2019 NALCS Spring Predictions

S.Samek

Well with the LEC underway by a week its time to have the NALCS follow suite. Well ahead of this weeks week one action heres how I think the standings will play out for the spring split.

10. Clutch gaming. This roster was pretty much a couple academy players and a couple switches with Echo Fox. Clutch lost Febiven to Misfits in the off season, who is propably was there strongest player at the time. They have Piglet starting at ad carry over Cody sun ,which is stupid as I think Piglets time as a productive ad carry is over and Cody Sun was pretty good for 100 Thieves last season. Huni might be able to carry for a few games,but I don’t quite think theres enough weapons to pick up the slack if he falters, which he did often during the summer split.

9. Echo Fox. Echo Fox has 3 of 5 former clutch starters. They also lost Huni and Jungler Dardoch, who carried a good bit of games for them. Rush game over from KT Rolster in Korea, but does he have enough to work with in the lineup to help propel Echo Fox to victory? I’m not feeling like it will happen often.

8. Optic Gaming. This is another roster that really just lacks something. 3 of 5 starters are back from a team that finished 7th during the 2018 summer. they traded in star middle lane player Power of Evil for former world champion Crown. They also added two new junglers in Meteos and Dardoch. Yet the have Meteos starting over Dardoch. Starting a player in decline over the 2018 summer split second team all LCS jungler, who made that choice? Yet even with Dardoch in the starting role, this lineup shouldn’t inspire much confidence. Especially after losing power of evil as their main carry.

7. Fly quest. Flyquest has a returning bottom lane duo and jungler with a new top laner and middle lane player. I like the consistency of this lineup even if it maybe a bit lackluster on paper. Pobelter might be a small upgrade over Keane which is good though. V1per in the top lane is a bit of a question mark being a rookie though in the top lane. They made the playoffs in summer 2018 and could do it again, but don’t be surprised if they miss out barely.

6. Golden Guardians. They made a few roster movies that I think improved this team. they picked up Hauntzer from TSM and Olleh from Liquid to play top and support. They then sighned Froggen out of a break/ Origen before they got into the LEC. They kept their jungler and ad carry. I like the improvements they made and they look to have a good squad that could surprise a few people. The big question is how well is Froggen going to be coming back to the NALCS. I think if he puts it togther GG is a dangerous team fighting for a gauntlet win at a 3rd spot at worlds for NA.

5. TSM. TSM is a main stay in NALCS. They missed out on worlds though last season. I feel like that will put a fire in them for this season. Yet they had a confusing off-season. They replaced Mithy with Smoothie at support, which I feel is a lateral move. Yet it also messes with the synergy in the bot lane. They tried to address the need for a new jungler by getting Akaadian from Optic,but I don’t feel like hes making this team better. Broken Blade signed out of the Turkish league to play top lane. I’m excited to see how well he does, after some success in Turkey playing on the team that finished second. It might be a wakeup call in terms of competition though and might make for a rough first split for TSM if he struggles. But with Zven and Bjergson still being the main carries they are always going to be able to contend for the playoffs at the very least.

4. CLG. I admit this might be a reach, but I’ll roll with it. The picked up Power of Evil to start in the middle lane as their big move. They then moved Wiggily into the jungle to replace a declining Reignover. They stay consistent in the top and bottom lanes. I like that they don’t have to worry about the synergy of the bot lane duo, like many of the other teams do sense it stayed the same from last year. Couple that with some improvement from Darshan and a new big weapon in the middle and watch out for CLG.

3. 100 Thieves. With two first team NALCS summer players returning ,including the spring split mvp this team is just as talented as ever. They added former world champion Bang to start at ad Carry. I feel this gives them a stronger bottom lane when combined with aphromoo. I don’t think this duo with struggle to gain synergy because of their veteran experience and should be a dangerous duo leading 100 Thieves to worlds.

2. Cloud 9. After an unlikely run to the worlds semi-finals, why not just roll with the team that took you there. That would be the case except for new middle lane player Nisqy in for the lost Jensen. Now losing a first-team all NALCS player is a big loss. C9 is a weaker team for sure. yet they still have a talented roster that worked well when it counted most. Just hope the rookies can replicate their good play from 2018 or c9 is in trouble, even with a rotation of 7-10 players.

1. Team Liquid. So close and so dominant, yet without a crown. So they went out and won the off-season at least in NA. They picked up Jensen and CoreJJ. Liquid now has three all NALCS first team members, including the MVP of summer 2018. This roster is ful of stars and anything short of titles and a spot at worlds is a bust. It’s going to take a lot to dethrone them from back to back NA wins and I don’t see it being done.

Let’s see what happens when the league begins anew on Saturday January 26.2019.