Week 4 in the NA LCS, and it's some kind of 'super week'. Guess there will be a lot of games to cover. Let us take this time to grudgingly approve of the amount of improvements Riot has made to this spectator mode. At the dawn of time imemorial, it was awful, they had to ad-hoc a sixth player who just had to carefully stand in the fountain the whole game, do you remember? Then proper spectator mode, with helpful items and gold at the bottom, with optional vision toggles. Then, auto-camera, and now their setup correctly labels the person in a tiny window at the bottom (not that they're usually doing much), which is another fine incremental improvement, like the single headset improvement from last week.
Counter Logic Gaming vs Vulcun Command
---CLG bans: Hecarim, Rumble, Kog'Maw---VC bans: Twisted Fate, Xin Zhao, Nidalee---
CLG: Malphite, Jarvan, Xerath, Vayne, Alistar
VC: Singed, Volibear, Kayle, Twitch, Thresh
This Link character plays some unusual AP mids. Do you remember Xerath? He's the blue ghost-guy that shoots lightning and can root himself for really long range shots? I mean, he was OP when he first came out, but I haven't seen him in quite some time. Wonder if he got buffed. Some fun big fights, but CLG was winning most of them, despite letting VC get Kayle. VC really hung in there, though.
Curse vs Team MRN
---Crs bans: Shen, Taric, Renekton---MRN bans: Kayle, Twisted Fate, Akali---
Crs: Tryndamere, Xin Zhao, Lux, Caitlyn, Lulu
MRN: Cho'Gath, Jarvan, Nidalee, Tristana, Alistar
Whew, new Trynd art? How long has that been there? No way to know! I haven't seen a Trynd in a game in months. It suits Voyboy well, though. It's all about balls of steel, and that's Voyboy for you.
Team SoloMid vs Complexity
---TSM bans: Shen, Kog'Maw, Vi---coL bans: Kayle, Singed, Orianna---
TSM: Malphite, Jarvan, Xerath, Miss Fortune, Taric
coL: Rumble, Xin Zhao, Twisted Fate, Varus, Fiddlesticks
Still no Leblanc, Reginald? Would it surprise you if I just spoiled it and said TSM rolls? Probably not. There were a few good fights, though, to coL's credit.
Good Game University vs Counter Logic Gaming
---GGU bans: Malphiate, Shen, Nidalee---CLG bans: Twitch, Rumble, Lux---
GGU: Akali, Elise, Kayle, Caitlyn, Nunu
CLG: Cho'Gath, Jarvan, Orianna, Vayne, Alistar
Nope, sorry GGU. Nice fights, but CLG had all the aoe cc.
Curse vs Complexity
---Crs bans: Shen, Vi, Jayce---coL bans: Nidalee, Kayle, Tryndamere---
Crs: Elise, Xin Zhao, Twisted Fate, Miss Fortune, Taric
coL: Zed, Jarvan, Ryze, Twitch, Thresh
Even _I_ just fast forwarded through this one. The undefeated team against the nearly-winless team? This is Patriots v Browns. Eventually I saw Crs engage a fight top lane without their ADC, and won it against all 5 of coL. Sorry coL.
Good Game University vs Team Solomid
---GGU bans: Singed, Malphite, Taric---TSM bans: Kayle, Akali, Twisted Fate---
GGU: Tryndamere, Xin Zhao, Lux, Corki, Lulu
TSM: Rumble, Jarvan, Orianna, Miss Fortune, Leona
Dignitas vs Vulcun Command
---d bans: Nidalee, Hecarim, Elise---VC bans: Draven, Diana, Kayle---
d: Singed, Vi, Gragas, Graves, Zyra
VC: Rumble, Xin Zhao, Ryze, Ezreal, Alistar
They didn't have much of a chance, but they put up a good fight. It was back and forth for a while, but dignitas maybe has more experience in end-game.
CounterLogic Gaming vs Team MRN
---CLG bans: Tristana, Jarvan, Xin Zhao---MRN bans: Malphite, Shen, Kayle---
CLG: Nidalee, Wukong, Orianna, Vayne, Taric
MRN: Renekton, Vi, Twisted Fate, Kog'Maw, Sona
HotShotGG back on Nidalee! Tragically, his Nidalee gets pretty stomped by MRN MegaZero's Renekton... What is wrong with CLG? Perhaps it is as we have always suspected: only high schoolers have the attention span and OCD twitch skills to excel at this kind of stuff. Or do you need to get rid of this Link fellow (or DoubleLift) and get Kobe24 back? At any rate, his Nidalee is a tank Nidalee, and that's not going to have the awesome spears we saw earlier. CLG mounts an effort at a comeback based on nothing more than bold-faced bluffery, but that just did not work for long. MRN achieves the upset.
Dignitas vs Curse
---d bans: Miss Fortune, Twisted Fate, Tryndamere---Crs ban: Singed, Kayle, Vi---
d: Elise, Xin Zhao, Diana, Kog'Maw, Alistar
Crs: Nidalee, Jarvan, Lux, Twitch, Taric
Oddly, dignitas looks like the undefeated team in this matchup.
Vulcun Command vs Complexity
---VC bans: Zed, Vi, Kayle---coL bans: Nidalee, Singed, Hecarim---
VC: Elise, Xin Zhao, Twisted Fate, Kog'Maw, Alistar
coL: Shen, Jarvan, Diana, Ezreal, Taric
This wasn't a bad game, though the end may have been foreordained. Both teams were always ready to fight, even coL wanted to engage the fight when they were behind, which is a lovely sentiment for a spectator, because it keeps the action coming. But VC is on the rise, while coL is still in the basement.
