Cop gets a lot of flak. During the Spring Split much negative judgment was levied at Curse's Duo lane, but critics were divided on whether or not the blame rested on Cop's or Elementz's shoulders. With the departure of Elementz and the acquisition of EDward, Cop apologists would finally get their chance to see if Elementz really was holding Cop back. Although he got off to a rocky start in the Summer Split with several weeks of uninspired Draven play, Cop eventually started to show signs of improvement as he developed better synergy with his new Duo lane partner.

Cop can best be described as a creature of habit. He has the ability to adapt and play different ADCs over time, but once he finds one he likes he tends to stick with them. During Season 2 and the Holy Trinity of ADCs it was rare for Cop to not play Corki and early this split he played mostly Draven (until the nerfs.) Cop has recently taken a liking to Twitch who he has played in four out of Curse's last five games and is 3-1 with him during this time frame. More importantly than finding a champion he likes, he also does incredibly well on Twitch and does something he often gets criticized for not doing, carrying games.

In these three recent victories with Twitch, Cop has been the player with the most kills on his team - much different from the Curse we saw in the Spring Split where Voyboy had often been the kill leader. This has actually allowed Voyboy to focus on more utility/tank based Solo laners such as Zac where he can disrupt team fights and rely on Cop to clean up. While Twitch is now his current favorite pick, Cop has shown general improvement as the split has progressed. Comparing his Draven play from the beginning of summer to the last few weeks, a marked improvement is visible. Cop has dealt with a lot of criticism over the season, some of it warranted, but he has made a noticeable effort to get better and it has shown as he continues to perform well and carry Curse to victory.

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Bans:       

12        TSM        43.6k
vs.
24        C9        58.7k

Bans:       

Balls’ dominating Rumble performance vs TSM last week meant Rumble was the first ban by TSM. In the end, TSM drafted Elise, Thresh, Renekton, and Twitch ­­– comfort picks for their respective players, yet paling in comparison to Cloud 9’s draft of Ryze, Zed, Zyra, and Ashe. Moreover, TSM picked Orianna for Reginald, a champion he has been familiar with in the past, but hasn’t played up to the level of his Zed (picked away by Hai) or Karthus (banned), while Cloud 9’s last pick of Zac fit both Meteos and their team perfectly.

Despite an underwhelming pick-ban, TSM opened up the game with a small victory. TSM and Cloud 9 aggressively traded long lane inner towers, but while Cloud 9 recalled from Top inner, TSM rotated from Bot inner to take a 5 minute Dragon. However, this would be the only advantage TSM picked up for the game.
Balls comfortably froze Bot lane and farmed up at the inhibitor tower, but TSM could not do the same, as Zyra, Zed, and Ashe pressed enormous wave pressure on TSM’s Mid lane. Moreover, Zed could still pressure in Cloud 9’s pushed lanes, thanks to the mobility of Living Shadow, while TSM could not safely threaten Balls that far up. The net result was Reginald, who started off in the 1v2, secured little development and was further forced into a pure Ability Power build in an attempt to stay relevant.

To add insult to injury, Sneaky’s Ashe was still on point: Enchanted Crystal Arrow found Xpecial attempting to ward before the 2nd Dragon. After Xpecial was picked off, TSM attempted to contest 4v5 - a solid Shockwave pulled in three of Cloud 9. TSM traded well given the circumstances, going 4:4, with Turtle picking up a triple kill and Balls a double. However, Ashe Arrow finished its cooldown and Stranglethorns was never used, while Shockwave, Spray'n'Pray, and Dominus were still on cooldown. TSM still attempted to contest Dragon still, and Sneaky landed a repeat Crystal Arrow to pick off Xpecial. Almost exactly 6 minutes later, Enchanted Crystal Arrow found TSM again attempting to defend Dragon, and this time Cloud 9 picked up three kills for one.

Cloud 9 was unstoppable from this point on. TSM attempted to find small advantages, but were unable to create tower pressure against the waveclear of Cloud 9, while Reginald could not defend waves for TSM due to his lack of CDR. Twitch, despite picking up the early kills, could not deal with Zac and Zed flying into his face, and Dyrus, despite having the most gold on TSM, could not make headway against Rune Prison, Frost Shot, and Grasping Roots. Cloud 9 secured the 4th Dragon uncontested and then the first Baron of the game. Hai picked up a Guardian Angel, while Meteos finished Locket, Tabi, and a Negatron as TheOddOne only completed Bulwark. At 30 minutes, Cloud 9 sauntered into TSM’s base to pick up their first inhibitor, and they closed out the game not long after.

Before the Summer Split began, NA LCS players picked Ashe twice. For perspective, Corki saw more play time prior to the Summer Split, and long has it been since Corki was considered a top pick (a.k.a. back in Season 2 during the "ADC Trinity" days). Yet Ashe was left behind even further in the meta; she was a top pick in Season 1, but Season 2's playstyle (farm alone forever) left little room for the Frost Archer (unreliable passive, no escapes, cross map ults are hard) and no one expected her to resurface any time soon. Yet we've seen her in nine games during the Summer Split (as well as a ban) and she has only lost a game once: TSM vs VUL in this very week.

