Intro: Hey y’all! I’m Provy a Plat Mid/Jungle main. This is a breakdown and loose prediction of what I think will happen in NA next spring, based on discussion with esports fans.

Big Thanks to: Askharian, Soaring Circus, Totally a Ninja.

Underline denotes resigning or new singing.

TSM

Top: Hauntzer

Jungle: MikeYeung

Mid: Bjergsen

ADC: Zven / MrRallez

Support: Mithy

Coach: SSong

Summary: TSM continues to make strong and surprising moves in the offseason, pulling in G2’s consistently powerful bot lane and signing Mike “Rookie of the split” Yeung. Bjergsen and Hauntzer return as two of the strongest solo laners in NA, but they have solid players in every position as well as pop off potential from every lane. If one position flags, the others will shine. The biggest improvement to this roster, in my opinion, is SSong. He’s one of the best early game coaches, based on IMT’s dominance last split, and his strong presence on ROX and IMT took both of those rosters to new heights. I have almost no doubts that this team will mesh much faster than TSM’s last super team, with the experience and personalities brought to the table. I would be surprised not to see them deep in NA playoffs this spring.

Pros: Ssong: Hopefully he can help with the TSM internationally allowing them to perform at their peak and actually advance against other regions and improve the early game that was TSM’s downfall at worlds.

Cons: A new team meshing together will always have growing pains. The other issue I could see is a case of too many cooks/carries-someone is going to have to give up some gold to enable the team.

Placement in Spring: 1st-3rd. At this point, with TSM’s track record, it would be lunacy to expect them to fail domestically. If not winning they will probably lose to the eventual victors or come in 2nd.

TL

Top: Impact

Jungle: Xmithie

Mid: Pobelter

ADC: DoubleLift

Support: Olleh

Coach: Cain

Summary : It’s kind of amazing when you realize that all 7 of Immortals’ former roster will be starting this split-actually, every player that has ever played for IMT will be starting next split). It also feels unfair when a team picks up 3 good players with built-in synergy. Liquid made some amazing moves in the offseason, and has acquired players in every position who are in contention for being the best in their spots. With every one of them being seasoned veterans, this roster looks to be a top contender for spring.

Pros: I think Liquid has the strongest bot lane this split simply because of Olleh. He was such a beast last year even with Cody Sun being so green and they still were a top 3 bot lane. Add LiftLift to match his aggression plus Xmithie and Impact to assist and I see no reason why this bot lane couldn’t carry every game. Pobelter has always been able to hold his own mid, and with both his jungler and support being in mid lane frequently he will likely be ahead in most matchups. Impact is strong as well and, as the only player who has not played with the others before, he is sitting in the best lane for that: Top Lane Island.There are so many ways for this team to get ahead, and no glaring weaknesses

Cons: Liquid’s management and slumps. Simply put, over the past 3 years I have always known TL as the place where talent goes to die. Inori, Reignover, and many others have been signed to Liquid and never heard from again. Liquid seems to bring about player slumps; all of their roster has slumped hard at some point. I’m hoping that with Piglet and Dardoch gone (who seemed to be the catalysts for most of TL’s drama) the management can actually develop a team instead of watching one fall apart.

Placement in Spring: 4th. As much as I want to put that for the memes, I suspect we’ll see Liquid in 1st, 2nd, or 3rd in spring. If all of their players are performing at their best level,Liquid is nigh untouchable.

CLG

Top: Darshan

Jungle: Reignover

Mid: Huhi

ADC: Stixxay

Support: Biofrost

Coach: Zikz

Summary: CLG has maintained most of their core through the offseason, with 3 players going into their 6th split together. With the addition of experienced veteran Reignover, they have patched up what was undoubtedly their weakest role. There are going to be many questions surrounding CLG’s bot lane. Both are younger players who have lost experienced lane partners but have had moments of individual brilliance. It will be interesting to see them come into their own without a veteran directing them. Though many look at the bot lane as the unknown on CLG, I think the jungle may end up being a rocky spot for them as well, the team was most dominant with a more aggressive carry jungler vs the more supportive style of Reignover. Additionally, CLG fell apart hard at the end of last split by narrowly beating 6th place NV, losing to IMT, and failing to qualify for worlds. Reignover himself had a rough last split on Liquid as part of the Magic Hats jungle act. Although Reignover will shore up their jungle, I think questions remain about this team demonstrating the consistency to take a top spot.

