Hello again, it’s Toxin! For the first piece of unofficial content for the week, I’m gonna do a quick rundown of Week 7’s games in the same style that I do the power rankings. I wanted to keep the regular season analysis separate from the postseason stuff to give the non-playoff teams something to read at the end of the season. I’m gonna try to release another stats made piece of content if time allows, as well a playoff preview for Round 1. Lots of content ahead and very little time to make it, so let’s not waste any time and jump right into it!
Division 1:
Bye: Quake
Quake ended the season in 6th place with 24 points, which is definitely not what they expected in the beginning of the season. I had them ranked as 4th in the preseason, but ultimately they were passed by both Vitamin X and the Pod of Dolphins. This definitely seems to be a development team, and the fact that they lost their upper management within the first week definitely hurt them. Best of luck to them next year, as their players continue to develop.
Pod of Dolphins (W) vs Vitamin X (L) 2-0
In a shocking turn of events, the Pod of Dolphins was able to come out with a win this week over Vitamin X, which effectively ruined their playoff chances. The first thing I want to say is well done to the Dolphins; despite the roster challenges early in the season, you guys were still able to rally together and beat a playoff team from your division when you could have easily given up due to your elimination from the playoffs. I think that if this team was together from the start, they would have made the playoffs 100%. They finished the season 5th in the division due to them losing the tie breaker to Vitamin X. On the Vitamin X side of this, you effectively eliminated yourselves from the playoffs a week early with this loss. Due to it, you have to play 3-0 Esports in the first round, which is the favorites to win the whole thing. They definitely have their work cut out for them. Player of the match goes to Keith lee, who stomped as Jinx in two straight games. Player to watch is HongDongLongDong, who looks to be his team's sole hope against 3-0.
Oasis Nail and Day Spa (W) vs VBU Krypton (L) 2-0
Well, we all saw this coming, so I won’t go too hard into the specifics of the game. Player of the Match goes to TRuX MaNE with two outstanding performances. For VBU Krypton, I highly applaud you guys for being able to stick with the team throughout the season despite the poor results. This team could have easily forfeited the last week in a matchup against the top team in the division, but instead the roster decided to stick it out and try some fun comps in order to cheese a win. Props to them, and props to them coaching staff for managing the tilt that must have come from losing week after week. I fully expect this team to come back next season, however I think a lot of their players would be better suited in an Iron-Bronze-Silver league rather than a Gold league.
Literal Monkeys (W) vs Dawnbreak Gaming (L) 2-0
For the only matchup with two playoff teams going against each other, we have the Literal Monkeys taking on Dawnbreak Gaming. The first game against the two I think takes the record for the longest game of the season, stretching out for a total of 55 and a half minutes. I’m not quite sure how the game lasted that long, but I’m assuming it had something to do with the fed Kled on the other team. For that reason, Thief of Sanity is my player to watch, however I don't know how much playtime he will see in the playoffs. I will say that Dawnbreak was without their mid laner, Involence, in the match, which could have been to their downfall. Either way, I hope they get the whole band together for the playoffs; they are going to need it versus the Scarlet Miracles. The player to watch this week for the Literal Monkeys goes to Wunderworld. He will need to keep up this level of play in order to carry his team to a win over Chubby Babies Shock.
Final Standings:
Oasis Nail and Day Spa (=)
Literal Monkeys (=)
Dawnbreak Gaming (+1)
Vitamin X (-1)
Pod of Dolphins (+1)
Quake (-1)
VBU Krypton (=)
Division 2:
Bye: NSG Gold
NSG Gold ends the season on a low note, finishing 6th overall in the division. Like I said in the preseason, none of their players really stood out at all in this league except for the occasional carry from TheRunicBlade. However, those were not often enough to push this team into a playoff spot. What’s more interesting to me is that this team, considered the main team in the NSG org by most, missed playoffs by a wide margin while their second team, NSG Black, ended up making the playoffs. Is this due to that team being better, or Division 3 being weaker overall? Either way, I think that NSG organization needs to rethink how they structure their rosters going into the next split.
