Group Stage (Group A&B) Finished, what can we expect from the upcoming Quarterfinals?

With EDG taking home the tiebreaker against AHQ in a very back and forth game where both teams stood with a respectable chance of winning (AHQ who had earlier the same day taken down the same EDG), they now advance to the quarterfinals, facing off against Starhorn Royal Club (Or Supa Hot Royal Crew). TSM on the other hand now has to face one of the pre-favourite teams for winning the entire tournament - Samsung White. What can we except from these quarterfinals?

                                                                  Group A standings:

Group B standings:

EDG versus SHRC (October 3rd, 1 am PST/10 CEST)

While it was EDG that finished at the top of the standings in the LPL, they would most likely have prefered facing off against TSM. SHRC is probably the team at worlds that knows the most about them and their playstyle, and seeing how SHRC definitely performed more confidently in their group (granted, they had what many considered an "easier group", but group B was definitely a more even group than group A in terms of average skill across all teams). Had TSM not lost versus SK earlier today, we would have seen a tiebreaker between SHRC and TSM, and if TSM would've won it, they would be duking it out versus EDG instead. That is not the case currently, and we will therefore now discuss this upcoming series.

Lane to watch: Botlane

When the other laners of EDG faltered, or Clearlove didn't get going, EDG could always rely on Namei and FZZF. With a combined KDA of 9.1, the botlane pair would always step it up whenever needed to, especially in the last game, where they dominated the botlane versus AHQ. What almost cost EDG the game though was their recklessness, something very prominent for Chinese teams. During one of the last teamfights, they went in with over 15 000 more gold in their pockets, but the teamfight still ended 4 kills on each side. Their warding was also lackluster in comparison to that of for instance SSW earlier. 

SHRC on the other hand definitely looked impressive. Uzi showed off his marvelous mechanics, insec stepped his game up to another level (especially well shown off in this game ) and Corn dominated his lane. Uzi and Zero was definitely the best botlane in their group, and he is definitely on par with Korean ADCs. If there is someone who can rival the OGN representants, its Uzi&Zero, with a whooping total of 17,3 KDA!

 What could be their downfall however is that they are facing a team that, in the end, still is from the same region as themselves, with a therefore similar playstyle, only EDG obviously played it better, seeing as they got the #1 seed to worlds. The familiarity could be what makes the Chinese equivalent of Alliance able to bring an end to SHRC's journey to the finals. One thing for sure is that these are going to be a very exciting series.

TSM vs SSW

TSM, as mentioned earlier, were at one point during the day (theoretically speaking)  close to getting their dream matchup in the quarterfinals. If AHQ would've won against EDG and TSM won against SK and conquered SHRC in a tiebreaker, we would have seen TSM facing off against AHQ; probably the "easiest" team for TSM that had a potential chance at making it out of group stages. Those dreams were crushed however by the hands of Svenskeren and Freddy122. TSM now has to face, what many deems, as the potential winners of the Summoner's cup. Samsung White, on the other hand, has had a flawless group stage. They went 6-0, with two perfect games against DP (where they lost zero drakes, zero towers, and zero kills ) and played their games to utter perfection. Their ADC Imp even got a penta! The mistakes that they made would've been overlooked in the West; we simply would have ignored it, and focused on other big plays. SSW doesn't ignore those things, they improve themselves constantly, only to reach perfect themselves even more.

Lanes to watch: Mid lane

If there is one lane that definitely can decide the outcome of the games, it's the midlane. TSM relies heavily on Bjergsen leading the lineup and his shotcalling. If Bjergsen gets ahead and becomes confident, the team becomes confident. Amazing definitely needs to step up his game and almost babysit the mid lane, because Bjergsen is up against Pawn, who alone had a KDA of 10,5 (Bjergsen having 2/3 of that; 7). SSW's jungler had the lowest KDA on his team, 8,1, but it is still 2,5 times that of Amazing, who sat at 3.2 after group stages were finished). Pawn isn't afraid to bring out new picks either, with his Katarina demolishing AHQ.

