A collaborative article written for competitive gaming organisation ESL where I work under the pseudonym 'Saitama'. Read it on their site at: play.eslgaming.com

Format switch up

The 2015 EU LCS features 10 top tier teams across a shortened span of 9 weeks. Every team is set to play each other just twice, down from the former years’ four game format. This stresses the importance of every series, ramping up the pressure and making each game matter more than any previous season. Coupled with overhaul of the rankings fans can expect a much more competitive and cutthroat environment.

The Circuit-point system

After a long debate LCS has finally settled on the adoption of the ‘circuit-point system’. Avid league of legends fans could see it as a slightly refined OGN format, each team gaining points based on where they end in each split. This increases the priority of the spring split, forcing teams to bring more ambitious strategies earlier than ever before, in turn providing more exciting games as players adapt across the full season. Teams at the bottom of the ladder will be fighting much harder than before as coming in last forces an automatic relegation to Challenger series, also motivating teams seemingly stuck in Challenger series to focus on future seasons.
You can read more about the new format in RIOT’s official statement – found here

The Teams

A summary of each team – expectations, uncertainties and an honest opinion.

Elements

Formally known as Alliance, this team has shown us to expect anything, after their roller-coaster performance on the Worlds stage. After disappointing fans with a loss to, statistically, the worst team in their group, they went on to beat arguably the best team in their group in a near perfect game. They’ve proven to still be an amazing team, further strengthening their roster by picking up Rekkles, and fans expect them to defend their crown as the top EU team. However, the recent IEM tournament revealed that they still have a mountain of work to do on the new patch in terms of strategic diversity. Too often Alliance will take small advantages and wait for their opponent to make a mistake, standing back instead of taking control and driving the game themselves. Will this change in 2015, or will teams learn to outplay their now predictable style?

Player to watch: Shook, he is a player that can be incredible, holding the potential to snowball every lane, but he can also fall short, becoming incredibly lacklustre and show games where it feels like he’s lost in the woods instead of dominating the jungle. Whether or not Shook can become consistent in the 2015 season will be defining for Elements this time around.

ROCCAT

If the proverbial hype train were to stop by, horns blaring and logos shining, when you finally adjust your eyes you would clearly see the ROCCAT team logo. Fielding possibly the best European jungler, a rock solid mid laner and an incredibly intimidating bot-lane, analysts and fans alike wonder how well Overpow will perform in the top lane. Undoubtedly ROCCAT has a lot of potential but a key factor is how well Nukeduck can play and whether the team can find synergy with their non-Polish player. If they can overcome these obstacles they may be one of the best teams this season, but after all potential alone doesn’t win games.

Player to watch: Definitely Nukeduck. Bold, audacious and skilled with assassins, Nukeduck craves attention and this split will finally give it to him. His substantial self-belief claims him more than capable to compete with the best and this is the season where we can see if he lives up to the hype.

SK Gaming

One of the oldest names in the E-Sports scene, SK Gaming’s League of Legends team is not to be dismissed lightly. Adding Fox (previously Watdefox) to their roster brings a wealth of high tier experience, having proven himself by dismantling some of the best players the Challenger series has to offer. In the past Fox has faced down big names, including the likes of Alex Ich, but he will have to step up to solidify his position as LCS quality. Another newcomer is none other than distinguished marksman, FORG1VEN, known for having a noticeable impact, earning attention and ultimately carrying games. Fans will have to wait and see if the introduction of such strong personalities can fit SK Gaming’s style, whether it pays off, and if the older players in SK will be able to synergise with their teammates as the pressure builds. One thing we do know is that SK has the management support, and the strategical knowledge to be a top contender in Europe.

Player to watch: FORG1VEN. Another player who has seemingly come out of nowhere, now in the spotlight. He has the has the personality and attitude of a solid carry player and can always be counted on to strive for dominance, whether or not he still has the skills, mechanics and support to succeed will be revealed as the games progress.

