It's never easy with Counter Logic Gaming. When you think CLG is on its way to the proverbial flaming dumpster, it goes on an unthinkable run and beats some of the best League of Legends teams in the world, making everyone who criticized the team look like an idiot.

Then, when you're assured of how good and well-coached Counter Logic Gaming is, and how CLG might go all the way, it loses to some wild-card team you learned about only three days ago from a region you didn't even know existed. Editor's Picks The 2017 League of Legends Hub

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Here we are. CLG came into the season as a safe pick to do well in a climate of total roster upheaval. The team kept the same five starters who made it to the world championships and took a game from the ROX Tigers (and went 0-2 against a wild-card team, again). However, in true illogical CLG fashion, the team came out of the gates rusty and dropped matches to teams with rosters that had been playing together only for weeks. And, on cue, when it was time to give up on CLG, it gave undefeated Cloud9 its closest series of the year and took a convincing 2-0 win over Team Dignitas to remain in the playoff race.

"We definitely struggled early on," admitted AD carry Trevor "Stixxay" Hayes, the team's ace from last season. "Our series against Cloud9, we picked it up and played a lot better as a team, and ever since then we've had really, really good practice."

Even in the series against TSM, which CLG eventually lost in a close 1-2 score line, Stixxay felt the team played a bit weird, and a majority of the matches so far had come down to small team fights that changed the course of games. Although at a substandard 2-4 record, CLG's map score of 6-8 tells a better story of its split so far for the two-time league champion.

In the series against Dignitas, CLG's cohesion and the players' familiarity with one another outweighed a heroic one-man performance from DIG's star top laner Kim "Ssumday" Chan-ho. Stixxay felt the play style of Ssumday and the non-Korean players on the team hadn't quite meshed yet, leaving them in awkward positions where Ssumday, in a huge lead over his lane opponent on a split-pushing champion like Fiora, couldn't be used to his full potential. And for all of CLG's struggles, when it came down to decisive decision-making against Dignitas, the experience of the former champs won out.

"I just really feel comfortable with everything," Stixxay said of his team. "I've had the same room for the last year and a half I've been there. So I just wake up every day, and it's not weird - it doesn't feel like an uncomfortable environment. I wake up, I do my daily stuff and no one has any problems with each other; everyone is friendly with each other. It's just a familiar feeling to be there."

Comfort. It's not an aspect of a professional gamer's life usually discussed when talking about a team's success, but it is a major factor. The amount of importing from teams has made it so team houses at times can feel more like hotels than homes. For Stixxay and the rest of CLG, even when the wheels are rattling off the wagon, the players know they can trust one another and figure out a way to gel in games as well as they do away from the screen.

That said, Stixxay doesn't want the power of friendship to overshadow the other reason why CLG has won two championships in the past three seasons: They're a damn good team and have players like Stixxay who can stand with the best individually on the international stage.

"It's annoying when people [only talk about] power of friendship," he said. "Friendship is not going to win you games, guys. You have to be good at the game."

Trust and skill both play important parts in League, and CLG has both. Although the club didn't shop for superstars during the offseason, it has half of the puzzle worked out. Now, they have to perform - and the game against Cloud9 is a sign CLG is close.

"I know how good everyone is on my team, and everyone just trusts each other so much," Stixxay said. "Once we're able to bounce back to our normal level, I feel like we'll be super good."