Player of the Week can be awarded for many reason. Sometimes it is won when someone slings their flailing team on their back and drags them kicking and screaming to the finish line. Other times, it is the clean crisp execution that secures a team their LCS points. But this week, we award this honour tofor aquatic authority that ruled the game, securing GGU their upset over CLG and proving that Nami can really be be a man By Sunday, GGU was on the ropes once again. With two losses in two days, Week 5 seemed as if it could be another winless week for members of Good Game University. After falling to the ever-popular TSM and the off-kilter Dignitas, a victory against CLG appeared unlikely. In Champion Select, standard LCS NA picks came out across the board save one: the first-pick Nami for Bloodwater. As the game began, GGU made intelligent use of Nami's unwieldy yet powerful Aqua Prison for a first blood on Chauster before 1:00. The action didn't stop there, as Chauster stole GGU's Red buff for Doublelift and ganked GGU's duo in the top lane. To make the best of a bad situation, Bloodwater distracted CLG, forced them away from DontMashMe, and drew out three Flashes, the last of which was the only reason Bloodwater failed to secure an execution. Bloodwater's Nami mechanics emerged once again at 5:25, when Bloodwater snagged Aphromoo with another Aqua Prison, securing himself a kill on the opposing support. Throughout the laning phase, Bloodwater continued to impress with this use of Nami's unique kit, empowering his AD companion to consistently force Doublelift out of lane or kill him. The most impressive series of skills was at 14:55, when NintendudeX ganked bot to try and eliminate CLG's duo lane. A Tidecaller's Blessing on DontMashMe and Tidal Wave forced Doublelift to use both his Summoner Spells and receive a HSGG's Stand United. Bloodwater followed this up with two incredible Aqua Prisons: one to deny a counterattack from the three in bot and another to snag Doublelift near GGU's bot outer turret, eventually netting them two free kills. The full strength of Bloodwater’s Nami manifested in teamfights. At 17:15 GGU found themselves completely out of position as CLG emerged from the purple side tribrush to take down NintendudeX and ZionSpartan. Only Bloodwater's well-placed Tidal Wave and Aqua Prison kept his teammates alive while the rest of GGU reinforced, keeping CLG from gaining a huge advantage in the even game. GGU evened the kill count again at 24:00, partially owing to Bloodwater's ability to keep Chauster locked down while his teammates blasted him to death (not to mention healing them and speeding them up throughout). Though it remained even until past 30:00, GGU managed to tip the scales in their favor again at 31:05. The extended teamfight began with a Rune Prison from Jintae, which, comboed with Bloodwater's immediate Aqua Prison, demanded LinK's Kha'zix retreat. Bloodwater’s followup ultimate then knocked up four members of CLG while forcing a Flash and Cleanse from Doublelift. This allowed GGU's bruisers to close in on CLG's heavy damage dealers while DontMashMe fell (unfortunately) to Chauster. However, GGU was now in such a good position that they secured kills on Aphromoo, LinK, and Doublelift before moving towards Baron. With Chauster harrassing around the pit, GGU decided to follow him, only catching him with an impressive Flash/Aqua Prison from Bloodwater, bringing that fight to a 4-1 trade. Bloodwater hit yet another incredible Tidal Wave at 33:35, sweeping across every member of CLG as they ran out of the Baron pit, keeping NintendudeX alive as GGU killed Hotshot. With a full (albeit injured) lineup, GGU was able to take an initial 2-0 advantage that led to a 5-2 GGU ace when CLG reinitiated (partially due to Bloodwater's help in CC'ing LinK). The final fight of the game (36:05) was also in the Baron pit where CLG already heavily injured Nashor. However, Bloodwater's Tidal Wave knocked up all of CLG once more, preventing them from finishing Baron off and allowing NintendudeX to get a clutch steal. The lead firmly in hand, GGU cleaned up the rest of CLG and pushed down the Nexus, getting a huge win in their last game of the weekend. Their victory over CLG would not have occurred if not for Bloodwater's incredible Nami play, play the likes of which had not been seen from any of NA's pro supports. Bloodwater's aquatic authority on the Tidecaller secured a GGU upset over CLG and proved Nami's competitive viability in NA, making him TL's Player of the Week.

