Once upon a time, there was the trifecta of North America: TSM, CLG, and Dignitas reigned supreme. Occasionally teams such as Epik Gamer and v8 would come close and get within arm's reach. Knocking teams out of online qualifiers, sending them to losers brackets at LANs and pushing them to the edge in tournament finals. They aspired to fly like the trinity of TSM, CLG, and Dignitas. But at the end of the day, it was always the same teams standing at the top. Like Icarus, the upstarts flew too close to the blazing power of the three, sending their dreams hurtling back down to Earth.

Once again, the trifecta reigns supreme. TSM, CLG, and Dignitas remain the only NA teams to ever win a major LAN. Competitive League of Legends could not escape the ghosts of their past.

Yet, as younger teams tried to exorcize the ghost haunting them, a larger spectre loomed over MLG: the demon of IPL4. Dignitas were crushed in game 1 by an upstart Team Dynamic (former Monomanics eSports) before grinding out two more games to advance. Dig then proceeded to knock CLG.na into the losers brackets before losing to TSM. In the loser's bracket, CLG.na went on a rampage, schooling Team Dynamic 2-0 and fighting tooth and nail to beat Dignitas to face the right to play TSM in the Finals. There they won the first Bo3 before TSM finally put and end to CLG's comeback and claimed the tournament. In many ways, it is surprising how disturbingly close MLG resembled IPL4.

At the end of the road, all that matters is the Season 2 World Championship. Thanks to MLG Anaheim, we now have a picture of how the Season 2 Regional Qualifiers will play out.

Clairvoyance on Season 2 Championships

In North America, TSM are now virtually guaranteed the first place seed. Only a complete crash and burn at IPL5, followed by CLG.na or Dignitas winning can alter this. Likewise, CLG.na and Dignitas have locked up the second and third seeds. No other team comes remotely close to challenging them. Once again, the trifecta reigns supreme. It is the remaining five slots where we find the true competition. Curse Gaming NA and Dynamic will fight over the fourth and fifth place seed with both needing to place better than the other at IPL5 to rank higher.

Meanwhile, as Epik Gamer (formerly TSM.Evo) only has two members from its former roster still on the team they are forced to forfeit all of their previous Circuit Points. By failing to make Top 8 at MLG, they will need to place big at IPL5 to guarantee a berth. However, the disbandment of v8 eSports has left an extra space that everyone will be brawling for. A Top 8 finish for any of TSM.Evo, mTw, Orbit, Legion, vVv and TGF will grant them one of the last three seeds.

On the European scene, the situation is less clear. Moscow 5 are untouchable and are guaranteed first place seed for their Regional Qualifier. SK and Fnatic are also guaranteed a seed, although not necessarily second and third. But nothing else is confirmed. With the disbandment of Sypher and the implosion of Millenium and Against All Authority's team lineups the last 5 seeds are still up for grabs. Everything will be determined at Dreamhack 2012 on the 16th of this month, followed by the Polish Circuit Challenger Cup in July. A strong finish at both of these events would allow any team, even one with zero Circuit Points currently, to grab a seed. In fact, a Top 8 finish at both events for CLG.eu or Curse.eu would guarantee them a a seed into the Regional Qualifiers despite never having played in a Circuit Challenger Event until MLG.

Everyone loves award and titles. That's why the League of Legends TeamLiquid staff consisting only of massively biased fans are handing out these pointless titles. We welcome all ensuing flame wars constructive discussion.

Team to Ward in the Future: Team Dynamic (TD)
Team Dynamic (former Monomanics) continue to impress with their deep run in MLG despite their youth and full time high-school education. They continue to take Dignitas to the edge yet fall to their kryptonite of CLG. It can be hard to interpret these results, especially as they have not played the last of the troika TSM yet. But if there's a team to keep your eye on for the Season 2 NA Qualifiers, it's got to be Team Dynamic.

Honourable mention: Orbit Gaming (oRb)
Despite never having any previous notable results, Orbit Gaming claimed the scalp of TSM.Evo 2-0 and placed top 8. It will be interesting to see if this was a fluke or whether they really are that strong.


Garen in the Bush Surprise Performance: HotShotGG (CLG.na)
After the massive merry-go-round of team swaps in the NA scene, many agreed that CLG.NA ended up with the short end of the stick, if they even received a stick at all. After watching HotshotGG stream his jungling, public opinion was that he would never come close to any of the top junglers. Yet we were all proven wrong. Despite many flaws in his play, such as failing to properly protect Blue Buff for Jiji several times, HotshotGG held his own. In particular, his smiting was top-notch and kept Baron in CLG's control. It looks like George of the Jungle really is here to stay.

Honourable mention: xHazzard (CLG.na ringer)
With CLG not having Voyboy, one of the top Top laners (hue), at MLG many questioned how CLG would fare. While xHazzard did occasionally seem out of his depth in certain games, he performed above and beyond the call of duty. When your substitute is ban soaking and being target banned because of their performance, you know they're doing something right. I would not be surprised if xHazzard was picked up by a team in the near future.


"See champion, Kill champion" Award: Froggen snipe (TSM v CLG.eu Winners Round 3 Game 3)
There has always been an imbalance with Blue and Purple on Summoner's Rift when it comes to Baron. The Blue side has always had the advantage when it comes to clearing Baron wards, while Purple is forced to drop them over the back wall and wait for them to be cleared. FroggAnivia has found the solution. Pick Anivia, wait for the silly Janna to walk in to Baron, Wall her, Q+R+E and aggro Baron onto her and pick up a free Oracles kill. Not bad.

Honourable Mention: Aphromoo Urgot 1v2 counterplay (TSM.Evo v SK Winners Round 2 Game 1)
Most of the best plays occur when players really know their champion's strengths and limitations inside-out. When CandyPanda and Nyph turned on Aphromoo with Ashe+Janna, he calmly disengaged and then used his ultimate to swap one of them and proceed to pick up a kill in a 1v2 situation. Cool, calm and collected. Nice.


Olympic Javelin Track and Field Award: Dignitas, v CLG.na Losers Finals Game 2
It takes a brave man to walk up to the Fields of Justice, pick up his Game, and then decide to throw it as far away as possible.



Honourable mention: Karthus
I hear liches are bad team players.
"Are you going to Requiem the enemy team? Sure, just let me die first... oh wait."

That's it for MLG Anaheim, a circuit tournament that shattered viewership numbers for an NA tournament. Tune in this weekend for DreamHack, as some of the best European teams bring their A-Game and fight for precious Circuit Points to secure a seed into the European Season 2 Regional Qualifiers.