Earlier this year we saw 
dominate 
to reclaim their crown as the kings of the EU LCS, now they stand poised to defend their trophy against 
. But are we poised for another clean victory? I am predicting to win the series either 3-1 or 3-0, lets take a look at why.
Semi-Finals opposition
Despite looking more controlled in their Semi-Finals win over 
it is safe to say that under-performed and crashed out of title contention. In games 1,2,4 the games were not close, failed to execute on one dimensional compositions and floundered until were able to finish the game. In game 3 when were able to execute their composition were rolled over, putting up no resistance. In their quarter-finals series against 
, looked shaky. Though they then dominated in the Semi-Final for me the question remains, did improve to that extent or did under-perform. I suspect it was the latter, as were lost if their one dimensional style failed to bear fruit.
are a different beast. They have proven consistently that they are able play from behind, turning early game deficits into decisive snowballs. This is roster dependent as is less macro focused when they play with Bwipo, often relying on raw mechanical skill to create and snowball advantages. This can lead to a scrappy style that may be able to exploit but this is often reliant on Bwipo being played as have already used Soaz as a substitute in an attempt to bring consistency and a controlled style to the game.
Team Styles:
Often and are similar in how they draft and play, giving strong picks such as Irelia to Nukeduck and Caps and playing around a strong scaling marksmen in the bot-lane. Here we look at individual players to step up and create advantages to give that small edge to their team. I believe are favoured in this regard across the map: Caps is stronger than Nukeduck, Broxah is a stronger supportive jungler than Amazing and the top lane flexibility is a strength that do not possess.
This leaves the botlane: Upset and Vander vs Rekkles and Hylissang. These two bot-lanes are very different in approach, recently Rekkles has played safe, supportive marksmen to allow Hylissang to roam and create advantages. and Vander are often heavily invested in protecting Upset to ensure he reaches the late game. This difference in map pressure that Hylissang provides will give an edge in the early game that and indeed the EU LCS in it’s entirety have struggled to cope with.
Broxah and Amazing:
At the end of the Semi-finals deserved credit was given to Amazing for shutting down Kikis and early. However I do not expect him to have the same impact in the upcoming series against Broxah. As I argued above Kikis is one dimensional in his approach and when Amazing countered that were lost. This will not be the case for Broxah and . Broxah entered the league as an early game aggressive jungler on Elise and Lee Sin but in the last two years he has cemented himself as the backbone of . Where found success against with Amazing stepping up I expect that the junglers will be on supportive tanks, denying the strong leads their scaling gained them in the Semi-Finals.
Nerves:
Upset has historically struggled with being nervous, even citing nerves as the reason for his initially poor play in the series against . It stands to reason therefore that the star carry of might struggle to begin with or in a game five scenario. In a big Arena, in a stadium full of fans with the weight of an organisation on his shoulders, can Upset stand up and be counted? I’m not sure. That is something that he will have to prove tomorrow. Perhaps the game five victory over will settle Upset’s nerves. With analysts predicting that would need to win through the bottom lane due to the top side strength possess, the pressure is on.
Conclusion:
To conclude my thoughts I want to say I am hoping for a good series tomorrow rather than a stomp but I suspect that with their veteran players, style and substitute, that the series is to win and must hope for mistakes to Upset
3- 1
What are your predictions for the finals? Let me know in the comments below.
Written By Hugh Mccormick
Hugh Mccormick 