2015 EU LCS Summer Split Thread!

[quote=Vynertje]Soon™ the summer split will take off, and this season is bound to be more hype than ever! With the top teams showing off in play-offs and MSI and the teams that disappointed making major roster changes, we're sure to have a great split ahead of us. The matches start at May 28th. Below I compiled all the teams and their roster changes going into the summer split. [center][img]http://i.imgur.com/Cw8nWt0.png[/img] [h1]Are you ready? Share your predictions below![/h1][/quote]

[quote=Vynertje]My predictions: 1. Fnatic 2. Elements 3. H2k 4. UOL 5. Origen 6. Gambit 7. Roccat 8. SK 9. CW 10. Giants[/quote]

[quote=Zordagoth]I don't do predictions (sorry ^-^') but I can't wait for UoL/FnC/Origen to fight themselves, cos they all have a really aggressive playstyle, and I love that *o*[/quote]

[quote=IceCreamy]Here's what I think: 1. Fnatic - Already won last split, became even stronger with Rekkles 2. UoL - Crazy team, often goes with off-meta picks that no other team will suspect 3. Gambit - Gained Forg1ven and already had quite a strong showing 4. Origen - Breezed through challenger, 4 members with worlds exp 5. H2K - Weak jungle/adc and top lane is inconsistent - however teamplay will save them 6. SK - Weakened a little since last split, not impressed with top and jungle 7. Elements - Might end up higher, but new roster never is easy 8. Roccat - Don't even have a top laner yet, might end up higher if synergy works out 9. CW - Weak solo lanes will be their problem 10. Giants - Already ended 9th last split, don't see them make major improvements Excited though, can't wait until it starts! :D[/quote]