Pros: Huhi and Teamwork. Huhi has improved at an immense rate recently, getting better and better as the year went on. If that trend continues, he could challenge for being the best mid in NA. CLG puts together good personalities and has good management That should hopefully let them click faster than other teams.

Cons: Loss of shotcalling and passiveness. With Aphromoo gone, CLG has lost their longtime shotcaller and big playmaker, and someone will have to step up to fill that void.

Placement in Spring: 5th or 6th. By keeping expectations low CLG grows stronger. I have doubts about the consistency of CLG, especially with individual talent becoming higher and higher in NA. I’m hesitant to place them very high in spring.

C9

Top: Licorice

Jungle: Svenskeren

Mid: Jensen

ADC: Sneaky

Support: Smoothie

Coach: Reapered

Summary: Cloud 9 has had what most have called a lazy off season, taking what fans think are downgrades in both their top and jungle. I disagree with these claims. Licorice was one of the best top laners in NACS and is an extremely promising rookie. Additionally, Svenskeren has always been able to carry and run with top tier junglers. The main question for them is their ability to keep up with the rest of C9. Jensen and Sneaky are coming off of a solid Worlds performance, with Sneaky unofficially grabbing the title of the best NA ADC. Smoothie’s shotcalling got them out of a tough group, and all three have synergy, having been together for 4 splits now. Integrating their new top half of the map will be C9’s biggest challenge. I doubt they will see immediate success, though the potential ceiling for the roster looks higher than before.

Pros: Management and Veterans: Cloud 9 returns as one of the greatest successes from NA LCS; their management knows how to win and develop talent. That long standing experience will give them the edge over the newcomers.

Cons: The top half of the map and Svenskeren’s slump. Licorice is a newbie to the pro scene, and that always comes with some growing pains. Svenskeren is also coming off of what he himself has articulated as poor play.

Placement in Spring: 4th. C9 has always been a fast starter to the year from what I’ve seen, often snatching victories early from cohesion and talent, and flagging mid season when other teams reach that same level of teamwork and then hitting there peak later in the season. I’d not be surprised to see this roster in the finals in summer if they stick together, but not so much for spring.

100 Thieves

Top: Ssumday

Jungle: Meteos

Mid: Ryu

ADC: Cody Sun (Rumoured)

Support: Aphromoo

Coach: Pr0lly

Summary: I’m super pumped for this roster. It’s grizzled veterans all the way down and a young gun superstar ADC in the bot lane. Ssumday is a top 3, if not the number 1, top laner in NA. He carried the shaky Dignitas team to the top of the pack consistently, single-handedly took over games, and snagged wins. Meteos is the longest running jungler in NA and an experienced veteran. Dark Meteos was instrumental in P1’s run to third place in spring but was unable to stop their decline in summer, which does raise some doubts. Ryu has always been a consistently good mid in whatever region he’s in, though he will be coming off a slump. Cody Sun had a disgustingly good first year in the regular season, with the most kills and second highest KDA of any ADC. In contrast, he looked shaky both in playoffs and at Worlds, making some very large mistakes with the pressure getting to him. Hopefully, the experience will allow him to bounce back stronger than ever. Aphromoo departing CLG was possibly the most shocking move this offseason; adding strong shotcalling and initiation to this roster. Him enabling Cody Sun will leave this roster with a top tier bot lane. Pr0lly has had success with H2K being part of making them a top tier EU team. Having an experienced coach is a boon to a new organization, and will help them skip the worst of the growing pains.

