Team SoloMid showed a poor understanding of global meta trends in the pick-ban phase of their opening series against Cloud9. With both LCK and EU LCS play to draw from, many of the lessons of these leagues were either ignored or simply not realized. Either way, this clearly showed in their drafts, setting TSM at a disadvantage for their first series.
The first game pick-ban phase for Team SoloMid upon their return to NA LCS was extremely poor, something we are not used to seeing from TSM’s Head Strategic Coach, Parth “Parthenaan” Naid.
Mistakes in the pick-ban phase absolutely contributed to TSM’s loss in first game of their series against Cloud9. While they also made many mistakes in game, these are the type of mistakes that can be easily avoided, and will need to be fixed if Team SoloMid hope to return to the top of the NA LCS once more.
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“It was pretty obvious that they knew what we were gonna pick, what kind of play style we were gonna go for, and they had drafts ready to counter every single one.
“I think especially in this first week – when all the other regions are just starting up: LCK starting four days ago, EU LCS two days ago – so you haven’t really had time to see anything, you just have to go with the meta that you felt was strongest.
“We went with what we felt was strongest, but I think C9 had a better read on the meta.”
Søren “Bjergsen” Bjerg
Here’s how the pick and ban phase unravelled for Team SoloMid:
TSM Ban Rengar
By banning Rengar first, TSM essentially handed Cloud9 a free ban, as they no longer had to ban the Rengar/Camille/Leblanc trinity that we have seen in almost every other game from the red side.
TSM Ban Rengar
The extra ban this allowed Cloud9 was used to take away Lee Sin, a high priority pick for Svenskeren that he excelled on at the World Championships. Cloud9 would go on to pick Kha’zix in their first rotation, but had Lee Sin been available Cloud9 may have been forced to take Lee instead. Either way, Kha’zix or Lee Sin would have been an option for TSM.
TSM Ban Janna
TSM compounded their issues by banning Janna over Zyra, changing the draft significantly, especially concerning TSM’s second round of picks. Janna has not seen much play globally, with teams preferring instead to focus on picks such as Zyra, Malzahar, and Miss Fortune at Support. Malzahar, and Miss Fortune at support.
TSM Ban Janna
The Janna Ban changes the draft significantly, especially concerning TSM’s second round of picks. If they had chosen to ban Zyra, the reigning champions could have opted to pick Malzahar (Zyra being available weakens this pick) and Varus. Instead they decided to pick Syndra and Rek’sai.
TSM Pick Syndra/Reksai
By not picking Varus, Cloud9 is able to ban both Varus and Jhin, creating a significant drop off between the Ashe pick and the Kalista that Jason "Wildturtle" Tran is forced upon. TSM showed it was prioritizing Mid lane and Jungle by picking Syndra and Rek’sai, but with Varus still available, one of those picks (probably the Syndra pick) has to be Varus.
TSM Pick Syndra/Reksai
Bjergsen and Svenskeren are the veteran leaders of your team, you have to trust their ability and champion pools by waiting to pick for one or both of them until the second pick phase. Cloud9 using two bans to limit either Sven or Bjergsen could have had a less significant game impact than the target bans towards WildTurtle.
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