EU LCS Super Week 1

The LCS is back in grand fashion this week kicking off with a super week that started in Europe featuring returns of the often hyped Fnatic vs Gambit and "El Clasico" SK vs Fnatic matches showings of the much anticipated "Super Team" Alliance, and rounded out with the first real test of newcomers to the LCS Roccat, Copenhagen Wolves, and Supa Hot Crew.

From the ashes of the pre-season Fnatic rises.
After getting swept 0-2 by Gambit at IEM Cologne, and Cloud 9 at Battle of the Atlantic, many people had begun to discount Fnatic. The first game of the first day of super week heading in was heavily believed to be the continuation of the dominance Gambit had been showing since IEM Cologne. Instead Fnatic showed just how far they had come and how well the new patch was working for them. More than that though, Rekkles finally got his opportunity to show the world exactly why Fnatic had patiently waited for him to turn 17 to join them in the LCS.

Plays like the above not only helped Fnatic end the super week with a flawless 4-0 start, including turning "El Classico" into El Stompico, but also allowed Rekkles and Yellowstar set a new LCS record for Kill and Assist (respectively) streaks without a death.Rekkles would get jinx and and survive 3 games before it was finally banned away from him by Millenium and he was finally killed by Millenium top laner Kevin.

Hype Train Derailed
The new Alliance team which took over the Evil Geniuses spot in EU LCS had been the center of a lot of hype, being referred to as the "EU Super Team" on Reddit, and going in people expected big results from a team filled with super stars. Unfortunately super star individuals still need team work to perform at the highest level in League of Legends and Alliance still has a long way to go.

All week long Alliance (in red) would get themselves caught in fights much like this one and a mix of positioning errors and poor calls would continue to result in any lead Alliance had developed in the lane phase being turned around by their opponents. Alliance end the week in last place with a dismal 0-4 record.

A new challenger appears!
While most were talking about the strong performances of Gambit and Fnatic, or the disaster of Alliance, almost no one was talking about new comers Roccat despite their 3-0 of NIP in the spring promotion tournament. Roccat made everyone sit up and take notice when they brought us a whole new kind of wombo combo, the Unstoppable Skyfall.

Team Roccat continued proved they weren't one trick ponies by breaking out a myraid of strategies and team comps in their 4 games. Though they did give up a single, very close, game to Copenhagen Wolves, Roccat ended the super week tied with Gambit for 2nd place at 3-1 and made it clear they were a team to be feared.

The end of week 1 and the future.
After four games for every team and 3 days of play the EU LCS standings are a bit of a surprise.

No one expected Alliance to fall so hard, and most were expecting Gambit to top the pile. The real test however will come in the next weeks as the teams learn and adapt to each other. If Alliance is able to fix their mid game problems they could easily be competitive as the split continues. More Jinx bans against Rekkles might make it a bit harder for him to carry Fnatic to an even longer undefeated streak. Most importantly, the question we all want to know is, will Darien force more Warwick bans?