The seventh week of the European LCS has come to a close and we're starting to see a divide between the ten teams. The top six are all looking good and will be stamping their tickets to the playoffs if they can avoid disaster the final four games of the season, and the group of Elements, ROCCAT, Giants and MeetYourMakers are on the edge of their season being over if they don't pull an ace out of their sleeve.

The Icemen

Gambit, Fnatic and the Unicorns have brought some high-tempo action to the European LCS, constantly pressuring teams with their offence and having little fear when asked to get into a fight. Those teams have no qualms getting into a boxing match that stretches across the entire Rift, with the victor being the one that has better team fighting, skirmishing and has the better carries.

H2k are relaxed and collected. A team that was desperately searching for an identity after Febiven left the team for Fnatic, H2k had trouble the first three weeks of the season; the team was made up five players from five different countries and it showed in their play.

Ryu, their import from Korea who fell off the map in the latter part of 2014, was now on his third European team in only a couple of weeks and struggling to fit in. After failing to qualify for the LCS with fellow Korean H0R0 on Millennium and a lackluster first impression with ROCCAT at IEM, his confidence and play seemed shot.

It all but seemed to be the end of the road for one of the most decorated players in Korea history; a sad, somber end to a career that if a few things went differently, would have put him as one of the greatest players to ever play League of Legends.

It didn't stop at Ryu, as their player with the most EU LCS experience, Voidle, was also having trouble adapting as the team's support. The entire team looked flat footed through the first three weeks, having a few bright spots if the team could find some coordination, but ultimately falling back to a team that appeared to be five players doing their own thing instead of them playing as one.

Four weeks since falling to 2-4, H2k Gaming are now 10-4 and have clinched a playoff spot after taking care of the Copenhagen Wolves in a clinical 23 minute game. The team that was once looked like five individuals are now playing the sort of team game that squads inspire to replicate. No one plays selfishly or forces the gold onto themselves, they play a methodical style that Ryu is used to from his days on the KT Bullets, and they use their fluid moves to outsmart and outplay their opponents.

The biggest change was the replacing of Voidle with kaSing. Not only has the British support upgraded their bottom lane and let Hjarnan have more of an impact, but he brought a voice that connected the team. Along with Pr0lly stepping up as a coach and becoming more situated with his team, kaSing's transition into being the shot caller for his team has been seamless.

When it comes to kills, none of the players on the team rank in the top three in Europe except for kaSing, who is tied with four other supports for third place with 12. H2k have the ability to let Hjarnan go off on a hyper carry or let Odoamne be a monster in the top lane, but a lot of their games end with every player on the team having a couple of kills and winning as a five man unit.

Every player on the team is helping the guy next to them be better. Is kaSing a better player by himself than Yellowstar or nRated? Probably not, but his team listens to his calls and will back him up when he goes for an aggressive play.

Ryu, whose career seemed to be over, has been rejuvenated with his new teammates and is playing like his old self from the KT Bullets. He might not have the same play making ability as other mids around the world, but the former IEM world champion has returned to the dependable rock that led the Bullets to being one of the best teams in the world during the 2013 season.

Now at eight straight victories, H2k are one away from tying Fnatic's all-time EU LCS record and two from breaking it. SK and Gambit have been close this season, but H2k are leaving less holes to exploit with their style of play. With their next two games being against Elements and MYM — two teams in the bottom half of the standings — the record is in their reach.

But don't expect H2k to play any differently due to a shiny record or acclaim. They'll continue walking at the pace they've been at for the past four weeks — cool, calm and most importantly: calculated.

Around the Horn

Elements are officially in trouble. I know we've talked about them being in trouble before, but the whole "Yeah, but next week —" talk is over. This was the week they had to go 2-0 or 1-1 at the very least, and they finished with a 0-2 round against the two teams they were chasing for the playoffs.

Their game against UoL was another in the long line of late-game losses Elements have received this season; the Unicorns picked on Wickd in the top lane, putting a majority of their resources into making his life a living hell. It worked, and even with Froggen and Rekkles having commendable games, it didn't matter in the end. The Unicorns pulled it out in the end just like the Wolves did yesterday, and Elements are now two games behind the Wolves and Unicorns with only four games to go.

The same things said about Elements can be applied to ROCCAT. The Cats took an important victory yesterday and gave SK Gaming a scare today, but moral victories are no longer acceptable for a team that is now 5-9 and only a loss or two away from being eliminated from the playoffs.

SK are now 11-3 and have some momentum heading into the IEM World Championships, but they'll need to bring their A-game and focus on their vision control if they want to beat the GE Tigers, Cloud9 and their first round opponent, LMS' 13-1 Yoe Flash Wolves.

To finish off the round, Fnatic and Gambit Gambing, the two most attack-minded teams in the league, showed their moves off to the two teams lowest on the totem pole: Giants! Gaming and MeetYourMakers.

MYM did a good job in the pick/ban phase and tried to shut down Huni's champion pool, but that still gave up Rengar to Reignover and let Febiven have his way on LeBlanc. Against a stronger team, Fnatic might have trouble if Huni is shut down, but against the 3-11 MYM? The other members on the team have little trouble flexing their muscles aganist a less cohesive roster. With their win, Fnatic kept pace with H2k Gaming at 10-4 and are still only one behind SK for first.

Gambit had a bit more trouble against the Giants than Fnatic did against MYM, but the result was still the same. This game Gambit spun their Wheel of Carries and it landed on Carbochard, and he didn't let his team down by playing a masterful Kennen. He finished with a 12-2-3 score, dominated his opposition Werlyb in the top lane, and moved Gambit to an overall record of 8-6 with four to go. The Giants still stay in ninth with their loss at 4-10, hoping MYM's final two weeks of the season contain zero victories so they can avoid the death knell of auto-relegation.

Tyler "Fionn" Erzberger is a staff writer for The Score eSports, and recaps each week's EU LCS and LCS. He believes the Mighty Ducks movies are the best trilogy in cinematic history. You can follow him on Twitter.