The NA LCS Week 10 Recap
This week's LCS blew up with explosive results. Besides the top three teams, Team SoloMid, Cloud 9, and Counter Logic Gaming, there was still plenty of parity amongst the rest of the standings. Week 10 provided plenty of resolution.
Team Dignitas v Evil Geniuses -- Team Dignitas win at 51:35 -- Match value: 4 out of 5.
Best play: The most lopsided engagement of the game occurred at the 22:48 minute mark. A beautiful initiation and bait from Team Dignitas' Greyson "goldenglue" Gilmer led to response from all five Evil Geniuses (EG). Unfortunately for EG, Gilmer's movement and evasion allowed the entire Team Dignitas to collapse onto single targets and ultimately ace the fight in exchange for one casualty.
MVP: Gilmer was the leader in every team fight, influencing the focus and the initiation. It was through Gilmer's movements and evasion that Team Dignitas took the momentum and gold lead for good.
Counter Logic Gaming v. Team SoloMid -- Counter Logic gaming win at 36:55 -- Match value: 4.5 out of 5.
Best play: Marcel "Dexter" Feldkamp made the right choice at 30:51 to reengage onto Team SoloMid with just his AD carry alive. Fortunately for Counter Logic Gaming, his bravery was rewarded. With enough burst to take out the remaining Team SoloMid members, Counter Logic Gaming used the momentum boost to wrap up a free baron and map control.
MVP: Feldkamp played out of his mind. The power of Lee Sin was put on show by the CLG jungler and Team SoloMid could not answer back. Each successful initiation clawed his team back until it was over for Team SoloMid.
Team Coast v. XDG -- Team Coast win at 45:35 -- Match value: 3.5 out of 5.
Best play: Team Coast took the momentum for good at the 34 minute mark with an ace at Baron. A back-and-forth game of chicken took its toll on XDG with Team Coast's kiting team fight sniping away key core champions. From there, Team Coast took firm control of the game.
MVP: Danny "Shiphtur" Le took it upon himself to outplay the laning phase, the mid-game, and the team fight skirmishes. He was deadly in fights and used every advantage in his farm game to seize victory for his team.
Team Curse v. Cloud 9 -- Cloud 9 win at 32:11 -- Match value: 3.5 out of 5.
Best play: The final push at 31 minutes was easily the most lopsided affair in the match. In a back-and-forth shoot-out, Cloud 9 took an overzealous base push and killed off the nexus.
MVP: Zachary "Sneaky" Scuderi played perfect AD carry. He didn't die once, outshot his opposition, and carried his team to victory.
Counter Logic Gaming v. XDG -- Counter Logic Gaming win at 29:04 -- Match value: 3 out of 5.
Best play: 25:00 minute mark changed the momentum of the game in favor of CLG. A flank, a quick kill, and a zero-casualty fight for CLG took XDG from the running.
MVP: Zaqueri "Aphromoo" Black played with reckless abandon. He followed great initiations with follow-up burst. His high assist total was just a microcosm of the game he played.
Team Curse v. Team SoloMid -- Team SoloMid win at 39:20 -- Match value: 3.5 out of 5.
Best play: Team Curse's attempt to surprise Team SoloMid backfired at 30:40. Team SoloMid took the jungle ambush attempt and turned it around in their favor. Unfortunately for Team Curse, the fight went against them and Team SoloMid took the advantage for good.
MVP: Marcus "Dyrus" Hill played the team needs role. He was the tank and initiation and did the majority of team fight damage. In other words, he was TSM.
Cloud 9 v. Team Dignitas -- Cloud 9 win at 41:04 -- Match value: 4 out of 5.
Best play: Team Dignitas used a hit-and-run approach that sparked the match's biggest turnaround fight at 24:40. Cloud 9 took the quick casualty and punished Team Dignitas' greed and pursued for a winning fight. The momentum never went back to Team Dignitas after.
MVP: Scuderi played an exceptional Lucian to thwart Team Dignitas' upset attempt. His damage output was unbelievable and could not be contained.
Evil Geniuses v. Team Coast -- Team Coast win at 50:58 -- Match value: 4.5 out of 5.
Best play: Team Coast used a very quick hit on Evil Geniuses at 38:55 to take an 8-6 kill lead and the game's first base push. From there, Team Coast used the momentum for the victory.
MVP: Shiphtur was the star again. He was decisive and explosive in every Team Coast team fight. Le showed great leadership within engagements and pushed Team Coast over EG.
Champion of the week: Lucian
With a 5-2 record overall for the week, Lucian was the popular AD carry for the majority of the NA LCS. The most notable win was the thrilling "upset" victory of CLG over Team SoloMid. Overall, Lucian play went up and his impact was felt in each victorious team fight.
Top of the week: Darshan "ZionSpartan" Upadhyaha (KDA ratio -- 12.00, 5.6)
Upadhyaha did not flash a superior KDA, overall, but played the perfect complement to his other superstar teammate, Le. His initiations and fearlessness took fights and ended Team Coast's Week 10 with a 2-0 record.
Jungle of the week: Marcel "Dexter" Feldkamp (KDA ratio -- 6.33, 5.5)
It could be said that Feldkamp was the MVP of the entire week. He played insane LoL against Team SoloMid and once again proved to the NA LCS that he was a feared jungler.
Middle of the week: Danny "Shiphtur" Le (KDA ratio -- 7.5)
Team Coast needed a boost and Le took to carrying. He was everything the team needed -- the damage, the sustain, the killing potential, and the superstar. Team Coast, 2-0, thanks in large part to Le.
Bottom of the week: Zachary "Sneaky" Scuderi and Daerek "LemonNation" Hart (KDA ratio -- 9.6, 21)
Can this duo get scarier? Probably. Scuderi and Hart played efficient bottom lane (including a frightening 21 KDA game). Their lack of deaths speak more about their skill level than their safe play.
| Rank | Team | Record |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cloud 9 | 20-4 |
| 2 | Team SoloMid | 20-4 |
| 3 | Counter Logic Gaming | 16-8 |
| 4 | Team Dignitas | 10-14 |
| 5 | Curse | 9-15 |
| 6 | Team Coast | 9-15 |
| 7 | Evil Geniuses | 6-18 |
| 8 | XDG | 6-18 |
Week 10 answered plenty of questions. The NA LCS saw Team Coast separate themselves from the rest of the pack and into the playoff hunt, finally. It saw the potential that Team Dignitas could have with a new lineup and also the contender status of Counter Logic Gaming. There is plenty of parity now, entering Week 11 and the end of the NA LCS season.
Images courtesy of lolesports.com
