By Jorge Calderon – @CaldoLoL
Round 2 of the 2015 NA Spring Expansion Tournament includes both of the coL squads, coL.White and coL.Black. As the tournament bracket was finalized, coL.Black was able to get a first round bye due to having 3 out of the 5 players which participated in the 2015 Spring Promotion Tournament. The second team, coL.White, went through the open bracket and qualified by being a top Ranked 5v5 team (5th place) on the Challenger Leaderboard. After acquiring their spot in the expansion tournament coL.White was able to advance on to round 2 by taking down Monstar Kittenz in a best of 3 where they finished off 2-1. Now coL.White’s focus turns to Curse Academy for the upcoming round of the event.
Curse Academy has been a team that is constantly on the edge, almost making it over into the LCS. However, coL.White are looking to stop their journey and attempt to claim their spot in round 3. Curse Academy have gone through a number of changes this year; Impactful was on Curse Academy’s roster as the starting AD-Carry for about 4 months before joining coL.White and filling the same role. Now, Curse Academy’s roster consists of 3 players who were previously on the main roster for Team Curse; Saintvicious, Bunny FuFuu, and Cop (Keane is a Sub for Team Curse). One thing to definitely look out for is the amount of risky plays that may come out of the Curse Academy players. They are confident in their play and are unafraid to take chances.
The player that I would keep an eye on would be Saint, simply because of his experience as a veteran in League of Legends. He has been in the League of Legends scene for a while, playing on teams such as Counter Logic Gaming, Team Curse, and was one of the original members of Team Solomid. He has a vast amount of knowledge and wisdom to give to the other four players. Although he was known as “Smitevicious” because of his timing on smiting objectives, he has improved a substantial amount and is definitely a player to look out for.
Moving on to round 2, this will be coL.Black’s first match in the tournament. Final Five is a team that placed 9th on the NA Ranked 5’s Ladder in order to qualify for the 2015 NA Spring Expansion Tournament. The team was built around Rhux shortly after he left Team Coast. The players on the roster include Rhux (Top), ShorterACE (Jungle), Gate (Mid), Prototype (AD-Carry), and Rule18 (Support). The players on Final Five are all high ELO players that have fought hard throughout the ranked 5’s ladder. Last week, Final Five played against Zenith eSports in Round 1 where they successfully managed to defeat them 2-1. Now they have their eyes set upon coL.Black. coL.Black are not a team to be taken lightly, however, due to LCS experience.
The player on Final Five to lookout for is definitely Rhux. He has the most competitive experience out of all the players on Final Five. He has played for Curse Academy, Team Curse, and Team Coast prior to Final Five. Throughout his competitive career, he has alternated being a Top and Support player. He was the Support for Team Curse during the 2013 NA Spring Split before being replaced by Edward from Gambit. Afterwards, he returned to Curse Academy and went back to the top lane, where he feels most comfortable.
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Both of the coL teams are practicing hard and analyzing their opponent’s gameplay, as well as their own. The team that will struggle more will be coL.White. Their match against Curse Academy will be a difficult Best of 3 series for them. With good preparation and a good mindset, I believe the coL.White squad can be victorious against Curse Academy. The road for coL.Black is quite the opposite. They have superior experience and I believe the coL.Black squad is more skilled in their individual roles, as well as in their team coordination and communication.
Tune in and support both of the coL squads as they look to advance onto Round 3, which will be live in the studio. You can tune in on November 22nd at 11 A.M. PST over at lolesports.com to watch Round 2 of the 2015 NA Spring Expansion Tournament.