- Video
-
Club Roar
Captured a great grassroots sporting moment? We want to see it!Content Collections
The Roar Community
- Join
- Login
Even though the North American League Championship Series (NA LCS) has gone back to playing exactly ten games per weekend, we got to watch even more League of Legends this weekend than last.
I mentioned last week that the average game time (AGT) was just shy of 39 minutes; this week AGT has jumped up to 41 minutes and 23 seconds – some 25 more minutes of game time compared to Week 1 plus the long pause in the match between Golden Guardians and FlyQuest.
Things get interesting when we look at AGT across the five major regions so far this split. At the time of writing none of the regions have started playing on patch 8.2 and some are not finished with 8.1.
Still, North America has the highest AGT by a bit; the Korean league (LCK) is the only other region to push past 40 minutes. By comparison the Chinese league (LPL) is sitting at only 33 minutes and 12 seconds, with some individual team averages under 30 minutes.
The average from all five regions is 37 minutes and 29 seconds, with the LPL and the Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau league (LMS) both coming in lower. It’s unlikely the global average will increase significantly with so few games left on the patch, but I do wish I had more time to look at the faster regions’ games to see what they’re doing differently.
Anyway, that’s a lot of words to just talk about how slow the NA LCS games have been so far. With stopwatch nerfs not coming into effect until 8.3, they’re likely to stay long for a while yet, although there are other changes to look forward to in the tournament update to 8.2. Keep your eye on the supports, who have had a radical rework of their items.
(Josh Lefkowitz/Getty Images)
Now, for the actual games. The standings after week two are pleasingly symmetrical.
Echo Fox continued to be dominant in Week 2, taking out two of the four old legacy teams in Team SoloMid and Cloud9. The periodic shots of Rick Fox during the games were a joy to watch, and I keep finding myself rooting for them, even if I remain sceptical Dardoch can maintain his attitude shift.
On the other end of the spectrum OpTic Gaming took the win off FlyQuest to leave the Golden Guardians in sole possession of last place. The Guardians have been looking better, especially in their early game, but they’re just not pulling out the wins, which is all that will really count as the split progresses.
The majority of the matches this week are relatively uneven, at least in terms of standings. In theory this alone could lead to games being over a little more quickly, but I wouldn’t hold my breath.
(Josh Lefkowitz/Getty Images)
Counter Logic Gaming (CLG) vs Echo Fox (FOX) – 9am AEDT Sunday
I really do want to see CLG doing better than they have so far, but their performance in the opening weeks has continued to lack. Even against GGS they struggled to get off the mark, with GGS building to a nearly 5k gold lead at 23 minutes before CLG finally took control of the game.
By comparison, FOX look like they’re getting stronger as a team. They did also struggle to get out of the gate in their game against C9, but these teams are very different opponents to struggle against. With that in mind, FOX are a strong favourite to win this opening match of the week.
Cloud9 (C9) versus OpTic Gaming (OPT) – 10am Sunday
OPT finally picked up their first win of the split last week in their game against FLY. It was not an easy win, though; it took until nearly 30 minutes in to gain any substantial lead in the game. This team is improving, but it’s slow going so far.
C9 have certainly shown some weaknesses so far this split, but overall they look much stronger than OPT. The only team that both have played so far is 100; C9 won their match in just under 41 minutes, while OPT lost after more than an hour. C9 just look better than OPT right now and should be able to pick up a win here.
Clutch Gaming (CG) versus 100 Thieves (100) – 11am Sunday
So far CG are looking like a distinctly mid-tier team. I don’t mean that in a pejorative way; I simply mean that they’re losing against the top teams and winning against the bottom teams. They don’t look terrible in their losses, either; they just look outclassed.
100 should be one of those teams that outclasses CG. They took their first loss this week at the hands of C9, who didn’t really give them a look-in, but they also took a game off TL and were pretty convincing. CG are looking decent, but they just aren’t on the same level as C9 and TL, so 100 should be able to claim a win
(Christophe Simon/AFP/Getty Images)
FlyQuest (FLY) versus Team Liquid (TL) – 12pm Sunday
Though they’re smack in the middle of the standings along with CG, FLY are looking somewhat less steady. They have had their wins, but they were against GGS and TSM, and this week they lost the game to OPT. I don’t think they’re bad – both WILDTURTLE and AnDa are on my fantasy squad – but they’re not showing enough consistency to be actively good either.
TL’s loss to 100 this week came as a bit of a surprise, but they quickly regrouped. In their second match they proceeded to beat out CG in just 27.5 minutes, with only a couple of kills and objectives given up. Given that rebound, TL should be in a fine position to take their next win in this match.
Team SoloMid (TSM) versus Golden Guardians (GGS) – 1pm Sunday
In a strange twist of expectations this match is one of GGS’ better opportunities to pick up a win so far this split. TSM have had trouble closing out games, and with GGS generally playing well in the early to mid game, they could potentially escalate this past a point TSM could come back from.
The thing is that TSM are improving. Their loss last week was to FOX, who are currently in first place, and TSM held the lead in that game for some 40 minutes. Of course the fact that they still lost isn’t great, but a lesser team than FOX likely wouldn’t have staged such an impressive comeback. TSM should definitely be able to win this match.
(Christophe Simon/AFP/Getty Images)
Echo Fox (FOX) versus OpTic Gaming (OPT) – 9am Monday
As OPT (hopefully) continues to improve, they should be able to pick up some more wins on the scoreboard, but this game is not likely to give them one. Between this and the earlier game against CLG, I would be very surprised if this weren’t another 2-0 week for FOX.
Team SoloMid (TSM) versus 100 Thieves (100) – 10am Monday
As much as TSM are improving and should get the win in their first game of the weekend, this one is a much longer shot. 100 have had a strong enough performance so far that they are likely to take this game off TSM, although TSM may be more of a challenge than they would have been in previous weeks.
Golden Guardians (GGS) versus Team Liquid (TL) – 11am Monday
If GGS is unlikely to win their first game this weekend, it will be nearly impossible for them to take their second. TL have had a great split so far, and although they will no doubt face more challenges as the split goes on, this game shouldn’t be one.
Clutch Gaming (CG) versus Cloud9 (C9) – 12pm Monday
It’s a tough weekend for CG, with both games against teams with 3-1 records. I don’t doubt that they’ll put on a good show, but I don’t expect it to be enough to win against C9, who have looked stronger than expected in their games so far.
Counter Logic Gaming (CLG) versus FlyQuest (FLY) – 1pm Monday
This is the least clear-cut game of the weekend and feels like it will be either a great, fun close to the weekend or a slog with three kills at 40 minutes. I’m cautiously calling this for FLY, but a lot will depend on whether the players show up with their strongest form on the day or not.
I’ll be honest, I’m more excited for my fantasy match-up this weekend than I am for these games, although I don’t doubt that some will be closer than they look. Which game is catching your eye this week?