Gambit Gaming

Gambit recently showed us an incredibly strong performance at IEM Cologne, which has always been proven to be their forte. Whether this will shine through in LCS after travel, time zones and famous visa issues… we can only hope things go smoothly. In the jungle, Diamondprox seems to be back on form, apparently never running out of ideas and innovating his own personal A-game for the tournament scene. In the bot lane P1noy has shown some remarkable aggression, overall providing the community a real breath of fresh air. In the mid lane NiQ seems to be ever-improving showing us a high level of consistency across the few games we've seen. The team seems to once again truly fit together, providing a refreshed version of their former selves. Whilst the community claims it doubtful that they will ever return to their past under Moscow Five, they undoubtedly have the potential to contest the top 3 this year.

Player to watch: Diamondprox. It has to be Diamond. This guy is the original innovator of counter-jungling. Diamond is a player that many feel wrote the book on jungling, only to be surprised as he changed it game after game. Many of the jungle picks that become popular over previous seasons were only fully realised because of how he showcased them in the competitive scene. Watching him could be a glimpse into how the Season 5 jungle evolves.

Fnatic

From second in Europe to… no one really knows! Fnatic have kept their infamous support Yellowstar, statistically among the best, if not the best, support in Europe. As for the new line up’s performance, we can only speculate. Mid laner Febiven was bought from H2K and is another promising player with roots in the Challenger scene. The new jungler and top laner are both fresh out of Korea – seemingly a never-ending pool of incredibly e-sports talent – which may be a solid decision, but this is still a massive overhaul of the team, logically we are concerned with how communication and team play will work out. Their first few games in this split’s LCS will set the tone for what we can expect from this new Fnatic.

Player to watch: Besides Yellowstar, who always delivers a stellar performance, it’s difficult to say. Looking to the two Koreans, Huni and Reignover, we still know relatively little and it will be interesting to see how they perform in the EU LCS.

Unicorns of Love

Unicorns of Love are storming into the LCS after wins against proven teams such as TSM. They’ve honed themselves with tournament experience against high-calibre teams such as Cloud9. Watching Unicorns of Love is watching a success story that has climbed through the Challenger scene to the finals of IEM San José and now brings them to the LCS. Mid laner PowerofEvil was previously seen systematically dismantling Bjergsen, though some speculate it as a lucky run on his part or an underperformance from his opposition. In this season’s LCS we can expect to see him fighting against the likes of Froggen, a make or break opportunity to prove his past performance wasn't a fluke. What makes Unicorns of Love so interesting to watch is how unpredictable they can be, we've seen them disregard the meta, bringing in jungle TF and Poppy top. The debate remains on whether they can consistently surprise their opponents week after week or if they will fall to the bottom of the pack.

Player to watch: Vizicsacsi. Poppy top. Enough said. In all seriousness, Vizicsacsi has shown himself to be an outstanding top laner, previously out playing Dyrus on his Gnar. With s0az and Kev1n leaving, the top lane is has been lacking in role defining players and it should be exciting to see who can come out on top. (Get it? Top of top lane? I’ll show myself out…)

Copenhagen Wolves

After coming 8th in the previous season’s LCS and then only switching their ADC, it would be unreasonable to expect Copenhagen Wolves to set the world on fire. That said, they did take a convincing 3-0 win over H2K Gaming in the relegations tournament, so it wouldn't be fair to pin them in last place either. Unfortunately for Copenhagen Wolves, like a long list of potentially great sports teams, when they do find game changing talent they end up losing it in the next split to a different team, we've seen this in the past with Bjergsen and now Woolite. Freeze is a good marksman and will be a brilliant replacement, but there is still a lot of work to be done for this team to break into the top of the pack. We can expect to see them hold onto their LCS spot but beyond that it’s difficult to remain optimistic this time around.

Player to watch: Freeze. In the challenger scene he has shown to be a good ADC, even when his team falls apart, he still plays safe and dishes out tons of damage. Fans can look for him to carry the team in their victories.

H2K Gaming

After falling short of the LCS numerous times, RIOT recently gave out two extra slots which finally brought H2K into the game. Sadly, as soon as things seem to be going well, their mid laner disappears, pinched by Fnatic. Replacing him will be Ryu, a Korean mid player known for his history dominating the role. Lately Ryu has been seen to underperform, possibly haunted by the loss to Faker in the epic Zed vs Zed duel.