Pros: Experience and intelligence. All of the confirmed members on 100 thieves have been in LCS as top players for multiple splits that kind of consistency could lead to rising to the top of the pack.

Cons: Slumps and Old Timers: None of these players ended last year on particularly high notes.

Placement in Spring: 3–4th or 8–9th. This roster is either going to mesh and soar to the top, or fail from too many voices. A happy medium seems unlikely.

Golden Guardians

Top: Lourlo

Jungle: Contractz

Mid: Hai

ADC: Deftly

Support: Matt

Coach: Locodoco

Summary: Even more so than other rosters, GG leaves you wondering where the talent needed to snatch a victory is going to come from; though none of these players would be a detriment to any team, all are lackluster in terms of consistent star quality. Though Hai is a renowned shotcaller, the lack of mechanical talent renders that skill moot as shotcalling is no longer a rare skill for top teams in NA these days. Matt and Lourlo have always been okay on TL, but were never the consistent carries on the roster even when it was functioning. Contractz was solid on C9 even popping off and carrying at times but not always dominant. Deftly was solid in Challenger series but not dominant, and now he is going to be facing even better players. Additionally, most of these players have not shown a particularly high ceiling for their play. Based on past splits and the increase of talent in NA this year, Golden Guardians will have 3 losing lanes. Unless Contractz pops off on carry junglers consistently, I see few victories coming for this team.

Pros: Hai and youth. Hai’s been shown to make teams work despite the odds stacked against them. Besides him, all of these players are relatively young and could have room to grow.

Cons: Historically low ceilings and lack of pop off potential. Though young, these players have all been around for a few splits and none have established themselves as big threats.

Placement in Spring: 9th-10th. This team just doesn’t seem to have a clear way to win. I think out of all the rosters assembled, this one is the only one that’s really missed the mark.

Optic

Top: Zig

Jungle: Akaadian

Mid: PowerOfEvil

ADC: Arrow

Support: LemonNation

Coach: Zaboutine

Summary:

Role players seem to be the name of the game for Optic. PowerOfEvil, Arrow and Akaadian were all above average in their positions at the end of summer split. All have incredibly high ceilings,as seen in Akkadians first blood king run, POE’s performance at Worlds, and Arrow’s MVP award win in Spring 2017. None of them have maintained that level of play for a long period of time though, and therein lies the problem. Zig and LemonNation are average role players at best, leaving this roster lacking a consistent superstar threat. Zaboutine has never coached before, and has only done analysis and casting. It will be interesting to see what he brings to the table, helping or hindering. Though rosters lacking obviously huge superstars have succeeded before, such as IMT or MSF last split, it does leave the question of where the carry lies on this lineup.

Pros: Ceilings and Drafting: The Lemon Notebook makes its return, and with it odd but strong picks and drafts. Additionally, all of these players have had moments of brilliance, meaning there is no lack of potential.

Cons: Bot Lane: LemonNation and Arrow have both been criticized in the past for being weak early laners. With the amount of bot lane talent this coming split, that might get easily exploited.

Placement in Spring: 8th or 9th. If the coaching staff for Optic is able to keep these players at peak performance, they could be a top tier team. Otherwise, this roster will be lacking consistent threats to grab wins.

Clutch City Gaming

Top: Solo

Jungle: Lira

Mid: Febiven

ADC: Apollo

Support: Hakuho

Coach: David Lim

Summary: Hello, NV 2.0! Clutch City has picked up NV’s core from last split. With the players they have signed there is a good chance they will look incredibly similar to NV from last year. The biggest thing that stands out is Febiven.(Not that Nisqy was bad at all.) After coming off a disappointing last split with H2K, barely missing qualifying for worlds but with the best KDA and CSD@10 in Europe, he is sure to be a mid tier if not top tier mid laner in NA. Lira is a top tier jungler , if not the best jungler in NA. Apollo and Hakuho surprised everyone by being an amazing and underrated bot lane last split. The curiosity on this roster is Solo, who has also been around a long time but never successfully made the jump to stay in pro play. All veterans in their own right, this team has a lot of experience along with great bot and jungle synergy. I would be surprised to see them at the top of the pack, but I would also be surprised to see them fail.

