Rift Life - Issue #2 - So many surprises!

Hey there, I’m Tate (aka captenredbeard). As part of the ‘Rift Life’ NALCS blog series, I’ll be chatting about week 1 games and how I got some predictions way wrong. The landing page for this week’s issue can be found HERE

What happened in week 1?!

SPOILERS FOR WEEK 1 NA LCS AHEAD

So last week I made a few predictions and I was right on some, and really wrong on others. Let’s take a look.

	Predicted			Current
Team	Wins	Losses	Rank	Wins	Losses	Rank
100	1	1	7	2	0	1
C9	2	0	2	2	0	1
CG	2	0	3	1	1	5
CLG	1	1	6	0	2	7
FLY	0	2	9	1	1	5
FOX	0	2	5	2	0	1
GGS	0	2	8	0	2	7
OPT	0	2	10	0	2	7
TL	1	1	4	2	0	1
TSM	2	0	1	0	2	7

So two big surprises for me here. One, how good 100 Thieves looked. Two, how completely terrible TSM was. I’m going to go through each game and give a few opinions, if I have them, on each.

DAY 1

TL vs. TSM (Got it wrong)

The most hyped game for the start of the season. Everyone making their predictions for this game. Would TL’s massive money dropping strategy and full team rebuild work? Would the stability of keeping Hauntzer and Bjergsen give TSM the edge? Well, I bet on the latter point. It made sense to me that their synergy would be ahead of the curve compare to TL. Boy was I wrong. Like, really really wrong. TSM got demolished....they should have surrendered at 15. It’s honestly sad how little of a showing they made during this game.

100 vs. OPT (Got it right)

I bet on 100 to win this pretty handily. I was correct on the outcome, but not the beatdown. Optic really held its’ own and this was a really tense game. Additionally, a LONNGGGG game, 65 minutes. Essentially these teams drafted team compositions that canceled each other out. Neither team could really engage, and both teams were able to disengage. The end result was a fairly tense back and forth game that lasted forever. It was still more enjoyable to watch than the TL/TSM game.

Aphromoo Baron call

CG vs. GGS (Got it right)

Betting on clutch for this game made sense and was the correct decision. I was very impressed with how cleanly Clutch played this game. Febiven and Lira really showing great synergy during this game with some super clean plays on Hai. In general, CG were in control of this game from minions spawning to nexus falling, only giving up two deaths.

Febiven/Lira Gank

FOX vs. FLY (Got it wrong)

FOX took this game pretty easily from FLY. Huni, after failing last year, brought back his Lucian top, and proved that it IS good and, more importantly, he is still a dominant top laner. Very dominant game, FOX picks up 15 kills and only gives up 2 deaths. FOX is looking really good.

TP for First blood+3

CLG vs. C9 (Got it right)

I’m really happy to see C9’s new roster playing out as I expected. Svenskeren looked like he might prove everyone right, by going down early, however he came up big throughout the rest of the game providing his team with the exact engage they needed. Landing ult after ult on on CLG’s Stixxay, completely shutting down their team fight capability. Arguments can, and were made, that this could have been more a failing on CLG’s team rather than Svenskeren solo carrying these fights. I’d say we will just have to wait for further confirmation, but for now, I won’t be one of the ones taking this from him. Great job to everyone on C9 for this game. Very clean.

DAY 2

OPT vs. TL (Got it right)

TL laid another smackdown here. That being said...it was far from the smackdown they put on TSM. In Pobelter’s own words, the Optic game was a bigger challenge than the TSM game. This simultaneously bodes well for OPT and really badly for TSM.

FLY vs. TSM (Got it wrong)

Once again, my faith in TSM was very misplaced. True, TSM showed up...a little...for this game, but in general they performed poorly (thanks TSM, for ruining my week 1 fantasy team). Flyquest, without even having their starting midlaner, provides TSM with their first 0-2 season starter...ever.

FLY ends the game with a Baron empowered engage

100 vs. CLG (Got it wrong)

This is the game I expected 100 thieves to drop this past week. Again, I bet on the stability of the CLG brand, but I should have considered the true importance of Aphromoo to CLG. It’s pretty clear that his shotcalling was a major part of CLG winning when they did.

GGS vs. C9 (Got it right)

Both players that C9 picked up seem to be performing as fans would hope. Licorice coming up pretty big in this game on Kled. Svenskeren playing fairly well again on Evelynn. Despite Hai getting Zoe (arguably broken champion) as well as having the always strong Taric support, GGS just couldn't stop C9. A decisive victory in spite of GGS performing rather well.

FOX vs. CG (Got it wrong)

This was my risky bet for Clutch. I was mostly being optimistic when I figured they could take this game and go 2-0 for week 1. The power of Huni ended up being too much for Clutch during this game. The key word here is...Pressure. Huni non-stop pushing the whole game... Febiven getting held against his tower barely able to farm... FOX kept up this pressure on Clutch all game. The problem with CG’s draft here was apparent from the beginning, 3 tanks, no real way to deal with all the split push pressure, they just couldn’t stop the onslaught. I don't think this was a loss due to FOX strictly being stronger... I think CG lost it at champ select. They had a narrow win condition, and they let FOX play to theirs the whole game.

Tate’s Rates

Some really interesting games across the board, except TSM.... but let’s look forward to week 2 and make some predictions.

Once again I’m betting on Clutch to come up big against CLG, but I can’t say they’re ready to take down TL yet.

I’m torn on the true power of FOX right now.

It honestly was painful giving TSM a single win after their performance last weekend...that being said, I just can’t get behind OPT or GGS yet.

By next week I expect the top 5 (1st to 5th) to be TL, C9, FOX, 100, CG

Let me know if you agree, disagree, or don’t care.