League Of Legends

C9 won, but should have lost 0-2 if FLY didn't decide to team fight in the baron pit against a Taric Ult.

But I'm now convinced Hai is the best player in NA.

Updated Standings with Korean Count
C9 (8-0): 1
TSM (6-2): 0
FLY (6-2): 0
FOX (4-4): 1
P1 (4-4): 2
IMT (4-4): 2
CLG (3-5): 1
TL (2-6): 2
DIG (2-6): 3
NVY (1-7): 3

oh, and TSM is still in desperate need of a shotcaller and is going 0-2 next week against C9 Blue & Yellow.

Lasch said:

C9 won, but should have lost 0-2 if FLY didn't decide to team fight in the baron pit against a Taric Ult.

But I'm now convinced Hai is the best player in NA.

Updated Standings with Korean Count
C9 (8-0): 1
TSM (6-2): 0
FLY (6-2): 0
FOX (4-4): 1
P1 (4-4): 2
IMT (4-4): 2
CLG (3-5): 1
TL (2-6): 2
DIG (2-6): 3
NVY (1-7): 3

oh, and TSM is still in desperate need of a shotcaller and is going 0-2 next week against C9 Blue & Yellow.

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Hai is probably the smartest shotcaller and in game strategist of all time in NA. Just on that, i can respect the opinion that hes the best player, but mechanically he isnt the best.
Could you imagine if he played ADC and joined TSM? or, went back to C9 as support or top (when impact's contract is up and he goes back to korea)? NA might have a contender on the international stage if we could combine his intelligence with a mechanically gifted team.
I mean, altec does things like ulting the wrong way, yet he puts up amazing kda numbers regardless and they still win.

Also, i think lemonnation doesnt get the credit he deserves. Pretty sure he comes up with their weird comps/strats, but hai executes them in game.

Im no longer expecting them to fall off. The games this week finally convinced me they are a top 3 team this split, and they arent necessarily at their ceiling either. Moon is clearly the most improved player, but his mechanics are even better, its not just hai shotcalling. He just needed some confidence it seems and NRG was not giving it to him. Even Balls is playing great, hes had some 1v1 outplays and great plays in general.
Im jumping on the FLY bandwagon, was totally rooting for them against C9. I hope its them and P1/C9 in the finals. normally, id want TSM there, but i want them to take doublelift back next split.

As much as I like FLY, I really dislike C9. I think it's mainly just that I hate Sneaky. His whole troll attitude when he streams just aggravates me.

However, at international events, they are still an NA team, so I root for them. It's sort of how I feel about the Patriots, I dislike them, but I respect their skill.

So, while I'm hoping for other teams to beat them in the split, if C9 wins because they are playing really well (rather then the other team just being shitty), that gives me hope they might do something at an international event.

How can you hate Sneaky? I mean I can see his meme lord stream pretty annoying but the guy doesn't ever straight up troll. Now Meteos... he has a place on the douche canoe.

They are both kind of the same, imo. I'm sure they are both nice guys in person, and it's the worst when they are both playing/streaming together, but yea.. i hate that meme lord crap his stream is based around. I hate meteos too, but he's not a starter anymore.

I don't think there is anyone in the LCS I can't stand at this point.

Piglet and Dardoch would probably be pretty high on the list if one did exist; almost 100% based off TL's videos. But, I'll admit that in the offseason if I had read either player was joining TSM, I'd have still been on board.

and in IEM news. No NA team accepted, so G2 is going instead. (Worlds teams + FLY were only NA teams offered)

Apparently teams are worried about visas and there is going to be a roster shakeup during the break for IEM. Leena (Regi's GF) said it wasn't TSM. so have to assume it is either Flyquest or CLG that is having a roster change of some sort.

I dunno what kind of shit either team would be able to pull midseason, unless they were able to buyout someone like Madlife to replace lemon? Is there some free agent toplaner that CLG can grab?

prob CLG given how shit they are.

That would be my first guess as well... But then I'm not sure why FLY would be worried about their visas? They're all from USA and Canada. But then I think... why the fuck would FLY have a roster change at this point?

Maybe someone on FLY has relatives in a banned country or their family is otherwise muslim?
I cant imagine they would be changing the roster, but i can easily see CLG changing mid, top or even jungle. Yes, xmithie is doing better this split, but hes not dominant and jungle is potentially the most important position in this meta. Put someone like akaadian or contractz (i.e. a good, aggressivr NA rookie) on that team and, assuming they gel together, they couldeasily have a positive record by now.
I think huhi getting replaced is the most likely, but i wouldnt be surprised at any of them being replaced barring stixxay/aphromoo.

Only change TSM should make is guilt tripping dlift into coming back earlier. FLY needs to ride this roster till they have a reason not to, dont tinker with something that isnt broken.

Huhi really hasn't been the problem honestly for CLG. Darshan has just been bad ever since last years MSI.

Huhi hasn't been 'bad' but he's also not been good, either. He's just very average, never crushes his lane or dominates a game. Same can be said for most of CLG, and that's the problem. This meta really doesn't suit how they are setup. When they gave darshan a split pushing carry top, gangplank, they did well and so did Darshan.

He still has talent, they just can't take advantage of it because jungle and mid are supposed to be the 'carry' champs right now, and neither Xmithie or Huhi really ever carry a game. So, he plays a tank, aphro plays a supportive champ (rather then a playmaking support, like thresh/alistar), and everyone is playing outside their comfort zone. Plus, it inflates the stats of xmithie and huhi when the rest of the team are playing around getting them resources.

