The Players Securing The Map As Week 4 Of NA LCS Begins
By Zac Cameron ·
The teams of the North American League of Legends Championship Series have been controlling the fight and shifting the momentum of the landscape. These are the players that have our attention going into Week 4.
Licorice
Eric “Licorice” Ritchie is the current top laner for Cloud9. Formerly of the challenger circuit, Licorice spent time as part of Cloud9’s challenger team, before joining eUnited in 2016. His time there was productive, as they proved largely undefeated in the regular season. Able to play the role of tank as well as bruiser, Licorice has helped his team climb to a first place tie position with Echo Fox and Team Liquid. Whether he starts to contort the fight around his Poppy or Gnar or shred foes with his Fiora, Licorice builds an engagement that his whole team can follow. Watch for his big initiates in the coming weekend.
Reignover
Kim “Reignover” Yeu-jin is the current jungler for Counter Logic Gaming. While Reignover had his beginning in Korea, it wasn’t until he joined Fnatic in 2015, alongside former teammate Huni of Echo Fox, that he began to capture the attention of fans. After a dominating year that saw Fnatic win both the spring and summer splits, including a perfect summer season, both Reignover and Huni joined with Immortals in NA. Their unbeaten streak continued until week 7 of the spring 2016 NA LCS, and they eventually claimed top seed going into playoffs. Reignover would go on to join Team Liquid in 2017, though was unable to find success there, before joining CLG for the 2018 season. In the CLG match against Flyquest, Reignover was a constant threat, bringing gold to all of his team mates with Jarvan IV on assists. His ability to engage and disengage easily makes and make the plays that nurture his squad are where this player thrives.
Bjergsen
Søren "Bjergsen" Bjerg is the current mid laner for TSM. Bjergsen started his career in the EU LCS as the mid laner for the Copenhagen Wolves, before their entire roster joined the Ninjas in Pyjamas in 2013. At the end of 2013, Bjergsen was selected to replace then retiring TSM mid laner Andy “Reginald” Dinh. Having led TSM to a record 5 NA LCS titles, Bjergsen has been the core player in TSM’s line-up for many years now. In the TSM vs. 100 Thieves match, Bjergsen's use of Taliyah was resplendent, throwing down her tricky wall crafting ult to both make his way to the aid of team mates in a hurry and block enemies off from objectives entirely. His awareness of the map and its occupants in these matters is something that makes his plays incredible to watch when they come to fruition.
WildTurtle
Jason “WildTurtle” Tran is the current AD Carry for Flyquest. After initially qualifying for the NA LCS with Quantic Gamine, who would go on to become Cloud9, WildTurtle joined up with TSM as part of their 2013 roster shuffle. WildTurtle spent some time with TSM, before joining Immortals for their 2016 season. Despite a dominant regular season, Immortals were unable to progress to Worlds 2016, and WildTurtle would briefly re-join TSM to replace a burnt out DoubleLift. WildTurtle joined Flyquest in mid 2017 where he has remained since. In the Flyquest match against Counter Logic, though the team would fall, WildTurtle was pumping out his share of damage and trying to rally his team at all corners. Though he couldn't do it alone in the end, he put up a valiant effort and he stands as someone who may very well have a big impact in the upcoming games.
Olleh
Kim “Olleh” Joo-sung is the current support for Team Liquid. Also getting his start in Korea, Olleh would move to Brazil to join paiN Gaming in 2014, before joining Hong Kong Esports in 2015. After an average performance with HKE, Olleh joined up with Immortals in 2016 and was a major part of their success in the summer split, winning the Summer Split 2017 All-Pro Support award. While Immortals was able to qualify for worlds, they were unable to progress out of the group stage, and Olleh would go on to join with Team Liquid as part of their 2018 roster shake-up. Olleh is an extremely nurturing player with some great sync alongside his team mates. He makes the right engagements, backs off when necessary. More than that, on champs like Tahm Kench where moves like Devour can save a team mate or disposition an enemy and his ult can move him and a team mate in for a flank or objective, he puts people where they need to be and makes sure the field is in favor of his team when the fights happen.
These are the players worth watching for week 4 of the NA LCS. For more information on which teams will play, and when, check out the official schedule, or for more players that are worth keeping an eye on, check out the most exciting players going into Week 4 of the EU LCS as well!