Pros: Synergy and Febiven. An upgrade in mid with NV’s previous trio is a scary for the bot side of the map.

Cons: Solo and clear weaknesses. As Kfo once said: “Trash Solo GG.” Solo might take on the role of Seraph in disguise. In a top lane against the likes of Ssumday, Huni, Hauntzer, Flame, etc; I would put Solo in the bottom 2. An easily identifiable weak top lane could be the ruin of this team, especially in Bo1s.

Placement in Spring: 5th-7th. Solid won’t cut it for the top spots come spring . I think this roster has the potential to be great, but their top lane will definitely hold them back.

EF

Top: Huni

Jungle: Dardoch

Mid: FeniX

ADC: Altec

Support: Adrian

Coach: Inero

Summary: If nothing else, this team is going to make some of the flashiest plays that have ever graced NA. Huni, Dardoch and FeniX are each renowned as mechanical beasts, and Altec and Adrian aren’t far behind either. This team has no lack of mechanical talent, but most of these players have come under the same criticism of not having a brain. Echo Fox as an org has also come under similar criticism after some questionable decisions with subs last year. There seems to be a lack of solid shotcalling on the team, as well as the obvious potential problems with their jungler. This team arguably has the highest individual talent ceiling of any team participating this split, but there are numerous issues that could continue to plague them.

Pros: M E C H A N I C S. If you put this roster up against any other mechanically, I have little doubt they would win. The individual talent is astounding , EF might be able to force wins off of the advantages they’ll gain in laning phase alone.

Cons: EF Management and Toxicity: Dardoch is what most would point to as the catalyst to whatever issues have happened on his previous teams. Not to mention that if EF loses a couple games straight there’s a good chance of them tilting off the face of the earth. EF management hasn’t been shown to be all that solid in the past, failing to develop players and switching them around constantly in the hope that something works. With the most volatile roster around, it’s going to be a major struggle to keep them in line.

Placement in Spring: 2nd-3rd or 9th-10th. I don’t think there is a middle ground. They could win a few games and tilt into the ground once other teams begin to work, but on the flip side they could brute force their way into a top spot off sheer individual play alone.

FLY

Top: Flame

Jungle: AnDa

Mid: Fly

ADC: WildTurtle

Support: Stunt

Coach: Unknown

Summary: The only roster featuring 2 players who were not seen on the rift last split. I would say this is going to be one of my 3 favorite rosters to watch this spring. FLY is another roster comprised of 3 of IMT’s players after their rejection from franchising. Both Stunt and AnDa were IMT’s subs, Stunt had 3 accounts in NA challenger at one point, and AnDa climbed into the top 15 on the Korean ladder in about 2 weeks. They are solo queue monsters, but it is unclear how that will transfer to the pro scene. Stunt was P1’s golden boy for a split and AnDa and Flame duo frequently. Their synergy could put them both in positions to carry the early game as we have seen Flame do before. Fly used to be on KT and had high stats in Challenger Series but wasn’t dominant; with his level of competition increasing he might find himself struggling in the mid lane pack. Turtle’s late game presence and generally solid play rounds out the team, and with decent macro there’s a strong possibility of this team exceeding expectations.

Pros: The lesser-seen rookies and Flame: Simply put, Flame was a beast last year- and more importantly, consistent. AnDa and Stunt have no shortage of talent, and may have tricks that have not been seen.

Cons: The lesser seen rookies and Fly: There will always be growing pains and rookie mistakes for new players. Fly is going to be facing steep competition and might find himself in trouble after not playing at this high of a level for a while.

Placement in Spring: 6th-7th. I would not be surprised to see this roster smash either half of the split and slump the other. There are a lot of unknowns with this team, and they could easily surprise in a good or bad way.