This is a weekly article series that will go over just some thoughts, ideas, predictions...whatever I’m feeling for the week. It may be anything from current champion ratings to the pro’s state of mind.

Capten's Pieces o' Eight

No. 1 Sooo fast?

Last week's article's first piece of eight was about how slow some of the games were. Well. I guess the players read my article. Right?! Totally what it was. NA LCS average game time for this past weekend was 32:47. By comparison the EU LCS was at 40:25. That's a pretty large time differential. NA average time probably was affected by the FOX vs. TL game where TL was crushed in 22:45. I don't mind this trend really. I want to watch more LCS, but looking to the end of the split with Best of 3's or 5's... it'll be easier to watch all of the series. That being said, the games still have some of the same feeling I mentioned previously. Slow early with some explosive fights that end the game. Anyway, I don't have a point here.

No. 2 Let's go Clutch!

So Clutch had a 1-1 weekend after two 2-2 weekends in a row. I'm not even upset about the loss. They dropped the game to C9, the second place team in the league, and really a contender for first. So if you're going to lose, lose to the best. This team is really holding its' own. Some of these wins are looking a little sketchy? Playing on the edge of a knife maybe? Luckily they have some time to clean things up and tighten up their strategies before playoffs. Also, they should have a pretty easy schedule this weekend (OPT and FLY). If they don't smash both of these games, I'll be a little concerned. They need to cement their position as a top tier team, even the top 3. I think they can and will do it.

Love this gif

No. 3 Higher level of play

Through my own soloQ grind, I've noticed it's hard to find a team that is on the same page as you. I notice that anytime I DO find a team that is performing as I would expect...going in for that gank right when it should happen, pulling back from a fight we can't win, etc etc...when that DOES happen, I win every game. Sadly those games are just not coming together consecutively in order for me to quickly climb. Not a big deal, but it has me thinking about and hoping for the new game mode Riot mentioned a few months back. It sounds like they are developing a tournement game type. Essentially allowing teams to form and be placed into tourney-style brackets. The idea is outstanding, I just hope it is implemented well, and works. My thought is, that it will be a game mode where most people are there to win and it will drastically reduce the all to common... "BUY ME CSGO SKINS OR I RUN IT DOWN MID" lock in with Draven.

No. Hype!

Riot eSports just released dates and venues for upcoming events this year. HERE is the link to the full article. MSI is in May, hosted in Europe. Rift Rivals is in July, each region hosted in different locations. Worlds doesn't have a set date, but it will be held entirely in South Korea. And finally the All-star event will be in December, hosted in North America.

No. 5 Ahri might be back?

Some more thoughts on SoloQ. Once I realized I was losing games because I couldn't carry with Braum last season (although this season, might be possible)...I started spamming Ahri. I put a lot of time into the champ, and got pretty darn good. Even when she was nerfed I was able to semi carry some games. Based on the patch changes and meta, I think Ahri might be in a pretty good spot and I think I'll start playing her some more. I didn't have the worst stats last season, but I think there is a lot of room for improvement. With the AP items changes, I think Ahri might be able to really carry games now.

No. 6 Smoothie so smooth

I always liked Smoothie, and @morganaleflaye loves him (and all C9), but he's really showing his skills this season. He is consistently the support that is getting his team ahead via these incredible roams. This impresses due to his great timing on roams, but also the strength of his ADC, sneaky, being able to maintain his lane alone. I really hope this team continues to do well. I think they are a shoe-in for the finals.

No. 7 There's no I in team...but there is a MikeYeung

Lately, MikeYeung has taken a lot of heat for the bad TSM start this season. I think it's up to debate what percentage of the losses can be directly attributed to MikeYeung. What I DO know is that LoL is a team sport. Right? Well. Mostly. We can say that, but then one person can completely carry a team, and another can totally destroy it. This is our experience in SoloQ, but should that type of thing ever happen in professional play? In my opinion...no, professional play should be way too structured and practiced to fail that hard. Yet we see it happen. Take Licorice's failure (running Lucian against Huni in the C9/FOX game), he got camped hard, and was essentially useless for most of that game. Did it cost them the game? Maybe. MikeYeung seems to put a ton of pressure on himself. I'm not sure that's good or healthy. If you look at the TSM squad...they've got a guy up top who overextends and pushes his lane too often...you've got a midlaner who basically doesn't take any risks ever, and then you have a bot lane that really isn't performing well, and also tends to over extend. So what can a jungler do with lanes who won't setup for a gank? There are probably many problems on this team, but from the sound of it (based on interviews with Svenskeren), they are not creating a friendly and productive team environment. MikeYeung seems borderline depressed. Regardless, they need to fix it.

No. 8 I got nothing

It's a total failure, but I can't think of anything else today, mainly because I'm in queue to get my league on.

Well, those are my ramblings for the week. Shower thoughts. Momentos. Whatever. Feel free to comment below and strike up a conversation on any of the above, or anything at all.

Source: All from Giphy.com, Riot, or OC