Following what could only be characterized as an embarrassing Spring Split, Immortals looked on the brink of relegation with little hope for the 2017 season. But with two major changes; to the jungle and the head coach, a newly revitalized squad entered the Summer Split with much to prove about where they really belonged in the North American scene. Lead by two MVP caliber performers, Immortals found their footing early and never let go of a playoff spot in Summer 2017, securing themselves a bye going into the Summer Split Playoffs. With a dominating victory over the likes of Counter Logic Gaming, Immortals punched their ticket to the organizations first World Championship, breaking the curse of IMT floundering when it really counted. Now with the opportunity of a lifetime in what looks to be a very entertaining but weak Group B, will they continue to fight forward or falter under the pressure once again? Due to the focus of these articles being based around North America, I will not cover Group C, which does not include a North American team due to Cloud 9 securing a spot into Group A, Immortals going to Group B and Team Solo Mid being placed in Group D.

Group B – Immortals

With an unexpected turnaround in the Summer Split, Immortals have found themselves as surprise contenders in what looks to be a competitive Group B. While there is little expectation for any team but Longzhu Gaming to finish as the top team in the group, Immortals have a significant opportunity on their hands to get out of groups with the likes of Gigabyte Marines and Fnatic against them. To get past these two, IMT should look to set up around their up and coming duo in the bot lane, lead by the likes of star support Kim “Olleh” Joo-sung. Though his preference to make as many roam plays will likely decrease, his ability to play make on Rakan, and Alistar should set up opportunities for veteran jungler Jake “Xmithie” Puchero to snowball the bot side of the map. If this formula for success comes to fruition as well as both veterans in the solo lanes holding serve, Immortals may be the most unlikely success story of 2017.

Standing in the way of that success will be Longzhu Gaming, Fnatic and Gigabyte Marines. Starting with the Korean #1 Seed, Longzhu poses a problem for IMT from almost all angles. While Immortals strength is mostly located in the bot lane, LZ boasts the best bot lane in the tournament, with longtime partners Kim “Pray” Jong-In and Kang “Gorilla” Beom-hyeon providing all the intangibles you could want in a duo. If that isn’t enough for the champions of Korea, LZ’s strength in their solo lanes makes them a threat to carry from every lane with strong mage play in mid and a focus on carry top laners. Due to this dominating line-up and an ability to play explosive early games, Longzhu should match up well with their North American counterparts. Longzhu 2-0

The next match up in Group B, and maybe the most intriguing of the tournament, will be versus Fnatic. The former Kings of Europe are once again at the World Championships following their successful run through the gauntlet and resounding 3-0 victory over Hong Kong Attitude in the play-in stage. While the hype has died down around what appeared to be a very strong team at the start of the split, Fnatic fans should be grateful to have received such a favorable group draw. Much like IMT and LZ, Fnatic’s strengths are primarily focused in their side lanes, with veterans Martin “Rekkles” Larsson and Paul “Soaz” Boyer leading their relatively inexperienced squad. For Fnatic to be successful in this group, and specifically vs Immortals, they must be able to maintain through their opponents’ heavy early game focus and improve on their wave management in the late game. If they can do this, FNC vs IMT should come down to some explosive team fights in the late game to determine the likely second seed. If not expect Immortals to abuse Fnatic’s lack of proactivity and weaker solo laners to take resounding victories. Immortals 2-0

Our final team from Group B is none other than the Gigabyte Marines. When GAM busted onto the scene at the 2017 Midseason Invitational, their early aggression and irregular team compositions surprised the likes of TSM, WE and G2 leading to unexpected victories. While this GAM roster boasts the same stars from their MSI run, the #1 seed from the GPL may have a tougher time arriving on the Worlds stage. Primarily due to the switches in the meta and an entirely new bot lane, primary playmaker Đỗ “Levi” Duy Khánh may be required to carry this team to victory once again. If not GAM could struggle significantly in individual lane match ups and fail to get out to the explosive early game leads that allowed them to maintain pressure at MSI. Against the likes of Immortals, I’d expect these games to be decided by the junglers. Whomever can control the pace early on should provide their teams with the ability to scale into the mid game and close out in a pair of explosive games. If they end up going long (which IMT should play towards) expect an Immortals 2-0, but don’t be surprised if GAM pulls off another miraculous upset. Immortals 2-0

With a suspected 4-2 record, I believe Immortals will land themselves as a clear second seed in Group B. Though this may seem like a good sign for the North American second seed, I think this is a more a testament of the weakness of their group. A roster such as Longzhu Gaming should dominate what is a generally weak group both in talent and macro play leading to a clean 6-0 in the group stages. If this holds true, it comes down to which of Immortals, Fnatic, and Gigabyte Marines moves past their inconsistent play and comes out ahead. When evaluating all three teams, Immortals weaknesses (difficulties executing late game compositions) is slightly better than the rest of the group whose lack of talent or overall mismanagement of macro play have hindered their overall play for much of the year. Due to that expect IMT to be your first North American team out of Groups.

All opinions and insight are provided by Tyler “TheSaintt” Ladzinski, sole proprietor of TheLolEsportsBlog

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