North American Spring Promotion Qualifier 2 Preview: The Teams

A Quick Introduction to the Remaining 8

With the group stages of the second Promotional Qualifier tournament coming up this weekend, I thought that some background to the participants would be in order. Without further ado, here’s a short guide to who will be facing off for a chance to qualify.

Curse Academy

Leaguepedia—Twitter—Facebook

Roster:

Rhux — Top/Solo Laner

OneBadBrad — Jungle

Only Jaximus — Mid/Solo Laner

Fabbbyyy — AD Carry

Tatsulow — Support

History: One of the older challenger teams, Curse Academy has been around for nearly a year now, but IWillDominate’s promotion to the main Curse squad leaves Rhux as the last founding member. Still, most of the current roster has been together since July, which is longer than many challenger teams. While Curse Academy have been a mainstay in the challenger scene for the last year, they have yet to qualify for the promotionals. They look to overcome their drought and punch their ticket this time.

Strengths: Curse Academy has been known for trying innovative setups, like the no-Marksman composition they ran to great effect. Having flexible players like Fabbbyyy and Rhux allows them to adapt well to changes in the meta. They are a team that know how to close out a match and they do not give up leads easily. They also have the support of the Curse organization behind them, with the infrastructure advantages that brings.

Why Root for Them?: They play innovative compositions and picks and aren’t afraid to mix things up; plus, they have the Gatekeeper Fabbbyyy!

Recent Record:

MCS Season 1 — 10-3, Placed 3rd in Playoffs

Season 4 Promotion Tournament 1 — Reached Qualifying Round

NACL (ongoing) — 12-9, 4th overall

NA EPS 8 (ongoing) — 1-3

ALCS (ongoing) — 11-3

When You Can Watch Them:

vs Coast in the NACL on Thurs Nov 21 at 20:00 PST

vs Quantic in the Season 4 Promotional Qualifier on Sat Nov 23 at 15:00 PST

Denial Esports

Leagepedia—Website—Twitter

Roster:

Billyboss — Top

YoDa — Jungle

pekin woof — Mid

ecko — AD

Atomic — Support

History: Originally called Team Blade before they were picked up by the multi-game sponsor Denial. They were once a sister team to what was now Napkins in Disguise, but now form the main Denial team. They have had a few roster shakeups when they lost former LCS player Jintae. Denial participated in the first promotional qualifier but they were eliminated by vVv.

Strengths: To be honest, Denial is definitely an underdog. Despite that, they made it to 3rd seed in the 5v5 rankings at the point of the ladder freeze. One thing that should work in their favour is Atomic’s LCS experience. The addition of a sponsor is allowing them the stability and a strong practice regimen. If they’ve gotten stronger from their practice regimen they might surprise some teams.

Why Root For Them?: Fans of Team MRN who want to see the return of AtomicN to pro play should get behind Denial.

Recent Record:

Season 4 Promotion Tournament 1 — Lost 1-0 in initial round

ALCS (ongoing) — 1-4

When You Can Watch Them:

vs No Dice Gaming in the ALCS on Fri Nov 22 at 18:00 PST

vs vVv in the Season 4 Promotional Qualifier on Sun Nov 24 at 15:00 PST

vVv Gaming

Leaguepedia—Website—Twitter

Roster:

Mr Dr Snuggles — Top

PorpoisePops — Jungle

CheesedBeluga — Mid

Tails — AD

Godshu — Support

History: The venerable gaming organization vVv returned to the League competitive scene whey they acquired the members of Team VEX. The team had managed to reach the final round of the last Qualifier Tournament by stealing wins off of both Curse Academy and Quantic, surprising many. While the team is new, some of the members of the team have been around for a while, having played on teams like Dirtnap Gaming and Reality Check. Since being acquired by vVv, the team has moved into a gaming house and is practicing in earnest for this tournament.

Strengths: Tails is a skilled marksman with the ability to snowball games. His Vayne play has been the difference in a few of the team’s wins. vVv also has a marquee aggressive style that can throw other teams off balance. The duo of Porpoise and Beluga have good synergy as well and will give the team advantages through roaming.

Why Root For Them?: vVv play exciting games with their constantly aggressive style, and two of the members (Beluga and Porpoise) are twin brothers for those who like seeing LCS siblings

Record:

Season 4 Promotional Tournament 1 — Reached Qualifying Round

ALCSeries (ongoing)—7-7

NACL (ongoing) —3-5

When You Can Watch Them:

vs Curse Academy in the ALCS on Friday, Nov 22 at 17:00 PST.

vs Denial in the Season 4 Promotional Qualifier on Sun Nov 24 at 15:00 PST

Quantic Gaming

Leaguepedia — Twitter — Facebook

Roster:

Apple — Top

Prime — Jungle

SuNo — Mid

Locodoco — AD

Gunza — Support

History: Quantic as an organization is famous for sponsoring the Cloud 9 members before they achieved LCS success. They teamed up with Locodoco and Woong, who had picked a number of players to compete in the NA scene. After some roster difficulty SuNo, replaced Woong on the team, thus making the strong roster they have today.

