Top Lane

1ST: sOAZ

Coming back to the LCS off their successful run at IEM World Championship, Fnatic needed someone to step up to the plate to keep that momentum going – and sOAZ answered the call. He was an absolute terror all week, going “raid-boss” level dragon on Shyvana.

With only one death in both games and double digit assist, sOAZ was a teamfighting split-pushing nightmare for the opposition. Not only did he thoroughly win lane in both games despite being up against Renekton (which is considered a hard match-up pre level 9) but he single handily turned teamfights around, especially in the game against ROCCAT. Flying in full man-mode from the side sOAZ seemed to show no fear. And why should he? He played the best he has all season during Week 9.

If Fnatic is going to continue putting their losing streak behind them, they need sOAZ to keep playing this well. It’s a shock that he doesn’t like to play tanky champions – based on his play this week, coulda had me fooled.

Stats Total Score: 5-1-21 KDA: 26 Average Cs: 330 Best Champion: Shyvana

2nd: Wickd

He absolutely wrecked Darien in lane and was a force in teamfights versus Gambit while his curveball pick of Aatrox worked fairly well against Mimer and the Supa Hot Crew.

3rd: Xaxus

His top-lane Lulu really showed the power of the hero and the versatility of his play while his Renekton struggled desperately to keep ROCCAT in it against Fnatic.

Jungle

1ST: Impaler

While he, much like Supa Hot Crew, has struggled for most of the season, Impaler has really improved over the course of the season. Not only has his once easily banned champion pool expanded to include all the current picks, but his team play and decision making has shown real progress. Now with the addition of Selfie to the team, the jungle-middle lane synergy seems to be a lot stronger and I expect great things to happen.

If you need proof, look no further than the game against Alliance. While it was a loss in the end, Impaler always seemed to be in the right place, and more than once he bailed out Selfie – most notably turning a gank from Shook on its head and scoring a kill on the Alliance jungler.

It must be said though that against Millenium he absolutely out-jungled Aranae, setting up kills all over the map and dominating both jungles. It’s nice to see such confident, impactful play out of a play who has struggled to find his groove so much this season.

With Supa Hot Crew staring down relegation, it’s easy to forget the real talent on display. MrRalleZ has come out of nowhere to be a top AD carry, Selfie stepped up during Week 9 when it mattered and Impaler has really shown himself to be a skillful and adaptable jungler. Much respect.

Stats Total Score: 9-4-8 KDA: 4.25 Average Cs: 127 Best Champion: Kha'Zix

2nd: Shook

His Evelynn was beastly in both games he played her and his tag-team duo play with Froggen in particular was brilliant. His map movement and decision making were spot-on in teamfights and he didn’t panic while recovering well after a rough start in the match against Supa Hot Crew.

3rd: Diamond

Had 100% kill participation in the loss at the hands of Alliance (not to mention 4 out of 5 of his team’s kills) and was a massive 4-0-14 on Kha’Zix against Millenium.

Middle Lane

1ST: Froggen

Six straight wins later, it seems like Froggen’s super team is finally living up to all the hype – too bad it took until Week 9. But still, leading his team back from the bottom on the table and into a playoff spot is Froggen, who has played immaculately the past two weeks.

On Kayle against Gambit, not only did he keep Alex Ich well in hand, but his repeated roams to both bot and top lane were well-timed and perfectly executed as he picked up kill after kill to get going early. While he made a few mistakes when attempting to go 1v1 against AlexIch in the mid-game only to have Diamond show up and turn the tables, his play was solid and exactly what Alliance needed to get the early game going in their favor.

Besting himself, Froggen’s Gragas play decimated the Supa Hot Crew as he went 4-1-10, dismantling newcomer Selfie. Welcome to the LCS indeed. His Explosive Casks were brilliant, especially at the Dragon fight which secured three kills for Alliance and a highlight reel Cask into Rocket combo with Tabzz onto Migxa.

It’s not hard to see why Alliance is doing so well right now – all the pieces are finally clicking into place and Froggen’s play shows this improvement. His communication and synergy with Shook especially is ridiculous, his laning is dominant and his teamfighting is solid. Top three in Europe doesn’t seem like such a lofty goal right now, not with Alliance playing this well when it matters most.