Keys to Victory Predictions for Week 6

[Day 1] March 21, 2013

dig vs MRN

TSM vs coL

CLG vs dig

TSM vs MRN

[Day 2] March 22, 2013

CLG vs TSM

coL vs MRN

Vul vs CLG

dig vs coL

Week 6 of the NA LCS is filled with quite a few high profile matches. CLG, TSM, and Dignitas all play three games with head-to-head match-ups featuring CLG v TSM and CLG v dig. The results of this week will have a huge impact on the standings as it will determine if Dignitas will further cement themselves above TSM and CLG or if the other two teams will gain ground on first and second place. compLexity also has three games this week and as always are in desperate need of wins. Going 3-0 would be ideal, but even just 2-1 would be enough to give them a slight boost in the standings.Despite their poor performance in Week 5, Dignitas should still be able to prevail against MRN. Not only was MRN an easy mark for Dignitas in early weeks, but now MRN must struggle through integrating Nientonsoh into their lineup, pitting their former duo laners against each other for the support role, and persevering through ecco's illness. With the odds so stacked against MRN, it's Dignitas' game to lose. Their best bet would be to send a 2v1 lane against MegaZero to undo the player who is now undoubtedly MRN's strongest link. Scarra should have an easy time against a sick ecco, and imaqtpie and patoy's incredible laning skills and coordination will be leagues ahead of what is established between Nien and whoever will be supporting him. MRN, on the other hand, will need some Dignitas throws to win, but they proved themselves more than capable of doing so this weekend. They'll need to focus heavily on getting MegaZero and Nien fed, since the two of them are more than capable of going toe-to-toe with Dignitas' big name players if they have a lead. Perhaps if ClakeyD camps the duo lane, MRN will be able to get Nien into the teamfighting phase with some relevance and he can show his impressive Ranged AD skills. It'll be a tough road for MRN, but not an impossible one.Last week, few would be that coL would come out of this match with a victory. However, compLexity illustrated they were more than capable of beating top tier teams in Week 5 and TSM recently swapped out Ranged AD mainstay, Chaox, for Cloud 9’s WildTurtle. With such favorable conditions, there’s no better time for coL to get another huge win. Top on their list of priorities should be capitalizing on TSM’s duo lane weakness while getting brunch U incredibly fed. If Lautemortis counterganks like he did against Dignitas, or even just camps WildTurtle and Xpecial, it should be enough to coax communication errors and other mistakes out of the new pair. Assuming coL gets a lead or at least keeps up with TSM’s generally superior laning, they should be able to execute their impressive teamfighting and objective prioritizing like they did over the weekend. Conversely, TSM should do their best to prioritize farm around Reginald and Dyrus while choosing their duo lane with an eye towards caution or utility. A Varus or Ashe pick would not go amiss, so long as WildTurtle’s pick can safely farm. TSM’s lategame experience will still win out in the long run, and it will have much more of an opportunity to be successful with massive mid and top damage and a few powerful teamfighting ultimates. TSM are still favored in this matchup, but they’d best be careful of the hidden threat that is compLexity.As CLG looks to gain ground on Curse and Dignitas, picking up a victory over either team is crucial to their advancement. A strategy they might want to implement in order to obtain victory over Dignitas is to employ a lane swap. Since they are on blue side this is a bit unusual, but it has it’s advantages. Most importantly it allowed Doublelift to free farm while also shutting down KiWiKiD. KiWiKiD has been a crucial role in Dignitas’ recent sucess to shutting him down is a nice bonus in addition to letting Doublelift farm. Also HotshotGG is probably be best NA Top laner when it comes to dealing with 2v1 lanes. If no one does a lane swap Dignitas should rely on KiWi to carry them to victory. HotshotGG is easily abusable and with some nice early ganks from Crumbzz they should be able so shut down HotshotGG so he is a non-factor for most of the game.The second on MRN’s list of huge upsets, TSM wants to prove that their loss to MRN last time was simply a fluke. Interestingly enough, both teams will be running new starting ADCs who were actually former teammates. Nientonsoh and WiildTurtle both played for Cloud 9, but this time they face each other as enemies. Everyone should keep their eye on Bot lane as both ADC/Support combos don’t have a lot of practice with one another so whoever adapts faster could easily be the deciding factor in this game. The other lane matchups will be worth watching too: Dyrus will need to keep Megazero’s heavy pressure contained, lest MRN control the game flow through Megazero, and the reverse is true for Heartbeatt against Reginald. This is really a game of lane match-ups and whoever wins lane will most likely win the game.One of the longest rivalries in competitive LoL continues as CLG takes on TSM for the second time in the LCS. CLG is up in the head-to-head match-up, but coming into Week 5 TSM is ahead in the standings. With teams focusing on shutting down Doublelift, the other members of CLG are going to have to step up their game. Since HotshotGG doesn't really play carry-based heroes the success of CLG relies heavily LiNk's performance Mid. Aphromoo will also need to play well and do his best to keep TSM from making Doublelift irrelevant. Aside from the standard advice of focusing Doublelife, TSM are going to want to abuse HotshotGG up in the Top lane. If they can put Dyrus on carry oriented hero he can abuse HotshotGG and presumably cripple CLG's front line making their overall teamfight really weak.While Team MRN was hot during the Super Week, compLexity found their own momentum in Week 5. Going 2-1 last week, compLexity needs to keep the pace going if they want to break into 6th place and avoid guaranteed relegation. Lautemortis was a key factor in carrying coL to victory over Dignitas and if he can replicate that same pressure coL should be able to keep MRN on their heels throughout the game. For MRN this is the first week Nientonsoh will debut as the starting ADC after subbing last week. Nien is known to be a very good ADC and if he can get fed he can not only lead MRN to victory, but also prove to fans he deserves the starting position. Also MegaZero should stick with aggressive champs where he can abuse his opponent in lane as his play on Shen and Cho'gath has been somewhat unimpressive.This match-up is very critical for Vulcun as CLG is the team that stands in their way of jumping up into the top four. CLG only has a two win advantage, but has four less losses than Vulcun. Grabbing the win here would mean closing the win gap while also adding to CLG's losses. Not to sound like a broken record, but if Vulcun wants to secure the win they are going to need to have Xmithe live in Bot lane. Getting Zuna a couple kills while setting Doublelift behind should be their main focus. Vulcun has proven they play their best when Zuna is ahead and leading teamfights with his now famous yells. CLG should pay close attention to Mancloud in the Mid lane. If they let him have Nidalee or Lux they are in for a world of hurt as he's proven he can single handily win games with clutch snipes.After compLexity handed them a surprise loss last week, Dignitas is going to take special care that something similar doesn't happen again. In order to come out ahead this time Dignitas needs to temper some of their early aggression and make sure they don't make the same mistakes twice, like getting Barrier baited into two deaths. Dignitas is the better team and if they just play smarter they should be able to pick up the win. Aside from praying Dignitas makes the same mistakes as last time, compLexity needs to gain an advantage by taking the fight to their enemy. Crumbzz has been a monster in the Jungle providing tons of pressure for dig and Lautemortis in the Jungle is going to have to match that by visiting every lane while also setting up counter-gank opportunities.