Certainly Ashe received several buffs in recent patches (after none in Season 2), including an increase to her attack speed per level and the revamping of her passive, Focus, but minor buffs alone rarely push a Champion back to pick/ban status. Ashe's unexpected success derives from Season 3 and the new style that recently appeared in the NA scene: focus on early objectives, 2v1 lanes, and teamfight control. First, Ashe's early laning has always been dangerous due to her lack of an escape skill (something the S2 Trinity all possessed). However, this problem disappears with 2v1 laning where the marksman Champion is far safer from lane aggression and ganks alike. Furthermore, Ashe's slows and stuns make surviving the lane phase dangerous for the opposition, especially when Ashe is paired with her most frequently seen support, Zyra, whose Grasping Roots highly increases kill potential. The Ashe/Zyra lane also provides lots of free vision between the Hawkshot and Zyra's plants, making it even safer.

Past laning phase, Ashe has always excelled at teamfight control and initiation with Frost Shot, Volley, and Enchanted Crystal Arrow; few other ADCs provide her level of (even) soft CC and ECA is the best initiation skill in the game. However, the objective-heavy style utilized by the most successful NA teams means that teamfights and critical initiations occur more often than ever before, enhancing Ashe's existing strengths. Finally, Ashe's passive change makes it far more usable and works especially well with Statikk Shiv, which gives her some up-front burst (Focus even allows the chain lightning to crit) and adds to Volley's waveclear. All these subtle metagame changes mean that the Queen of Frejlord is in prime position to turn her enemies into supplicants. The Frost Archer's reign will not thaw any time soon.

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Bans:       

18        TSM        65.0
vs.
15        VUL        56.8

Bans:       

The Game of the Day for Week 7 was between two of the closest competitors in the Summer Split: Spring Split Champions TSM and the long-time second place team, Vulcun. Most of the teams' choices in Champion Select were fairly typical save the ADC picks of Twitch for WildTurtle (deprived of his favored Caitlyn) and Ashe for Zuna, a pick gaining more and more popularity for her incredible initiation utility. The scales tipped quickly in TSM's favor, starting with a Red buff steal by Reginald and TSM's duo lane to give WildTurtle an early Red buff in his 2v1 against Sycho Sid. However, TSM got an even bigger boost when Zuna, Xmithie, and BloodWater dove Dyrus at 2:45 and failed horribly, giving the 1v2 Rumble a double kill and First Blood. TSM pushed their lead further with Buff steals, turret kills, and impressive four-man ganks under turret, giving them a 5:0 lead with 3:1 in turrets and 5.6K additional gold at 14:30.

Though Vulcun finally put a kill on the board 30 seconds later, TSM remained in control for the next fifteen minutes as they took every Dragon, a kill for every one they donated, and turrets wherever they could. Vulcun's prospects looked grim until TSM attacked the Baron in an attempt to secure their lead in the game. Instead, Xmithie lept into the pit, stealing Baron and giving Vulcun the opportunity to Ace TSM without giving away a single death. Suddenly TSM found themselves down their mid lane inhibitor despite their remaining 3K lead. A few more picks with Enchanted Crystal Arrow from Zuna and follow-up from Vulcun put them up 6 turrets to 4, giving them map control (and a Dragon) for the first time in the game. With Vulcun pushing for TSM's bottom inhibitor turret, TSM finally engaged another teamfight and were surprised to discover they could only barely Ace Vulcun, exchanging four of their members for a full wipe on the other side.

At 40:00, TSM pushed up the mid lane, determined to take the victory that seemed so simple 20 minutes prior. Though Zuna's Enchanted Crystal Arrow connected onto Dyrus, his Equalizer brought several on Vulcun to low health. While Vulcun managed to pick off two members of TSM early in the fight, WildTurtle dropped into stealth while he was Withered, re-positioned himself, and Ambushed Vulcan for a Quadra-Kill to carry TSM to a 5:2 Ace. With the immense respawn timers of a 40+ minute game, Vulcun could not stop TSM from finally taking down their Nexus. Thus, TSM took a game off of the team immediately above them, but this only kept them tied with CLG at 10-10. With Vulcun only at 12-8 and Dignitas and Curse barely trailing at 9-11, the final two LCS weeks will be critical for seeding in the Summer Playoffs.

With only two weeks left, the North American LCS standings are still a jumbled mess. CLG, TSM, and Team Coast make up a triangle of stomps, with CLG 3–0 vs TSM, TSM 3–0 up on Coast, and Coast 2–0 against CLG. However, Coast’s 1–4 record over the last 2 weeks has dropped them from the middle pack to 7th place. Luckily for them, only one game separates them from 6th place. Curse seems to be warming up and recovering from their horrendous 1–4 start in Week 1, but have an incredibly hard Week 8 schedule with games against the top three teams in the league. And at the bottom lurks the dark horse Velocity. Curse, Vulcun, and CLG have all dropped games to Velocity; a repeat upset might just cost them a playoff seed. With 2nd and 7th place separated by just 4 games, only two things are for certain: Cloud 9 stands head and shoulders above the pack and the final two weeks of play will be an exciting race to the finish.