- Lyons: I was going to talk about how Lyons should be looking towards playoffs and worlds. Their spot in playoffs is pretty locked already so they want to really work on their pain points from MSI. Don’t worry too much about overall record, focus on improving over the season rather than winning any individual game. But with the news of Inspired stepping away for personal reasons for a few weeks does that change their plans? I’d say not really, if anything Lyons should be thinking even more about playoffs and worlds because Inspired plans to return about half-way through the split. So now the plan should be about building for his return so that they can pick up right where they left off.
- Team Liquid: They had an interesting showing between playoffs and MSI. Against Lyons they looked outclassed, but at MSI they proved to be the second best play-in team, and even in both 0-3 losses to T1 they looked a lot better. So with their sights firmly on reaching Worlds what should they be doing? I would say that 1. don’t worry about beating Lyon, they aren’t your competition. Three teams make worlds from NA, top two avoid play-ins. Their goal is to be in the top two by the end and you don’t need to beat Lyon to do that. TL has a style of gameplay that works really well for them when they are playing it at top form. That to me is what this regular season should be for them. Refining and becoming the experts at their style.
- Cloud9: With two roster changes that make them a 7-man roster Cloud9 is trying to find a way to reach the peaks that the organization has previously achieved. This regular season to them has to be about finding what their core 5-man roster looks like. If they do plan on keeping a full 7-man rotating roster, they really need to make sure everyone understands their roles on the team. It is easy for that 7th man who isn’t getting playtime except for key moments to feel like an unwanted extra. Either way, this regular season is about building the best roster they can so that come playoffs they can all be on the same page and ready.
- FlyQuest: They are a young roster on the cusp of breaking into the top three in North America. My advice to them during the regular season is understand what the goals are. Do they want to be top three? Do they want to succeed at worlds? They have an aggressive play style that is unique in North America. It requires them to play on a knife’s edge. So not getting discouraged when they make mistakes is key. Making sure everyone on that team is bought into the game plan and understands the goals is how they are going to keep themselves focused in the right direction.
- Sentinels: Sentinels is a fascinating team to me. They have two solid veterans in Impact and Huhi. Both seem to have a clear understanding of how they want to play the game. They have three younger players who are all mechanically skilled enough to carry and be played around. However, they were never quite able to break into that top four group above them. So going into the final split of the season they are going to be in the hunt for that third spot at worlds. The question then becomes “what do they need to do to break into that upper three?”. I would say, they need to become a faster team. They have a clear way of playing, and have players that they can trust to execute on their game plan. Now they need to sharpen this play style and make it more consistent.
- Shopify Rebellion: Before I go into any details I highly recommend watching Shopify’s video about their struggles as a team during spring split. It was a fantastic deep dive into the inner workings of their team. It also sums up a lot of my own thoughts for the team. If their goals are worlds then there’s a lot of room for them to make up. During the video, and watching their games the team seems to be of very different minds on how to play. Being completely honest, if I was working with the team my advice would be “view this as the first of four splits for worlds of next year”. That doesn’t mean give up on any hopes of making worlds. But instead recognize that this is the first year with a young rookie import and you just replaced your support with a more vocal player. There are going to be more growing pains for this team. Use this time to become a more cohesive unit with one clear game plan among the players and coaching staff.
- Disguised: Disguised had a very strange situation occur at the end of last split. Their top laner went to another team, only for him to be benched and then let go, and in the mean time they got Srtty to fill the role. He did an admirable job for coming in on short notice and has now stuck with the team. Kyra looked like a standout player during summer split. Building around those two for the summer split seems like a clear game plan which I think Disguised needs for summer. Clear goals and realistic expectations will also be a must. They aren’t playing for a spot at worlds this split. Their goal needs to be focused around improving, keeping their spot, and then building around their core pieces for next year .
- Dignitas: There’s a lot to say about this team, but I will sum it up with my thoughts around Exyu’s comments at the end of last split. It is either a miracle or a nightmare he is still on the team. Having a player say they considered retiring and that they have no motivation to practice is not a good sign. That doesn’t mean they can’t have fixed the problems plaguing them during the last two splits. But I haven’t seen anything from them that would indicate otherwise. The good news is they signed a new player, which can breathe new life into a team. They are another team that I would give the recommendation of planning this split as split one of four going into next year. Really focus on creating a strong foundation of good habits, strong communication, and healthy team dynamics that will mean they can come back for Winter split of 2027 ready to go.
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