Strengths: Quantic are a team with generally good discipline with a nose for making picks and a strong laning phase. They have solid mechanics and know how to make plays and exploit the errors of their opponents. Gunza is a support that can take over a game if he gets going, and both Apple and SuNo pose a strong threat.

Why Root For Them?: If you like bloodthirsty supports, or if you want to see Koreans play in the LCS!

Recent Record:

Season 4 Promotional Tournament 1 — Reached group stage

ALCS (ongoing) — 11-2

NA EPS S8 (ongoing) — 5-1

When You Can Watch Them:

vs Lyon Gaming in the ALCS on Fri Nov 22 at 20:00 PST.

vs Curse Academy in the Season 4 Promotional Qualifier on Sat Nov 23 at 15:00 PST

No Dice Gaming

Website — Facebook — Twitter

Roster:

RF Legendary — Top

AF Bella — Jungle

Pheer Me — Mid

Neeko — AD

Kainypoo — Support

History: No Dice Gaming’s team is a fairly recent addition to the challenger scene, having been formed in the summer months from the organization’s desire to enter the competitive field. They were not in the ladder for the first Qualifier tournament, but they made it to 6th place at the time of the freeze.

Strengths: They showed good rotations and map movement recently in their victory over Team Such Doge. While they are a newer team, they seem to have a strong cohesion between their members and have been improving steadiy.

Why Root For Them?: If you’re a fan of RF Legendary or like seeing teams that are good at map movement.

Recent Record:

ALCS (ongoing) — 2-12

When You Can Watch Them:

vs Team Denial in the ALCS on Fri Nov 23 at 18:00 PST

vs The Walking Zed in the Season 4 Promotional Qualifier on Sat Nov 23 at 17:00 PST.

Soul Control

Roster

ImChumpJohn — Top

Azingy — Jungle

Pandasaurus — Midm

sai the sai — AD

Entus — Support

History: Soul Control has been around since late spring. They have not been very active in the challenger scene since a failed attempt to qualify for the summer split. Quantic defeated them in the first Season 4 qualifier in the play-in rounds.

Strengths: Azingy is a clever jungler who might give his team a strategic advantage. The team has some history and are more veteran than some of the other teams.

Why Root For Them?: To see General Oddone and Master Tactician Azingy clash once more!

Recent Record -

Season 4 Promotional Tournament 1 — Participated

When You Can Watch Them:

vs Team LoLPro in the Season 4 Promotional Qualifier on Sun Nov 24, at 17:00 PST.

Team LoLPro

Leaguepedia — Website

Roster:

Hauntzer — Top

HeavenTime — Jungle

NYJacky — Mid

LOD — AD

Apexy — Support

History: Team LoLPro is the third League team within the Curse organization. Originally it was the European branch of Curse before that venture fell apart. The team was reformed when NYJacky and Cop were displaced from the main Curse roster. The team has been through a few upheavals in its short lifespan. Cop moved back up to Curse proper and two other members were picked up by LCS teams, and a third person left, leaving just NYJacky. Despite the tumultuous roster issues the team has managed to compete with other challenger teams.

Strengths: NYJacky is a competent midlaner who is able to swing games with champions like Morgana. Having the infrastructure of the Curse organization gives them good resources for scrimming, practicing and planning.

Why Root For Them?: If you want to see NYJacky get revenge for being dropped from the Curse roster!

Recent Record:

ALCS — 8-6

When You Can Watch Them:

vs Team Tempest in the ALCS on Friday Nov 22, at 19:00 PST.

vs vVv in the Season 4 Promotional Qualifier on Sun Nov 24 at 15:00 PST

The Walking Zed

Leaguepedia

Roster:

Yazuki — Top

KOR Kez — Jungle

Bischu — Mid

BobbyHankHill — AD

NydusHerMain — Support

History: The Walking Zed was formed by the former members of Gold Gaming LA after losing their sponsorship in order to try to qualify for season 4. It consists of a number of players who have bounced around the challenger system for the past few months but have yet to form a successful unit. Despite having a roster of skilled players, they have fallen short of dominance.

Strengths : Most of the members of the teams are fairly experienced players who have been around the scene for awhile on good teams. The team possesses a number of strong laners and Nydus is a quality support.

Why Root For Them?: Their name is cool, and their players have been just short of making it to LCS and deserve a chance.

Recent Record (As GGLA):

NACL — 8-14

Season 4 Qualifier 1 — Reached group stage

When You Can Watch Them:

vs Quantic in the Season 4 Promotional Qualifier on Sat Nov 23 at 16:00 PST