North American League Championship Series: Super Week Roundup

Ashley Crocker 15’ / Emertainment Monthly Staff Writer

The 2014 League of Legends season has started. Starting with the Spring Split, an eleven week competition between eight teams, the season was kicked off with Super week. League Championship teams: Cloud 9 Hyperx, Team Solo Mid (TSM), Evil Geniuses (EG), Counter Logic Gaming (CLG), XDG Gaming (formerly Vulcan), Team Coast, Team Curse, and Team Dignatas played a heated sixteen matches over three days. At the end, not one team pulled off a perfect record which means this split promises to be a good one.
The favorites to start off the week were Cloud 9, Team Solo Mid, and XDG gaming, the season 3 North American World Championship participants. Close at their heels were Counter Logic Gaming and Curse. But plenty of surprises came from Team Coast, Dignatas, and Evil Geniuses. Cloud 9 scored victory over TSM, XDG, and CLG but was upset by Team Dignatas despite a 90% audience vote in Cloud 9’s favor. XDG also struggled to make ground, losing all but one of their four names. Team Solo Mid had a very strong showing and continue to be the fan favorites for Spring Split champions.
After a major roster change, Curse struggled a bit against CLG and TSM but proved, with a little bit of work, they could be a force to be reckoned with. Team Coast surprised fans by coming back from being one of the weakest teams in the Summer split to going 2 for 2, beating Evil Geniuses and XDG. Dignatas made an even more surprising play by toppling the Summer Split powerhouse Cloud 9 for an overall 2 for 2 record. Counter Logic Gaming also tied for third with the 2 for 2 record showing that they still have the makings of a great team. However, most disappointing was Evil Geniuses. A combination of the European Evil Geniuses and Velocity E Sports EG looked very strong in the qualification tourney but underperformed during super week with a 1-3 record beating only CLG. With such a star team, lets hope they can get their feet back on the ground as the Spring Split gets underway.

People to Watch:

Top: ZionSpartan – Team Coast
ZionSpartan was definitely a power player for his team. His Nasus against EG went 4/1/4 and was a major threat in the game as a strong damage tank. His ability to split push gave his team good map control and objective push in the later game. He is one to watch as the season continues.
Mid: Bjergsen – Team Solo Mid
Welcome to the Bjergsen hype train, may I take your ticket please? Bjergsen has been making a name for himself in North America since TSM announced that Reginald would be stepping down from mid lane. Bringing a European spin to the NA LCS, Bjergsen dominated his games with a 5.8 KDA Ratio. His Leblanc was absolutely terrifying and he is easily one of the best, if not the best, mid laner in the LCS.
Support: Krepo – Evil Geniuses
Despite Evil Geniuses difficulties during super week Krepo made some of the best plays during his games. His Thresh death sentences were on the spot but unfortunately he was unable to carry his team to victory. Nontheless his Leona play in the qualification tourney cannot be overlooked. If given the chance, Krepo may just make the plays to turn it around for Evil Geniuses.
Jungle: Meteos – Cloud 9
The Cloud 9 superstar Meteos proved his hype as one of the best junglers in the NA LCS. His heavy farm and calculated ganks helped carry his team to success. While his play style has not really changed his team synergy has greatly improved making Cloud 9 all the more threatening.
AD Carry: Cop – Curse
One of the two original members from last year’s squad, Cop remained in his ADC role. Finishing super week with a 9.5 KDA, Cop and support Zekent pulled off some pretty strong plays. Although the field for top ADC is fierce, Cop is once again proving he has what it takes to be the best.
Team: Team Solo Mid
The fan favorite Team Solo Mid returns to NA LCS with a major change to their roster: no Reginald. It isn’t that Reginald was not a star player, but with the switch to Bjergsen TSM seems to have gotten even better. With only one loss to Cloud 9, TSM dominated their games during super week. Overall, they have one of the strongest teams in the North American series. Once they get their objectives in order, they may just claim the Spring-split title.

Currently the standings are as follows:

Watch the matches and view the full schedule, team rosters, and statistics at na.lolesports.com.