They need a mid and jungle who are aggressive and get them an early lead that they can snowball into something. Stixxay has been the best player on the team, because he was naturally a supportive adc even before the meta made that the right choice.
If you look at all the top teams right now, they all have very good mid/jungle players, or amazing synergy between their top/jung/mid. Jungle > Mid > Top > Botlane is the rough order of importance for a team in this meta. There might be a way to break out of that, and previously CLG often could do 'out of meta' things and find success, but so far no one has figured out the next step or if it's possible.

I agree for the most part. My point was more that if winning means Darshan needs to be on a carry top to be effective then he is the weakest link in this meta. Sure Xmithie and Huhi are just average which is holding them back, but this is an issue that CLG has always had with its current set of members. CLG bot goes even or wins almost every game. Huhi goes even or loses slightly. Xmithie has the largest variance he can lose, draw, or win depending on the champ. Then you have the strategic black hole that is Darshan. Put him on a carry split pusher top and he is effective. Force him on to a tank and you might as well have long panda playing top for you. It effectively disallows CLG from participating in the meta at a high level whenever the beef is coming from top lane primarily.

idk, when he's on a tank, his job is to basically just take damage. It's up to the jungle/mid/adc to do the damage. If those players aren't doing that job well, it often makes the tank look bad.

Sure, sometimes you can get on a squishy and finish them off, but for the most part it's just about engaging and then being a big dumb potato.
In other words, I think he'd do better on the tank champs he picks if their mid and jungle were stronger, while still having the ability to play those other champs when the opportunity arises.

Plus, he's the secondary shot caller with aphro. Pretty sure they are gonna swap out huhi and/or xmithie and then see how things go for rest of split. If they still suck balls, then Darshan is next on the chopping block.

From all the NA LCS I've watched so far, I would say almost every loss or win is more shotcalling and strategy based than raw skill. You see 1v1/2v2 etc go every which way for every team, but there's just CONSTANT "wtf" moments for serious decisions and movements. Changing around 1 or 2 "mediocre" players won't fix that unless it's key to the whole team communicating better.

I agree, but id add that its both the shotcalling and synergy of the players. If xmithie goes to gank for huhi (neither of which are supposedly the shotcallers) its whether they each know the others timing and tendencies.

On the flip side, dignitas had shown that individual skill is much less relevant then good communication, synergy and shot calling.

But, sometimes fresh blood or a new atmosphere makes other players play better. Moon being the biggest example. So, CLG certainly needs to do something.

Enzee said:

They are both kind of the same, imo. I'm sure they are both nice guys in person, and it's the worst when they are both playing/streaming together, but yea.. i hate that meme lord crap his stream is based around. I hate meteos too, but he's not a starter anymore.

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And just like that... Meteos is back into the LCS w/ P1.

Inori is dealing w/ personal issue in Canada. I'm not sure if that means benched for int'ing in scrims/attitude. Or if he is really dealing w/ something and will only be gone for a week.

Enzee said:

idk, when he's on a tank, his job is to basically just take damage. It's up to the jungle/mid/adc to do the damage. If those players aren't doing that job well, it often makes the tank look bad.

Sure, sometimes you can get on a squishy and finish them off, but for the most part it's just about engaging and then being a big dumb potato.
In other words, I think he'd do better on the tank champs he picks if their mid and jungle were stronger, while still having the ability to play those other champs when the opportunity arises.

Plus, he's the secondary shot caller with aphro. Pretty sure they are gonna swap out huhi and/or xmithie and then see how things go for rest of split. If they still suck balls, then Darshan is next on the chopping block.

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If you parse it down to the basics then yes it is just his job to take damage. The problem (aside from when poppy was broken) is that Darshan is not efficient at this in any respect. He loses lane in tank vs tank and tank(him) vs carry match ups. He has incredibly sub par teleport usage, often having to blow it just to relocate because he was trying to split as a tank instead of wave trimming like everyone else and then moving towards where he is needed beforehand. He also can't carry a game as Maokai which is something that is incredibly easy to do as shown by Huni in the LCK and a bunch of other Mao players. Sure they aren't doing the damage but when played properly they are damn nigh unkillable until 35+ minutes in to the game. That is a huge boon to your team. It doesn't even have to be Mao. Looper's Singed and ADD's Sion respectively have carried their teams from the tank position this season.

Now I do agree that Huhi and Xmithie are sub par, but I think Darshan is just plain bad. Shot calling or not, and honestly that aspect of CLG hasn't been that impressive this season. Whether that is on Darshan or Aphro is up for debate.

Lasch said:

And just like that... Meteos is back into the LCS w/ P1.

Inori is dealing w/ personal issue in Canada. I'm not sure if that means benched for int'ing in scrims/attitude. Or if he is really dealing w/ something and will only be gone for a week.

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yea.. WTF?! I saw it on the fantasy site that meteos was starter, scrambled to find out why. Inori was solidly a top 5 jungler so far this split, top 3 when he got certain champs. That sucks for him and P1. Very sudden.

Vimeseh said:

Now I do agree that Huhi and Xmithie are sub par, but I think Darshan is just plain bad. Shot calling or not, and honestly that aspect of CLG hasn't been that impressive this season. Whether that is on Darshan or Aphro is up for debate.

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I don't disagree, I just think that an individual's performance can look a lot worse/better based on the teammates around them. ex: xmithie or huhi say they are about to roam his way, so he loses a trade on purpose as a long con to start baiting some over aggression. Then, the enemy jungler happens to be there earlier then his jungler thought they should be or huhi gets pushed in right when he would have left lane. From a spectator's perspective, we think he just fucked up his lane, whereas it was a strat they were setting up that someone else on his team screwed up the timing of.
Plus, based on history, Darshan has shown a higher skill cap then the other two. I think you give him ONE more chance to bring it back with 1-2 new players rotated in.

Mother fuckin hai