Twin Disasters (W) vs The Collective Esports (L) 2-0
Twin Disasters proved this week that they are in fact the second best team in the division by defeating The Collective Esports 2-0. I will say that this match was a big Kaiten carry kind of series, as our mid laner absolutely popped off in both games. He earns the player of the match, and the team is looking forward to more carry performances out of him in the playoffs. As for the Collective, I think the wind really left the sails after the first game, and once the second game started going wrong it really felt doomed for you guys. If you are able to keep the spirits up in the playoffs despite a loss, I think you guys have a chance versus Oasis. However, if you are going to deflate that much after one loss in a best of 5 series, the chances of you guys winning goes down a ton. The player to watch from this series goes to LucifersEyes, who did well in both games despite the result.
Chubby Babies Shock (W) vs Imperial Gaming (L) 2-0
In the first tale of a playoff team going up against a non-playoff team, we have Chubby Babies Shock defeating Imperial Gaming. This was the first match done of the night, and I’m assuming Imperial kinda gave up once they knew they were eliminated from the playoffs. Not gonna lie, I’m not really sure what they were thinking going into game one’s draft, with the likes of Tahm Kench top, Sylas jungle, Ashe mid, Swain ADC, and Kayle support being locked in. Definitely a disappointing end to a season where they were ranked first in the preseason. For the Shock, there’s not much to say about a victory over a team that has given up before the match starts. However I will say that the player to watch going into the playoffs is BuhRockObama. He will need to continue to be the difference maker for his team if they want to beat the Literal Monkeys.
Mad Rawrs (W) vs Poro Snaccers (L) 2-0
Finally, we have the Mad Rawrs defeating the Poro Snaccers 2-0. I will say that it was kinda nice of the Mad Rawrs to allow their subs to play in the final week of the season, which led to the rise of their duo mage bot lane strategy. However, I am concerned that the full starting roster has not played together in a match that mattered in two weeks, so there could be some rust going into the playoffs. The player of the match goes to Casino, who showed off Graves mid in both games in the series. For the Poro Snaccers, it’s unfortunate that you guys were not able to win a single series throughout the year. I really do think that in literally every other division you would have one at least one match, if not more than one. Unfortunately, you guys did not stack up to the rest of this division. Props to you guys for continuing to show up every week and put up a great fight, as you definitely went down swinging in all of your matches.
Final Standings:
Mad Rawrs (=)
Twin Disasters (=)
Chubby Babies Shock (+1)
The Collective Esports (-1)
Imperial Gaming (=)
NSG Gold (=)
Poro Snaccers (=)
Division 3:
Bye: NSG Black
NSG Black ends the regular season atop the division as the clear number one seed from Division 3. I will say that this team did end up losing their ADC Warning Shots after he heard that Samira would be disabled, however the replacement that they got seems to be a clear upgrade. If he is able to gel well with his new support and new team, this team can potentially make a deep run in the playoffs. Finally, I personally want to give this team a shoutout due to proving me wrong. In the preseason I had them ranked in 5th as a fringe playoff team. Despite the criticism, they practiced hard for almost 2 month and came out on top.
Arcanists (W) vs Crimson Dolphins (L) 2-0
The Arcanists were able to end their slide of awful performances with a very convincing win over the Crimson Dolphins. For them, it’s nice that they were able to finish the season off with a win. With that being said, this season can only be seen as a massive disappointment for them. After defeating the number 2 and number 3 seeds in the division in the first two weeks, they went on a losing spree that cost them a playoff spot. The org definitely needs to do some reflections over this roster and find out where the issues are if they hope to improve for next season. The player of the match goes to Dragonic70, who decided to show up after a hiatus and win his team one final series. The player to watch for Crimson Dolphins goes to SilantroKiller, who did well despite how niche his picks were this week. For the Dolphins, this is pretty much where I thought they would end up, however they definitely overperformed based on my original opinion on them. If they were to get a coach in order to teach them over the offseason, they can be a playoff team next year.
