The League of Legends Spring season continues this week after hitting the midway point in the League Championship Series.
That means that the top league in each of the four major regions worldwide are now halfway over as China and Korea took a week-long break from play. That doesn’t mean last week’s games were any less exciting, as the two dominant teams in each of North America and Europe all suffered upset losses.
In North America, both Team SoloMid and Counter Logic Gaming dropped games, losing to Team Liquid and Cloud9 respectively. Cloud9 jumped in the standings with two wins thanks to a surprising Veigar support pick and the kind of superb play you’re used to seeing from the once-dominant team. Zachary “Sneaky” Scuderi in particular turned in a superb performance with a 22.0 KDA.
In Europe, upsets were king. At least, based off pre-season expectations. SK Gaming, Elements, and Unicorns of Love all dropped two games while unexpected dark horses Gambit Gaming, H2k Gaming, and Copenhagen Wolves all won two. SK Gaming’s string of eight wins to start the season came crashing to a halt against Fnatic, but even Fnatic, the second-ranked team, fell to rising Gambit Gaming.
A number of teams debuted roster changes with mixed results. Team Liquid’s new-look lineup met with some success, while Elements struggled with a new top laner. Meet Your Makers and Team Coast, making desperation roster swaps moves to stave off relegation, fell even further behind with winless weeks.
Overall, week five was a week of upsets in both leagues. While the standings themselves look little different, save perhaps for the precipitous fall of Elements, the week five games placed Team SoloMid, Counter Logic Gaming, SK Gaming, and Fnatic in striking distance of a hungry pack of wolves at the middle of each set of standings.
With another exciting slate of matched, combined with Korea and China resuming tonight, the last week of February promises to be an explosive one in League of Legends.
