nisbeth isn't a good enough player to right the bot lane ship. this team will get dropped from the eu lcs and ultimately replaced with Peke's Origen team.
to close out this first post, i will say, not all my blogs will be this...verbose. i wanted to start out with a bang, give you all my broad opinion on the state of the eu lcs. later this week, i'll do this for na. i will also be starting my podcast soon enough, so look for that in the near future. other than that, i'll see you on the rift.
-Hooks
@Cptn_Hooks
Cptn_Hooks on Twitch
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