Week 5 of the NA LCS is shaping up to be a huge week for many teams. This week may truly be the first do or die week of the season, with some teams on the lower half of the bracket simply not being able to afford anymore losses on their record for this split if they don’t wish to face relegation.

#8. Velocity eSports (2-10)

This week :

Team Dignitas (5-7) Thursday 7/11 6pm EST

TSM Snapdragon (6-6) Thursday 7/11 8pm EST

Cloud 9 Hyper X (10-2) Friday 7/12 6pm EST

Another tough week for Velocity fans as VES was handed another winless week at the LCS. A promising performance against TSM crumbled in the late game as they were unable to act upon the advantages they had created for themselves in the early game. A venting blog from “frommaplestreet” shed some light on the his current state of mind and his general feelings about some of the flak that VES has caught from media sources that follow the LCS. While he can admit the faults of the team and make a compelling argument against the people who say they do not belong the LCS, collectively VES has failed to do one thing: prove that they can hang with the big teams of the LCS. They don’t have to take the top spot of the LCS, but time is quickly running out for them to make a run in the LCS to stay alive and keep their dreams of a path into the World Finals alive. But hey, people were saying the same things about GGU (Coast) and Vulcun around this point of the season last split, so if those two teams taught us anything, it’s that you are never really completely out of the LCS. However, VES has got to step up to the plate and start winning some games; going 0-3 this week might be just too much to recover from. Against LCS vets Dignitas and TSM in addition to playing current LCS top dog C9, week 5 is definitely a sink or swim test for Velocity.

#7. Curse Gaming (4-8)

This week:

Team Coast (6-6) Thursday 7/11 7pm EST

Counter Logic Gaming (7-5) Friday 7/12 4pm EST

Team Dignitas (5-7) Friday 7/12 9pm EST

After a promising showing at MLG Anaheim, Curse had a regression back towards the muddled, disarrayed team that many had thought they left behind in Anaheim the week before. Dropping 2 games last week, the path to .500 just got a lot harder for Curse. Curse’s collective play seemed sluggish and uninspired, making a lot of preventable mistakes in games. Getting caught out, not responding properly to lane pressure and a lack of map presence all hampered on Curse’s momentum this week. Their inability to play consistently should be troubling. The reasoning of “well we have a new support” can only last so long into the season. If Curse doesn’t come up big this week, they may not be getting back to even their familiar 4th spot in the LCS.

#6. Team Dignitas (5-7)

This week:

Velocity eSports (2-10) Thursday 7/11 6pm EST

Team Coast (6-6) Friday 7/12 5pm EST

Team Curse (4-8) Friday 7/12 9pm EST

Team ヽ༼ຈل͜ຈ༽ﾉ raise your dongers ヽ༼ຈل͜ຈ༽ﾉ Dignitas find themselves in the lower half of the LCS after Week 4 of the LCS. A glaring lack of objective control last week is what crippled Dignitas’ otherwise decent play, including two strong performances from their botlane duo. Scarra’s efforts to improve his champion pool is worth taking note as he is being banned out less and less every week after adding Zed to his competitive champion set. After hanging tough against the #1 and #2 seeds this week, Dignitas had questionable calls around the Baron pit to throw the games into unwinnable positions. Scarra himself in a post game interview stated that he feels Dignitas needs to win the early game or they dig themselves into a hole that they cannot escape. If Dignitas cannot remedy their constant mistakes and lack of comeback capability, they may find themselves looking backwards at what is coming up behind them to take their spot instead of looking forward towards who they have to pass up. This week, on paper, they face some of the weaker teams in the LCS, which could prove a boon to Dignitas in both record and confidence.