Chubby Babies Cinder (W) vs Primal Gaming (L) 2-0
Chubby Babies Cinder was able to take down Primal Gaming and secure the 3rd seed in this division with their win this week. I can’t say I’m really surprised as this is what I expected to happen in my predictions last week. However, what is interesting to me is the performance of their new jungler and mid laner, which both were able to pop off. Despite that, I think the player of the match goes to Exiled Blade, who carried the hardest in the two games. I’m really worried about Primal Gaming after this loss. These games weren’t very close, and they are going up against a much harder opponent in the Mad Rawrs in the first round of playoffs. If they want to win, they really need to step it up across the board. However, I will say that Primal used multiple subs this week, so there is hope that their starters are much better. The player to watch is one such player, Nunu and Willump, who has been performing at a high level the last few weeks since being added to the team.
Oasis Octane (W) vs EOU Midnight (L) 2-0
In the final matchup of Division 3, Oasis Octane was able to knock out EOU Midnight. I think that this is another case of a team, or at least a player, giving up after their statistical elimination from the playoffs, as they ran Caitlyn top lane in game one and role swapped bananajetski to adc for game two so that he can at least play the champion in the intended role. I’m assuming he just mental boomed and did not want to play the match, which led to these confusing picks/role swaps. Really unlucky for them, and I wish them luck next season. For Oasis Octane, the player of the match goes to Quelana, who was on a killing frenzy in this match. He is the key member on this team, and I expect him to be able to carry his team in the playoffs.
Final Standings:
NSG Black (=)
Oasis Octane (=)
Chubby Babies Cinder (+1)
Primal Gaming (-1)
Arcanists (+2)
EOU Midnight (-1)
Crimson Dolphins (-1)
Division 4:
Bye: Chubby Babies Frost
The one thing I want to point out about the Chubby Babies Frost roster is that this team has not played a BOL game in two weeks, as they had a forfeit the week before. Before all of that, the team was mental booming off a cliff, so I honestly have no idea how many games this team has played together leading up to the playoffs. This leads us to one of two scenarios. Either the team really buckled down and did a boot camp the last few weeks to get themselves in shape for a deep playoff run, or they did not practice at all, leading to a free win for Oasis Octane. I really hope it’s the former, but part of me assumes it's the latter.
Scarlet Miracles (W) vs NSG Amethyst (L) 2-0
In a no brainer, Scarlet Miracles were able to take down NSG Amethyst in two quick victories. I will say that the Miracles find a way to make waves with their champion picks every week, this week electing to choose Udyr jungle in game one of the series. I fully expect Poobin to continue to break out the most random picks possible in the jungle well into the playoffs, however I feel like this cockiness could lead to their demise at some point down the road. Player of the match goes to Zyzzyx though, who did extremely well and doesn't get enough love on this roster from people in the league. I will say that NSG Amethyst did better than I thought this season with their 6th place finish in the division. Full marks to them for improving throughout the season, and it stinks that you were placed in probably the best division overall.
Hyperion Gaming (W) vs VBU Argon (L) 2-0
The final streamed match of the regular season goes to Hyperion Gaming vs VBU Argon, which had serious playoff considerations as the win would advance and the other’s season would be over. Ultimately, VBU Argon was not able to get the job done with their new roster, and the matches were not close. In game one, they only managed to get 4 kills total in the 32 minute game. While they were able to pick up some kills in game two, they also fed over a lot more, resulting in an even faster defeat. This team really wasn’t the same after the loss of BestSupportMain, and finished exactly where I said they would in the preseason. As for Hyperion Gaming, the team showed that they are a legit threat in the playoffs, and that their playoff victories in other leagues were not a fluke. I think this team has a really good chance at upsetting NSG Black in round one, off of the back of their new jungler, CudatheGoldfish, who earns the player of the match.
3-0 Esports (W) vs Titan Esports (L) 2-0 FFT.
To cap off our Week 7 rundown, we have 3-0 Esports getting a forfeit win over Titan Esports. I was surprised that Titan Esports was the only team to take this route of the other three last place teams going against first place teams this week. Honestly shame on them for taking the coward’s way out of the league. As for 3-0, I hope you guys found a scrim that was better practice than what you would have gotten out of Titan Esports.
Final Standings:
3-0 Esports (=)
Scarlet Miracles (=)
Chubby Babies Frost (+1)
Hyperion Gaming (-1)
VBU Argon (=)
NSG Amethyst (=)
Titan Esports (=)
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