When the Spring Split commenced, so too did the reign of the upper bracket teams. It took four full weeks before CLG fell to MRN, the first of few wins overall by lower bracket teams throughout the first half of the LCS season. When Playoffs rolled around, GGU and Vulcun dominated, beating out all of the veteran opposition save the TSM champions. Yet the poor play of the top teams invited a question: Was it a fluke, or could teams newer to the NA scene beat the older generation with consistency? The first day of the Summer Split showed the strength of the new guard, turning North America into an unprecedented even playing field with an unpredictable future. The Spring Champions TSM defeated their Spring Finals challengers, Team Coast, in the first game, but the dominance of the old guard was not to last. Despite the effort of the talented EDward, Curse could not keep Vulcun from tearing them apart by punishing mistake after mistake. The LCS-newcomers Cloud 9 defeated both TSM and Dignitas, validating the hype train on which they rode into the LCS. Even Velocity, who barely scraped their way into the LCS after two close promotion series decimated CLG after CLG asserted that Velocity was the weakest team in the split. Finally, at the end of the night, Team Coast crushed Vulcun, a feat made more impressive after Vulcun's stomp of Curse. The exciting new talent of the LCS shone brightly in the first day of the Summer Split, but the NA veterans still had two days to even the score.

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Bans:       

10        TSM        56.3K
vs.
17        C9        62.6K

Bans:       

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With both teams coming into the match carrying the hype of their recent achievements, TSM versus Cloud 9 was the most anticipated match of the day. It would also turn out to be the most even. Both teams executed late Blue invades to put heavy pressure on their opponent's junglers and proceeded to destroy the 2v1 lane turrets almost simultaneously. TSM took the first lead of the game with a Dragon kill after forcing LemonNation back to base, but C9 evened the scales a few minutes later with a second turret kill. Thirteen minutes passed before First Blood went to Cloud 9 when Meteos' counter-engage foiled WildTurtle's attempts to capitalize on a well-placed Command:Shockwave from Reginald. Though C9 lost Hai in the ensuing exchange, TSM's members were too low to contest C9 at Dragon. Later, at 15:45, Meteos once again initiated perfectly, catching Reginald and providing an opportunity for Hai to flank TSM, kill TheOddOne, and take TSM's final outer turret. TSM, led by the ever-aggressive Reginald, occasionally caught members of C9, but Cloud 9 extended their advantages more successfully after making key plays. This pattern came up again at 24:15 when TSM took Baron but lost three members, allowing C9 to take down their middle inhibitor with little interference. Cloud 9's victory after that engagement gave them the momentum and they rode that wave through to the end of the game. They spent a few minutes locked in a siege position in top lane, until another Meteos dive resulted in a 3:2 kill trade and a Baron for C9. Though TSM still snagged a few errant kills and small objectives, they remained on the back foot until 40:45 when a decisive flank from Hai and Meteos went 4:0 in C9's favor and instigated a TSM surrender. Meteos and Hai were the MVPs for Cloud 9 in the game, illustrating the might of Zac and Kennen with good positioning and aim.

Much like the first day of the Summer Split, Day 2 was unpredictable. The clear favorite didn't always win and even based on this small sample size it became clear the “Top 4” and “Bottom 4” distinctions that developed last split were no longer applicable. Curse went 1-1 for the day, crushing Velocity but failing to take down the unstoppable force known as Cloud 9. Curse established an early advantage and abused C9 in lane establishing a sizable gold lead, but it was not big enough. C9 outlasted the assault and their superior team fight composition obliterated Curse when they fought head-to-head. Dignitas also went 1-1 and showed how differently a team can perform just on a game-by-game basis. In their 70 minute “epic” against CLG they looked inconsistent. Poor decision making caused them to throw away their early lead, and though they put up a valiant effort to hold on for the win, defending against a six item Doublelift is never easy. In their very next game against TSM Dignitas looked much stronger (reminiscent of when they went on their win streak in the Spring Split) as they steamrolled through of the strongest teams in North America. CLG would also join the 1-1 club after dropping their game against Coast, despite ZionSpartan being away at his high school graduation. Jintae subbed in playing a top lane Orianna, and carried hard with game winning Shockwaves that could even bring a tear to Forellenlord's eye. Velocity finished the day with the worst record going 0-2 with their loss against Curse and Vulcun. Velocity had the right idea trying to shut down Mancloud early, but they eventually left him alone long enough to farm and let his Kha'zix reach the tipping point where he could murder whomever he pleased. Going into Day 3 the only thing certain was to expect the unexpected.

