With the Summer Split fast approaching I thought I’d embrace my excitement and dedicate a blog to League of Legends E-sports across mainly the EU and NA LCS aswell as occasional pieces on the LCK and LPL.

After a remarkably close EU LCS Spring Split, where outside of the top 2 teams it looked like anyone could have finished anywhere. I’ve decided to kick off by tackling the near impossible job of predicting the standings at the end of Summer Split 2018.

1st: G2 Esports

Key Player(s): Perkz/Wunder

Coach: GrabbZ

I know, I know. G2 ahead of Fnatic is preposterous following last splits’ 3-0 final win for Fnatic and their solid MSI performance but hear me out. G2 have now played with each other for a full split and a mid-season, their synergy has no doubt improved dramatically since their last showing and I believe they will put up a strong showing.

Wunder has a reputation for being one of the strongest, if not THE strongest carry top player in the west and with the meta leaning towards those types of champions I believe he will be one of the most influential players of the split. Combine that with the “first blood king” Jankos, and Perkz returning to assassins like Le Blanc, and I truly believe they have a championship winning line-up.

2nd: Fnatic

Key Player(s): Caps/Rekkles

Coach: Dylan Falco

Reigning champs Fnatic would probably be annoyed at me predicting them 2nd if they actually cared about my opinion, and they would have a right to be. A 1st place finish last split and an extraordinary MSI performance from Caps would suggest they were going to run away with the summer split. However, with the changes to the meta over mid-season I foresee a slight decline in performance for the time being.

Early game, mechanical champions for Caps and Broxah could perhaps make you think I’ve lost my mind, but with late game marksmen falling away and Lucian + Bruisers + Mages shaking up the formerly named AD Carry role. It seems to suggest star man Rekkles could be removed from his previously untouchable claim to king of the bot lane, resulting in a drop in the standings for his team.

3rd: Splyce

Key Player(s): Kobbe/Nisqy

Coach: Peter Dun

Off the back of a strong 3rd place finish in spring, Splyce seem set to repeat that this summer. As a team that grew stronger as the split went on I am certain they will continue that trend especially after Nisqy showing a glimpse of his potential in playoffs.

The mid laner was largely a weak link in the team during spring and Splyce mostly relied on star men Kobbe and Odoamne to carry them through the regular season. However that all changed in playoffs and on certain picks like Cassiopeia, Nisqy looked like a legit contender to Perkz and Caps as the best mid in EU. If he manages to keep that up and cement himself as the 3rd or 4th best mid in the league Splyce are set for another strong season and a trip to Worlds.

4th: Misfits

Key Player(s): Maxlore/Sencux

Coach: Hussain “Moose” Moosvi

Misfits were a strange team last split. They came in after a strong performance at Worlds, taking Korean powerhouse SKT to 5 games, and only making 2 seemingly side-grade changes to the roster. Yet they tanked in the regular season, not even making playoffs despite showing glimpses of brilliance.

Sencux severely underperformed in spring and was one of the main culprits many pointed to as the reason for Misfits’ disappointing run. If he can bring back his old consistent self which showed up for Splyce’s initialy worlds run there is a strong chance Misfits return to the top of the standings. The side has a lot of potential and has now had time to grow and synergise as a team, to hopefully prove to themselves and the fans that they are a force to be reckoned with in the EU LCS.

5th: Unicorns of Love

Key Player(s): Kold

Coach: Sheepy

UOL had a disastrous start to the 2018 season. They lost their hype man Romain and perhaps more importantly, their long serving players in Vizicsacsi and Hyllisang and they also kicked off with an 0-4 scoreline. Things were not looking promising for a while with the new roster until something seemed to change within the team. They started playing more fluently and cleanly, often being described as the best 10th place team in LCS history. They started racking up wins and made a run which nearly took them to playoffs, only missing out on the final day of the split.

With Kold leading the team from the jungle and UOL showing a willingness to improve greater than perhaps any other team. They look promising and will hope to secure a top 5 finish and see where playoffs may take them.

6th: Vitality

Key Player(s): Jizuke

Coach: YamatoCannon

Vitality to me are a lot like when Flyquest were first introduced to the NA LCS. A strong first split from a newly promoted team with pre-existing synergy when few teams were on the same page whatsoever. I predict their 2nd split in the league to be largely similar also.

As the rest of the teams are catching up team play wise, I can’t see Vitality being remotely as strong in summer. When I look past the confidence and bravado I do not see 5 strong individual players, I see one with four pretenders around him. Jizuke will have to have another remarkable split to keep these guys in playoffs contention, but I do believe with a meta providing more solo carry potential that he can drag his team to 6th place.

7th: Schalke

Key Player(s): Upset

Coach: Andre Guilhoto

Before spring split began there was a lot of noise regarding the Schalke roster. “On paper this is the best lineup in EU,” “this is finally the year of Nukeduck.” I never really bought into the hype but I did believe they would make playoffs. Like many others I was surprised and disappointed in Schalkes performance and couldn’t quite pinpoint where it went wrong.

Schalke themselves have decided to pinpoint the jungle as where it went wrong. Ditching Pride for a jungler with a lot more experience in Amazing could prove to be a great pick up and propel them to playoffs if Upset can consistently play at a level which he showed on occasion. I’m a little bit less optimistic with the changes though, Amazing has had a few attempts at pro play in the last few years and hasn’t been able to show his old self in any of the attempts, I’m expecting more of the same from him in his new team.

8th: H2k

Key Player(s): Selfie

Coach: Michael “Veteran” Archer

“The Shook Effect” was a recurring phrase in the 2nd half of the spring split, as Shook joined Selfie at H2k the pair drastically improved H2k’s play and the team shot up the standings, eventually pipping Misfits and Roccat to a playoff place.

While the duo are indeed a potent force in mid and jungle their does seem to be issues elsewhere in the team that may stop them from reaching playoffs this time round. SmittyJ may be the weakest top laner in the league and could flounder in a carry meta. Also, despite Sheriff being a solid adc in spring I believe him and Promisq are one of the weakest bot lanes in the league.

It remains to be seen whether H2K will repeat last splits success but with an already outstandingly close league and teams around them all likely to have improved, I’m not sure they have the ability to keep up.

9th: Roccat

Key Player(s): Profit/Norskeren

Coach: freddy122

Roccat are a bit of a wild card to me. Their is a chance Profit can pop off in a carry meta and with a solid performance from the rest of the team they could make it as far as playoffs. I can’t see this having a high probability of actually happening though.

Outside of the aforementioned Profit and Norskeren at support, not much else about the team screams playoffs contenders to me. With a remarkably average base of the team in Jungle, Mid and Marksman, I can’t see them finishing above any of the previous teams outwith H2k.

10th: Giants

Key Player(s): Ruin

Coach: Kubz

Giants finished 9th last split and due to my belief that UOL will improve and Giants not managing to improve faster than any of the remaining teams, they’re the last place team for me.

With arguably a downgrade in support being their only roster change, swapping Targamas for SirNukesALot, while keeping players like Steelback in the squad I can actually see them performing worse this split. You would think with a declining performance as spring progressed, management would maybe have considered trying out a promising rookie marksman ahead of Steelback but that was not the case.

Sorry Giants, wooden spoon for you.