Stats Total Score: 13-4-18 KDA: 7.75 Average Cs: 298 Best Champion: Gragas

2nd: xPeke

Coming off his improved play at IEM, he finally looked like the Peke of old, crushing teamfights and farming like a monster. His Gragas against ROCCAT took over the game and picked up 11 kills on the way to a convincing victory.

3rd: Selfie

Yeah he got beat pretty badly by Alliance and Froggen, but Selfie deserves a lot of credit for stepping into the spotlight and making it count, going 3-1-6 in his debut on Leblanc and handily besting Kerp in lane on the road to a Supa Hot Crew win.

Bot-Lane Duo

1ST: Tabzz and Nyph

I’ve long said that Tabzz and Nyph have been and still are Alliance’s strongest compartment. Even early in the season as the team struggled the bot-duo did their best to keep their team in it. It no surprise then that Tabzz currently sits in third on the KDA board – his ability to pick up kills and never die was one of the factors which kept Alliance relevant even when they were losing. Now that they’re winning his impact on the game is magnified, leading to great results. His Jinx was involved in 75% of the kill in the match against Supa Hot Crew and his Super Mega Death Rockets were on point. On Sivir results were much the same as he went 4-0-7.

Nyph has also quietly been one of the best support player this split. His lane presence is really strong even on weaker niche picks like Nami and his play-making ability on Thresh is really high. He landed a lot of key skillshots in both games, but his Nami Aqua Prisons deserve special recognition – they were devastating.

Overall, the Alliance bot-lane duo have been and continue to impress me. It’s nice to see their consistent play and strong laning paying off with some real results and I expect them to continue to look strong moving towards the season’s close.

Stats Tabzz Total Score: 9-1-17 KDA: 26 Average Cs: 300 Best Champion: Jinx

Nyph

Total Score: 2-4-26 KDA: 7 Average Cs: 13 Best Champion: Nami

2nd: Rekkles and YellowStar

While they have been decidedly quiet during Fnatic’s losing streak (now thankfully over) Rekkles took over the game against the Wolves, shredding through them with brilliant Lucian Cullings and smart positioning.

3rd: nRated and CandyPanda

While they weren’t as phenomenal as they have been in weeks past, I really wanted to shout out nRated for his support Kayle play as well as his shot-calling, which is both clever and decisive, and really helped SK close out the win against the Copenhagen Wolves.

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Top Plays of the Week

1) Walkin' Away in Style: Darien Survives it All

It was one of those “are you kidding me?” moments which could only ever involve Darien. When it looked for all the world like his death was inevitable, Darien showed us all that if you have enough swag, anything is possible.

With Darien aggressively pushing the tier two top and fighting Kev1n’s Trundle 1v1, things quickly went bad for him as Kerp and Aranae showed up to ruin his day. Starting off the fight at maybe 1/9th health, and with Ignite ticking, a quick Cull the Meek for some lifesteal and a Slice and Dice away totally fooled the three Millenium players, who thought they had him dead to rights. With Darien running away and Millenium falling behind fast, a desperate Flash from Araena failed to secure the kill on Darien, who trotted back to his tower with double digit HP.

Not only did he totally fool the Millenium players, but he managed to make his escape look good too. All hail the swag-lord.

(Click photo for VOD)

2) Nobody Escapes: EDward's Miracle Kill

What is it with Gambit players and refusing to die? Once again Millenium falls victim to the luck and skill of the Russians, but this time it was EDward dishing out the pain instead of Darien.

With Aranae ganking bot and EDward on the verge of death, the Millenium jungler extended a little to far for the kill. Turning around under his tower, EDward landed the Thresh hook onto Aranae, dragging him into tower range before Flaying him even further into danger. Even though he tried to Flash out the damage was done, with Aranae going down and EDward surviving of course. It was just that sort of day for Millenium.

(Click photo for VOD)

3) I See What Makes Them Tick: Jesiz Jukes Youngbuck

A small play but a good one. With Jesiz walking on low health back towards his tower, Youngbuck tried to cut him off and Flash-Dragon’s Descent in front of him for the kill. A quick change of direction from Jesiz totally fooled Youngbuck, and he flew right past the SK mid-laner who scooted off to the side and escaped with no issues.

Fast reaction time and some fancy feet from Jesiz makes this both a humorous but also impressive little sequence.

(Click photo for VOD)