North America LCS – Cloud 9
Maintaining their performance from spring, Cloud 9 seems to have a complete edge over North American teams at this time with 8 consecutive wins. The biggest strength of C9 is undoubtedly the bot lane, where Zven and Vulcan are becoming increasingly in sync and incredibly dangerous during team fights. The fact that both players are in the top KDA rankings shows the superiority of Cloud 9’s bot lane compared to the other teams in the LCS.
Remember that in the spring tournament, Cloud 9 only lost one match. With an unchanged roster and the players maintaining their form, it’s hard to believe that the LCS summer championship will slip from C9’s grasp; the question now is whether they can maintain their perfect record in the group stage.
Vietnam VCS – Cerberus Esports
Strength and consistency are the two biggest improvements for Cerberus Esports this summer, as they no longer make silly mistakes that lead to losses like before. While there were some signs of disarray in Cerberus’s playstyle last week, they quickly used their skill dominance to balance things out and maintain a streak of 4 consecutive wins.
Based on their current performance, defeating Cerberus Esports is quite difficult, especially for the lower-tier teams in VCS, as some struggle with playstyle issues, while others are too young and inexperienced. Perhaps we can only look forward to strong and somewhat unpredictable teams like GAM Esports or Team Flash.
South Korea LCK – DragonX
DragonX’s victory over T1 on opening day shows that this team has improved significantly in strength and is a serious challenger for the championship title. After that opening match, Deft and his teammates secured a series of convincing wins, notably against opponents mostly in the upper half of the standings, with only Damwon Gaming yet to face them.
Despite performing well in the group stage, many still question this team’s championship potential. The LCK playoff format will still follow the ladder-style system, and the pressure from Best of 5 matches is extremely high, while DragonX is known to “choke” in critical moments. For example, last summer they missed the chance to go to Worlds after narrowly losing 2-3 to Damwon Gaming. It remains to be seen how DRX will address their psychological issues.
China LPL – Top Esports
“Devastation” is the most accurate term to describe Top Esports right now, as they have won 7 consecutive matches in the LPL. This team has rapidly evolved from a strong name in the LPL to an incredibly powerful force at present. With the addition of JackeyLove in the AD Carry position, Top Esports has completely resolved their issues and is soaring higher and higher.
For many, Top Esports is currently the best team in the world and their qualification for this tournament is just a matter of time. With consecutive victories like this, Top Esports’ goal shouldn’t just stop at the LPL; rather, the world championship title should be the goal they aim for.
