Once again it is time for Worlds for the silver and black, and Team SoloMid looks ready to answer the call. Following a disappointing performance at the Mid-Season Invitational, TSM returned to their star-studded roster from 2016 and showed once again who is the best North America has to offer. With a relatively slow start to open the season, TSM soon picked up the pace with an international victory at Rift Rivals and culminating in their third straight North American title. Though these achievements may satisfy some, Team SoloMid knows they are but the warm-up for the real test, the 2017 World Championship. Will they be able to live up to this year’s challenges, or once again falter under the pressure of the international stage? Time to find out! 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 D – Team SoloMid

The perennial powerhouse of North America is back once again, and this time with a vengeance. For all the 2017 season Team SoloMid has been working towards one goal, the redemption of their failure to get out of groups in the 2016 World Championships. They have returned with the same roster that had semi-final aspirations last year and once again have established themselves as a team to be reckoned with. Starting with the mid lane, Søren “Bjergsen” Bjerg leads a star-studded roster that should be optimally set up for the 7.18 meta. For TSM this means playing around primary carries in Bjergsen and Yilliang “Doublelift” Peng by providing early pressure towards their lanes for objective gains and the occasional kill. By doing so, they should hope to accelerate their hyper carries towards team fights where they are second to none in the Western Scene. If Team SoloMid is successful in this area, one would expect them to also minimize any traded objectives near the top side of map with an extra year of experience for Kevin “Hauntzer” Yarnell. Because of this, the likelihood of TSM being successful in Group D is the best it’s ever been with a favorable group draw to boot.

Looking to crush the hope of North America’s “dream team” are a pair of international power houses in Team WE and the Flash Wolves, with relative new comers Misfits looking to play spoiler. Starting with what looks to be the steepest competition, we have the LPL’s MSI representative and #3 seed, Team WE. Returning to the World’s stage for the first time since season two, Team WE look to be poised for a deep run in this year’s tournament. Supporting a style unlike most of their Chinese counterparts, Team WE play a more macro focused game following the lead of star jungler RenJie “Condi” Xiang in his attempt to control early objectives through vision and pressure, setting up odd numbered fights around the bot lane. Speaking of the bot lane, Team WE boast one of the most dominate duo’s in the tournament headed off by marksmen Seongjun “Mystic” Jin. Starting with his laning phase, Mystic applies a relentless amount of pressure in the hopes of setting up towers and fights when necessary. When successful Mystic can singly handedly take over a game with masterful team fighting and confidence in play (especially on Xayah). Where Team WE have shown weakness is in their difficulties when playing from behind as well an aura of predictability. Without a major adjustment, I would expect Team SoloMid to be ready to defend against the early game aggression bot side and gain a lead. With a generally predictable style and weaker solo lanes around the map, this could be an easier match up then analyst originally believe. Team SoloMid 2-0

When thinking of TSM you think of the most domestically dominant team in League history, but one team that may contest that moniker is none other than the Flash Wolves. As Group A’s #1 Seed, the Flash Wolves come in with a bit of a tentative aura around them. Based on what was a generally slowly played LMS regular season and playoffs, FW should look to embrace what the new meta brings by scaling up as they did much throughout the season. If they are able to do so, it’ll be mostly through the fantastic play of Shou-Chieh “SwordArt” Hu and his vision game. With a strong vision game around them, Flash Wolves should be able to control the map and punish mistakes harshly through strong synergy from their veteran squad. Against of the likes of Team SoloMid, this very slow paced and controlled style could shut down early playmaking from the likes of Dennis “Svenskeren” Johnsen leading to deficits versus FW in the mid-game. Expect a pair of close matches in what should be an interesting set. Flash Wolves 1-1 Team SoloMid

Much like Splyce the year before them, Misfits comes as a surprise participant to the World Championships after an unexpected, but successful Summer Split. Finishing second in Europe and qualifying off of points, Misfits should go into this tournament hoping to improve and potentially play spoiler for one of the front runners out of this group. When watching MSF play, expect Nubar “Maxlore” Sarafian to try and make an early impact around their talented solo lanes. If he is able to do so, Misfits should try to win early and avoid being out played in both their macro and team fighting. If they are unable to get to early leads, expect Misfits to struggle in a group with more talented marksmen (as they tout arguably the weakest one at worlds in Steven “Hans Sama” Liva ). Team SoloMid 2-0

With an optimistic group, Team SoloMid has the chance of a life time to finish first in their group for the first time on the Worlds stage. Based on these predictions, it is reasonable to see TSM finishing with a 5-1 record and topping Group D (with their sole loss being either to the Flash Wolves or WE). If this comes to pass, expect TSM to receive another favorable draw going into Quarterfinals and giving North America their first realistic shot at a Semi Final appearance since Season One. Whether they do so will come down to their ability to execute, as the meta has shifted in a way to benefit not only their talented roster, but cultivate on an improved macro game.

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

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