What could be TSM's saving grace is their bot lane. Wildturtle had a slightly weak showing during the last week of NALCS and the playoffs, but stepped it up during the last few games, which he also has during the group stages. Lustboy has also been bringing out jawdropping plays, especially with his Nami. If they can get going versus Imp and Mata, and have the team shut down Dandy like they shut down Winds versus TPA, we could see a potential upset. The chances are slim, though. 

Expected outcomes:

EDG vs SHRC: 2 - 3

TSM - SHRC:  1 - 3

Sources:

http://euw.lolesports.com/worlds/2014/worlds-2014/standings

http://euw.lolesports.com/worlds/2014/worlds-2014/teams

Youtube links can be found in the texts. Images are taken and edited from above links.

Upcoming relegation tournament - what can we expect? NA&EU

Aside from epic, outdrawn best-of-fives in the playoffs finals and Worlds, I would say that the promotion tournaments into the LCS are one of the most exciting tournaments in the LCS. We get to see new, hungry players who have been working so hard to reach their dream job - playing professionally, as well as current LCS players fighting to make sure they can keep the paychecks rolling in. Having new teams in the LCS, if they do qualify, is also very healthy for the scene, and it also makes for upsets - just look at the EU scene, where all team that was part of the spring split 2014 also partook in the summer split, something many viewers found slightly boring. NA on the other hand, got two entirely new teams, LMQ and CoL, and provided us with very interesting games and upsets.

This year, we have some very interesting games. See below for the teams facing eachother, as well as my theories what we can expect from the teams, as well as who will come out victorious.

EU:

CW vs H2K

GMB vs SKP

MIL vs UoL

NA:

CLG vs CRS A

EG vs CST

CoL vs T8



CW vs H2K:

CW are coming into this tournament with several recent roster changes. Airwaks, who was picked up in place of Amazing, was benched during the end of the split for Brokenshard, only to be put back onto the roster at the very end again. In addition to this, Cowtard decided to step down from the roster and was replaced with SorenXD. This is therefore a team that has gone through several roster changes in a short period of time, which normally hurts synergy. However, it has been a while since the EULCS ended, so they have had a lot of time to work on their synergy and teamplay. H2K on the other hand is a team coming into this tournament with a lot of expectations, seeing as their ad carry, top and mid laner have been playing with eachother for an extensive amount of time (they were part of the old C9 Eclipse team, who failed to qualify for the summer split of 2014), and their other two members have integrated well into this core. Febiven, the midlaner, stated in an interview with ongamers  that in "half a year, I would be equally good as Froggen or Xpeke". We will see during their games next week if he can live up to it.

Estimated outcome: 3-1 to H2K


GMB vs SKP


Gambit, oh Gambit. Once, one of the few, if not the only team, that could take games of Koreans. Nowadays, they are but a mere shadow of their former glory. Their summer split performance can be considered as their worst so far in the LCS, ending in the 7th place spot. The team has also done some roster changes apart from Alex Ich and Darien - Genja moved into a sub role in place for Krislund. However, the team saw an impressive resurgence during superweek, going 3-1 (Only losing to Alliance) and snatching the 7th place spot from CW. We will see how they fare against SK Gaming Prim, who's midlaner, Watdefox, has been doing really well recently, and their jungler Kikis has shown great play too.

Estimated outcome: 3 -2 to Gambit

MIL vs UoL

Millenium can be seen as the CLG of Europe. Lots of potential, but we rarely see it come to its maximum level. The team was originally named Alternate with a few other players on the team (Like Forellenlord, the ELO god, and Aranae, now a kind of "mental coach" for Fnatic), and did really well during the summer split of 2013, only to go into a slump and almost get relegated. Their performance during the spring split of 2014 was nothing but lackluster, where they finished last. However, coming of a 3 -2 victory in the promotion series, the team got new energy, and resided among the top 4 teams of the EULCS for quite a while, only to slump at the end. UoL on the other hand, was one of the major upsets of this summer. Noone expected them to make it to the top 3 - Gamers2 and NiP were the teams that  many people assumed would make it to the promotion tournament. Instead, UoL beat NiP and snatched the third spot. Their top laner, Vizicsacsi, has been making wonders in the top lane, and their jungler, Gilius, has been providing stability from the jungle. Powerofevil has proven himself to be able to play at an LCS level as well, so UoL is therefore coming into this tournament with a very strong lineup.

