Battle of the Atlantic wrapped up this weekend after pitting
the five LCS teams who avoided relegation from both NA and EU against each
other. The first two matches, Dignitas vs Alliance and Team Solo Mid (TSM) vs
Lemondogs (LD), took place the weekend before in conjunction with the EU LCS
Spring Tournament. The other three matches, Counter Logic Gaming (CLG) vs
Alternate (ATN), XDGG vs Gambit Gaming (GMB), and Cloud 9 (C9) vs Fnatic, were
held alongside the NA LCS Spring Promotion Tournament.
Up first the matches in EU saw the Alliance roster
absolutely crush Dignitas in a 2-0 sweep. Alliance was a complete unknown going
into the tournament due to roster swaps, retaining only 2 members of the former
EG squad that had held the spot in the last split of the LCS. The new roster
clearly worked out however, as the new jungler Shook had commanding presence
throughout both games and was clearly in sync with the Alliance laners.
Dignitas on the other hand were clearly still struggling with the problems that
had caused them to end the summer split in 4th place. Crumbzz was
simply never a factor for Dig and their new top laner Cruzer lost favorable
lanes both games. While Alliance did look good in the games their true strength
is hard to see due to the utter failure of Dignitas. What is clear is that
Dignitas has a mountain of work to do in order to be competitive in the NA LCS
in the coming split.
The TSM vs Lemondogs showdown was much the same story. TSM’s
addition of Bjergsen to the lineup looked strong, but it’s difficult to be sure
how strong when the new LD roster’s mistakes were apparent all across the map.
Similar to Dignitas in NA, the Lemondogs have their work cut out for them to be
competitive in the coming EU LCS split.
The first BotA matchup in NA was CLG vs ATN. Neither game
looked very clean cut, especially game 1 which went on a full 20 minutes longer
than it should have due to some silly mistakes on Alternate’s part. On the
whole Alternate looked okay and could easily be a top team if they iron out the
mid game mistakes. Kerp and Creaton were absolute monsters for the team, and
Kerp would eventually seal game 1 with an out of nowhere double kill. Where
Alternate soared CLG floundered, falling back into bad habits like Doublelift
attempting to split push. Nien clearly got over his slump winning lane both
games, but seemingly transferred it to Link in mid. The poor performance by Link
was even more disappointing when compared to the godlike display he’d put on
only a month prior at IEM Cologne. The much hyped return of the “Rush Hour”
botlane for CLG was similarly disappointing as Doublelift fell into his old
ways and Aphromoo made several key mechanical mistakes that would cost CLG more
than one team fight. Alternate’s problems are relatively small and with a
little work they should be a force to be reckoned with in the EU LCS. The
problems for CLG however remain as mysterious as always, on paper the team
should be able to iron things out quickly and be a top 3 contender but CLG has
always run a bit counter to logic. It’s impossible to predict how CLG will do
in the NA LCS, but keeping expectations low is probably a good idea for fans.
The early game of XDGG vs Gambit seemed to go well for XDGG,
picking up early victories around the map and even having Mancloud straight out
duel Alex Ich in mid. Unfortunately for XDGG the name change from Vulcun didn’t
leave behind the problems they’ve always had in the mid game. Gambit on the
other hand continued on their dominant spree since the return of Edward. Both games Gambit never
hesitated to punish mistakes from XDGG, which allowed Gambit to sweep the
series 2-0. There’s little doubt in anyone’s mind after both BotA and IEM
Cologne that Gambit is going to be a top contender in the EU LCS this spring.
XDGG is less clear cut, the problems that plagued them from the start of the
LCS remain and XDGG took the longest vacation of any of the teams only
returning to practice a week before BotA. Last split XDGG did well enough to
make it to worlds in 3rd place, but it’s hard to tell if they can
replicate those results with a far more competitive NA scene this split.
The final match of the EU vs NA showdown was the first place
Cloud 9 vs Fnatic rematch from worlds. Game one offered fans a bit of extra
excitement as C9 dared Fnatic to let Kassadin through, and then picking it for
themselves. Fnatic attempted to counter the Kassadin with some interesting
picks aimed at the laning phase, but while it generated an early farm lead
Cloud 9’s superior team fighting would seal the deal. Despite better picks from
Fnatic in game two the result would be the same resulting in a Cloud 9 sweep.
Though they got swept Fnatic did not look bad in the games, they were simply
unprepared for the new Cloud 9 strategies. Fnatic will likely be a top contender
yet again in EU LCS. Similarly C9 delivered a clear message in their matches,
They’ll likely not have another insane 25-3 split but Cloud 9 is a surefire
pick for top 2 NA.
At the end of the two weeks Battle of the Atlantic ended in
probably the best way anyone could hope for. NA won on points, EU won on total
matches, and the rivalry between regions can continue. Most of the teams looked
good which should prove exciting when the LCS returns in just under 3 weeks.
For now though we’ll just have to speculate while we enjoy the holidays and the
New Year.