8 reasons why LCS EU will be much weaker next split

Last week I put together a list of reasons why LCS NA will be much stronger next split, thanks to a number of roster moves and playoff outcomes. Partly due to those moves, the European LCS looks in trouble for this split. Here are eight reasons why LCS EU will be much weaker this split than it was last split.

Alex Ich has left the league

Taking aside the impact Alex Ich's startling departure from Gambit will have on that team, a more distressing outcome is that his decision to go to a team who aren't in the LCS at all, for the next split at least, means that the league loses one of its greatest players. There are many players who replacable, but right now Alex Ich really is not at the phase of his career where he has been replaced by modern day mid laners. He may not be the best, but he was still one of the best in Europe.

It's also crazy to imagine he may never again play in the Mid lane in Europe, having moved to the Top lane for this new team, apparently.

Gambit can likely never be as good again

Alex Ich was Gambit, in as much as he was the focal point of the entire team. When you think of Gambit at their best, you think of Alex Ich coming in to pick up all the kills and do the damage in the team-fights. You think of Diamondprox and Alex's synergy in the Mid lane, ensuring he got ahead or didn't get behind against his opposing Mid.

There's even a story I've pieced together from interviews with Gambit players over the years, where when Edward joined Team Empire, he brought with him the inexperienced Diamondprox and told Alex that they would to be taught how to play in a team. If one things of what a cohesive unit Gambit were at their peak, then this story makes a lot of sense, suggesting Alex Ich had some say in how the players developed and what kind of style they would adopt. Now the team has not only lost its leader and one of its star players, it has lost the teacher.

Genja has played a teaching role in the past, but Voidle and D4rker suggested that was no longer the case. Finding new talent will already be difficult enough for Gambit, especially since that player will likely be compared to the impossible standard of Alex Ich at every point in time, but even worse is that they don't have someone to help shape that player into a top level player.

Amazing left the league

Amazing shot into the spotlight with his impressive mechanical plays in the Spring split, almost making people forget that Copenhagen Wolves had supposedly lost their chance at having one of Europe's top Junglers when Shook left. This split should have been where he confirmed his level and began to build a legacy as a top European player, akin to what Bjergsen did over the two splits last year. Instead, Amazing exits the European LCS for the North American one. With Europe's best Challenger scene junglers both under age, that leaves a gap in the talent pool for this split.

Copenhagen Wolves has fallen apart

Amazing heading to TSM and FORG1VEN going to the superteam 2.0 means that Copenhagen Wolves has lost its two star players in a single off season. Who do they have replacing those players? The names mentioned so far are not close to the status of those who have departed. True, prior to this split nobody could have known what FORG1VEN could become, so there is still room for the replacements to prove themselves as players, but the outlook right now is not looking good.

The Copenhagen Wolves that finished last split seemed to have proven themselves to be a solid mid table team, capable of taking the odd game from the top sides and able to keep down the lower teams. Almost winning over Alliance and Gambit was no joke, so they could have taken heart from those results. Going into a new split without their stars, it's hard to see how the Wolves won't be worse, which in turn makes the competition in EU that much worse.

FORG1VEN isn't in the league anymore

As with the Alex Ich issue, it's not just that FORG1VEN left Wolves, it's that he has left LCS entirely. If this split starts with no FORG1VEN then the ADC battle becomes a weaker one. Had Wolves been able to improve their line-up, then his play might have been able to help propel them higher up the table and himself into contention for one of the best at his position. Instead, his future is uncertain if he has one at all.

Millenium didn't get relegated

This might sound strange, but Millenium has two European players I really like and thus I'm sad that they didn't get relegated. I think kev1n and Creaton have the talent and experience to justify them being in one of the top three teams in the region. Instead, they're trapped in the "ELO hell" scenario that Shiphtur of Coast knew all too well. Millenium's curse is that they were too good die and yet are not strong enough to truly live. Had Millenium been relegated, I think those players could have departed to other teams, thus strengthening those teams. Oh, and we would have potentially had both NiP in the league and the two players I've mentioned.

Even outside of those two, Jree and Kerp could most definitely be useful to mid to lower table teams. I could see good spots for them on Wolves or SHC immediately. Millenium staying in the LCS actually managed to contribute to the league looking weaker this split. Perhaps they will turn everything around and become a top team, as their line-up initially seemed to have the promise of becoming, but for now I highly doubt it.

It's difficult to see how the top teams can improve

It's bad enough that the bottom teams all seem to be a complete mess, but the top end of the EU season seems to be in a kind of stasis. All four of the top four teams (fnatic, SK, Alliance and ROCCAT) are very much known quantities with either a fatal flaw or not much room to significantly improve. fnatic are the best team in the region, but that very much depends on their mood and where their yo-yoing form is at for a week. It's hard to believe they won't have another dip this split where they seem uninterested and give up easy wins, as has happened again and again in their LCS runs.

Alliance are skilled enough to be the best in Europe, but severely lack the shot-calling to allow them to add solid objective control to their amazing laning. SK are a wonderful team, but their players are hardly going to improve in raw skill and thus they are kind of stuck at the level they've hit now. Finally, ROCCAT showed themselves to be good but everything seems very set in place for them. Which player goes up to a higher level this split? How can they change their approach to become better tactically? The ROCCAT you see now is likely to be the same one contending for the third Worlds spot at the end of the split, not playing in the final.

The best Challenger players are too young to join the league

Players leaving the league wouldn't be a problem if there were solid amateur players ready to take their turn in the big leagues. Europe's biggest problem, though, is that the two best amateur players, by most accounts, as the 16 year old junglers Amin and k0u, formerly of NiP and C9E each. Were they 17, both would be playing in LCS right now, most likely. Instead, another split will go by without a chance to see how they would fare against the elite players of Europe. In China or Korea, there would be no issue with them beginning their professional careers, but that's not the case in the LCS.

Photo credit: Riot Games, Cloud 9