And now, only four remain: joining 100 Thieves and Echo Fox – who ended the regular split in the top two positions earning thus a bye directly to the round of the last 4 – in the semifinals we have Team Liquid, who defeated Cloud9 in perhaps one of the closest 3-0 in recent past, and…no, not TSM! With an incredible show, Clutch Gaming completely countered the 6 time North American Champions, exploiting their weaknesses to get themselves a very much deserved 3-1 in order to book their ticket to Miami….and all of that in the organization’s very first split in the NA LCS.

With TSM, C9 and Counter Logic Gaming all out of contention, that means we are going to have, since Summer 2015, when CLG demolished TSM at the Madison Square Garden to win the trophy, a new champion in North America – which obviously also means that we are going to have a newcomer representing the region at this year’s Mid-Season Invitational in Europe.

However, it is extremely hard to predict who that team is going to be. Unlike previous years, marked by TSM’s complete dominance, all 4 teams reach the semis on equal terms: while deservedly managing to come far, showing strong points that are worthy of a North American Champion, all of them also have clear weaknesses, which everybody will be looking to exploit, putting us in a rather peculiar position I would say, as right now I think the Champions are going to be those who manage to cover and hide their weak points the best, while managing to use their opponents’ deficit to their own profit.

In a such a game, there is zero room to mistakes, and the mental factor can also play a major role in the decisive moments, especially when we take a quick look at the semifinalists: two newcomers to the league, one team who never enjoyed success in the league, and a very traditional organization, looking to get ridden of a certain stigma.

It will be a long and arduous fight, with all starting this weekend: who will keep their dream alive and advance to the big finals in Miami?


Echo Fox

Echo Fox’s start to the season couldn’t have been better: displaying a near flawless synergy between their members and led by star top laner Heo "Huni" Seung-hoon (who was mainly propelled by jungler Joshua "Dardoch" Hartnett, who overcame his behavioral problems), they dominated the first half of split, and were considered the main favorites for the trophy.

However as the weeks went on, Echo Fox started showing their flaws, starting during the surprising loss against last placed Golden Guardians. For the final week of the split, they brought in Tanner "Damonte" Damonte in the midlane and John "Papa Chau" Le in the support position, but the problems were apparent: a team who face enormous difficulties while behind, Echo Fox depend on an early lead – especially by Huni – to win games, which is the main reason why Dardoch spends so much time in the top side of the map.

Bringing back Kim "Fenix" Jae-hun and Adrian "Adrian" Ma to the starting line-up for the series against Team Liquid, the team should try being more cohesive while playing from behind, learn how to stall games long enough until a comeback opening presents, as well as allocating more resources to their mid and bot lanes, otherwise those are at serious risk of getting overrun by an aggressive Liquid side.

Strengths: In a league filled with household names, Huni is without a question the best top laner in the NA LCS, and alongside Dardoch, forms an extremely deadly duo in the top side of the map, able to create plays and opening to put Echo Fox ahead. A lead that the team are able to use effectively, snowballing games out of control.

Weaknesses: But this “overdependence” from Huni can cost the team hard, especially if Liquid focus on stopping him, meaning that it is time for the other lanes to step up (if provided with enough resources): arguably the weakest in his position from all 4 remaining teams, Johnny "Altec" Ru is not being the “C” on ADC, and definitely needs to step up his game if he wants to have a chance against Doublelift and Olleh.


Team Liquid

Team Liquid perhaps entered the quarter-finals series against Cloud9 as favorites, but very few would predict a 3-0 in the favor of the perennial underachievers. But despite the positive outcome, it was all but easy for Liquid, who struggled in several moments, and were forced to overcome significant gold deficits to come out with the clean sweep.

A much hyped bot lane duo before the split, it took maybe some time, but Yiliang "Doublelift" Peng and Kim "Olleh" Joo-sung are looking sharp together, managing to come out ahead against a strong Cloud9 bot lane. Doublelift even ended the series against Cloud9 without a single death, which for a marksman is perhaps one of the best signs that things are indeed going well.

Such a good performance against one of the most successful North American organization surely gave an enormous boost of confidence for Liquid as they look to for once and for all get ridden of their “forever fourth” stigma, and qualify for their very first NA LCS grand finals. However, they are far from a perfect team: despite being strong individually, they still are not clicking 100% together, resulting in a few bad calls and questionable macro decisions – which was actually the main reason for the early and mid-game disadvantages against C9.