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Bans:       

17        C9        53.4K
vs.
16        Crs        48.6K

Bans:       

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In what was probably the most hyped game of the day, the pressure was on Curse to hand the rising superstars of Cloud 9 the first loss of their LCS career. Curse showed the value of proper scouting as a predictable ward by LemonNation from Baron Pit to Tri-brush allowed EDward to land a Rocket Grab over the wall to secure first blood. Curse took this lead and rolled with it. EDward continued to make plays in tandem with the rest of the team as he landed a Flash/Power Fist onto Sneaky who was then locked down by Gold Card and Twisted Advance. Curse utilized the power of their composition to its fullest, picking off members of C9 and winning small skirmishes. Unfortunately for Curse, C9's composition was much stronger for team fights. All it took was one poor fight by Curse for C9 to start to turn the game in their favor. Curse began baron, but peeled off when C9 contested. Curse attempted to engage on C9 and catch them off guard, but Balls’ Rumble put down a beautiful Equalizer that melted Curse's health bars and kept them slowed, divided, and unable to properly fight back. Thanks to Zac’s passive, the trade ended up 4 for 1 in C9's favor, giving them total control of the game until Curse's nexus fell. C9 is quickly becoming known for their “always dive, never not dive” mentality. They love to initiate hard, diving into the enemy team hard regardless of towers if they have even the slightest advantage, and they have results to show for it. C9 also outlasted the Curse assault and kept on fighting when many teams would be too demoralized to continue. There are still a lot of games left to play this split, but C9 are certainly living up to the early hype.

The final day of the Super Week opener, a variety of games were on display. From decisive, 30 minutes game by TSM against VUL to drawn out, 50 minute slugfests by VUL and CLG, each of the teams dug deep to finish the week strong. However, by the end of Week 1, the standings were clear. At the top, Cloud 9 stood alone. Capable of playing the comeback game and closing out the match after a strong start, C9 demonstrated the importance of functioning as a unit. Every one of their matches was dictated by their strong 5-on-5 coordination. Typically with Meteos leading C9 into the fray, the rest of the players were never too far behind. This was the kind of cohesive play that was obviously lacking from a number of the other teams, especially from the veterans. With a three way tie for 2nd place, the NA LCS is looking much closer than last split. The question now is who will be the first team to deliver Cloud 9 their first defeat of the season but more importantly, do anyone else have the team synergy that they've amply displayed in Week 1.

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Bans:       

22        dig        74.2K
vs.
19        CST        66.9K

Bans:       

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While not necessarily the cleanest game this week, the match between Dignitas and Team Coast was nothing short of exciting. With typical bans delivered on both sides, CST continued to rely on NintendudeX's tanky Jungle Fiddle while Dignitas selected a surprise Alistar for Patoy. For much of Super Week, consistency was not a strong suit for dig. This match proved to be little different. With CST unloading the brunt of their spells and DPS on Patoy alone, this setup for dig to sweep in and dispatch CST while their spells were on cooldown. imaqtpie and Scarra flanked in, eliminated CST for the ace, and took down the first Baron of the match. However, in Dignitas fashion, the game came roaring back into Coast's hands after they catch dig trying to Baron. Despite turning immediately to face CST head on, this time it was dig who gets crushed in a team fight and delivers CST a Baron in return. In the final moments of the game, dig wins yet another decisive team fight off of Crumbz's initiation and dive straight for the Nexus via the Bot Lane. Only able to chunk CST's Nexus down to 50% health, CST revive in the nick of time to sweep through Imaqtpie, Crumbz, and KiWiKid leaving only Scarra and Patoy to defend against all of CST. In a three minute window, based off one call, Dignitas saw a winnable game simply evaporate before them. Consistency is an attribute that every successful team possesses but even before that, a team needs to be able to justify calls during the game.

Starting off the Summer Split with a Super Week gave us a good look at how strong each team is looking early in the season. Early in the Spring Split there was a lot of guesswork because of the difference in the number of games teams had played. Now, looking at the standings, it's clear which teams are surging and which are failing. Cloud 9 will be at the top of everyone's hit list, being the only team to go a perfect 5-0 for the week. On the other end of the spectrum, Curse disappointed many fans as their lack of coordination and poor decision making left them tied for last place with Velocity at 1-4. Even after just one week it’s clear this split is going to be far more competitive than the last with the “top” and “bottom teams not so clearly defined. It was certainly an exciting start to the season, and we only hope for more of the same moving forward.