Estimated outcome: 3 -1 to UoL

NA:

CLG vs CRS A

Another way to spell CLG is potential. The team has been jumping up within the NALCS standings, from first place to their humiliating 6th place at the end of the playoffs. Link seems to have grown tired of the game and given up on soloqueue, Doublelift considers retiring after the tournament, Seraph seems to be feeling isolated from the team and Dexter isn't the happiest either. Aphromoo still has his drive, but it looks dark for CLG. Curse Academy on the other hand, has every reason to expect a victory. They have a korean mid laner (!), three former LCS players (Bunnyfufu, a very skilled support player, who has the ability to become one of the best in NA, played on Curse's main roster, Saintvicious, former member of CLG as well as Curse's main roster with tons of experience and Cris, former top laner of Velocity and soloqueue god) and a very potent AD Carry, Impactful, who used to be on the #1 PVP guild in World of Warcraft in NA. Can CRS A still shake the old CLG though, with all the experience the team has, or will they choke? It remains to see...

Estimated outcome: 3 -1 to CRS A

EG vs CST

If you would've asked me a few week ago who would win this matchup, I would've said EG without hesitation (Biased? No). However, it was recently announced on Coast's facebook page that the team had picked up two korean players, Yongwoo "Miracle" Yi for the top lane and Sangkyun "Ringer" Park for the midlane. According to some rumors, these two players had already been practicing with the team during some recent time, and they already speak fluent English, allowing them to overcome any language barriers that former Korean imports into the scene had. The duo was also part of a team that was ranked #1 on ranked 5v5 on the Korean ladder. This makes the already dangerous team even more threatening, with their star jungler Santorin, who is famed for his expertise in shot calling. EG is a team coming off a 4 - 0 superweek though, a feat very impressive considering they have basically spent the entire season amongst the last placed teams in the standings. If they can carry that momentum into the playoffs, they can definitely give Coast a run for their money, seeing as they have played with eachother for much longer time, and in LAN environment as well, where many challenger teams tend to choke.

Estimated outcome: 3 - 0 to EG

CoL vs T8

Complexity became during the summer split the team that got known as the "blue shell", the team that everyone loved for their upsets versus higher - ranked teams. The team in itself is very strong, with their star player being Robertxlee, a very mechanically gifted AD Carry, and Pr0lly, a talented mid laner. Team 8 do have something that CoL doesn't, something we are starting to see more teams picking up - Koreans. CaliforniaTrlolz, their Korean top laner, is popular within the community for his off -meta picks (he even played fizz toplane once, and did really well on Kha'Zix in the Lonestar Clash 3 tournament. Frommaplestreet, the former AD Carry of Velocity, has also shown that he can carry in conjunction with his Korean support. Team 8 has however been having some tough times stepping up when required, and some people call them the "NiP of NA". Will they be able to step up this time?

Estimated outcome: 3 - 1 to CoL.

Regardless, we have some very interesting playoffs coming up during next week, Turn in at www.lolesports.com during next week to see who enters the LCS. And don't forget, since the LCS is expanding, we may see the relegated team partake in next season anyways!

Sources:

http://lol.gamepedia.com/Curse_Academy
http://lol.gamepedia.com/H2k-Gaming
https://twitter.com/Febivenn
http://lol.gamepedia.com/Team_8
https://www.facebook.com/TeamCoastGaming?fref=ts
http://lol.gamepedia.com/Gambit
http://lol.gamepedia.com/Unicorns_of_Love