But right now, I firmly believe they are all-around the superior side when compared to Echo Fox – especially if Dardoch and Huni are kept in check. A huge task for Jung "Impact" Eon-yeong and Jake "Xmithie" Puchero, who are however two very experienced players for whom this situation should be nothing too far from the ordinary.

Strengths: Liquid’s stars are able to dominate a game if given enough resources, and especially in the bot lane Liquid should have a big advantage. That individual prowess gives the players room to shine during teamfights, which potentially can change the course of a game. Finally, a very experienced side, they shouldn’t in theory feel the pressure, unless…

Weaknesses: …they fall behind in the series, and the entire stigma of Liquid “forever fourth” comes to haunt them. Apart from that, Liquid have some problems – even if they are considerably better than during the regular split – with their decision making, which is at times confusing and too predictable – especially in the early stages of a game.


100 Thieves

Last time I wrote about 100 Thieves, I said that they were a team centered on a player - Kim "Ssumday" Chan-ho to be precise, which put the side on a perhaps precarious position if their star top laner happened to be shut down by the opposition.

Oh, boy, did they prove me wrong.

Coming to the final week of the regular season, the entire line-up showed up big, particularly William "Meteos" Hartman, who put memorable and dominating performances, reminding us of his time at Cloud9 during the 2013 NA LCS Summer Split, and ADC Cody Sun, who after a rather shaky start – especially considering he was coming from a costly mistake during last year’s World Championship – found an amazing synergy with Zaqueri "aphromoo" Black, who seems to be destined in creating solid marksmen.

The result? A very well rounded team, who improved their early game considerably while staying shard on their macro abilities in order to decide games in their favors. After ending the regular season in first place – following two wins over Echo Fox and one against tomorrow’s opponents in the final week – 100 Thieves are looking as the biggest favorites for North America’s vacant crown.

Yes, it is true they might not be a brilliant team to watch, they might not pull incredible plays all the time, but in a league filled with individual stars, consistency while showing few weaknesses are the key to triumph.

Strengths: The entire roster is looking sharp, with all players stepping up and delivering just in time for the deciding stages of the split.  Macro play good as usual, as thanks to aphromoo’s deep vision they can keep control of objectives and find picks.

Weaknesses: Rather a question mark than weaknesses, but can this style successfully be applied in a best-of-five? I would say yes, but still, it would be interesting to see how the team can react if behind in the series. Besides, despite improving considerably throughout the split, a single mistake can mine Cody Sun’s confidence, and without a reliable carry, things can turn out sour for the Thieves.


Clutch Gaming

Responsible for one of the biggest upsets in NA LCS history defeating the most iconic North American organization, Clutch Gaming will arrive to tomorrow’s series against 100 Thieves looking to upset yet another favorite.

Yes, it is true that Nickolas "Hakuho" Surgent was absolutely incredible on Thresh, and that TSM kind of made things easier by being perhaps a bit too cocky not banning the Chain Warden as well as Swain, Fabian "Febiven" Diepstraten’s trademark champion throughout the series, but Clutch definitely stepped up hard, managing to fix some of the issues showed during the final weeks of the regular split – especially during the loss against the Thieves.

By playing more aggressively against TSM, they were able to come out ahead in the early game, putting themselves in a situation where they could use their superior macro play and vision control to good use, taking out Barons with easy in order to handily close out the series against a shaky and surprised TSM.

Of course, this element of surprise won’t be there against an equally organized side such as 100 Thieves, meaning that individually they need to come out ahead, which means that Nam "LirA" Tae-yoo will be pivotal in proving his teammates with enough resources to propel ahead in such a close series.

Strengths: As usual, the LirA + Febiven combo is perhaps the strongest out of all four semifinalists. Hakuho as well as in the form of his life, looking unstoppable on carrying supports, which can prove vital once more if he manages to grab himself a couple of key picks.

Weaknesses: Despite a strong and convincing showing last week against TSM, I don’t know if they are able to show something new in order to beat an organized side such as 100 Thieves, with this lack of adaptability could being very well their doom.


To close it out, here are my predictions for this weekend’s semi-finals matches in the NA LCS:

Echo Fox 2-3 Team Liquid

100 Thieves 3-1 Clutch Gaming

Do you agree with them? What would you change? Let me know in the comments below!

(Photos courtesy of Riot Games)