As a team it feels like H2K has been on the edge of LCS for an eternity, previously as Cloud 9 Tempest and more recently as H2K. Now they're finally here, whether they can hold on to their elusive spot in the LCS remains to be seen. The performance anxiety of the past may still be present, but we can expect after playing in front of the crowds every week, this will finally change. H2K as individuals are convincingly talented in the top and bot lanes, beating out competition in the challenger scene. Fans can expect a difficult series of challenges ahead of the team, their chances of finishing in the upper half of the table seem slim, but they’re bound to put up an incredible fight.

Player to watch: Ryu. The so called fallen king of Korean mid lane, previously at least ranked among the top 3. Has Ryu completely fallen off or is this his chance at resurgence?

GIANTS!

Giants, an all-Spanish team, managed to scrape their way into the LCS after their losses to H2K by claiming victories against Reason Gaming. Perhaps another good sign of this team’s strength, they defeated former LCS team Millenium on their road to the final. Arguably the most notable player in GIANTS! is PePiiNeRo, or xPepii as he referred to himself in the Qualifier Tournament. Seen almost as a clone of successful player xPeke, he has played a similar champion pool in the past, but to lesser success. Their top laner, Werlyb, is equally aggressive, but in the face of scene veterans such as Wickd and fredy122 it’s hard to say how his style will play out. Overall GIANTS! is possibly the shakiest team in this LCS, even in their loser’s final against Reason Gaming they nearly conceded games due to a lack of clear vision and, at times, indecisive calls. It’s a new patch and they've been given a lot to reflect on, this time around could be their big chance to surprise us.

Player to watch: Werlyb, after bringing out Jax in the top lane multiple times during the qualifiers he still managed to out farm his opponent, only (understandably) falling behind to Odoamne' Irelia. He is a brave player, not scared to go in and deal damage, pushing for aggressive itemisation, sometimes even rushing GA. Werlyb is a player entirely focussed on getting the job done by any means necessary.

Meet Your Makers

Formally known as Supa Hot Crew, this team has been both exciting and frustrating to watch in their past LCS debut. At first they seemed doomed to remain a bottom-tier team and their participation in the tournament felt questionable. Later on they shocked fans, almost becoming a top team in Europe until ROCCAT swept in, pushing them back to a respectable 5th place. Now they've picked up some new talent in the form of support player Nisbeth and former SK Telecom T1 jungler H0R0. During his time in Millenium, H0R0 was unable to make a discernible impact, but under the refreshed MYM roster, this need not be the case. Selfie still remains a dangerous mid laner and Mimer, while being passive, is one of the most consistent top laners in professional league. MrRallez their AD Carry already holds a reputation among his peers to become a monster in bot lane, however, it’s a potential that has yet to be fully realised. MYM are a team of decent laners, but with such a strong set of changes after barely finding synergy in last summer’s LCS, they will have to rebuild their teamwork quickly to make it through a fiercely competitive split. Practically a new team, it feels like they will be starting from scratch, but individually they are surely capable of competing with the best.

Player to watch: H0R0. He’s finally been given a big opportunity to break away from Bengi’s shadow and create his own legacy. For the former SKT T1 jungler this LCS could be a career defining moment, it will fall on his shoulders to snowball either Selfie or MrRallez and ultimately see MYM succeed.

With the teams in mind, our honest breakdowns and our personal speculations we hope you are as excited as we are for LCS to start. It goes without saying that this has been a heavily opinion based piece, you've heard our thoughts just in time for the EU LCS kick-off, so how about sharing yours? If you think you can beat the staff to list the best players and create an unbeatable fantasy team – head over to ESL Fantasy League and draft your own team to dominate the rift.

Editor's Note

This article took a lot of love, a lack of sleep and a wealth of dedication to complete on time. If you want to keep up with the writers and editors behind it you can follow them on twitter here: @Cilarion & @Saitamarama. Good luck to all the players taking part in this round of the LCS and we hope to bring you all more to read in the future.