Current Standings

Predictable? Not Likely...

Curse Gaming

Fighting to Break Through

Team MRN

That's Gotta Sting

compLexity Gaming

Old Dog, Old Tricks

DoubleLift

North America, Better Than You Might Think

Let's face it, we all knew that Season 3 would shake up the game we knew and loved in Season 2. The changes to itemization, balance of classes, and so much more had been put on the line by Riot's promise to create a better experience for players of all levels. With their LCS they hoped to improve the competitive scene and spice things up, and they have delivered on all fronts despite mixed reviews from players and pros alike. Now it is up to North America to prove that they can improve as a scene and take their level of play beyond the world's expectations.The first season of NA LCS is four weeks in, so let's just sit back and take a quick look at what's been happening.With only six weeks remaining and the bottom two teams to be eliminated from the playoffs there's a lot at stake, but let's take a look at the current standings.Up until Super Week it seemed as if Curse was unstoppable, but that all changed when Dignitas wrested the top place from them. As I mentioned the bottom two teams at the end of the season will be eliminated, but it's worth noting that even though Good Game University and compLexity Gaming are at the bottom of the rankings they are well within reach of Vulcan in the loss column, being one game behind and one game ahead respectively. The coveted sixth spot has a good chance of being highly contested, but it seems that the top five aren't likely to fall far enough to drop out of playoff contention.While a lot of the NA teams are busy running strategies hailing back to the glory days of Season 2, one team has outshone the rest of them with their originality and diversity when on the Fields of Justice:. Although they might not be atop the leader boards it's hard not to respect a team that has used twenty-five different champions over the course of their eleven games, and whether it's Voyboy's diversity, Cop's top KDA Ratio of 15.9, or Saintvicious experimenting with Nocturne in a jungle dominated by bears and Demacians, the entire team has shown they're prepared to beat anyone that thinks they can outsmart them. The only question now is how long can they keep up their diversity before they show us where their true strengths lie?Everyone knew who the Top 4 teams of the NA LCS would be before opening day. Once the participants were set there was no doubt that TSM, CLG, dignitas, and Curse would all be at the top and that it would take a tremendous effort to unseat some of NA's oldest teams from their high horses. With six weeks left, however, one team is biting at the heels of the top four, andwill no doubt leave their impression on everyone when it is all said and done. That wasn't an easy thing to predict when the team started off 1-3 after the first three weeks of the LCS, but Super Week gave the team it's opportunity to shine, and so they did, pulling out significant wins over TSM and CLG and bringing them one win shy from an even record. They're only one loss behind CLG and TSM, and if given the chance they're more than able to battle their way into the Top 4. The top is within their grasp, but the hopes and dreams of the only team to qualify from the 5v5 Ladder rest almost solely on their carries, ecco and Heartbeat. The next several weeks will show if their hot streak can continue, or if they will fizzle out under the experience of the older teams.Not all is well in NA, and even though each team has their ups and down it seems that one team has yet to find its way up. The team with only a single win to their name is, and if that wasn't bad enough they also hold the record for the lowest KDA of any NA team while Lautemortis holds the dishonor of being the person with the worst KDA ratio (1.3) of anyone from both NA and EUW LCS. Although it is not entirely his fault as a lot of his deaths come from trying to make big plays when his team falls behind at every position, it's hard to discern what is holding these guys back. They had been unbeatable on their road to the LCS, but ever since they changed their name from The Brunch Club it has been a long fall from grace that might not stop in the near future. Whether Lautmortis and brunch Ü, the man whom was DoubleLift's second choice to join CLG as his support behind Aphromoo, can make something of the season has yet to be seen, but time is running out fast for compLexity.The North American scene is often criticized for it's lack of innovation when it comes to adapting their play to fit the current pace of the game. Although some of the top teams from Europe will argue that this is not true, it's hard to agree with the sentiment after NA's abysmal performance against Asian and European teams at the Season 2 World Championships. It's even harder when players such asof Counter Logic Gaming dive into the fray with criticisms about everything Riot has done to “break” the game. He has become the personification of the North American stereotype by throwing change to the wind, even going so far to claim that the role of ranged AD will no longer be a viable option if Riot doesn't act soon by reverting everything they did to the role with Season 3. While other AD's are excelling across the globe and shifting towards a heavy utility focus (Varus, Miss Fortune) or relying more heavily on their team it's DoubleLift that stands stubborn against the tides of change. It's hard to believe that the person who brought Urgot into the LCS in the very first game of the season has become so steadfast in his views, playing hyper carries as if expecting the game as it is today to ever reach a point where their lone dps will dominate games like they had in the past. CLG's record has begun to slip, and if they don't take a page out of Curse's Book of Ultimate Diversity they might soon find themselves on the bottom half of the bracket.Despite it's up and downs, NA has had several dominate and surprising performances over the first month. It's hard to size them up to their competitors across the Atlantic, but in a scene that's largely been regarded as the weakest scene in the world it's a breath of fresh air to see the LCS teams doing what they had neglected to in Season 2: dedication to teamwork, less solo queue mentality, and a devotion to the game that the Americans had been lacking. Team dignitas and Curse Gaming are poised to become feared across the globe, and with TSM not far behind we can only wait to get our first taste of what to expect at the end of the season. For now, however, we can only look ahead and watch from afar as these teams continue to contend and prove that they have the innovation to stay at the cutting edge of professional play.