[quote=Vynertje][quote=IceCreamy] 1. Fnatic - Already won last split, became even stronger with Rekkles 2. UoL - Crazy team, often goes with off-meta picks that no other team will suspect 3. Gambit - Gained Forg1ven and already had quite a strong showing 4. Origen - Breezed through challenger, 4 members with worlds exp 5. H2K - Weak jungle/adc and top lane is inconsistent - however teamplay will save them 6. SK - Weakened a little since last split, not impressed with top and jungle 7. Elements - Might end up higher, but new roster never is easy 8. Roccat - Don't even have a top laner yet, might end up higher if synergy works out 9. CW - Weak solo lanes will be their problem 10. Giants - Already ended 9th last split, don't see them make major improvements [/quote] I'll add some context to my predictions to explain why minens differ so much from yours, also to just for the hell of it. I like discussing eSports anyway. [quote=Vynertje]My predictions: 1. Fnatic[/quote] To be honest, putting Fnatic on 1 is a bit of a gamble. They performed great at MSI but we also saw what happened to Alliance after swapping their ADC. Steelback did great in the SKT series and even though his laning is clearly weaker, he did fit the team really well (two carries in the form of Febiven and Huni, and a bot/jungle that work around that). It's still a big question mark to me whether that's going to work if you introduce a third carry in the form of Rekkles. I do think they'll get first place because there aren't really teams to be able to contest that spot for the full 10 weeks. I'll explain this later on. [quote]2. Elements[/quote] To be honest I was quite surprised to see how many people don't put Elements in top-5 after their roster changes. Even though it's a lot of new players, they all already have a lot of experience together. Jwaow played with Froggen in the original 'super team' and Tabzz & Froggen / Tabzz & Dexter played together in two different teams for a full season as well. Also, we got to keep in mind that top and support were the two roles that showed the biggest weakness in the old Alliance. In that regard they have the potential to be even stronger than the old Alliance, especially now they have a coach they greatly respect (Nyph) and have also signed an analyst which will be announced soon™. Now I'm no doubt a big Elements/Alliance fanboy and they will very likely have a slow start - which is why I don't see them contending with Fnatic for #1 - but anything below top 5 just doesn't feel like right considering their potential. [quote]3. H2k[/quote] Not much to say about H2k to be honest, they have three great lanes and a very solid jungler to back it up. They didn't undergo any roster changes so I'll expect them to continue on the path towards a top-tier team. I don't put them at #1 or #2 because they haven't always been able to show their worth in very close games or when coming back from a gold deficit versus strong enemies - not to forget that their opponents will improve. [quote]4. UOL[/quote] I have never liked UOL, I'm not the kind of guy that will like teams because of unorthodox picks/cheese, I rather see teams interact with the community through streams, twitter or just show up through nice plays. Now aside from my personal bias, I think they're a good team but with more and more teams investing in a better coaching environment it'll be harder to become a #1 team just based off great teamwork and picks and bans. Also don't forget that even though they finished the playoffs at #2, their regular split wasn't as impressive by any means. You could argue that they had a little bit of 'luck' because they faced two teams that were having internal problems (Gambit: Pinoy and Leviathan having major disagreements with the rest of the team and SK: Forgiven and nRated not really liking each other as players). [quote]5. Origen[/quote] Origen is definitely a good team but they showed major strategical flaws in challenger. From just looking at the way Fnatic performs right now it's clear that Yellowstar was one of the most important assets to the team that won three splits in a row and with their new bot lane being rather unproven (Mithy hasn't played LCS since he got banned at the end of S3), I don't think they'll be able to make a push for the top-3. [quote]6. Gambit[/quote] So this may be the weirdest thing of them all. Cabochard is a beast of a top laner, Diamond is past his prime but still a very respectable jungler, and Edward is also still a support that no one should count out Then why do I put Gambit so low? It's because of Forgiven. There hasn't been a team yet that could 'satisfy' forgiven and with Gambit's players by no means being top-3 in their respective roles I can see another conflict happen within the duration of this split. Perhaps this time three's a charm, but I'm not confident in Gambit's staff to resolve this. If they do manage to keep the team dynamic in check. , Gambit can get top-3 instead of Elements, UOL or H2k. [quote]7. Roccat[/quote] Roccat with a new (and arguably better) coach and top laner will do slightly better than last season. I don't expect them to suddenly grab the top spots or fall off into relegations, but they'll improve a little bit over last split. [quote]8. SK[/quote] SK with Candypanda is essentially the same SK that barely finished 3rd place back in Season 4. Their teamwork will be a lot better compared to their time with Forgiven, but mechanically their only player that really stands out from the rest is Svenskern. Their once hope is that Fredy122 will once again show why people regarded him as one of the best top laners in S4, but if he doesn't improve his form over the spring split I have very little hope for this SK lineup. [quote]9. CW[/quote] CW didn't suddenly get worse, but their enemies got better. Not much else to say about that. [quote]10. Giants[/quote] They already were by far the worst team in the EULCS if you disregard the MYM internal issues and there's absolutely no hope left for them with all the other teams improving.[/quote]

[quote=Joxuu]1. UOL[/quote]

[quote=Vynertje][quote=Joxuu]1. UOL[/quote] Fanboy pls.[/quote]

[quote=BigBoxGamer]No North America thread?[/quote]

[quote=IceCreamy][quote=BigBoxGamer]No North America thread?[/quote] No one is stopping you from making one, hell I'd even Sticky it for you ^^ @Vynnie: Well I don't really disagree with you, seems like you are an Elements fanboy and I like UoL a lot, and I have faith in Gambit while you don't - for the rest our lists are quite similar :) What does everyone else think? :o[/quote]

[quote=I want to be a Blitzball]I'm cheering on FNC/UOL. If Forgiven works, Gambit are a top 3 contender. If H2K improve, they can finish top 2, no doubt. I predicted Fnatic to finish below 4th last split. Not going to predict how good Elements MIGHT be. UOL played well for their first split, and could aim for more consistency this split. CW aren't bad, and could make a run for playoffs again.[/quote]