



Parity. Whenever a North American LCS fan opens his mouth to sing the praises of his league, “parity” inevitably comes up. Parity has made for an interesting 2017 NA LCS Spring split, with the top team, Team SoloMid, frequently dropping single matches, and a brief glimpse of a defined hierarchy has only appeared recently.

Whether parity makes NA more or less prepared for international competition is worth its own discussion, but it certainly makes the final week of the regular season all the more interesting. With at most two wins separating one placement from the next, room to move up and down the ladder will make for a heated final three days of regular season before playoffs begin.

10. Team Envy: 3-13 (12W, 27L)

Best possible placing: 8

Worst possible placing: 10

Week 9 matches: EFX, CLG

In a rather unenviable position, with the new reduced size of the Promotion Tournament, Team Envy can avoid relegation if they defeat both their opponents in Echo Fox and Counter Logic Gaming. If Echo Fox then lose their match against FlyQuest, NV’s head-to-head advantage will give them the eighth place spot.

Despite low placement, both Echo Fox and Envy have surprisingly strong early play around their junglers. Envy should work on targeting Echo Fox’s bottom lane and limiting Matthew “Akaadian” Higginbotham’s movements. Counter Logic Gaming will be more of a struggle. Envy need to overwhelm CLG early and avoid situations where they group or open up Teleport opportunities for CLG by keeping top competitive.

Even if Envy control their own fate in a match against Echo Fox, however, they would still need Team Liquid to tank (following their recent descent into mad disorganization, something one might even dare to bet upon) and FlyQuest to beat Echo Fox. Given FlyQuest’s unreliability, that in and of itself isn’t a sure thing.

9. Team Liquid: 4-12 (14W, 27L)

Best possible placing: 8

Worst possible placing: 10

Week 9 matches: TSM, FLY

By snatching big-name talent, Team Liquid have made themselves seem even worse than before as they bleed through uncoordinated plays. Rather than address their problems in team play and Kim “ReignOver” Yeujin syncing with the bottom lane, they made a rash of roster changes. Their objective at this point appears simply to avoid relegation.

Safety is within their grasp, but to remain in the LCS, they have to topple Team SoloMid and FlyQuest and hope Echo Fox and FlyQuest perform poorly. To take on TSM and FlyQuest, TL need to rely on what they have going for them: raw skill. Unfortunately, with TSM making gains in coordination, it’s unlikely to get TL far. They might have to modulate their expectations to remaining above last place with Envy nipping at their heels.

8. Echo Fox: 5-11 (13W, 25L)

View photos Keith and Froggen in Week 8 of the NA LCS (lolesports) More

Best possible placing: 7

Worst possible placing: 10

Week 9 matches: FLY, NV

Echo Fox, like the previous two teams, are firmly on the outside of playoffs, but they’ll need to focus to stay above the Promotion Tournament line. Echo Fox made gains in their early game jungling, but still fall short in decisive mid game play. They seem deterred by Ashe cooldowns and avoid moving into the jungle to set up vision for a push.

To avoid the Promotion Tournament, Echo Fox control most of their own fate. A teetering FlyQuest sits ripe for the dismantling, and a win against Envy is a practical expectation.

7. FlyQuest: 7-9 (18W, 20L)

Best possible placing: 4

Worst possible placing: 8

Week 9 matches: EFX, TL

Now things begin to get messy. FlyQuest has the widest range of possible placements from eighth to fourth, and they have brought the widest range of performances to the NA LCS. With only decisive Baron calls and creative compositions, FlyQuest look like they’re grasping for something that will stick. This is the last chance the previously top two team has to bid for playoffs.

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