T-4. TSM Snapdragon (6-6)

This week:

Vulcun Techbargains (8-4) Thursday 7/11 4pm EST

Velocity eSports (2-10) Thursday 7/11 8pm EST

Counter Logic Gaming (7-5) Friday 7/12 7pm EST

TSM, who answered a lot of questions with a 2-0 sweep last week after this disappointing showing at MLG. Another edition of the “Oddbowl” against a desperate Velocity team, a game against #2 Vulcun and another showdown with long time rivals Counter Logic Gaming will force TSM to continue to bring their A game if they wish to bring their season record above .500. After two crushing Dyrus performances, don’t be surprised if Jayce is a first ban or picked away from TSM every game in this coming week. Coming up big this week will prove to TSM and the rest of the LCS competitors that they are still quite the force to be reckoned with.

T-4. Team Coast (6-6)

This week:

Team Curse (4-8) Thursday 7/11 7pm EST

Team Dignitas (5-7) Friday 7/12 5pm EST

Vulcun Techbargains (8-4) Friday 7/12 8pm EST

Going 1-1 last week in matches against LCS vets CLG and TSM, Team Coast continues to fly under the radar as one of the scarier teams in the LCS, with a bunch of strange strategies like tank Fiddlesticks that no one else really seems to run or understand. The real X-factor of Team Coast though comes from the sidelines with former player now coach Elementz treading onto new ground for the NA scene. After having his passion and drive questioned on Curse, he seems to have found some new energy in his role of coaching the young but promising Team Coast line up. This week with Team Coast running up against Dignitas and Curse, two teams Elementz really knows well, we will see how much of a continued effect Elementz can really have as a coach.

#3. Counter Logic Gaming (7-5)

This week:

Cloud 9 HyperX (10-2) Thursday 7/11 5pm EST

Team Curse (4-8) Friday 7/12 4pm EST

TSM Snapdragon (6-6) Friday 7/12 7pm EST

After a loss to Coast last week that made it seem like CLG was regressing instead of progressing, a game that featured Doublelift Draven and a shield big enough to still be getting hit right now laid a lot of that fear to rest for CLG fans. Big match ups this week against #1 Cloud 9 (who they have managed to beat) and eternal rival TSM Snapdragon will make sure that “neo-CLG” will have to continue to bring their new A game to town if they want to continue their impressive run this season. With a 3-0 week, they could theoretically take first place in the LCS, which is not a place many people would have guessed that the Neo-CLG squad would be in at this point of the season.

#2. Vulcun Techbargains (8-4)

This week:

TSM Snapdragon (6-6) Thursday 7/11 4pm EST

Cloud 9 HyperX (10-2) Thursday 7/11 9pm EST

Team Coast (6-6) Friday 7/12 8pm EST

Now we get to the elephant in the room that no one else in the LCS really seems to want to talk about. Another strong 2-0 week last week solidified their current 2nd place in the LCS. The most consistent team in this split, Vulcun has shown they can depend on any member of their team to come up big in any game. Whether it is the wide back of Zuna’s Tristana/Kog’maw in the late game situations or either of their solo laners coming up big, Vulcun is not a team that goes the way of just one of it’s players. Showing they can play from behind in their game against Curse or play ahead as they did against Dignitas, Vulcun’s ability to simply just win games is a little frightening if you are a fan of other LCS teams. A big slug fest against #1 placed Cloud 9 this week will show if Vulcun can come up big against it’s stiffest competition or if they are just a team who grinds out wins against the rest of the league.

#1. Cloud 9 HyperX (10-2)

This week:

Counter Logic Gaming (7-5) Thursday 7/11 5pm EST

Vulcun Techbargains (8-4) Thursday 7/11 9pm EST

Velocity eSports (2-10) Friday 7/12 6pm EST

Current LCS top dog Cloud 9 aka Team Korea Lite continues their dominance in the LCS after another 2-0 week last week. Very few teams seem to have an answer for their hyper aggressive playing style, which is often headed up by Meteos’ absolutely stellar jungling. I still never understand why people let this man have Zac, it is simply asking for a loss. C9 has two big games this week against their closest competitor Vulcun and the team responsible for one of their losses, Counter Logic Gaming. Will Cloud 9 continue to rampage through the LCS with their distinctly Asian style of play, or will other teams finally be able to catch up and play against them?