Rift Life - Issue #1 - Clutch Gaming

Hey there, I’m Tate (aka captenredbeard). As part of ‘The Rift Life’ blog series, I’ll be chatting about one of our new teams in the LCS... Clutch Gaming.

The landing page for this week’s issue can be found Issue #1

Source: Riot Games

Ah, Clutch Gaming... I find it strange that the new teams are all backed by Pro NBA team owners. This one is funded, and supported, by the Houston Rockets. It was clear that the organization had been thinking of an eSports endeavor for some time and watching the scene. They reached out directly to a man named Sebastian Park. Fans in the eSports scene might recognize him as being CEO of Team Arcon around 2015. Park recalls the event as literally being called out of the blue and asked if he’d like to interview for a director of eSports position with the Houston Rockets. Needless to say, he accepted, and got the job.

Source: Giphy

But enough about this guy I’m stupidly jealous of, let’s talk about the players. Clutch has firmed up their starting roster.

Top Lane

Solo

CG picked up Solo as their top lane. Solo (Colin Earnest) might be recognized if you follow the NA CS (North American Challenger Series) where he played for Gold Coin United. He seems to be taking some flack in most posts where ‘couch analysts’ are dropping their opinions on all the teams. Essentially stating that he just isn't on par with other top laners in the league... blah blah blah.

Maybe that's true. Maybe it isn’t.

In my opinion, while his stats give a good indication of performance (which are actually pretty good best.gg ), they aren’t everything. Comparing challenger series stats to how he will perform in the LCS is basically comparing apples to oranges. It just isn’t the same ballgame. We’ve heard this from a lot of pros. The organization is different, the support structure, the players, etc. etc. Not to mention the somewhat elusive concept of ‘rising to the occasion’. Is Solo the type of person that cracks under pressure? Or improves? Based on the games I’ve seen him play in, regardless of what happens, he seems to continue playing consistently and strives to improve.

Source: YouTube

Gets ganked and gives up first blood? Comes back a few minutes later with a nice TP play Bot, saving his team and grabbing some kills along the way. I think this guy is going to surprise people this split. He’s hungry, and that is a good thing.

Jungle

Lira

Lira (Tae-yoo Nam), formerly of Team Envy and various teams of the LCK. Receiving high praise from his teammates on NV (Such as Seraph), LIra is a consistently strong force for the team. Ranking number 4 in the 2017 summer split power rankings on best.gg, he seems to be a very strong player mechanically. This guy looks like he prefers a challenge, tending towards what I would consider more mechanically difficult champions such as Lee Sin. Lira’s strength as a jungler has been discussed frequently. Take a look below for a great video on the topic, I can’t say much more on Lira for now, but I am looking forward to seeing what he will do on CG.

Mid Lane

Febiven

Source: Riot Games

Febiven (Fabian Diepstraten) comes to Clutch Gaming as one of the couple EU imports this split. He is being widely regarded as the player to watch on this team, and for good reason. He doesn’t seem to ever be the cause of failure on his team, has a champion pool that is never ending, and has the balls to go for a play when it’s needed (and maybe other times too). Some great plays from him can be seen in this montage from LSPN on youtube. Even 1v1’ing Faker. Great stuff.

How will he work out in the NA LCS on this new team though. There are concerns that he might not perform as well under pressure (he went from 2nd mid laner ranking during the split to 5th during playoffs last year). Perhaps he just hasn’t been on the right team at the right time to shine, pushing him to the next level of his career.

Bottom Lane

Apollo & Hakuho

Apollo and Hakuho (Apollo Price/ Nickolas Surgent) round out the team and are the final 2 of 3 coming from from Team Envy.

Arguably the best 3 from NV are carrying on the dream to Clutch Gaming. I’m glad to see a duo that has been working hard together to develop their style and skills...STAY together. Consistency is key in improving. These two should be able to benefit from the small semblance of stability in their bot lane along with Lira. I think it will be the delicate balance of familiarity and a fresh change that they need to really be something special in this split.
Apollo, even his own words, seems to be poised to be on par with the best ADC’s in the league, he just needs the opportunity. His stats back this up. Now is the time to put it all together Apollo, let’s see what you can do.

The same can be said about Hakuho really, stats put him among the best. He seems to have a great understanding of the game, how and when to play a particular support, how he fits into the team comp, and how he can truly support his team. Unfortunately, he hasn’t had much success in the LCS just yet.

This bot lane needs to update their goals though. This may be the only thing holding them back...they don’t realize their own worth. Instead of “being happy to contend with the best”....shoot to BE the best. If you aim for the bullseye, but fall short...you still come up with something. Don’t follow the pack or be satisfied...ever.

Source: Giphy

Clutch Gaming has put together a nice looking team. They also seem to have a game plan in place for their overall split strategy. Referencing their focus on analytics frequently. This scientific approach was applied to the recruiting process as well. Park stated “looking at players in a vacuum” as being important due to the skewing of our perceptions when looking at players in context of a team.

”When your team is losing... it’s really hard to look good” - Sabastian Park

This is a double-edged sword in my opinion, and I’m sure these teams understand that... not only is it important for a player to be good on his/her own...but putting that player into the right environment can completely change that player. Mentorship, leadership, support staff, etc. are all major components to building up a player and creating a cohesive team.

I’m excited to see what clutch is capable of this split. Be sure to tune in on saturday for the first games of the season. Feel free to start a discussion about anything down below.